My Fasting Challenge: Days 4-7

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During days 4-7 of my 7-Day Fasting Challenge I experience some subtle changes in my mental and menopausal symptoms. Images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net, KENO64 and Simon Howden.

Sorry for the delay in posting on the final days of my 7-Day Fasting Challenge, but I had a sick doggie and husband that needed some attention. Plus while going through the last 4 days of my fast, I thought they were uneventful. The intense hunger I felt on Day 3 was gone. Once in a great while my stomach might grumble a bit, but a sip of water took care of it (Day 3 I was obsessed with food thoughts).

I even stopped opening up the fridge.

But my little notes to myself indicate there was a lot more going on than I realized at the time. Physically, my menopause symptoms were gone. I could easily get 8 hours of sleep each night. The hot flashes and chills disappeared. My anxiety dropped through the floor. Mentally I was crisp.

Worrying that my fast would cause more stress on my body (thus raising cortisol levels and stress me out further) was unfounded. Yes, I lost weight not eating for 7 days, but that really was side benefit.

Below is the highlights of days 4-7 of my fast. Read More

My Fasting Challenge: Day 3

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teas

My Christmas present of assorted, yummy teas helped drive down my hunger on Day 3 of my fast.

Day 3 didn’t start with a bang. Where I was loaded with energy morning, noon and night on Day 2, my third day of fasting transformed me into low energy mouse. Low energy mouse is much different from my lazy mouse days. When I’m a lazy mouse, I have the energy. I just don’t want to use it.

On Day 3 I had absolutely no energy for a little more than half the day. I also had a slight headache and a whole lot of hunger pangs going on. Read More

My Fasting Challenge: Day 2

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home-gym-set-up

After cleaning my basement I started setting up our little workout area. It’s not much, but I’ve got plans!

Yesterday I felt a surge of energy coursing through me. I’ve read that you feel more energetic during a fast. I have to say this is the first time it’s happened to me. Hoping to go for a walk, I was thwarted by the rainy weather. So I turned my attention to my house. Mounds of laundry, dirty floors, clutter and dust – none of it stood a chance against me.

Energy Level Goes To 11
I spent a chunk of the day cleaning the basement, where the husband and I are setting up a very small home gym. We’re not buying machines. We’re using resistance bands with the possibility of buying dumbbells and kettle bells. I planned to do some work with the bands yesterday, but it turns out I got a different type of workout. Read More

7-Day Fasting Challenge: Day 1

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So far just one little hiccup on the first day of my 7-Day Fasting Challenge. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and aopsan.

My last meal was 5:00 pm dinner on New Year’s Eve at a local steakhouse. That means I’m not eating again until 5:00 pm Saturday, January 7. As I’ve written before, the primary goal for the fast is to help my body shed wonky cells before they go rogue on me. Its just one little tool I have to prevent my cancer from coming back.

However, if the fast knocks me into ketosis (fat burning mode), I’m not gonna complain.

First Weigh In Of 2017
The morning of January 1 I decided to hit the scale, something I haven’t done since my surgery (6 months + 2 days ago). I gave myself time off from the scale since I was juggling with a few things:

  1. Endometrial (uterine) cancer discovered during fertility treatments
  2. Surgery to remove it
  3. Recovery from a radical hysterectomy
  4. Surgically induced menopause
  5. Radiation therapy
  6. A leaky bladder thanks to the radiation

The last thing I needed to do was step on a scale. Read More

Jump Starting My Diet: New Year, 2 Challenges

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I’m kicking off 2017 with two new challenges: a 7-day fast and going all of January without alcohol. Images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net, KENO64 and Simon Howden.

This is how you bring in a New Year. Not one, but two challenges. I’m doing both to improve my health. Following my cancer diagnosis back in June, I’ve been on a six-month pity party, and that resulted in a lot of unhealthy behaviors creeping back into my life.

It’s time for a reset.

Challenge #1: 7 Days, No Food
Yesterday I started a 7-Day Fasting Challenge. That’s right, no food for a week. I’m allowed water, tea, and coffee. Period. Read More

Healing My Body With A Week Long Fast

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empty-plate

I’m kicking off the new year with a 7-Day Fasting Challenge as a way to heal my body. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and phasinphoto.

I’m ringing in the New Year with a week-long fast. Crazy? Not really. I’m a believer in fasting and it’s many benefits like: lipolysis, boosting mental capacity, reducing insulin resistance, and resetting your set weight point.

Intermittent fasting helped me rediscover what it feels like to be satiated by stablizing the hormone leptin (the hormone signals the brain that you’re full).

However, the big driver behind this 7-day fast is autophagy – the cellular cleansing process. According to Dr. Jason Fung, autophagy is the “body’s mechanism of getting rid of all the broken down old cell machinery (organelles, proteins and cell membranes).”

Now all cells in our body are programmed to die after a certain number of divisions. That’s apoptosis. Autophagy takes place at the sub-cellular level. Basically only parts of a cell need to be purged and replaced. Dr. Fung compares this to replacing car parts rather than the whole care.

Fasting not only stimulates autophagy (clearing out the bad), but it increases growth hormone so our body can produce new cell parts. Double bonus! Read More

Feeling Sorry For Yourself & Fasting Don’t Mix

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water 1

My cucumber water was no match for my stomach. There just wasn’t enough water to keep hunger at bay.

Well my scheduled 3-day fast went up in smoke. Once again I was super tired after my radiation treatment. I planned to take an hour nap then start on my chores (you know, keep busy so I don’t think about my rumbling stomach). Turns out I couldn’t nap. And when I tried to get up, I had no energy. So I lay in bed for a couple of hours  listening to my stomach get louder and louder.

There wasn’t enough water, bone broth or tea in my house to quell my hunger.

I broke down and ate a hard-boiled egg.

Yes I technically broke the fast with that egg, but the amount of food was so small compared to a normal day. I thought if I could hold out until the next morning I can kick my fast into high gear.

I chased the egg with 24 ounces of water. But my tummy persisted. Rather than spend the rest of the day staying close to the bathroom, I admitted defeat and ate dinner.  Read More

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