Day 3 of Fast

More restless sleep, more muscle cramping.

1. 0600  --  260.4lbs - 120/73 

This was the lightest I have been since November.... 2017...  That was extremely motivating!

With the help of a little more bone broth (90 calories I made it to the 72 hour mark). So all of 170 calories in 3 days. Broke my fast proper with a visit to a Vietnamese Pho place (so more bone broth! But this stuff was so much better).

Overall impressions? I can do this, and I think I can do this for longer (I can't believe I am writing this but I would be interested in doing a 7 day fast sometime in the future). I might even be able to incorporate back in my exercise into this (I think in particular in the beginning, as an effort to burn out the sugar in the bloodstream and speed the transition to ketosis). I really wasn't crazy hungry and things were busy enough.  I think this would be easier without kids (because they need things like food and it is hard to be around food when doing this). I definitely wouldn't do another 3 day where it goes over weekend (though with this being a drill weekend I was away and busy).  I really didn't feel as off as I expected, a pleasant surprise.

After re-feeding and a full cycle of meals, 48 hours after that weight I was 265.8, which was still better than a when I started.

Day 2

Restless sleep (but somehow a Fitbit sleep score of 78 on 7:26 of sleep). Some Crazy more muscle cramping, I was in a meeting and had 3-4 muscles all messing with me at the same time.

1. 0700  --  263.9lbs - 133/87 69bpm
2. 1230 --  Still feeling mostly fine other than the cramping issue. Amazingly my stomach is not crying out right now for food as I expected/feared. Coffee and an electrolyte mix (I really like this one, Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Hydration Powder, Grape ) have kept me going, will probably switch to macha tea in the afternoon to ease the caffeine load. 40 hours in  
3. 1600  --  265.9lbs
4. 2137  -- 264.8lb

I broke down a touch (though it depends where you read if it was ok) and had a package of bone broth in the evening. So all of 80 calories in more than 2 days.

Day 1

Last food was at roughly 1900 last night.  Slept poorly but there is something about the taco's we had for dinner that doesn't settle well (massive acidity in stomach.. I am trying different variations to find what is causing it, onions just got excluded). Overall this will be the easy day, at least until 1800 or so, because that is normally when I break a 24 (ish) hour fast.  60bpm resting heart rate.

1. 0800  --  268.6lbs - 44 waist
2. 1600  --  267lbs - 44 waist.  129/98 67bpm

Only odd effect so far has been some cramping. That and some grumbling from my stomach.... But I have been prone to cramping for a long time so I cannot blame this (yet).....

I started with this which got me into 24 hour fasts:

Eat Stop Eat: Intermittent Fasting for Health and Weight Loss

Then I moved to my reference for this:
The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended


Note: Today I had a physical. Then I had to take our sick cat Legend in.Who the vet not so subtly told me needs to be put down, there is no return to normal (pain free) for him. FML, I almost broke this thing before it started since I _really_ wanted a drink after that news...

Not quite dead (but I may feel like it in a few days)

Going to use this to sort of live blog my new experiment, trying a longer fast. I have been doing a number of short 20-24 hour fasts for several months now (minus travel, holidays and extreme stress times). So given the fact that I may have to be taped this weekend (but no PT test) I figured it would be chance to maybe lose an inch or so from the waist and try to extend my to (*gulp*) 72 hours. I already had to fast for both my annual physical as well as my annual Army physical, so why not combine them.
I have been reading so many good things about the benefits of extended fasting that I am kind of interested to see how it goes. Not horribly excited, but interested to see how it goes.  I predict that Thursday night will be the worst because my body is used to eating after a 24 hour fast and isn't going to be happy.

The 24 hour (ish) Fasting Experiment

I like experimenting with various ways to try to lose weight.  I am in the Army National Guard and at this point don't want to get kicked out for my weight, as I will have just completed 14 years of service at the end of this month.

Over the years I have tried Adkin's, Keto, Intermittent Fasting(IF), etc. I like the science behind fasting but honestly, I find IF burdensome as, while it claims to be intermittent in practice most people do it 5-7 days a week. I actually like breakfast (even after my time in AFG where it was my dinner for 6 months) so I was never good at following a consistent IF plan. Then early last month I found some references to a book, "Eat, Stop, Eat," (by Brad Pilon) that intrigued me. Basically the book breaks down to just trying to go for 24 hours 2x a week (for those of us who are overweight... so America as a whole, then if you get really close you can drop to 1x week). I love that the book has something like 20 page of scientific citations at the end. And even besides fat loss there are additional health benefits to a 24 hour fast that made it an easy sell to me.  

So the basic numbers when I started the first fast on 13FEB19:

Weight: 275.1 lbs

RHR: 62 bpm

After 3 full weeks of 2x Fasting for 24hrs (08MAR19):

Weight: 265.2 lbs

RHR: 55 bpm

Interesting note, you can see my RHR spike during drill(1-3MAR)....  I was less than good going to the gym (only 2-3 time a week) during this period, but because I have a record APFT coming up, I need to get moving on that.

I also had a checkup on 28FEB19 and I will need to have some more blood work done in 3 months, so that should have some interesting nuggets. (one desire of this trip is to not need BP meds anymore)

I will check back in next month to see how things are going.  I find that while I am hungry, I don't feel tempted to cheat.  During these fast periods I try to be as strict as I can be, developing a taste for black (but with fake sugar) coffee and lots of water. I generally break the fast with some probiotics (fermented garlic, sauerkraut, plus maybe some kefir) and carrots/hummis.

Preparing to live the Vampire Lifestyle

So I have been MIA from the blog for a while now. Mainly I have been living life, getting in good food, alcohol and experiences that, other than a 2 week reprieve at some point, I will not have for the next 10-11 months. Fun things like going to Kings Dominion, celebrating my brothers birthday and eating at good restaurants.

But now the time starts to wind down, as I am rapidly approaching the tunnel that eventually I will see the light at the end of...

I do intend to blog as much as I can about my deployment (OPSEC is something that needs to be internalized) so depending on the situation I aim to keep a steady stream of updates, delayed as the situation warrants (probably all will get a solid month delay, just because that is easy to do in blogger and that really cuts down on the potential for any violation).

As to the title? That's from the fact that I have been informed that I will be working the night shift at the Brigade-led TOC that serves as a control element for the Combined Team Somewhere (normally the name of the province, protected in this case) - CTS. I get to be the Plans and Future Ops Officer in Charge (OIC) for the S-6 (Communications) shop. So other than being the only Signal Officer (SIGO) awake during that shift I also will be working very closely with the S-3 (Operations, the planning element for the unit), making sure that I read all the OPORDs (Operational Orders) with an eye toward Signal issues and also write the sections that the S-6 is responsible for. Or at least that is the plan until I get in-country.

At least I have some time to plan some additional items to bring along that may make this whole sleep during the day, have breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast lifestyle somewhat more tolerable. Only plus side is that it keeps me closer to DC time so communications may be easier.

Chicago Urbanathalon

"Don't cross the streams. Why? It would be bad." - Ghostbusters

Too bad the people that run this race didn't pay attention to this directive, as, for the first time ever at a running event, I had across the flow of runners coming back from another part of the race. This is a bad idea. Along the lines of never, ever do this.... This may be the worst managed race I have ever been to, with awful pre-race communications and very few volunteers on the actual course.

Overall however it was a lot of fun. I was dirty, sweaty, bruised and bloody by the end of the race, but it was very fulfilling to cross that finish line (even if I needed a boost on the final wall). My final time was 2:15. If it was just a 10 miler (total distance was 9.75 miles) I would be quite sad with that time, but given the obstacles I find it tolerable.

And the obstacles were fun and challenging (mostly)!

• Obstacle 1: The concrete beam - not even a challenge. The Big tire - oomph. First try had me "wiley e. coyote"-ing down the side. After stepping back and figuring out I slammed myself up and then crawled over (losing one of my pins holding my number on). The little tires - not even an issue.
  
• Obstacle 2 - jersey barriers to go over, police barriers to crawl under. This was an apparently endless set of 3 of each. It was quite an endurance exercise, since you had already run 4+ miles at that point. I cut my finger at this point.
• Obstacle 3 - Crawl over cars - aborted because it was unsafe per race officials. Marine High Hurdles - whoah... There we 6 of these. I think everyone knew I was going over them (based on my war cries). A very ouchy process of hurling yourself at the target and hauling yourself over. Very proud I did these right.
• Obstacle 4 - Some sort of high/bear crawl under net - too easy for a guy who has done military low crawls for 1-200 meters. Monkey bars - Short and quick. Only holdup was some chick who froze on the last bar in front of me.

And then my left hamstring locked on me and I lurched .5 mile, stopped to pee and then moved onward.

• Obstacle 5 - Lots of stairs. Lots!!! Another holdup due to poor traffic control and obsticle management. lots of standing around in crowds moving very slowly.
• Obstacle 6 - The final obstacle. Car - Half stomped over one. Then tried to be all police show-y and slide across the next, failed and got stuck, so more clomping. Bus - Climb over net then back down. *Yawn* to anyone who has been in the military (and by that I mean Army and Marine). Wall - I did fail on the first attempt and was not too proud to accept a hand from a neighbor to get over.

I wore my Vibram Five Fingers for the race. There were about 20 people also wearing them (apparently our secret club acknowledgement is to say "nice shoes" to someone else wearing them. I learned this by the repeated call of that from the people who passed me). My feet are somewhat beat up even on Monday but in more of a just overstretched/tight perspective.

This was the first race that I have ever personally traveled for (since DC has so many great races nearby). Not sure I will do this again in the near future, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to hang with the family (3 of my 4 brothers ran it (see above pic) and the respective wives and GF's (including my GF H) came in addition to our parents.). We ate our way across the city (pizza and other assorted foods) in celebration.

CupcakeCamp 2010

Wow, I think I am in diabetic shock. My Girlfriend (above), who I often refer to as CupCake Girl, decided that she really wanted to attend this event. She even signed me up and we both got to attend.

There were an amazing number of cupcakes. I think we sampled (shared) some 20 of them (in our defense a number of them were mini's). I actually reached the point, even though there were more cupcakes coming down the stairs that I felt I had to stop.... And then go for a long ass walk to clear some of the sugar out of the system.

Overall the cupcakes were great (amazingly the first one was probably the best). I kind of feel sorry for the people at the end, since we pretty much reached a point of shock from the sheer number and variety of the cupcakes. I didn't quite get the people who were taking them home (I thought the whole point was socially sharing the cupcakes, not grabbing ones to take home).

Overall a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Independence Day 5000

So while a few of my siblings were off on a bar crawl, me and H (aka Cupcake Girl) signed up for and ran the "first annual" (funny that they kept wanting to use annual.... in my world that requires that they have done it at least once). It was a great course, a little hilly (though there was a payoff in the end when we got to race down to the end to finish strong). I finished in a touch over 10 minute miles (tolerable given my lack of training in the past 3 weeks thanks to Uncle Sam). H also gave a respectable 14 or so minute mile.

We capped off the evening (the race started at 1930) with some Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches (and some bubble tea for me) at the Eden Center.

Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon

What a wonderful day for a run! I was concerned based on the weather recently (last weekend was awful) but Mother Nature really put out all the stops and gave us a wonderful Mothers Day.
Overall this was a pretty great race, relatively flat, attractive view and of course my GF, H, was there to cheer me on. My only issues were that this course is not the most accessible supporters and that they really could have used another couple of porta-potties.

Final time? 2:24. Basically 11:00/mi. And that included a 2-3 minute visit to one of those scarce porta-potties on the second loop.

Not my personal best, for 2 factors. One was that I made a critical fail and went one scone too far in my pre-race breakfast/snack. Normally I do some toast and tea, but today was tea and scones (3 large ones). And I paid for that indulgence for 3/4 of the race, where I did not make my best time since I had to stop more frequently to prevent myself from vomiting. Additionally this race I was about the heaviest I have been in for quite a while and I could feel that as well.

Now off to celebrate Mothers Day with my Mom!

Blogger HH..

I have never been one to turn down a HH, so yesterday (Friday), me and CupcakeGirl went down to to Public Bar after work. After picking up an empenada across the street (and finally realizing where the bar was) we popped in, scoped out the place and got the most important thing done (obtaining a drink and getting served the largest onion rings I have ever seen (more than an inch tall) we then decided to be social). After getting approached by Francobeans while waiting for our apps we then joined the main party. Saw some faces we already knew (Lexa, Maxie), some we only knew through pictures (Lilu) and some totally new faces (Patrick of The Definitive Dmbosstone). It was fun to put some faces with all the blogs that I read.

Rhodeside Grill

Ever been to a place that does something (in this case, brunch) pretty well and thought, "maybe I should try them for dinner?" I did and I was sorely disappointed.

I truly think that the brunch at Rhodeside is pretty solid, some original dishes and nothing to really complain about. And of course most everyone knows that it is a pretty good place to get a beer (very solid selection of them) because of it's kickball notoriety (at least in Arlington). But I made the mistake of hitting them up for dinner recently.

We started off with calamari. Bleh. Rubbery, the sauce was about as bland as can be, the breading was seriously meh... We did not clean then plate like we would for a good meal.

Then on to the main course.. Rack of ribs for her, Fish and Chips for me. Fries were not well cooked, lacked taste and more than a few were cold. My first sign that things were going to be bad for the main course was the fish and the onion rings had the same breading as the calamari. And darn if I wasn't right. The fish itself was ok. The breading was bad. The ribs were cooked right but they were overwhelmed by the tangy sauce that tasted as though it came from a bottle of KC Masterpiece. There was food left on my plate at the end of this... which for those of you who know me, means that it was bad.

Rhodeside, I will miss you for the brunch, the beer and the convenience, but I will not miss you for the food other than brunch (Rhodeside Grill is on the chopping block due to expansion of the Teachers building that is adjacent to it).

Piola

So my family (parents, a brother and my GF, CG) decided that it would be a good way to cap off the weekend by taking advantage of a fantastic deal that Piola only run on Sunday from 5PM to 10PM. All you can eat pizza for $15.
Basically they have a set list (for the night, they rotate every week) where they come around and offer whatever comes out of the oven to you.

Let me tell you... it was fantastic!! Luckily there were only 2 pizza with the fungus so CG and I were quite happy. I think I got to try every item on the list (minus the ones with fungus on them) and quickly found my favorites (and ones I didn't like... yeah.... I am looking at you eggplant). Very good deal and a great chance to try some pizza's that you wouldn't necessarily commit to an entire pizza of, sight (and taste) unseen.

Army Cupcakes and Cakes

This past Drill I had 2 soldiers retire from my unit (one SSG with 29 years of service and one SFC with 35 years of service). Check out the awesome cupcakes and cakes that one of the Soldiers (who was also leaving, though she was just ETSing) prepared for the "Hail and Farewell" party we had at the end of Drill. She did an awesome job (and the cake/cupcakes tasted as good as they looked).

Taste of the Nation

So yummy!!!!
So full!! (I woke completely full this morning, after passing out from a food coma)

There were so many tasty treats that it is hard even to start. Lots of favorites (Co Co Sala had some awesome stuff), lots of new places and some really great drinks (tried the mixologists drinks.... no wonder they are so popular if all their drinks were as strong as the one the poured last night. As well as good friends like the belgian beers). A very pleasant way to spend an evening (and the best part was that most of it went to a charity).

Freedom takes another hit.

Virginia Passes Smoking Ban
While I personally appreciate the fact that I will be able to come home from VA bars and not smell like I rolled around in an ashtray (given that I do not, now, in the past or in the future, smoke) I kind of appreciate it.
However......
Whatever happened to personal responsibility (no one is forcing me to go to these bars)? Or, y'know, pesky things like property rights (those owners of the establishments should decide what goes on there. A number here in Arlington are smoke free already by choice (choose... yes, I like that word, choose). They decided to see if the market was right for them, and offered a choice to the consumers.

I know that a lot of y'all are celebrating this, but in this Libertarians world? I am seeing another spark of freedom being extinguished.

Lotsa Food!

So this week is Restaurant Week! And I love trying me some new places to eat.

I am going to include one that did was not RW dining experience.

• Co Co Sala - H and I went there on a Friday night (for V-Day, since she had to work the next night). My this is a yummy place. We started off with 2 delicious drinks (I had a MMM (Malted Milk Martini... it had Bailey's so of course I couldn't resist) and she had a Disia (Lychee Puree)) then ordered 4 Coco Bites (everything is small plate nowadays). My god they do good Mac and Cheese (we ordered one of each) as well as 2 sliders. We followed of course with Chocolate, going with the Aztec Experience with an extra order of tiramisu. So full and satisfied after that evening.
• Georgia Browns - My RW Dinner. We went with beers with this meal. I went with the Black Bean Soup (meh.. it was okay), Sassafrass BBQ St. Louis Ribs (with Mac and Cheese.... this was so yummy. It just about fell of the bone) and Chocolate Pecan Pie (Good god this was good... chocolate with pecan pie. Who would have thunk it). H had Duck Spinach Salad (pretty good actually), Blue Cornmeal Fried Chicken (I liked it, also really good) and Coconut Cake (really good but not as good as the pie). Yet again, I left stuff. The breads (Cornbread stick and buttermilk biscuits) with Peach butter was fantastic!
• Pinzimini - I took my Mom to lunch here. Not sure what to expect but it is a really nice modern restaurant. We both started with the asparagus crepes (big portion and really tasty), I had the pizza (all Italian meats) and my mom had the fish (Sole, breaded), both were very tasty and the portions were overly generous. We followed it with the tiramisu.

Also in the past week a number of us went to the DC Food and Wine Festival at the Reagan Building. So many wines. It further confirmed my love of German wines (so sweet).

Busy, Busy....

Lots of wearing of the uniform this past week.... I am pretty much done with it for another couple of weeks (assuming I don't get tasked to attend another Army conference next week). We are getting a lot of new equipment in the next 12 months (yes... I am slightly suspicious of this...).

Last Monday to Friday I was out in Austin (I am in shock.... The Army sent me to a place where I wanted to go... I better not get used to this). I love Austin. It is plainly an awesome town.
The running/walking paths around the lake (I was in the Radisson downtown, right next to the infamous bat bridge) are just top notch. On the 3 days that I ran I got in 16+ miles of running (which is important given that I have a 1/2 marathon in only another month or so). Everyone there seemed to be out running/walking/biking... There even were water coolers set out for everyone to use in the parks.

I also availed myself of the fun on 6th Street (very cool, on Thursday they even block off the street to traffic and you can walk down it). And of course BBQ (The County Line provided another fantastic meal).

Then I got back on Friday at 1300 (in Richmond), drove back to DC, spent some time with the GF and then was heading down to my unit (3 hour drive) at 4 AM the next day. We didn't wrap up until 8PM Saturday night, then off to dinner together (officer and senior enlisted bonding time). I didn't get to bed until 1030.. I was so dead. It's funny that as an Officer I never got to spend any time out in the fantastic weather, instead having to see the occasional FB post on it.

I was so wiped after everything that Monday was a serious Mental Health/Physical health (I was seriously wiped and the travel left me with a tickle in my throat). Hope y'all had a good day.

Vegas!!!!

Really? What is not to love?

I did spend a lot of time at the poker tables (I won't bore you other than mention this one hand where I got quad 9's on the river and took in an almost 300 pot!!). I actually left Vegas with more cash in my pocket than when I left (so while I had budgeted more than $600 for gambling I used up none of it... all told with meals and whatnot the trip cost less than $500).

Coolest part of the trip? I went to the Penn & Teller show and got picked from the crowd to be part of their gun trick (shocking I know for anyone who knows me). Still working on exactly how the trick works, but it is pretty cool. My brother, D, wanted to kill me when I stuck my hand up and volunteered to get up on stage... it was pretty funny! It was pretty cool to be up there (Army has taken care of my fear of crowds and public speaking... and embarrassment...).

Lots of good food (breakfast in Paris, last dinner in Mandalay Bay's buffet). Best find of the trip? Ellis Island Casino. They have this fantastic meal where for 6.99 you get: a imperial pint of beer (their own brew), a salad (big and not adorned by anything other than dressing and croutons), a side of garlic green beans (not a fan of green beans mostly, but these were fantastic), a potato and a 10 oz steak (very good). It was right around the corner from Paris (if you went the quick way... not so around the corner if you choose the wrong direction).

O'Sheas Casino has beer pong!! Pretty cool!!

The Italian Store

First of a bunch of reviews of places that I love to eat (generally corrosponding with me eating there the night or day before):

God I love this place. While I of course have my Arlington bias (notable since I can often go a week or more and not leave my beloved A-town), The Italian Store is one of the best places for 2 notable items in the area:

• Hands down? The best NYC style pizza in the area? Whatever they do, its so close to a good slice in NYC that it defies description.
• Great classic subs. Awesome bread (I always do hard so I cannot comment on the soft), quality ingredients, and top notch meats and cheese.

I had the pleasure of dining there (or picking up for a night in front of the TV with some gread subs and some good TV(finished True Blood) and a great girl to watch them with). We got a classic slice, the Tradizionale, (just cheese) and a slice of the supreme, Pizza Suprema (tomatoes, pepperoni, onions, italian sausage and black olives). Then we got subs to go with them, The Capri (Prosciutto (a delicately cured ham) blended with genoa salami, provolone cheese andspiced capacola ham) and Philly (Genoa salami, capacola & Danish ham, and provolone, on a hard crusty roll finished off with lettuce,tomato, onions, peppers, oregano, & our famous olive oil dressing).

I think I am still full today.. We didn't even have room for the dessert that we picked up there.

They also have an excellent selection of wines and pretty much everything else you need to make a delicious Italian meal.

I consider that I am lucky that I live so close to this awesome store. And other people seem to share that opinion since the wait to get a sandwich at the prime times are impressive, somtimes exceeding 30 minutes.

The Italian Store
3123 Lee Hwy
Arlington, Virginia 22201-4207
Phone: (703) 528-6266