Fitness

Another Extended Fast experiment

Examining my Instagram feed of late would reveal that my diet has been seriously deranged for quite awhile this year. My ambitions started strong early in the year, but quickly fell to the wayside after all our yard projects ended with the onslaught of summer (high temps). I permitted myself full license to eat guilt-free, but that meant an increased intake in sugars and refined carbs–my sweet tooth taking over.

It didn’t help that long fasts had the embarrassing side effects of “explosive BM” that lasted up to 48 hours. Bad, very bad, especially when you’re not in an environment to run to the bathroom every hour. I tried to mitigate the effects using chia seeds in coconut milk, with very limited success.

Short fasts ended too uncomfortably as well, since 3-4 day fasts didn’t seem to help me transition to fat-burning, leading to a spike in hunger post-fast. Weekend binges then psychologically made me ditch my plans, and I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of feasting.

Side note: I made several PRs this year due to a change in weight lifting programming, and no doubt increased calories helped in the gainz department, though I can’t say it’s physically measurable.

As soon as I hit the scale weight of 160lbs last week, I realized I needed to take back control. My clothes were getting tight again, and disappointingly, there was some new wardrobe still sitting in my closet going unworn.

I started what I hope to be a 7-10 day fast on Monday 7/24. As expected, the first 3 days were rough, but I was mentally in a good place. Not sure if it was all the Malaysian and Indonesian food I binged on the weekend prior, but the transition to fat burning seems much smoother.

The apprehension comes as I try to plan how to break my fast without the yucky disruption I experienced before. With DFW Restaurant Week dinner reservations made and my SO’s birthday around the corner, I have to be mindful of how to do this correctly.  I’m reviewing my previous post for ideas.

I do need to remember to monitor my vitals such as BP and blood glucose. I experienced some high BP during days 2 & 3, which leads me to blame caffeine timing and lack of hydration, and now I’m keeping a better eye on it–and taking meds. Blood sugar measurement on Wednesday afternoon was 99.

Things I need to stay on track with:

  1. Monitoring vitals
  2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
  3. Avoid stress, get more sleep!
  4. Include psyllium husks in post-fast meal transition
  5. Take advantage of that spike in HGH and build muscle!
  6. Eat low carb or ketogenic after completing fast

I’m on day 5 as of this writing, and I’m looking forward to completing this prolonged fast successfully.

6:50p vitals:

  • blood sugar = 77
  • bp = 122/76
  • weight = 152.8
  • Sleepy
Dining, Recipes

Engineering the roasted vegetable

A few weeks ago I was admiring a deep roasting pan of chopped bell peppers, sliced onions and baby bella mushrooms on its way into my hot oven, to be roasted–at least I imagined–to the perfect burnished caramelization that I’d come to expect of roasted root and cruciferous–of the brassica persuasion–veggies.

Like the batch of shishito peppers that preceded it, drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkled with garlic powder. Yum!

Of course, I quickly got over my naive enthusiasm as the clock ticked away the minutes while I watched in dismay as my prepped veggies slowly cooked into a mushy death in the hot hell of the oven. Dreams of pairing these veggies with my mesquite smoked chicken breast and cajun spiced smoked pork belly evaporated.

I’d forgotten the lessons I previously learned in achieving the color, texture and taste that I’d come to love of roasted al dente veggies, especially after figuring out how to produce perfectly crisp and tender cauliflower florets.

  1. High heat: To achieve crispness and browning on the outside and tenderness on the inside, roast at minimum temperatures of 400F. As you approach 500F, you will need to keep a watchful eye to make sure you don’t burn the veggies to a crisp.
  2. Air dry: After rinsing vegetables before chopping and slicing, be sure to let them air dry completely. This is especially valid when batch roasting veggies, where moisture risks getting trapped in pockets, steaming the veggies instead of roasting.
  3. Cut/chop/slice and space evenly: Denser vegetables, especially root veggies, do well when the pieces are relatively equal size, 1-2″ chunks. Veggies that contain more water or whose cell walls collapse (soften) sooner under high heat will do better if cut into larger wedges…or are better suited to a cast iron sear or flame grilling. Achieve more “even” cooking if veggies have more “air space” around them, especially leafy veggies.
  4. Salt after: Seasoning with salt releases water while cooking. Soft-walled vegetables are particularly vulnerable.  Use a pinch or omit salt completely when seasoning veggies going straight into the oven. After all, salt can always be added AFTER the cook.

Follow these basic lessons, and you’re almost always going to achieve lovely roasted tender-crisp veggies. There are other aspects to successful vegetable roasting–such as cookware and storage–but that’s the subject of another post. There are many more internet articles on this topic if you’re looking to refine your technique.

That’s not to say that soft, mushy roast veggies don’t have a purpose. Roasted garlic and onions can be pureed and make a terrific base for a savory broth or soup!