Intermittent fasting, no alcobooze and lifting - the effects

mickmac

I'm currently drinking my last beer of the evening.

Tomorrow I'm starting a small experiment - I'll take a month off the drink, practice intermittent fasting two days a week, train as normal and see what happens.

I'm not a newcomer to any of these things. I've done IMF before; I train a reasonable amount for a slightly fat bloke; and I've abstained for months at a time in the past (well, once, for a kickboxing tournament, at which I had my ass kicked).

I used to train a lot but no longer have the time or physical capacity to do so. I'm curious to see what effect fasting and being on the dry will do to me in the absence of the previous workload.

My training will be two or three days a week of picking up a heavy thing and putting it down. There will be kettlebells. Every session will involve a push, a pull, a leg thing and probably a core thing.

I'll post my waist measurement tomorrow (my actual weight doesn't really concern me) and, at some stage this week, I'll pick an AMRAP workout of some sort and use it as a basic comparison to see if I've radically improved/disimproved over the course of the month.

mickmac

Today is my first day of IMF. Not ever, but the first in over a year. A whopping 600 calories await me!

I got a little sick of two scrambled eggs after the last few rotations so today I'm taking a scoop of total protein (http://ie.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/total-protein/10529951.html) with a double shot of espresso and topped up with water. It's about 220cals. My other option will be some curd cheese mixed with a bit of natural yoghurt and a few raisins. I'll post the measurements when I'm eating it.

Dinner will likely be a bit of grilled salmon (I believe Lidl calls it a 'darne') and a big dose of salad. There are other options but I've found that, while the scrambled eggs bored me to the point of annoyance, I never got sick of salmon and salad. Hunger being the best sauce may be a contributing factor in my affection. The trick tomorrow will be to not go nuts with food. I'll probably fast again on Thursday.

I fully expect to feel hungry later but I've plenty of padding to ride it out. My concentration span will probably wane as the day goes on and I might have a bit of a headache but worse things have happened to better people and I'll get used to it as the time goes on. Keeping myself distracted will help. Work, tv, computer games are good. I've found reading and writing is less helpful.

Staying out of my head is key. I've found in the past that the pangs I get on a fasting day aren't really hunger so much as my body whinging because it's used to having food thrown at it whenever it wants. They never last long and respond well to distraction.

My waist measurement was 39.25in this morning. I suspect there may be a bit of a beer bloat from last night but I'd say there'll be a decent drop in that over the month.

I might train today, this complex by Alwyn Cosgrove (http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/complexes_for_fat_loss) has good structure to it and has the benefit of being short, sharp and to the point. If I don't I still have yardwork to do so I won't be idle.

SaraYoga

Very cool idea, keeping a log of your new training experiment. I'm inspired.

whupdedo

Good 1 Mike, I fasted for 5 days last week on a juice diet, wouldn't recommend it but it done the job in cutting down on a bit of fat that accumulated from a little lay off, I done 3 shakes a day of all veg and 2 apples a day, I'm on 2 shakes this week and one 600 calorie dinner in the evening, with plenty cardio and a good bit of heavy lifting 3 days on,1 day off .

I'm on week 2 of 4 and it's getting easier no doubt

Good luck with it

mickmac

Unsurprisingly I woke up hungry today. I find I sleep better on fasting days. Or maybe I'm just so bored of being awake that I can't wait for breakfast to arrive.

The fast passed with minimal distress. I kept busy but I didn't train. When they come, the hunger pangs don't typically last long. Drinking something helps. Or, in a pinch, GTA 5.

Dinner was green beans, broccolli, spring onions and chicken liver with a soy dressing (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9483381/52-diet-healthy-recipes-250-calories-or-less.html). Filling and with the added smugness that comes from eating a bunch of green stuff.

Breakfast today was a bit of a **** up - a flourless pancake experiment went awry. The trick for the day will be to avoid going nuts and eating a pile of ****e. Most of the dissenting literature about 5/2 fasting seems to focus on the lack of long-ranging research on its efficacy and on people's tendency to reward themselves a little 'too' much on their off days.

Training tomorrow. It's been sporadic for the last two weeks. A bit of routine will be nice.

mickmac

mickmac wrote: »

Breakfast today was a bit of a **** up - a flourless pancake experiment went awry. .

Bananas, eggs, baking powder?

mickmac

@ bluewolf - the recipe calls for 1.5-2 bananas, 2 eggs blended to a batter-like texture then fried like a pancake. You'd think a recipe like that would be fairly idiot-proof, right? Sigh. Still, the bit I managed to salvage and eat tasted alright and had a fairly pancake-y texture.

mickmac

Due to scheduling I trained at home today. I started the Alwyn Cosgrove complex circuit, adapting the programme for my 16kg kettlebell. It was all done in about 10 mins. Tomorrow I'll lift a heavy thing and then do circuit 2 with an empty bar.

Depending on travel I'll either fast tomorrow or Friday. This uncertainty is a bad habit to be in, as it's a lot easier to skip a day if you haven't steeled your reserve in advance and got your food organised. Planning what days you're fasting at the start of the week makes it easier to train (relatively) normally and sets up a little bit of accountability in the back of your mind. Telling your mates/spouse/partner/kids can help to ramp this up too.

Keeping a reserve of standard meals you know the caloric values of is useful. Having the ingredients around all the time - salad, fish, cottage cheese, eggs... other clean stuff is handy in case of poor planning. Eating them even when you're not forcing yourself to be "good" is also handy for the off days!

mickmac

Training today. Warmed up with the second Cosgrove complex using just the bar.
[RDLx5/Hang clean+front squat+press x5/Reverse lunge x6] x4

Then:

Trap bar deadift
75x5
95x5
115x5
135x3
135x1x3

DB row
25x5
27.5x5
30x5
30x5
30x5

Dips (25 total in as few sets as possible because... **** iit, why not)
Bw x10
Bw x11
Bw x4

Handy enough session. Still feeling a little sick (it's been threatening for weeks) but no worse for doing something. Had protein, coffee and a banana for breakfast and a chicken salad roll after training. Not an ideal post-training meal but it was cheap and... It was cheap.

Fasting tomorrow - cottage cheese for breakfast and salmon for dinner probably.

Caliden

mickmac wrote: »

Most of the dissenting literature about 5/2 fasting seems to focus on the lack of long-ranging research on its efficacy and on people's tendency to reward themselves a little 'too' much on their off days.

I know this is only anecdotal but my dad did the 5/2 and he found himself struggling to eat what he normally would on his regular days.
My mam also wasn't making his dinners as large on the regular days so the poor fella must've been starving!

Anyway it took him about 4-5 months and lost about 5 stone. He also got back into running so he was running about 25km a week.
Fruit and coffee on fast days is what worked for him.

mickmac

Fair play to your da for losing the weight Caliden! Hope he's still feeling well and getting the benefit from it.

I never finished out the train of thought I began in the bit you quoted. I meant to add that the focus on the potential splurge on off days as a reason for IMF to be ineffective struck me as hugely patronising. "You can't possibly curtail your desire for sweets, therefore the whole program is flawed!" Seems a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

In general my regular diet is pretty good. Far from perfect but decent. I like eating and I love food. On non-fast days I eat normally. I don't really feel the desire to do otherwise. Actually, I do. But my desire to eat irresponsibly is no greater than it is any other day.

If I plan to train the day after a fast I make a conscious effort to eat more in the morning.

This morning - a fast day - I had about 100g of cottage cheese mixed with about 120g of natural yoghurt. I added a small bit of honey for a little sweetness. It's about 250cals and surprisingly satisfying.

Dinner is salmon and a dose of salad.

mickmac

Quick note:

1. Being sick and fasting sucks.

2. Texture is a big deal in choosing fasting meals. Variety adds distraction. Distraction is good.

3. I haven't talked much about not drinking. I probably won't. The news that you feel a little different (better) when not doing it is not news. It does, however, change how you structure your social life slightly and can lead to spending less money if caught mooching around town. Also, on a personal note, I find it much easier to sip away at a non-alc beer than to have a pint of blackcurrant/lucozade/coke. Pints of water in the pub tend to prompt questions about why you're not drinking. This conversation will very quickly become tiresome.

mickmac

So roughly a week in.

I still have a knee-jerk habit of wanting a drink of an evening but the food thing is coming along. This is both good and bad. Good insofar as I'm not having my ass kicked by the fasting. Bad because it means I could've been eating a whole lot better the last two years with little effort and just didn't.

Balls.

I'm fasting Monday and Thursday this week and intend to train four times. I'm also going to give this a try: http://www.idoportal.com/blog/hanging. It's a challenge to hang off something for 7mins a day for a month.

I tried it today. A plummeting death seems to be in my future given I could only manage a couple of 30-40 second sets, about 3mins worth. Still, it seems like the sort of thing it'd be good to be able to do in case of a zombie apocalypse.

mickmac

Monday came and went without too much of a hitch. Whey stuff and coffee for breakfast and chicken balls and veg for dinner.

Again being busy saved me pangs. Thursday was a pain but I put that down to being a bit sick rather than hungry. I'm almost out of it now though. Breathing back to normal (almost) so hopefully, after much waffling, I'll get back to regular exercise rather than just bits of messing around.

It's probably a little early to expect to feel any different from the change in diet/drinking. More annoyingly even if there was anything positive to report it's been masked by phlegm and wheezing. On the plus side, the lurgy acted as a built-in defence against the temptation of a drink on Saturday night.

The hanging is my new torment. In a good way. I've yet to break the 4 minute mark for a day, mostly because I'm disorganised and a bit of a sissy. It's fantastically hard on the hands and forearms. A mixed grip is currently the most stable for me. Palms facing gets me in the meat just below the elbow.

As an experiment I'll see if doing 30 secs of pullups is any easier than just hanging out. I imagine it might feel like a good idea for short blocks of time but anything over 2/3 minutes and it'll start to suck in a whole new way.

mickmac

I made a cup of tea this morning.

You know how sometimes you just *know* it's going to be a good cuppa. One of those thirst slaking, mood-improving ones. Well it was going to be one of those. Plenty strong, loads of sugar and enough milk to make it look like watery caramel.

Then I remembered I was fasting. It's still sitting by the sink. I haven't the heart to throw it out. I made peppermint instead. It'll do the job but it's no comparison to where my mind had started to wander about the wonders breakfast might provide.

I forgot to remember to prepare myself to fast. I was busy last night and didn't think about it. So I woke up this morning full of bright ideas about eggs and toast and steaming mugs of tea.

Not today horse. Not today.

Preparation is one of the cornerstones of any good diet. Any good anything really. Training programme? Prepare. Exams? Prepare? Standup comedy routine? Prepare.

Some of the best training I ever did was a six-month stint when I was going to the gym before work. It was a pain in the hole to get up earlier than I wanted to but having my bag packed, my clothes prepped and all the other fiddly morning things done before I went to bed meant I just had to roll out of bed, not wake my missus/daughter/dogs, get on my bike and go.

The better prepared I was the easier it was to just do it. The internal monologue when the alarm went off, "Just stay in bed... It's warm here... You deserve a day off... Train at lunch instead..." It was much easier to battle through if my responsibilities were limited to remembering that pants go on *before* shoes. Easier still if I'd laid out my pants and shoes the night before.

So I didn't have my head set to fast today but I did have the rest of the groundwork laid. I'd planned to fast today because I'll be travelling tomorrow and it might be a pain in the arse to do that and be hungry. I had cottage cheese bought for breakfast to provide a little variety from Monday. I know what I can eat for dinner and it'll be quick, simple and easy to get the ingredients for it. I'm prepared.

Not having your mind set for something can feel like a serious kick in the ass but it's easier to recover if you have other preparations in place.

I still really want that tea though...

Black tea on its own with nothing added is lovely.
May be a slightly acquired taste and I do usually prefer it with a small teaspoon of honey, but give it a go

mickmac

Fair play Blue - being awesome, as per...

I've tried black tea a bit. Slice of lemon and a bit of honey does the trick.

But there's something hard-wired into me about the sort of tea a mouse could trot over. Brewed for too long, slightly too much sugar, a wave of milk.

I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners and honey/sugar are calories I'm unwilling to spare on a fast day so I'll probably stick with the green/peppermint tea today.

Have you tried any fasting yourself?

Oh, I drink it super strong also

It suited me for a while when I wasn't exercising and it does make you realise that being hungry isn't a crisis and you can wait perfectly well to eat something sensible
Not interested these days but following along your log to see how you get on with it and if you lose the strength or whatever

mickmac

Well I've been a useless metric for you the last week or so then!

Tbh I've only really done two decent session in the last 10 days due to feeling ****ty. I made a tentative return yesterday and I'll hopefully have another good session on Friday or Saturday.

Mostly my training looks like this: http://wg-fit.com/2014/08/14/your-training-program-done-for-you/ or if I have time I'll to a push/pull and either knee or hip and then a complex at the end.

The last time I was fasting I didn't see much of a performance dropoff but I wasn't doing maximal strength work, just a lot of kettlebells and jiujitsu. It was all about timing things correctly and eating enough if I was training the day after a fast day. Unless you're a high level powerlifter or actively looking to bulk up I can't imagine there'd be too much trouble so long as you eat smart.

mickmac

Trained yesterday. Went okay. Stiff from doing nothing all week.

BB DL @85 5x5
Cosgrove complex C @25 4x5 w 60secs rest

mickmac

For anyone interested, I'm cross-posting this log (and adding a few other bits) here: http://obnoxiouselephant.wordpress.com/

Cheers.

mickmac

Chicken livers.

That's all I'm saying.

Chicken livers.

If you cook em right - not too much, leave a little pink - they're delicious, low cal and full of good things like protein and other letters of the alphabet.

I had them for dinner last night with a load of broccoli.

And so ended another week of fasting. I'd like to say it was emotional but it wasn't. It's almost reaching that habit stage now. My brain has all these macho ideas about how it's so easy I could just keep on doing it after the month ends.

But that's not going to happen.

Not because it's not fun, or (possibly) healthier for me but because I don't want to. I'm fairly sure that, come September I'll be glad to of the change. Come September I'll have another challenge for myself - possibly swimming or kettlebell related and I'll concentrate on that.

If I kept doing it I'd either get bored, get resentful or both. I like the process of fasting. I'd hate to sully our fun but... cough... intermittent relationship.

My goal here is to put my diet back on a more even keel and then ride that wave of good behaviour for the next few months until I think I might need another course adjustment. (I'm not so naive as to think I'll stay well behaved come college and the Christmas.)

So I'll do my month. Reap whatever benefits I can from it, take the lessons I've learned and try to apply them and look forward to more smugness and broccoli in a few months time.


... I might keep one fast a week in though. Maybe