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/