Intermittent Fasting

Oh, fasting my old friend, you are back and I love you.  I have talked about fasting before, but it's been difficult to get into a routine, especially during the school year. Mostly because food is such a social event, and I tend to hate being the center of attention when I'm doing something a little "off."  I abhor being interrogated about my eating habits.

Eating in most cultures is so fraught with emotion and cultural habits. In other words, eating is not something you do in a bubble. It's everyone's business when an overweight woman buys ice-cream, a skinny person doesn't eat, whether you take seconds or not, whether you eat dessert, or whether you choose to eat only natural foods or no bread products or no junk or all junk.  People want to know if your eating habits have a purpose -- are you gluten intolerant or have other allergies? Do you want to lose weight? Are you sick? People are concerned about eating disorders. You're not eating? You must have anorexia. You're eating too much? You must have a binging disorder.  Food is love and sharing. If someone makes food for you and you refuse it, it's the ultimate rejection. I have been guilty of that kind of thinking before, ranging from feeling extremely annoyed when someone doesn't want to share something with me and has an almost pious snobbery about a certain food (omg, that has HOW many calories/fat grams/carbs?) to feeling bad when someone doesn't want to try something I've made.

This happened to me on the very last day of school. We had all brought food to share and I had brought the one thing that is my signature dish -- hummus. Among friends and some family it's a beloved dish.  In general, it did not go over super well at a potluck filled with people mostly of midwestern background who far preferred the typical midwestern fare of potato casseroles and three-bean salads and lavish desserts to something that is known as "health food." I did catch myself feeling offended when people didn't seem to be spooning MY food up or even trying it.

So yes. What you eat seems to be everyone's business.

When I've done intermittent fasting in the past during the school year, I must have about five people asking me every single day at lunch, "What? Aren't you eating? Why not? Isn't that unhealthy? Oh, I could never do that."  And if it was only one time, I could handle it. But when it's every single day. ("What? You're still not eating?") it gets so annoying that I want to throw my hands up and say, "OKAY! Uncle!!! I will eat a fricking salad!"

It doesn't matter if I try to explain the health benefits of fasting for me -- better hormone regulation, more energy, mental clarity, more time (think how much time is focused around food, preparing meals, contemplating what to eat next, etc), more money, better regulation of blood sugar (ironic, yes?), endorphin highs on and off throughout the day (just all things I've noticed for myself -- do your own research if you're curious for more scientific explanations of benefits of fasting), better exercise energy, less bloating, weight regulation.  Everyone is caught up in the whole breakfast is the most important meal of the day myth that the nutritionists brainwashed by the cereal makers have touted for a long time. And all this b.s. that your metabolism is stoked all day if and only if you eat frequent meals.  What in the world did humans do for all the many years that we didn't have the privilege of having so much food available to us twenty-four/seven? The metabolism being stoked thing may or may not be true. I suspect there is truth to it but that it's too minuscule to truly benefit us on a major level. What's more important is that a slower metabolism might actually be better for longevity and better health and the slowing down of aging as proven in some studies with mice with highly restricted calorie diets and low metabolisms as a result of those low-calorie diets (google stuff on CR studies and mice, there's a lot of research out there, as well as people who are trying to live that lifestyle).

So here is what I do:

I let myself a small eating window from about 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Some people do 36-hour fasts. I've tried that once before and it's simply not for me. While I was proud of myself for doing it. It's too hard to not have any reward the whole day. So anyway, I do a 22-hour fast.  It's important to distract yourself when you first do the fasting. It takes a few days or even weeks to fully get used to it, and you WILL feel extreme symptoms from your body begging you to eat, eat, eat, especially at your previously usual meal times.  Your stomach might growl at embarrassing moments. You might feel headachy. You will feel irritable. Your body is not in danger. It's just being a brat. It hasn't learned yet that you WILL feed it, but later.  Drink lots of tea/coffee/water, even diet soda if you like (diet soda is questionable because of the fake sugar which I am suspicious of and it could screw up your blood sugar while fasting). Seltzer water is a good friend.  The fizz fills you up and it's just water. When it's time to eat, eat what you want. Don't yet worry about carb counts, fat grams, or calories. That can come later, if you choose to continue this as a lifestyle.  I always eat healthy stuff first (gazpacho made with farmer's market veggies - YUM, and fresh raspberries), then eat whatever you've been desiring that day. Eat until full. Notice I said FULL, not stuffed. You're not binging thoughtlessly, you're not stuffing yourself when you're full. You eat what is pleasurable to you UNTIL full, not while full.  If you want cake, have cake. If you want cheesy enchiladas, have those.  Be satisfied both physically and mentally. Nibble a bit before your eating window closes. Then stop. If you drink alcohol, wait until you've had food in your stomach to partake. Later you can tweak your diet so that it's more balanced/healthy etc. Right now, just get used to using the eating window to satisfaction.

So it's gone great the last few days for me. I feel better, and more importantly, I feel accomplished and disciplined, like I can follow through on something and do it. This is the first step of many in my quest to end my ADHD mind and live the life I want to live.

MAJOR DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or nutrition expert. I'm just my own guinea pig. Fasting isn't for everyone. Do not attempt if you have diabetes or other major health issue, have a history of eating disorders, are pregnant or nursing, are a child or teenager (still growing), or have other issues that might be aggravated by fasting, like migraines. If you try it and get dizzy or faint, eat something! This is not supposed to be torture or a way to end up in the hospital. Fasting might not be for you at all or you might have to start small (start skipping breakfast for awhile until your body gets used to that then increase by an hour every day).

Chernobyl Diaries - when Extreme tourism goes wrong....

Chernobyl Diaries

IMDb says: Six tourists hire an extreme tour guide who takes them to the abandoned city Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. During their exploration, they soon discover they are not alone.


I saw this movie in the theater and I had a lot of fun with it. I went in with absolutely zero expectations, since well, the title says it all. I knew ahead of time that the characters would likely be whiny American tourists for whom I would have little sympathy making dumb mistakes. In truth, the best part about this movie is the build up and character development. Okay, maybe not stellar, but for a horror movie, pretty awesome. I actually liked the main female character and actually connected quite a bit with her.


Things go dreadfully wrong when the shady tour guide's van doesn't start just as sun is beginning to set on this creepy, abandoned city.  The atmosphere is everything in this movie and it is indeed CREEPY. I had goosebumps. I was even saying to myself, "This has to be one of the scariest movies I've seen!"  Because I had gotten to know the characters, I was right there with them, feeling more and more trapped and freaked out as the sun went down. And there ARE things that go bump in the night. Major radioactive bump.


However, the movie ultimately disappoints.  The last third of it made very little sense, there were bizarre plot holes (like why, why, why was one of the girls able to get away one or two times when all other victims were ripped apart or taken away right away? Hint: Probably because she was blond and pretty and helpless.).  


The ending was horrible and dumb and well, rather laughable.  It ruined the whole movie for me.


Oh, there was a random bear at one point. Random bear was random. I just had to throw that out there, especially for Saturday Sequins and Mr. Sequins. 


Vacation Gone Wrong Factor: ***** Starting with random bear and ending with, well, ending, nobody gets out alive. Extreme tourism? Extreme ways to meet your maker, I'd say.
Did I care about the characters factor: **** Yes, for the most part. At least the main character. I so wanted her to live.
Verdict: ***  Yeah, those writers should be sent on an Extreme Tour of sitting on their butts in front of the computer to come up with an ending that doesn't suck. 

oh my gosh, has it actually been this long?

There is a big reason for my silence, and all will be revealed soon, but let's just say in a very cryptic manner that huge things are happening. As a result, have not been much in a blogging mood.  But as I would like to get back into regular blogging, I am going to organize some thoughts and pick something to blog about every other day, even if it's the minute and boring details of Mo and I's six-mile walks.

But today I am doing something amazing for myself. This will sound like the silliest, cheesiest thing ever, but I am creating a big poster board filled with pictures of things that I truly love in my life and that I want in my life. The only problem is that my printer is only black and white and so I find these amazing pictures of my future cottage by the sea, for example, and it just doesn't look as impressive on my posterboard without the turquoise sea in the background. I think I would suggest that anyone who is  depressed, grieving, or at a big life crossroads or even if you just have a vague wish for something specific for the future, this project is amazing and it makes me feel amazing to do it. I just keep looking at it and thinking of other things that I could add to it. Eventually I'd like to figure out how to make the pictures colorful and how to write my comments on it in something other than scribble-scrabble handwriting (never my forte, never my forte). Then again, I suck at scrapbooking, and this is essentially like scrapbooking, only it's like you're making a wish for your future instead of scrapbooking things that have already happened.  I will never show this thing to anyone, ever, so no pictures.

Hope everyone is doing well!