I don’t know if it’s diet-related or what, but I have been waking up in a great mood the past few days! And full of energy! Karla asked the other day if I have been feeling sluggish throughout the day, and I am happy to report that my energy level has not been compromised at all since starting this intermittent fasting trial. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that I am more energetic. Of course, I haven’t attempted a vigorous workout in the fasting window, so that might affect my energy levels (and mood) if I tried that. I think if I do an intense workout that it would be after dinner, sometime before bed. Right now, I’m just taking advantage of the bursts of energy I have by applying it to NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) things, like cleaning and walking around the grocery store—several times. Don’t want to miss a sale! 
Shrinking Appetite
One issue I’ve been having is that when dinnertime comes around I find myself getting full too quickly. It’s not my intention to eat as little as possible during this experiment, it’s to reserve my calories for later on in the day when my fasting window is closed. So getting full not even halfway through my planned menu is troubling knowing that I’ll be tired and going to sleep soon after. Still, I’ve managed to keep my intake hovering around 1400-1600 calories a day, mainly because I don’t skimp on fats and have my snack before bed even if I’m still slightly full from dinner.
Wednesday night’s feast entailed a pizza recipe inspired from a comment in my veggie pita pizza post:
BBQ Quorn, Cheddar, and Broccoli Pizza
BBQ Quorn, Cheddar, and Broccoli Pizza
(vegetarian-friendly)
Crust:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 TBSP agave nectar or honey
- 1 TBSP yeast
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1/4 cup warm water (or add until dough forms)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or salt alternative [Lo Salt], optional
- Combine yeast, water, and agave nectar or honey in bowl; let yeast activate
- Add in flour and mix until dough forms
- Coat bowl and outside of dough with olive oil
- Cover and let sit in a warm area for 3-4 hours or until dough rises
- Preheat oven to 450F degrees, line baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil
- Stretch dough out on baking sheet to desired shape and thickness.
Toppings:
- 2 TBSP BBQ sauce of choice
- About a cup of steamed broccoli florets
- 2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- One Quorn Chik’n cutlet cooked, diced, and tossed in 1 TBSP BBQ sauce
Bake on 450F for about 12-14 minutes or until browned on the bottom.
Makes 4 pieces, 260 calories each
If you don’t know what Quorn is, it’s a soy-free meat alternative that actually tastes, looks, and feels a lot like chicken! I wanted to use their Chik’n Tenders for this, but Shop Rite only had the cutlets. 
By the way, apparently their Chik’n Tenders are soy and gluten-free. However, this is what their web site says:
“Both our Quorn Chicken-Style Tenders and Turkey-Style Roast are free from added gluten, but it is important to note that both of these items are produced in a facility that also processes gluten products.” [Emphasis added]
Translated: Potentially cross-contaminated
You can always use regular chicken if Quorn isn’t your thing. Pork tenderloin would be another great substitute. 
I made a fluffy salad topped with chickpeas and Lindsay low sodium black olives to go along with it
I bought this Maple Grove Farms dressing in Hannaford awhile ago and decided to give it a try on this salad along with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
It’s basically sweetened fruit juice and water, but for only 30 calories per 2 TBSP serving, a little flavor goes a long way.
I liked it!
The pizza was AMAZING! But after the second slice and half of my salad, I was stuffed! I ended up leaving a pool of chickpeas and leafy greens and dressing in my salad bowl. I intended to eat the whole pizza for dinner, but I had a piece of cheese while I was preparing it and lots and lots of water throughout the day, so I had a third slice with my bedtime snack instead.
Intermittent Fasting Day 3 of 7 Menu
|
I don’t have many complaints with this style of eating, thus far. Even my intense hunger throughout the day has subsided a bit by the third day. I imagine your body adjusts to it more and more over time. I guess we’ll see how it goes after a full week. 
Have you seen it?
Dustin and I have been working on moving and redesigning Averie’s blog for several weeks and now, it’s completed! Check it out if you haven’t already!! Love Veggies and Yoga
Tip: For those of you that plan to start a blog, don’t start on blogger.com if you plan to move to WordPress later on! It’s a nightmare moving it. Oy! 
Question: What’s your favorite cheese on pizza? Growing up in NY, most pizza parlors are straightforward: mozzarella or mozzarella! It never occurred to me until a few years ago that you can use just about any cheese on pizza. 
I think mozzarella is still my go-to cheese of choice, but goat cheese is probably my next favorite. Then again, what cheese isn’t fabulous when melted on a crusty bed of dough? 
{ 9 comments }
Oh lady! The things you teach me! I had no idea there was a NAME for non-exercise calories burned. That’s NEAT! (pun intended)
Haha maybe caffeine isn’t the best way to stay energized but oh well!
I’m glad to hear you’ve been full of energy! I had been very sluggish the past few days, but thanks to my new coffeemaker, no nap was needed today
As for the cheese on pizza, I was *this* close to ordering a gorgonzola pizza tonight for dinner but got rigattoni with lamb instead. I’ve had pizza with ricotta and spinach before. Pretty tasty!
I was looking to move my blog from Blogger to WordPress and had a feeling it wouldn’t be an easy task. Thanks for the tip
I am actually making a Mexican pizza for dinner – my base is refried beans and enchilada sauce and my cheese for that one is Monteray Jack – nice and melty!
Off to check out the new blog design for that site – didn’t know what a pain it was to move over to wordpress!
Twitter: avericooks
January 28, 2011 at 7:17 PM
Thanks for the shout, Jenn…and seriously…you and Dustin are miracle workers!
I plan to do a post in the next week or so about why I started on blogger, why I kept putting off the move, and just giving ppl a heads up of what NOT to do when they start their blog
I get tons and tons of compliments every day (and it’s only been up a few days!) but everyone loves it and I am sending them your way
As for the BBQ Quorn, Cheddar, and Broccoli Pizza = awesome! It looks perfect!
And love the print recipe widget
Oh and getting full fast…yes, that happens with veggies to me too sometimes. Veggies are so high in fiber and fiber is filling…but there’s always room for chocolate dessert
Twitter: HLTHYexposures
January 28, 2011 at 7:45 PM
When I ate meat and more meat-imitations products, I LOVED Quorn, and I would still not hesitate recommending them to anybody in a heartbeat. By far the best imitation meat I’ve ever had, and soy-free, too! The pizza looks delicious – now I want to make pizza again!
I’m going to Hannaford’s tomorrow (insert giddy smile here) and will have to keep my eyes peeled for that dressing!
Beautiful job on Averie’s blog. Do you and Dustin have a website with more descriptions of what you do? I’d really like to be able to offer the “print recipe” formatting on my blog and I know absolutely nothing
I’m intrigued by intermittent fasting. My husband reads several blogs that advocate it, and I’m fascinated by your experiment. It’s interesting to read that your appetite is decreasing. I would think if I didn’t eat all day, I would be able to eat two of those pizzas.
I love blue cheese melted on my pizza, that and Parm in the form of pesto.
Twitter: j3nndotnet
January 29, 2011 at 4:03 PM
I was intrigued by it, too! I’m always looking for ways and ideas to make eating creative and get the most out of it, both in nutrition and pleasure.
And yeah, you’d totally think that after not eating all day you could eat a canyon of food, but turns out it often works the opposite way. haha
when you say the pizza makes 4 pieces, is that one crust cut into 4ths? O: regardless that looks DELISH. sharp cheese like cheddar and whole wheat breads are such a good combo.. and you can’t not like broccoli <3
Twitter: j3nndotnet
May 31, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Yep, the whole pizza cut into 4 pieces. The whole pizza contains 1,040 calories. Of course, you can also make them into smaller pieces, too.
Comments on this entry are closed.