Fasting day 27 Nov 23 2008 Weight Unknown

So I missed a couple of no-eat days (for the first time). I had to drive to DC for a meeting. It started on an eat day but I drove home on a fast day. But I couldn't not eat while on the road. So then I made even the next day after an eat day. But I picked up the fasting routine after that. Todays fast was pretty good.

I made Moroccan vegetable stew with couscous tonight. Here is what I did.
Saute onions in pressure cooker for 10 min until very soft.
Add one cut up potato, sweet potato, celery, carrots.
Add about 4-5 cups homemade vegetable broth.
Salt pepper, a little tumeric, cinnamon, 2 threads saffron, a little red pepper.
One small can of tomato sauce.
Bring to pressure for 10-15 minutes, release pressure.
Add one cut up zuccini and a can of chick peas (rinsed).
Put lid back on half way and bring to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Serve with couscous.

Will eat this for lunch today.

Fasting day 24 Nov 15 2008 183 lbs.

I'm gaining weight? How is it possible? Maybe I'm eating too much rich food. I will try to eat large quantities of lean healthy food from now on on eat days.

I really really want to break the 180 pound barrier. Must say though, that I feel pretty good today and i think I look lean. I still haven't cheated since I began ADF, BTW.

Cooking-wise I made some vegetable soup. My kid likes soups. I also made those chicken "nuggets" again. Let me provide the recipe:

Take one chicken breast half. Cut it on the bias at about 1/4 inch thick starting from the thick end (the top part of the breast). Season each slice with salt pepper and "italian seasoning" (my favorite). Dredge in seasoned flour, then dip in egg then cover with seasoned bread crumbs. Deep fry for a few minutes or so. EAT. These come out pretty good usually. And really not that much more difficult to make than processed kind (provided you have a deep fryer full of oil ready to go, which I do). I like starting with ingredients that I can recognize. Those bagged nuggets scare me a little. They are most likely made from odds and ends that were not pretty enough for another purpose. Hmmm.

Fasting day 22 Nov 11 2008 180.5 lbs.

So I seem to be stuck at this weight. Also I seem to be more hungry in the evenings of no-eat days than before. Could it be that my body is trying to hold on to this weight?

I have concluded that I should eat more on eat days.

Although it seems to be getting more difficult I plan to continue. I like the weight loss effect. I have not been at this weight since the early 90s so I feel much different. Going up stairs, running around is much easier. Did some push ups and sit ups in the evening. These also seem to be easier as well. And stretching my hamstrings. Am I more flexible than before? Could be.

Yesterday I made beef stew in the PC. I didn't have the seasoning mix so I winged it. It came out good. I used the standard technique but included a small can of tomato sauce in the liquid (and some red wine). Added my usual "Italian Herbs" mix. I took a pic but forgot to transfer to the computer. Will post it later. OK I did.

Fasting day 21 Nov 9 2008 180.5 lbs.

Nothing remarkable to report. I seem to be hanging around at this weight. I will be happy when I break below the 180 barrier. Not cooking anything of note lately. Not that the stuff that I DO cook is exceptionally noteworthy. When I make something I like I will post it however.

I guess i should mention that I am noticing the weight loss in terms of day to day stuff like going up stairs or just walking. I feel lighter on my feet for sure. My pants that were too tight before now fit just right, maybe even a little loose now. I don't know if that is because they have stretched out or because I am losing weight. Probably both. I will have to get some new pants eventually. I will get some good raw demin jeans.

Fasting day 19 Nov 5 2008 180.5 lbs.

Lets talk about fries. They are a good whole food. Potatoes. Some salt and ketchup. What could be better? ADF is the only diet where you can eat them as much as you want and still lose weight. All you Atkinsers can't eat 'em. And you low fatters too (unless you bake them).

So how do you make them at home? Dont' get the bagged ones from the frozen food section at the supermarket. Those have oil in them already and other things to stabilize them like starches and stuff. Start with potatoes. Much easier and cheaper. In the case below I tried sweet potatoes. Peel them and cut them up into uniform fry shapes. Oh and you need a little home deep fryer. These are cheap. I have one that can cook one potato worth of fries at a time. Any more and the oil cools down too much. But this is enough for me.

So get the oil good and hot in your fryer. Put the freshly peeled and cut potato pieces in. Let 'em go until the just start to turn a very light golden color. Take 'em out and drain on paper towel. Let them rest for about 10 minutes or so. They continue to cook on the inside this way. Then when you are ready to eat, just put them back in to the oil until they get a deep golden color. I usually do this after I flip the burger that I am making. That way the burger and fries are done at the same time. Take the fries out, drain and salt them immediately.

I save the oil in the fryer and use it again until I feel that it has been used enough. Then only exchange a fraction of it. The old oil makes the fries taste better.

BTW a good no-eat day today. Better than the previous one.

Fasting day 18 Nov 3 2008 182 lbs

Missed a few posts...all is going well with ADFing. Haven't cheated yet. Made some great vegetarian minestrone soup yesterday. Vegetable broth was made in the pressure cooker using the usual leftover carrots onions celery (plus a half a tomato, and some cilantro, and some green onions). Throw in a handful of peppercorns. Cooked at high pressure for 1 hour then turned off heat and let sit while we went outside. Came back and strained it out into a soup pot and added lots of fresh vegetables including carrots, potato, onion and corn cut from the cob. Added a small can of tomato sauce and some white wine. Cooked it for about 20 minutes at slow simmer. Then added some zucchini, canned kidney beans, and elbow pasta (left over from when I made mac and cheese a while back). Lots of salt and pepper and italian herbs.

Served it with homemade chicken "nuggets" that I fried up in my deep fryer. I write about these at a later time.

Update 7:20 pm: Pretty darn hungry today...perhaps not enough to do?