My Low Carb Alternate Day Fasting Experiment - Day 3

Update: This is a photo of an Italian Basil Egg Bake I made this afternoon. I have no problem cooking and serving Mad food while fasting. I figure that's part of the deal. This is my choice. And that choice requires living a normal life minus the frequency in meals - every other day. It's really not that difficult to do, especially when you know you can eat as you please the following day.

I guess I should have entitled this project, "My Low Carb Alternate Day Fasting Experiment". I suppose I could go back and change the two previous titles. Done. If only all of life's necessary changes were that easy. Not done.

• Fast Day #2 - Woke up at 7:00 AM.
• Had a cup of organic black coffee at 7:30 AM.
• 9:00 AM - Blood Pressure: 109/69. Blood Sugar: 79 mg/dL.
• 9:15 AM - Current Weight: 185.6 lbs - 23.5% body fat
  
• 10:00 AM - Traditional Medicinals' Every Day Detox tea (2 bags)
• 1:00 PM - organic black coffee
  
• 2:15 PM - Meal Replacement Pudding/Shake - 1 scoop of Natural Chocolate Egg White Protein, 8 oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 3 Tbs of organic peanut butter (unsweetened), 2 scoops of chocolate "greens" formula, 1 scoop organic sprouted flax meal and a dash of NutraSalt
• 4:15 PM - strong cup (3 tea bags) of organic white tea w/ organic mint
• 6:00 PM - organic black coffee
• 10:30 PM - Traditional Medicinals' Every Day Detox tea (2 bags)

The plan is to have my (solitary) meal replacement somewhere in the mid-day range. I'm flexible with the timing. And frankly, I'm looking forward to not having to slow down much to eat, prepare and clean up after myself in the kitchen. One less thing to do.

Notes: I'm not getting enough sleep. Maybe 6 hours if I'm lucky. I'm feeling pretty tired but it's unlikely to be due to the ADF. We've been working late into the night and waking up rather early. The ADF doesn't seem to negatively impact sleep quality. Can't say that it's helping in that respect either - as of yet.

My Low Carb Alternate Day Fasting Experiment - Day 2

Just getting something down to start the day. Will refine the information later, I hope.

Woke up at 6:45 AM. Had a cup of organic coffee with a splash of unsweetened, vanilla almond milk at about 7:00 AM. Took my blood pressure and sugar at 8:15 AM:

• Blood Sugar: 75 mg/dL
• Blood Pressure: 121/64

8:45 AM - About to have breakfast: a cup of Greek yogurt (Fage), a Tbs of Nature's Hollow sugar-free strawberry preserves and a few ounces of raw organic pecans + my morning supplements.

1:00 PM - a cup of organic black coffee

2:15 PM - a large piece of LC Eggplant Parmesan and a glass of red wine (organic Syrah) + my mid-day supplements

4:45 PM - an LC Tropical Berry Popsicle

8:15 PM - pulled pork (from Whole Foods), homemade guacamole (organic avocado, organic lemon juice, organic shallot, red pepper flakes, NutraSalt and organic black pepper) and Domingo's Traditional Chicharrones

10:30 PM - Traditional Medicinals' Every Day Detox tea - two teabags

Notes: I felt a few hunger pangs while falling asleep last night. I noticed them but wasn't consumed by them. It's possible that I was too tired to care? Even this morning, I detected some hunger in the background of my consciousness but it doesn't interfere with what needs to get done.

My Low Carb Alternate Day Fasting Experiment - Day 1

And so the journey begins. I'm still hashing out the details but I have a few ideas about what I'd like to accomplish. A partial list:

1. The satisfaction of knowing that I can manage my appetite and eating patterns like countless generations have in the past.

2. I'm hoping to see some benefits with respect to my blood chemistry. A hike in my HDL cholesterol would be one obvious area where improvement is possible.

3. I think I'm currently at a fairly respectable weight - about 185 give or take. However, I still fall slightly outside of the recommended BMI - depending on minor fluctuations in my weight and the fact that I fall in between 5' 11" and 6' height-wise. Losing 5 to 10 additional pounds would settle the issue once and for all. 175 has a good ring to it.

4. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this eating pattern will simplify my life. Mad and I are juggling quite a lot and I sometimes feel overwhelmed. Doing a modified fast every other day might help. Reduced cooking, cleaning, dining, spending, etc.

In order to be considerate of my wife and others, I've decided to allow for some degree of flexibility in how I practice my ADF days. On days when my schedule is up to me, I'll have my solitary ADF meal mid-day. However, if I need/want to attend an event or meal away from home I'll simply modify my food intake based on what's needed.

Example: Mad and I might go on a date or to a dinner party on an ADF day. In that case, I'll fast in the morning and afternoon and eat regularly at the nighttime meal. The idea is to remove as many worldly hurdles that will surely come up from time-to-time.

8/24/10 - Wake up time: 8:00 AM

• 8:15 AM a cup of black, organic coffee
• 11:15 AM a strong cup (2 tea bags) of Every Day Detox tea (Traditional Medicinals)
• 12:30 PM a cup of black, organic coffee
• 2:00 PM - my ADF meal replacement shake - 25 grams of natural whey protein, 3 Tbs of almond butter, 2 scoops of a sugar-free chocolate "greens" formula, 1 scoop of sprouted flax seed meal and 8 oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 5:30 PM a strong cup (3 tea bags) of organic white tea with organic mint
  
• 7:30 PM a cup of black, organic coffee
• 9:30 PM a strong cup (2 tea bags) of Every Day Detox tea (Traditional Medicinals)

Notes: My hunger sensation was easily managed on this first day. I didn't perceive the process as being particularly taxing - physically or psychologically. This may have something to do with our hectic schedule and numerous preoccupations. It's funny how little food matters when you don't have the energy or time to devote to it. A lesson relearned.

I should also mention that I took the majority of daily supplements with my mid-day meal replacement. I'm not taking very high dosages of most of the supplements in question. Therefore, I feel as though I can take them all at once - instead of taking them with breakfast and dinner - without any resulting problems.

That's all for now. More to come tomorrow or as time permits. I'm keeping written records in case I can't post here daily.

LC Recipe - Tropical Berry Popsicles

Recipe Link: Low Carb, Tropical Berry Popsicles

Alternate Day Fasting Experiment

I'm considering a trial run of ADF. It *seems* as though life may be slowing down enough for me to actually manage it. By that, I mean less travel and no major visits from family or friends in the foreseeable future. For those of you who aren't familiar with alternate day fasting, here's my version of a primer:

Link: ADF Interview Part 1

Link: ADF Interview Part 2

I'm still in the planning stages. But if I go through with it, I'll document my journey here and on HF.

Update: I think this is going to happen. I've already started coming up with a game plan - recipes for my ADF days. That means I'm excited/passionate about the idea on some level. A good sign. More to come soon.

A little music before I depart. I used listen to a band called Cracker back in the 90's. Last year they came out with a new album. I just discovered it a couple of weeks ago. A few of the tunes I've heard are pretty catchy. It's interesting to watch rock stars age.

Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey

Cracker - Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out Me

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

... will be posted tomorrow. Just finished making it and trying it out. Delicious with a capital D. The health info, nutritional content and recipe will be up soon on HF. I'll link back to it once it's up.

Recipe Link: Flourless Eggplant Parmesan

Tip o' the week - Not all Greek yogurts have similar nutritional content. The best I've found so far on the LC tip is the Fage brand. The highest protein and the lowest carb count out there.

Making Coffee Healthier and Lower in Carbs

Just a quick note. I posted a column on Wednesday that explains what I add to my daily coffee to make it healthier and lower in carbs. There's also some additional information about the interaction between antioxidants in coffee and milk protein, etc. It is a natural health blog after all!

The stevia I mention in the piece is called Stevia Balance by Now Foods. The almond milk is the refrigerated version of Blue Diamond's unsweetened vanilla almond milk. The tetra pack version (shelf stable) doesn't mix or taste nearly as well, IMO.