Disclaimer:
I am not a medical professional. What I write about are my thoughts on my own subjective experiences, not health advice for other people. I like to try new things as I seek to improve my health, and I encourage others to check different reputable sources before implementing any “radical” lifestyle changes. Whether it be adopting a vegan diet or experimenting with fasting protocols, please proceed at your own risk. Contact your trusted healthcare provider if you need further guidance. For now, that is all.
I have to admit that the reduced need for sleep while fasting at first seemed like a positive. Steady energy levels, okay focus and attention span, a calm mood, and an improved ability to snap out of a trance induced by spending hours surfing the web if I so desired were nice perks.
Nonetheless, I also felt somewhat tired. It’s similar to when you have been doing a bunch of menial errands or chores all day and then take a break for a couple of hours. You are not so tired that you need to take a three hour nap on the spot, but you might hesitate driving more than 75 minutes round-trip to hang out with relatives and/or friends. I don’t know, maybe that’s just my experience.
Since my sleep schedule is somewhat off, I remembered extremely early in the AM on Saturday that I should probably take some electrolytes since this was technically 96+ hour fast. I decided I could make an unsweetened turmeric, black pepper, and clove powder tea and a small amount of minerals. I placed the kettle filled with water on the stove and waited for it to boil. I mixed the spices and a heaping teaspoon of this in a tall mug:
I got this on Amazon when I started experimenting with fasts that lasted more than two days. Apparently, some people excrete too much potassium through their urine and sweat while fasting for extended periods of time. As such, they become susceptible to heart complications and nerve tremors. I personally have only ever had slight, fleeting headaches that last a second or two after fasting for more than 72 hours, and they have gone away when I drink water. I got this as a precaution as well as this pouch:
This latter potassium bicarbonate pouch was hidden (between cereal boxes because my mom loves to move things around), so I did not include it with the spiced beverage. I proceeded with my day by surfing the web and chatting with friends, but then I felt sleepy and decided to turn off all of the electronics. I also closed the blackout curtains and snuggled under the blankets in my cold room. I slept for over 10 hours and laid in bed after waking for another hour. The magnesium may have acted as a muscle relaxant. I felt rested, but oversleeping also made me tired. Two steps forward, and one step back.
Once midnight came and went, my brain and stomach conspired against me. I started feeling hungry. It wasn’t “FEED ME, SEYMOUR!!!” bad, but it was persistent. I held out for an hour until the images of food slowly faded in my mind. On a whim, I decided to leave my laptop and go downstairs for some water. I saw a bag of clementines and a canister of crispy fried onions and caved. Time to feast!
I ate a lot over the next three hours. I devoured: a total of five clementines (the Cuties from California you get at Kroger); a small carton of blackberries; half of those crispy fried onions (the ones you use on green bean casseroles); the leftover black bean noodles (very tasty, but I hate how microwaves cook food unevenly); half of a roasted camote (also called batata, boniato, or white yam, depending on where you are from) my mom left behind; about 9 slices of organic sprouted bread (one of those multigrain ones) from Kroger that I toasted in the air fryer; and half of the jar of Meditalia Basil Pesto (it’s okay for a vegan tapenade, but real pesto is ten times better) I had left in the fridge, see below:
Needless to say, I showed no more self-restraint, but that’s what I do on a regular basis. Oh, I also did the soybean paste test comparison (Doenjang vs Red Miso) I talked about in my earlier post. Surprisingly, I didn’t have much of an upset stomach. I fortunately don’t have persistent heartburn that often anymore since I started cutting back on heavily processed foods. The citrus and bread and Doenjang at first did not seem to get along in my digestive tract, but they thankfully decided to ignore each other on the way down.
TMI: My stool was loose and watery until Monday morning, but I expect that by now when fasting.
My next meal was not until Sunday night. My brother returned from NYC and generously got me my usual vegan pie from MOD pizza. I wanted to ask him about his trip, but he insisted I go eat first because he was tired from the shuttle trip and didn’t want to deal with stairs. When I came back, he was already turning off the lights to go to bed. Oh, bother.
When hunger returned, I decided to make tofu because I still need to buy some more ingredients before I attempt Jjigae (i.e. mushrooms, zucchini, etc.). I proceeded to cut a block of firm tofu, but I instantly regretted it because the extra firm block was hidden in the back of the refrigerator. For me, the firm tofu still contains too much liquid, even after pressing between paper towels. Whatever, I started browning one side of the quadrilateral prisms -they were not really cubes- in olive oil with a couple of squirts of Bragg Liquid Aminos seasoning and black pepper. (This all happened in the large skillet because I don’t deviate from what works when I’m trying to prepare a quick meal.)
For the sauce, I combined three-quarters of a teaspoon of Doenjang (for the umami punch and saltiness), a teaspoon of gochujang, a tablespoon and change of molasses, two tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, black pepper, some grated ginger, and four minced garlic cloves in a bowl. I thinned out the goo with water because the pastes were not mixing readily.
I flipped the tofu and cooked it some more before adding the sauce. Once I became impatient and realized no think crunchy crust was forming, I dumped the sauce into the skillet so that it coated all of the tofu slices. I let the sauce reduce, and it became more of a glaze. The Doenjang and gochujang made the kitchen smell funky, but that passed as sauce cooked some more. The lid went on top of the skillet for two minutes because I didn’t want the food to dry out too much, but I worried for nothing. I noticed some of the garlic and tofu was charring, so I took the skillet off the heat and got this:
The contents of the flowery plate were redder and less gross in real life, but I did not want to eat them on their own. So, I decided to get mixed greens (the organic 50/50 blend from Kroger) and toast bread in the air fryer to make lazy tofu sandwiches:
Putting the greens on an even layer without massive spilling was a challenge (I don’t usually eat sandwiches at home if that was not abundantly clear, HAHAHA), but I made it work, sort of:
I made the second sandwich with even more greens piled on top of the tofu because I wanted all of that chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments inside of me.
The taste of the tofu was nice. And there was no funk from the Doenjang. Overall, it was very slightly salty (in a pleasant way), good kick from the ginger, and the garlic and molasses added a wonderful flavor. There was some residual heat that started to build up from the gochujang, but it was extinguished by the bread and mixed greens. I enjoyed it.
I made another block of tofu the same way, but I roasted the extra firm tofu slices for 8 minutes at 370 ºF in the air fryer. As expected, they maintained their shape better and were not as soggy. I didn’t get that crispy outside I wanted, so I will experiment with tapioca starch because that has worked in the past (it’s messy, though). I ate it with sesame seeds and mixed greens since I ran out of bread. It was an interesting salad. For those taking notes, I think it would be infinitely better if the tofu pieces were left marinating in the sauce (raw liquid or cooked until reduced, I wonder which would yield better results?) overnight. Otherwise, the insides never fully absorb the exterior flavors. Also, I forgot to caramelize the sauce (I was too focused on preventing the tofu from charring), so I can still feel some of the funk of the Doenjang between my teeth. It’s like eating stinky cheese.
I drank some water to wash it all down. For dessert, I ate two small crates of raspberries. I’m full, not stuffed, as I type this. In a bit, I’ll get or make a refreshing smoothie.
A Time to Try New Things 