Intermittent Fasting Experiment: Week 2 Recap

UPDATED STATS:

Current Weight: 181 lbs

Barbell Deadlift: 190x3

Barbell Bench Press: 135x2

Bodyweight Chin-Ups: 3

Front Barbell Box Squat: 140x2

WEEK 2 THOUGHTS:

Squat day's Red Velvet Cheesecake (recipe from epicureanbb.com)

I am still enjoying this set up very much!  However, I did not lose much weight this week.  (Scale weight isn't the most important thing; an improvement in body composition can happen even while gaining weight, especially with heavy weightlifting involved) It may just be a small scale fluctuation or it may be because I had a couple small hangups this week.

I did eat more calories this week than last.  I had family in town which was awesome, but I changed my schedule around a bit and ended up eating a little on a rest/fasting day.  And then I had a training day in which I didn't track my calories at all so I may have over shot my target by a bit.

Even with the large amount of calories allowed/budgeted on training days, it is still easy for me to just start an all out feast and quickly get to or go over my target for the day.  I've always been the type of person that can eat too much if I am not keeping in check at least little bit.

GOALS FOR THIS PROJECT:

Even though scale weight doesn't mean everything... ideally I would like to get back to a 170 pound body weight by the end of this 8 week experiment.  All while hopefully retaining or gaining strength.  That would be a huge success.  If I continue to hit my protein targets without going too crazy on the calories I think this is doable.  Anyways that's my awesome goal for this project!

CHECK OUT THESE WEIGHT LOSS STORIES:

Mashable: Reddit Weight-Loss Community  These people have truly inspiring stories!

I talked a little about my history in my first post, but I hope to post my story in full in the near future.  (At the moment I don't have access to that many photos of when I was larger.  I need to scour my old files and photos from my computer I left with a friend in Las Vegas and I am planning a trip out there after this project is over.)

LONG TERM GOALS:

-Get Lean! (get to and maintain somewhere between 6 and %10 bodyfat)
-Get Strong! (get to and maintain at least an intermediate level of strength)
-Possibly helping others transform their lives like I have :-)

If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.

Stay tuned!

Intermittent Fasting Experiment: Week 1 Recap

I am going to try to keep this week's post relatively brief.  I am just one week in to the experiment (read lasts week's post if you haven't!) and I am doing quite well, but I don't want to start drawing big conclusions and waving a victory banner of accomplishment or anything!

I'll just recap a little about how the week went according to plan.

Current Weight: 182 pounds (-4 pounds)

One thing to note: if you do try heavy caloric cycling, be prepared for massive changes in day-to-day scale weight!  I went from topping 191.5 lbs after Thursdays's post-w/o feast and on down to 183lbs after a day of fasting.


AWESOMENESS (TRAINING) DAYS:

As long as I kept an eye on about where I ended up for the day, I did not feel guilty about being able to eat some pretty awesomely satisfying meals.

A particular favorite meal of mine this week came on squat day.  After hitting the gym I stopped for a foot long double meat BBQ pulled pork sub.  I followed that up at home with half of a pint of Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch!

This "Meatsplosion" of a sandwich may become a post-w/o staple of mine.  I ain't Jared, but this was quite tasty.

I generally landed near my calorie goal for the day, and ate a lot of protein!  I ate a lot of meats, went out a few times for lunch or dinner and even had a few drinks on one particular day.  I thoroughly enjoyed my training and eating.  The freedom that comes with having a large caloric budget is very nice.

Main lifts this week:

I am not going to comment too much on the lifts either, because this is still just an early week 1 baseline.  However, I am really happy I pushed myself to finally get the 135 on the squat!  A baby step really, but it feels like a big one.

Barbell Deadlift: 190x3
Barbell Bench Press: 130x3
Bodyweight Chin-Ups: 2
Front Barbell Box Squat: 135x3

FASTING DAYS:

Cheetor says, "Did someone say 'Fast?'"

This will obviously be the main potential for downfall and where I will have to focus my reports on how they go.  So far I have no major or unbearable hunger pangs to report.  I have a few hours before work on my fasting days where, if I am bored, I feel a little hungry.   In that scenario I have been drinking diet Mountain Dew Code Red or finding something to do (something mentally stimulating).  But usually I have had enough awesome food the day before to tide me over.   

After work, late at night, is when I do feel some hunger.  I can probably attribute this to a combination of tiredness and stress.  The snacks on the drive home are key for me.  (Just to reiterate my plan, I fast pretty much entirely on my non training days, except for a pretty small allowance after a work shift)

Quest Bars are my favorite option for this purpose.  They are tasty, chewy and full of fiber.  (Another fist pound to RogLaw for introducing them to my life!)  One night after 2 days of fasting I caved and had 2 bars instead of one but that only added 170 calories to my fasting day.

On one particular day, I did not allow myself enough time to stop and buy a bar on my way to work and I had to settle for vending machine Cheetos.  These were not nearly as filling as a Quest bar and the thought of cheating on my fast afterward did come to mind, but obviously I let the thought go, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

As I planned, I believe I have fit this well into my lifestyle because I am busy on my fasting days.  (It also feels nice to fast and feel light on my feet and thin on days where I am serving/bartending.  )

Boom! One week done!

More to come! I will really look at if and/or how I am adapting to the schedule in the next few weeks.

READING MATERIAL:

You didn't forget that this is a nerd's blog, did you?

Here are a couple recent articles by people doing fat loss experiments that I have been reading.  Both talk about some interesting issues, and I will have to take a look at how my own experiment compares.

"The Derek" of TheGreatist and his six week grind to get a six pack of abs:
http://greatist.com/fitness/absperiment-over-week-six/

RogLaw's 2 week update on the experiment that is of course the inspiration for my try at this:
http://www.roglawfitness.com/intermittent-fasting-experiment-the-update/

Also worth reading is this blog that has some recent interesting articles on the possible benefits of caloric cycling:
http://healthcorrelator.blogspot.co.uk/