Fasting Fest This Weekend

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frozen custard

This is what freaking out over your first radiation treatment leads to!

I planned to do a 5-day fast this week but chickened out at the last minute. Tuesday was my first radiation treatment and I was a bit too freaked out to try fasting. So I opted for some frozen custard instead.

Peanut Butter Brownie & Chocolate, to be specific.

A glorious LARGE one, to be even more specific.

Yes, I needed comfort food (told you I freaked out). No shame in that.

Thankfully, the freak out was for naught. The painless treatment lasted a total of 5 minutes. As for side effects, the only thing I experienced was some major fatigue. I did some serious napping for two days. Of course, I’m assuming it was the radiation. It could have been a carb coma from the big ass frozen custard. Read More

Keto Friendly Egg Salad

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egg salad

Nothing like a keto friendly meal to break a fast. Egg salad, butterhead leaves and glorious bacon. Yum.

Last night I whipped up the Aktins’ egg salad recipe. It was the perfect way to break my fast this morning (30 minutes after a few olives). Now I’ve never been a fan of egg salad. Growing up most of the time my dad just got some from the store. It always smelled overwhelmingly eggy to me. But then again as a kid I was a very picky eater.

Thankfully I’m done with being “too picky.” Although I think my hubby might not quite agree with me on this point.

Anyway, the recipe is very simple and delicious. My favorite part is the celery. That might seem strange as I unconditionally love eggs. But the celery adds a great crunch and texture.

I added 3 large Boston butterhead leaves and thick bacon for a grand total of 3g carbohydrates.

Egg Salad on Boston Butterhead Leaves with Bacon
Macronutrient Breakdown – 77% fat, 20% protein, 3% carbs

  • 1/2 C Atkins’ Egg Salad – 2.1g total carbs (0.3g fiber)
  • 3 Large Boston Butterhead Leaves – 0.9 total carbs (0.6g fiber)
  • 3 Slices Thick Center Cut Bacon – 0 total carbs

10 Tips For A Successful Fast

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water 1

Staying hydrated helps me stay on track during a fast. Cucumber-mint water is one of my go too drinks when fasting. Yummmm!

This morning I’m in hour 40 of my 48-hour fast and I feel great. My energy level is high and I’m managing the hunger pains easily. It’s a far cry from my very first attempt at fasting (I broke the fast within 4 hours).

Since I incorporated fasting into my way of eating there are a few things I’ve learned to be successful when choosing to go without food. Read More

Recovering From This Weekend’s Carbopalooza

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tape measure fork

Six weeks since my surgery and I’m officially getting back into the healthy eating business. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and Mister GC.

This weekend the hubby and I visited some friends at a cabin in West Virginia. We haven’t seen them since my diagnosis and they thought it would be a great chance for me to rest, relax and heal. Before going I made the decision early to not sweat the food choices and it was a good decision.

The food was home cooked and tasted great. I ate low carb when I could but I didn’t beat myself up if I strayed. I mean, when a cute 12-year-old offers you (a fellow baker) a brownie she made herself, it’s hard to refuse.

Now that I’m back at home I decided to start the week with a two-day fast. What better way to kick this weekend’s carb monkey off my back and jump into ketosis?

Following the fast I’m doing a pretty simple ketogenic food plan that’s high fat, moderate protein and very low carb. This is a real test as I’m significantly lowering my carbs and limiting my protein and dairy. I’m still eating 20g of carbs daily, but I’m counting total carbs rather than net carbs.

Oh and of course no alcohol or coffee either.

You can check out my menu for this week. I’m still tweaking it…why not as I have 2 whole days to finalize it. I’m not thrilled with the total carb count for Friday’s lunch, but hey I really do want to work in an awesome ketogenic BLT! Maybe Friday night’s dinner becomes fat and protein only.

That might work.

 

Weekly Weigh-In: Inching Closer to 170s

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weekly weigh in june 5

I’m down a few ounces. A loss is a loss. But I’m tweaking my food this week to fight the cold. My body temperature is off and changing my macros should do the trick. Perhaps this will eventually kick my insulin resistance to the curb and jump start my weight loss.

I’m down a couple of ounces this week. I’ll take it. That puts my total weight loss at 140.8 pounds. As frustrated as I am that I’m still hovering in the mid 180s after a year, a little perspective makes that frustration go away.

I’ve shed nearly 50% of my weight in 4 years and kept it off. That’s awesome.

But I am doing some tweaking to my diet and it has noting to do with the scale.

I’m always cold. Too cold. And it has nothing to do with my air conditioning.

It’s been going on for nearly a year. Regardless of temperature, I’m always wearing a sweater because I feel chilly. How cold I feel goes off the charts during fasts. So no more intermittent fasting this week. My metabolism is off and the course corrections I’m making this week are already bearing fruit.

Funny, I’m wearing the sweater right now and I’m sweating up a storm. Clearly I reached for it this morning out of habit. That tells me my resting metabolism was out of wack for far too long.

If all goes well this week I plan to try a 36 hour fast this weekend. I’ll eat regular on Friday and not eat again until Sunday morning. Keep in mind the fast isn’t about the scale. It’s about lowering an artificially high body weight set point caused by decades of insulin resistance. And the best way to do that is by fasting.

Optimal health really is one big science experiment. And I’m enjoying being the scientist and the lab rat.