Fast(ing) Food - Citrus Kale Salad

Day 133, Feast Day #76 - Quadruple Feast

I just hate when the end of the summer starts approaching. Especially in Seattle where there are really only two seasons: a dry summer, and the wet, cloudy season. That 8-9 month wet season can be rough. So I wanted to make a salad that reminded me of the fresh, colorful months of summer.

Tastes like summer.

Citrus Kale Salad (Yields 2 servings) ~ 360 kcal/serving
Takes 5-10 minutes

This salad also is packed with vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and a bunch of fiber. I also have a tough time resisting avocados.

Citrus Vinaigrette

• 1 tbsp olive oil oil ~ 125 kcal
• juice of 1/3 navel orange ~ 13 kcal
• juice of 1/2 lemon ~ 4 kcal
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar ~5 kcal
• 1 tsp honey ~ 20 kcal
• kosher salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)
• pepper to taste

Salad

• 2 cups kale (3-4 leaves), just the leafy parts, chopped (I used purple kale) ~ 66 kcal
• 1/3 onion, diced (I used a red onion) ~ 15 kcal
• 2 carrots with tops, the root slice thin and the greens chopped ~ 81 kcal
• 2/3 navel orange, peeled and wedges separated~ 46 kcal
• 1 small avocado, pitted and chopped ~ 250 kcal
• 2 tbsp unsalted sunflower seeds ~ 95 kcal

To make sure your citrus fruits are juicy, roll them against your cutting board with a little pressure. Squeeze the needed parts for juice in a large bowl. Save your half lemon and use it for something else yummy, like a baked fish fillet. You'll be using the rest of that orange shortly.

Add the olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper into the large bowl with the juice. Whisk.

Now go ahead and add the rest of your orange, kale, onions, carrots, carrot tops, avocado, and sunflower seeds into the bowl. Mix and eat!

Week 18 Summary

Day 129, Fast Day #54

I finished my first fast today after 6 non-fasting day, since I am in maintenance mode. After the initial 2 lb (0.9 kg) jump up after beginning maintenance mode, I have been holding steady and am still at 25 lbs (11.3 kg) lost since I started ADF 18 weeks ago. I had planned to fast yesterday, but Zach and I needed to get our marriage vows written and doing that on an empty stomach seemed like a recipe for disaster. So I ended up having a medium day yesterday and actually fasted today.

Sometimes fish tacos happen instead of fasting.

This is how last week compared:
Calories
Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories (-3,213 kcal/week)
Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories (+294 kcal/week)
Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,512 kcal/week)
Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories (+2,100 kcal/week)
Week 5: 1,829 kcal or 96% of baseline calories (-469 kcal/week)
Week 6: 1,531 kcal or 81% of baseline calories (-2,555 kcal/week)
Week 7: 1,954 kcal or 103% of baseline calories (+406 kcal/week)
Week 8: 1,196 kcal or 63% of baseline calories (-4,900 kcal/week)
Week 9: 1,638 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,806 kcal/week)
Week 10: 1,637 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,813 kcal/week)
Week 11: 1,681 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,505 kcal/week)
Week 12*: 2,108 kcal or 111% of baseline calories (+1,484 kcal/week)
Week 13*: 2,649 kcal or 140% of baseline calories (+5,271 kcal/week)
Week 14: 1,882 kcal or 99% of baseline calories (-98 kcal/week)
Week 15: 1,280 kcal or 68% of baseline calories (-4,312 kcal/week)
Week 16: 1,861 kcal or 98% of baseline calories (-245 kcal/week)
Week 17: 1,684 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,484 kcal/week)
Week 18: 1,598 kcal or 84% of baseline calories (-2,086 kcal/week)

While ADFing: 1,765 kcal or 93% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,780 kcal or 147% of baseline calories
All Fast Days: 434 kcal or 23% of baseline calories

For reference
Week 1: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 2: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 3: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 1 fast day
Week 4: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 5: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 6: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 7: 4 feast days, 3 fast days,
Week 8: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 9: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 10: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 11: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 12: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*
Week 13: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*
Week 14: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 2 fast days
Week 15: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 16: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 17: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 18: 5 feast days, 2 fast days - maintenance mode
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

I'm pulling together the last little details and finishing tasks for my wedding. So no more blogging tonight!

A Little Weight Gain

Day 126, Feast Day #71 - Triple Feast Day

So I'm on my fourth day in maintenance mode and gained back 2 lbs (0.9 kg) in the last couple of days, which is fine in terms of my wedding dress fitting. This puts me squarely at a total of 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms) lost since early April. I had already fasted twice earlier in the week, so I have been "feasting" since. Switching back to a modern day normal person's eating pattern is proving difficult because I just don't get as hungry, I don't expect the food, and my new habit is not eating much every other day (just like three days a meals, plus snacks, plus lots of carbs and sugar was my habit prior to ADF).

Some of my ADF habits have remained intact over the last few days. For one, I don't eat breakfast. (Such a rebel, I know. But, a lot of that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" propaganda "research" is funded by food manufacturers like General Mills through puppet organizations, surprise surprise. They sell breakfast cereal.) As long as I don't go crazy with the wheat and carbs at dinner the night before, I tend not to be hungry at all in the morning. In fact, I have never really liked eating in the mornings because I am not hungry until midday. I like my scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon, obviously. I just like them for brunch or dinner like a weirdo. I also have never had much interest in sweet breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles, french toast, oatmeal, jams, etc. I find that all to be too sweet and I don't like a morning sugar rush followed by a crash to set the tone for my day.

I am also still trying to cook and eat healthier. I ended up eating under the amount of calories that I would normally eat on a feast day this past Wednesday, thinking my homemade shrimp teriyaki would have brought me past the 1600 calorie mark for the day. It ended up being far fewer calories than I expected (I didn't use granulated sugar at ~720 kcal per cup in the teriyaki sauce, but instead substituted with crushed pineapple in pineapple juice at ~140 kcal per cup), so I had some Greek yogurt with a bit of honey for dessert to get up to 1433 calories that day. I am also still trying not to eat wheat products.

The plan is to fast again on Sunday for sure and probably Tuesday next week while continuing in maintenance mode (as of now, I am doing a 5:2 fast diet as maintenance). Zach and I are celebrating one of his colleagues surviving their PhD defense tomorrow plus running a ton of last minute wedding errands, so, fasting on Sunday makes more sense.

As you may know, I am getting married in 15 days (O-M-G) and then jetting off for a beach honeymoon followed by a family trip. I may blog a bit in those three weeks, as there will undoubtedly be a lot of down time on vacation and I honestly enjoy writing (and I go a little crazy if I don't feel like I am being productive). I don't like the idea of letting this blog go stale for 3 weeks after months of routine blogging, especially for regular readers. So, I have been spending time soliciting, editing  and scheduling original guest posts from folks that also practice alternate day fasting or are bloggers in the fields of health and wellness, weight loss, low-calorie cooking, etc. If you are personally interested in submitting a guest post that relates to these topics, hit me up with a proposal for your writing piece.

Maintenance Mode

Day 123, Feast Day #68

So I lost another pound for a total of 27 pounds lost in 17.5 weeks. Normally this would be a great accomplishment, especially losing weight after a feast day. However, if I lose much more weight my wedding dress is going to be too baggy and maybe fall off. I only have 18 days left until I walk down the aisle so that limits the time I could get the dress altered. More importantly, I do not want to spend more money on that dress! It's a great dress, it looks great on me, but I am wearing it once. My expensive outfit expires within 24 hours. I do not need to be spending more money on it.

My solution? It is much cheaper to fast less often to maintain my weight (or possibly gain back some weight in my case) compared to altering my dress again.

Fasting periodically to maintain one's weight is what is commonly referred to as "maintenance mode" by other fasters. Dr. Michael Mosley for instance fasts just 1 day a week (a 6:1 schedule) to maintain the weight he lost while doing a 5:2 diet and to get some of the other benefits of fasting. Other people go from ADF to 5:2 or 6:1. Some people who just fast for weight loss (not the biochemical changes) just go back to everyday calorie restriction.

So my goal until August 25th is maintenance, not weight loss, in the hopes my wedding dress will fit nicely. So more feasting will happen.I 

Hence, I will try my best to pig out on my feast days for a couple of weeks. I broke my fast with a gross amount of carbs and wheat yesterday in the form of beer, a soft pretzel, and a burger bun. I got home after that and passed out soon after. I swear all the wheat and carbs resulted in a food coma I couldn't fight off. I felt awful physically after that feast and later groggy and hungry the next morning. I think it might be better if I try to get fat on potatoes instead. Sorry body.