I'm struggling a bit today, but really want to stay true to what I said I was going to do. I tried to talk myself into eating today, Thursday, and then just fasting tomorrow...but knowing myself, I'll come up with another excuse tomorrow too, so I'm just sticking with fasting today.
Drinking water when I start to feel hungry and really helped too.
Almost done with week 2, so only 1 more week to go. My exercise has stayed the same, volleyball 2 times/week and the gym 1-2 times/week. I can't really tell if anything has changed drastically, but only time will tell. It is hard to eat a "regular" dinner (400-600 calories) on days I fast. I've tried just sticking with what I would "regualarly" eat, but I'm not sure if that's right in line with the 400-600 calories or if I'm eating more. I haven't been cheating on my fast days and snacking, so I feel pretty good about that.
See ya soon!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Hungry...
I started getting hungry today around 11. Luckily I was in a meeting until noon to pass some of the time. I drank a bunch of water to help fill me up a bit and it really did work. I need to make sure I'm doing that throughout the morning, instead of waiting until I'm dying before doing it.
I also had a small piece of chocolate (about the size of a quarter) to help with the hunger. I'm feeling pretty good now, but really looking forward to dinner.
I also had a small piece of chocolate (about the size of a quarter) to help with the hunger. I'm feeling pretty good now, but really looking forward to dinner.
One week down...
I did my first week and it really wasn't too bad since I'm only fasting 2 days a week. I have decided not to weigh myself until the 3 weeks are up, so I don't know if week 1 made a difference or not. I can't really tell if my clothes are fitting differently.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
OH yea!
OH yea, I forgot to put in my starting info.
I weigh 172.4 lbs and am 5'8". I have an athletic body from years of volleyball and strength training, but I'd call my self "soft athletic".
I weigh 172.4 lbs and am 5'8". I have an athletic body from years of volleyball and strength training, but I'd call my self "soft athletic".
Day 1
I started my intermediate fasting yesterday and it really wasn't too bad. I know whenever I start a new program I'm all pumped up, so it might have just been that, but overall it was a good day...and given how much I love food that's saying something!
I had my morning coffee with sugar free flavored creamer (yummy) and that was it. I did get hungry right around 10am, but I concentrated on work and was feeling pretty good by noon. By the time I was driving home from work I was VERY excited for dinner. However, it was more of a mental excitement, instead of a hungry excitement. We had plans to go to one of my favorite burger places for dinner for a while and that always puts a smile on my face. While this is probably not the ideal meal, it was so good, so I really didn't feel too bad! However, I know that normally I would've eaten breakfast, as well as lunch AND then had the burger, so in my warped mind I felt pretty good about it, plus it was pure awesomeness! (Yea I know I have a problem...which I guess explains why I'm writing this blog.)
After dinner I let my food settle and then headed to the gym. I did a quick cardio interval session on the treadmill, listed below. Yea I know it was only 12 minutes, but I was huffin' and puffin' pretty good by the end.
-2 minute warm up at 3.5 mph
-1 minute at 4 mph
-1 min 4.5 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 5.0 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 5.5 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 6.0 mph
-2 min cool down at 3.5 mph
After that I did some multi-muscle exercises. They look a little odd and I'm that weird person who gets embarrassed in front of strangers so I don't normally do anything that makes me stand out; but for whatever reason I didn't care yesterday...and it felt great! I went home and couldn't stop talking to my man about everything that I did at the gym. I was like a little kid who just keeps rambling and stops making sense about 5 minutes into it.
After that I still had loads of energy, so I took the dog for a long walk with some running here and there. Once I got home, I still had a bug in me, so I deep cleaned our entire kitchen! I was scrubbing everything floor to ceiling! It was great! I was worried that with not eating during the day, that I'd feel tired and sluggish once I finally got dinner, but the exact opposite happened.
I have my next fast day tomorrow, so I'm hoping for another great day.
I had my morning coffee with sugar free flavored creamer (yummy) and that was it. I did get hungry right around 10am, but I concentrated on work and was feeling pretty good by noon. By the time I was driving home from work I was VERY excited for dinner. However, it was more of a mental excitement, instead of a hungry excitement. We had plans to go to one of my favorite burger places for dinner for a while and that always puts a smile on my face. While this is probably not the ideal meal, it was so good, so I really didn't feel too bad! However, I know that normally I would've eaten breakfast, as well as lunch AND then had the burger, so in my warped mind I felt pretty good about it, plus it was pure awesomeness! (Yea I know I have a problem...which I guess explains why I'm writing this blog.)
After dinner I let my food settle and then headed to the gym. I did a quick cardio interval session on the treadmill, listed below. Yea I know it was only 12 minutes, but I was huffin' and puffin' pretty good by the end.
-2 minute warm up at 3.5 mph
-1 minute at 4 mph
-1 min 4.5 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 5.0 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 5.5 mph
-1 min 4.0 mph
-1 min 6.0 mph
-2 min cool down at 3.5 mph
After that I did some multi-muscle exercises. They look a little odd and I'm that weird person who gets embarrassed in front of strangers so I don't normally do anything that makes me stand out; but for whatever reason I didn't care yesterday...and it felt great! I went home and couldn't stop talking to my man about everything that I did at the gym. I was like a little kid who just keeps rambling and stops making sense about 5 minutes into it.
After that I still had loads of energy, so I took the dog for a long walk with some running here and there. Once I got home, I still had a bug in me, so I deep cleaned our entire kitchen! I was scrubbing everything floor to ceiling! It was great! I was worried that with not eating during the day, that I'd feel tired and sluggish once I finally got dinner, but the exact opposite happened.
I have my next fast day tomorrow, so I'm hoping for another great day.
Background
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of going to the gym with no results! I understand the math of it all, more going out than is coming in equals weight loss...however for those of us who aren't good with counting calories and even worse at food restriction I figure there's got to be something out there that I can do. I'm not opposed to doing work, but seriously it has to be realistic. So while I was searching the internet for general workout/health/weight loss information I came across the term intermediate fasting. I started looking into it and after a bit of research decided to give it a little try.
I do realize that there is a book/program out there that gives more details on this, Eat STOP Eat by Brad Pilon, and if you're better than me you should probably get it: however, at this time I'm not really sure I want to invest any money. This might be to my detriment, but I'll give it a try for a few weeks and see where I'm at.
You're welcome to do some research on your own, cuz I don't want to bore you with all that mumbo jumbo and I'M NO EXPERT, but here are 2 websites that you can look at for some additional information on intermediate fasting, plus there's a ton more out there if you look for it.
The reason this appealed to me was while reading some information from Brad Pilon, he said (give or take)
the bottom line is you've got to eat less. He's not going to tell you how much less to eat, cuz most people don't stick with counting anyway; so whatever you're eating now, you've got to eat less. He said that no matter how much time you exercise, if you don't eat less you won't get the results you want and that can be long term. Which is why intermediate fasting can be a long term weight loss tool.
I loved this approach!!! This was so me! I kept thinking that I'm going to the gym more, so given the equation I should be losing. But even more than that I loved his, basic simple EAT LESS statement. I know..."no kidding dummy"...but everyone else tries to have you count calories, grams, cut carbs, blah blah blah. I've got a full time family and a full time job, the last thing I was to do is measure out my food each night. (Plus, I've tried this and it lasted about a week.)
The other interesting thing I found out is that your body's "survival mode" of feeding off its own muscle when starved, doesn't kick in until 72 hours without food. So if you do a dinner to dinner fast, then you're only hitting a 20-24 hr mark. Brad says that the key is eating a regular dinner on your fasting days, not to consume an entire days worth of calories in that one meal...which makes sense.
So this is what I've decided to do...
1- Food: Intermediate Fasting 2 times/week: Tuesday's and Thursday's. Eat dinner, then skip breakfast and lunch the next day, followed by a "regular" dinner meal.
2- Activity: I currently play competitive volleyball 2 times a week and go to the gym in addition 1-2 times a week. So I'm gong to stay with the frequency, but change my workout routines to more circuit training and multi-muscle exercises.
3- Timeline: I'm going to give it a try for 3 weeks. That puts me done on Friday, March 4th.
Here we go!
I do realize that there is a book/program out there that gives more details on this, Eat STOP Eat by Brad Pilon, and if you're better than me you should probably get it: however, at this time I'm not really sure I want to invest any money. This might be to my detriment, but I'll give it a try for a few weeks and see where I'm at.
You're welcome to do some research on your own, cuz I don't want to bore you with all that mumbo jumbo and I'M NO EXPERT, but here are 2 websites that you can look at for some additional information on intermediate fasting, plus there's a ton more out there if you look for it.
The reason this appealed to me was while reading some information from Brad Pilon, he said (give or take)
the bottom line is you've got to eat less. He's not going to tell you how much less to eat, cuz most people don't stick with counting anyway; so whatever you're eating now, you've got to eat less. He said that no matter how much time you exercise, if you don't eat less you won't get the results you want and that can be long term. Which is why intermediate fasting can be a long term weight loss tool.
I loved this approach!!! This was so me! I kept thinking that I'm going to the gym more, so given the equation I should be losing. But even more than that I loved his, basic simple EAT LESS statement. I know..."no kidding dummy"...but everyone else tries to have you count calories, grams, cut carbs, blah blah blah. I've got a full time family and a full time job, the last thing I was to do is measure out my food each night. (Plus, I've tried this and it lasted about a week.)
The other interesting thing I found out is that your body's "survival mode" of feeding off its own muscle when starved, doesn't kick in until 72 hours without food. So if you do a dinner to dinner fast, then you're only hitting a 20-24 hr mark. Brad says that the key is eating a regular dinner on your fasting days, not to consume an entire days worth of calories in that one meal...which makes sense.
So this is what I've decided to do...
1- Food: Intermediate Fasting 2 times/week: Tuesday's and Thursday's. Eat dinner, then skip breakfast and lunch the next day, followed by a "regular" dinner meal.
2- Activity: I currently play competitive volleyball 2 times a week and go to the gym in addition 1-2 times a week. So I'm gong to stay with the frequency, but change my workout routines to more circuit training and multi-muscle exercises.
3- Timeline: I'm going to give it a try for 3 weeks. That puts me done on Friday, March 4th.
Here we go!
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