Thursday 25 April 2013

Intermittent Fasting - stabilising your weight - for bodybuilders mainly

I've now been sitting on 76kg(12 stone) for about 2 months now. I feel I've gained more muscle with no gain in fat.

I'm now in my skinny jeans! 32". 

I weighed myself today, having avoided the scale for around 3 weeks. I had mixed feelings about what I might find really. 

I felt I'd been eating a bit more than in my earlier weeks. Ice cream about 3 times a week, the odd chocolate and generally a small increase in snacking. 

Also I'd dropped my cycling as well. I felt it was causing me to tip into over-training. I was not getting my second run in for the week.

I'd made a few changes to my weight training day. Two big changes really. 

The first one was to put in some running on the treadmill for 25 minutes. The last 6 minutes were going at high level speeds on the treadmill. When weather permitted, I'd go out onto the running track and bang out to 150m sprints at the end of my treadmill run.

The second change I made was to 'fast' on my training day...

According to the readout on my treadmill at the gym, my run burned 200cal. 

So if I assume a full hour of weights burns around 400cal that is 600cal. 

The overall affect is burning fat through my fasting day, resting state, then a further burning of 600cal through the training. So its seems like a double dose of fat burning.

I would imagine that this has greatly contributed to allowing me to eat a bit more, yet still burn bodyfat and gain muscle from my training.

As I introduced two changes its hard to pinpoint whether the combination or the fasting alone has changed my energy levels while training.

All I can say is my energy levels while training are utterly amazing!! I'm like a machine! I don't eat at all for the day before training. Training usually starts around 13.00. 

I allow myself a pepsi max while training for a bit of a zero cal caffeine boost. Not the best energy drink but it really works for me.

As a result of learning about natural hunger through the fasting, I try my best to feel whether I need more fuel or its just indulging. So far it seems I need the extra fuel. 

Its really nice to know that I can eat a bit more and get away with it. In the past when I trained and needed more fuel I just increased in weight. But now it looks like its just an increase in muscle not fat! Bodybuilding heaven!









Tuesday 19 March 2013

Intermittent Fasting - Are you ready to try it?

I'd known about the Intermittent Fasting for about 4 months before I decided I wanted to give it a go.

My biggest fear was that I would lose all my weight-training gains for the year.

I'd also decided at the beginning of 2012 to train throughout the year without overly restricting my diet.

Once the year was nearly over I felt I'd gained a bit too much fat. So I was prepared to lose weight anyway and see what happened.

When I share with others my findings of the IF diet I can see a variety of reactions.

One of the most common is a repulsion to the idea of a 'DIET'. On top of that a 'whole day' devoted to half-starving seems to scare people away. It seems the idea of suffering for one day outweighs all the benefits received. The word 'FASTING' is also a red flag signal. 

I can see people of this reaction have this look in their faces. Its a bit of a complicated array of expressions. One of the more easily read is 'defensive'.

'Defensive' is usually associated with 'not ready'. I also probably had a similar expression on my face. It was for me a reluctance to lose all my training gains at that time.

One has to be ready, mentally. To be honest I've known of the benefits of 'fasting' or restrictive eating for decades. Which just goes to show how one's goals can affect a trial of a possibly useful and manageable lifestyle of eating.

I didn't really fear that eating less would affect me in any other way negatively, other than make me lose weight and all my muscle gains of a season.

One other reaction is a keenness to try out the one day a week fast. 

What I find often is although one is ready to try it out, it can get postponed for a further 6 weeks or so.

This is common. The brain has a momentum of its routines and beliefs. It requires a lot of convincing, reminders, processing and conscious thought to introduce something like this.

One important consideration is a firm decision to how long you intend to try this out. My delayed decision was in part due to a long term commitment before starting. One of my stronger reasons for trying it out was to do a regular detox once a week. As each decade creeps upon us, without a regular detox we start becoming less able to eliminate our excess toxins. 

So I felt that I wanted to put this in as a long term commitment and lifestyle change. 

I'm a person that makes a decision and then sticks to it, to the extreme. I only break the commitment if it harms me in any way. Like over-training for instance.

This was another reason why it took a while to make the final commitment. There is no point is just dabbling for 2 weeks or even 6. Give it at least 3 months. If you are doing it once a week that's around 13 days!! Around 2 weeks of dieting spaced over 3 months. In a year that's less that 60 days! 

It ticks all the boxes of losing weight slowly but steadily. One should be able to lose a stone(14lbs, 7kg) in a year. More than likely it will be more than that. The exception would be if you are training to gain muscle. But even then it would probably be possible unless one eats a bit more on the other 6 days of normal eating.

I'd love to be able at this stage give a 12 month report but I've only got just over 3 months at this stage to offer. 

I am trying to remain open to the idea of retaining/gaining muscle and losing fat and weight. The ideal is to continue gaining muscle while losing fat. I've never experienced this ability before now. It appears I am achieving this but it's still too early to tell. What I can say is my shirts are still tightish but my trouser waistline is definitely smaller.

Its very exciting really, I have to say.




Thursday 14 March 2013

Intermittent Fasting - Bodybuilder friendly

As the title implies, I've found the once a week restricted calorie day of 600 to 650 very effective in preserving muscle.

Years of stripping the fat down with a simple cut back of calories has resulted in the same. I just get weaker and more scrawny. 

I'm a big believer of sustainable bodybuilding. So I usually only go in once a week. At the moment I'm getting good results with rotating things on each of those workouts so that primary and secondary muscle use in exercises are worked in each workout.

As an example yesterday I did single dumbbell pullovers on a prone bench laying length ways. This works the chest quite a bit, Intercostals, Primarily Triceps, Abs, shoulders, back. Its a wonderful exercise really. But its a bit intense on shoulders and elbows. So by doing it once every two weeks, it keeps its momentum but doesn't cause too much overwork on one angle.

I've found that as I'm on an up cycle at the moment(increasing weights week by week) I'm getting growth spurts that exceed the fat loss for the week. The end result is a weight gain or a weight stabilisation.

I will know more after trialing this for 6 months and a year. Its only 3 months so far. I've had some winter blues of flu and low energy as well within that 3 months. But currently on my consistent training cycle of 4 weeks I'm feeling really confident about the results.

Depending on one's goal, a slow process of fat-burn and muscle retention is best served one day a week calorie restriction. 

I'm also keen to stay within my preferred bodyfat levels all year round. No more 'bulking up'. Its not always been intentional either. I find if I get a good run with my training I sometimes eat a bit more to compensate for the heavier weights lifted.

Now I can still go with those extra calorie eating days knowing that once a week I take care of any fat gain for that week. This just leaves the muscle growth for the week. 

I've now appeared to have gone off ice-cream.... So that's another dessert off my menu. 

I'll take another set of photos at the end of the month. If there is any change then I'll put them up. The first set were taken at a body weight of 76kg.

Like I said earlier, if one finds that a really tough workout requires more calories over the course of the recovery days then one can go with that.

I don't think its necessary to eat more for the sake of eating more though. This is where I feel doing a once a week Restricted Fast gets one in touch with appetite and food choices.

As a bodybuilder, there really needs to be a time when we decide that we want to look our best. Constant growth cycles end up making us look chunky and unfit. Personally I promised myself I would look my best at 50+. So I'm now delivering on that promise.

I trained under Reg Park in Johannesburg in 1984-85. With his yorkshire accent he used to call me 'Kung-fu Charlie". He told me that if I want to get anywhere with the weights I'd have to give up the kung fu. At that time I was obsessed with Wing-chun with Leo Sebrets. So I gave it up for about 18 months(weights). 

Sunday 10 March 2013

Intermittent Fasting - The Discipline

I'm a bit of a fan of Discipline really. Its the backbone of a successful life. 

My decision to overeat happened in my early thirties due to an obsession with bodybuilding. I read an article about gaining size, naturally without drugs. The downside to this was it started the journey of yoyo weight for the next 20 years. I never went over a stone in weight gain.

Each year I would slim down and get into a decent shape but lose the bulk of the muscle I'd gained. The whole thing eventually became time to decide whether I want to be lean, slim and scrawny, or a bit more chunky and muscular looking more like a out of season bodybuilder. 

I'd usually be one end of the spectrum or the other for a few months at a time. 

One of my primary fat-burning exercises was running. However, I unfortunately developed what a call chicken leg syndrome. This is where the knee feels unsupported and wants to keep extending back like a chicken. Plus a lack of support down the side. So after many failed attempts to cure it I gave up for about 9 years(see my barefoot running blog about over-coming this). During this same period I developed a problem with a muscle that attached to the forearm and bicep. It became a re-occurring injury. With additional injuries to shoulder, chest and lower back, my weight training took a big dive too. 

The upside to this downside was I poured a lot of my energy into Tai Chi. Which resulted in some new discoveries and methods for teaching from a beginner level.

So getting back to the discipline of Intermittent fasting. 

There can be no doubt that anyone who undertakes this restricted eating day will need to get re-acquainted with their own self-discipline.

Firstly, one will discover just how often we reach for food in a given day. Or it could be tea or coffee with sugar and milk. Or some alcoholic beverage. Or a sugary fizzy drink.

On this day that's pretty much all gone. As a guy 600-650 calories are reached very quickly. 500-550 cal for a women is also reached very quickly. 

So firstly one needs to be aware of everything that passes into your body. We do this extra eating with limited awareness during our normal eating days. Up to the point of never having to restrict your food, awareness is very limited. 

You'll get back in touch with your hunger. If you pace it right usually that can be managed till around 11 at night. I found my rhythm requires a second top up around 17.00. I then have to have something at 19.00. 

I switched to black coffee. Mainly decaf. I went down to half a spoon with instant decaf and one shot at Costa. I also went with sparkling water. I now add more still water. 

Once you've had several weeks of doing this amount of Discipline you are building up a new skill. During the eating days you'll see that you could tighten up between meals and go for 4-5 hour stretches of having nothing between meals. Even milk in the drinks stops the fat-burning process. I've switched to black coffee between meals and no extras. If I want a sweet it is included in the main meal.

What I am looking for in my changes is a willingness to change. Its always more permanent if one is drawn to making the change. That's what I believe is the great thing about this type of diet. You are not thrashing yourself trying to do it day in day out. That's not natural. But if you decide that actually that regular Friday end of day cake treat at Costa(guilty) is not only almost a days calories from a fasting day, but you really now feel its empty calories you don't need. That's a positive self-driven change.

The other observation I made is I have a gorging and snacking on the Internet, or TV programs, when I should rather concentrate on finishing some business work. So I have introduced Internet fasting hours too. 

I recently purchased an ACUS 15.6" laptop icore 5, 1 terabyte storage, 6 gig memory, aluminum casing, at 2.3kg in weight. So now its become more portable. With its 4 hour battery range its like a giant netbook only weighing 1kg more. I can do my video editing on it without a problem. So those downtimes between appointments I can catch up on my editing work.

To be honest my existing laptop of 18.3 " was next to useless to do video editing of HD Files. But at a weight of 4.5kg and its size it was more like a desktop than a laptop. Totally unportable. It was really by chance that I introduced the taking it everywhere policy on the new ASUS laptop. But it makes sense. Those little 90 minutes here and there soon add up.

So to conclude the Discipline you learn from your IF days carry over to other areas of your life. Awareness is really heightened. I can understand why in religion it is a chosen method to heighten focus and discipline. One day a week is really possible to do. I find on my IF days that I get a lot of work done. Snacking is distracting, and one can lose the flow of what you're doing. Taking proper, limited meals a day improves that working flow. Also to say no in a cafe is much easier now. You've developed an inner strength and also an increased awareness of your decisions.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Intermittent Fasting - the detox

One of the primary reasons I decided to commit myself to Intermittent Fasting is the Detox benefits I'd read about.

I've felt for quite a while that my whole system would benefit from a fast on a regular basis. I was hoping to target Arthritis, Blood sugar drops, Rest my liver and other organs, Have my body cannibalise any damaged cells, rest my digestive system and whatever else might benefit.

One thing I noticed after a month was that my body sweat returned to what I regard as normal. Usually a day of teaching ended up with a need to change a shirt midday. I had to stay away from certain materials. When  I filmed, long sleeved tops lasted 15 minutes!!

So I was really impressed that at the end of a day my shirt still smelt fresh. It was exactly the sort of thing that confirmed my feeling. I was toxic. The system was not getting a chance to rest because of continuous consuming of calories.

Now I know stools are a sort of taboo subject, but to be honest its a very graphic way to realise all is well or not well within our systems.

This too changed dramatically. I don't really want to expose myself too openly but suffice to say I've noticed some real changes in that area.

I feel stools are really a great measure of your health.

Moving swiftly along.....

So when I recently bought some new long sleeved tops I was very impressed that they lasted an entire day while filming indoors. I thought that perhaps I was emitting some sort of chemical because of the pressure to get the shot right or something. But it seems I was just too toxic.

Also one's breath can also be a good indicator. Personally it seems that that too has changed completely.

The Arthritis is much more stable now. If I overdo it with sugars, Alcohol, spicy food, too many tomato dishes then after a day it plays up. In fact I can feel this acid like feeling run through either my thighs or forearms.

I've some views on Arthritis. It all started improving once I saw a Naturopath. He explained that Sugar caused 90% of the problem. Through trials on my own I fully agree with that after nearly 8 years since seeing him. Its the hidden sugars in Alcohol as well. Acidic Drinks like Cider are the worst for me.

As this is slightly off topic and I don't really have enough time on my Intermittent trial to say if its dramatically improved or not, I'll continue for about year.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Intermittent Fasting - one day or two?

Right From the beginning of December 2012 I was only going to do once a week. I was in no big hurry really. I thought I'd trim off some fat for the Spring of 2013. As I normally only need to come down maximum 6kg or so, a slower shrink I felt would reduce muscle loss.

I'm about 2 months away from the start of May 2013. This is when I usually start filming for my Tai Chi DVD Series.

Personally I think 2 days a week is harsh. I can't help feeling that it will put people off as its too much too soon. 

If  I was to try twice a week I think I'd go mad. I'll end up going back to once a week pretty quickly.

From these pictures taken 06th March 2013 pictures you'll see that I don't have a weight issue..




Its just getting off that last bit of annoying cover.

I guess its up to the individual in the end. I just think that if I was to recommend this way of losing weight just do one day a week at first to get into the swing of things. Do a lot of reading and find out what kinds of little tips you can do on your eating days to minimise overeating.

Where the NHS gets involved I think their concern is this highlight of eat whatever you want on your normal days. Yes that will work but I think this way of living your week will change you in many ways. You'll notice when you are snacking, over-eating, over-filling. Once a week works as well because a few changes are made in addition.

I certainly think that alternate day fasting is a very short lived method. It could end up putting a person right off the whole idea. Gorging on complete high fat processed foods is not really cultivating a disciplined way of eating.

The one day a week very gently guides you to being more concerned about every day eating.

I've also found that I learn something each week. Like today for instance I decided that late evening is getting really tough. Especially after doing sprinting on the track followed by weight training the day before. So I went down to the local shop and found what salads are next to nothing. Celery sticks were the ones. 4 sticks at a total of 12 calories! Its now 23.00. I feel they topped me up today quite a bit.


Intermittent Fasting one day a week - weight loss

I've noticed on my program that it can take up to 4-6 weeks before the scale reflects a weight loss.

When I think of the discussions about how the body loves holding onto its mass until absolutely necessary this makes evolutionary sense. Why would the body just give up your fat because of a few weeks of fasting. I think it likes to see what your 4 week pattern really is before making adjustments.

Going for rapid weight loss always has resulted in muscle loss for me. I usually only play with around 4kg or about half a stone in weight one way or the other. In the past dropping half a stone ends up in me looking scrawny with my shirt on.

This time around I can honestly say it looks like a lot more fat has come off that muscle. If I was to make an educated guess I would say its an 80/20 ratio.

I weigh myself once a week. For me I've picked the day before the fast. I know its not the best indicator. One should take measurements etc. But I've decided that video plus the scales is how I intend to monitor progress. Also I see how I fit in my clothes.

Personally as I've said I only really need to make about a 4 to 5kg adjustment for me to look a lot fitter. I tend to carry the weight around my neck, face and lower stomach. Genetics hey. It amazes me when I see someone who looks amazingly fit behind a steering wheel only to climb out and reveal a 2 stone overweight body!!

I feel I've become stricter as the weeks have gone by. Its a learning curve really. I could go all salads and healthy but for now I just stick to two packets of beef jerky or biltong giving 249cal per pack and a skinny latte at about 160cal. Although today I'm trying americano with skimmed milk top up. Apparently 1/8 of a cup of skimmed milk is 10 cal.. So more nice Costa coffees for me to keep going. Its a new, evolving direction on my IF day.

I was a full milky latte man but now its too sickly I find. At home I've now switched to skimmed milk in my coffee. My coffee journey of 3 years has come from 2 sugars plus milk to skinny no sugar. In between meals is just black coffee now, even on my normal eating days.

I've bought into this idea that after a few hours of no calories the body can switch to fat-burning mode. Even the slightest adjustment can switch back to fat-storing. No more eating between meals now for me 95% of the time. I think this has made a difference too.

Sometimes one just can't tell where a journey will lead. I don't do alcohol or cigarettes but I do like a nice sweet treat now and then. So who was to guess that most of the cakes I've had recently I've not enjoyed? Its like 'man that's way too sweet' or 'I'm not enjoying this at all'. Thank god ben and jerrys cookie dough is still gorgous:)

The 2 to 3 days after my fasting day feel like this: the day after I feel later in the evening I need more food. About another 15% more. I allow a sweet in the evening and group it with my main meal to preserve the 3 meals a day/ no snacking policy.

Day 2 things slow down a bit but I still feel a bit peckish later in the evening. So I allow for that. Day 3 things start returning back to normal.

As I'm following a maintenance on my Arthritis I've got to watch my sugars. My body tells me straight away when I've gone overboard. So another adjustment I'm starting to make is to eat more normal food and less sweet things.

When it comes to giving up treats I prefer it if it's a pleasant choice rather than a self-denial thing. I can see I'm moving away from the sweet which is going to be great to keep my arthritis in remission. When I compare to around 8 years ago its so much better now. In fact its non existent at the moment, unless I indulge my days in succession. Then its a mild stiffness in a few fingers.

My current goal that's evolving is to see where the next 3 months go. I'm not chasing weight loss but fat loss. This week my training has been more consistent.  Sprinting and weights are anabolic so I would expect muscle growth spurts and my anabolic levels to rise. It usually takes around 2 months for me to see differences in my muscle mass unless I eat for growth. But this week it looks like muscle memory on previous muscle size has kicked in.

I've mentally allow myself to lose a stone if necessary(from 79kg to 73kg). Just for experimental reasons. I can judge things from there. I think its difficult to judge how things will turn out. If my training with weights and sprinting is consistent then I should be building more muscle at the same time with less weight loss. Whereas before I was eating less every day, this program is only a once a week hammer hit.

This program I'm finding will probably take around 8 months to really know how it works. For competitive bodybuilders they tend to strip off the fat over 2 months or so. That's a rapidly short period of time. I also suspect its not that healthy either. A slow half a pound a week program of fat loss suits me better.

Intermittent Fasting Story so far

I was intrigued about fasting for a long time. From what I'd read and heard it seemed a cleansing and spiritual exercise.
As a keen bodybuilder I like to build muscle without fat! But this is not really that possible.

In the past I found that all I did when trying to reduce my bodyfat was shrink in size. I felt I looked a lot better but I felt scrawny. It was like I'd never even touched any weights, just fitness. This sad cycle has been going on since I first broke through the gaining weight barrier. Ever since that time I've gone from building and getting stronger to feeling its time to lean up. All I ended was moving through a good balance of the two to one extreme or the other.

Now in my 50's I can't say the extra weight does a thing for me.

So last year was my final throw of the dice to let myself skip the dieting phase and train throughout the year gaining mass. The end result of this exercise was indeed more mass, less injuries and a better flow with my training. But after a while through November I felt my trousers were getting tight and it was time to tighten up.

Around this time I found out about Intermittent fasting from two of my Tai Chi students. They were in their 70's. They'd done the diet together, choosing one day a week to restrict the calories. The end result was he lost a stone and a half and she lost nearly a stone. Neither were that strict on the number of calories.

So I jumped in and started one day a week restricted calorie day of around 650. I must have started beginning of December 2012 from the date of a tweet I posted on Jan 14th 2013. At the time of that post I hadn't lost any weight but I noticed a fat reduction. My weight was around 79kg.

Last week I was 76kg but this week I went back up to 77kg. Weigh ins are not a perfect science and the conditions were weighted without the morning visit to the bathroom. So I will weigh myself again on Sunday to double check.

I've only recently been taking video shots of myself so I don't have a great before and after look. But I will post some shots when I've compiled them together. I have some older footage from my weight yoyo days, I'll post those as well.

I would say that my goal is to lose the fat not the muscle. I guess the mirror and your clothes don't lie.

Also each week is different. For nearly 6 weeks I've been struggling with my training. So I was not training for some weeks and therefore I wasn't burning extra calories for the week. About 12 days ago I went sprinting. That would account for a leg growth spurt. 3 days later I did some squats and leg press in the gym. Accounting for more leg growth spurts. In fact probably full body growth spurts. I had to skip running this weekend as I could feel I hadn't fully recovered.

With all these factors taken into consideration a growth spurt of muscle must have occurred. I did notice my regular black t-shirt felt tighter on Wednesday, I seemed to look bigger in the gym mirror. Of course it was an accidental peek. Not.

So far I am thrilled with the results. I will begin a process of breaking down my findings in separate mini posts that are more specific to topics.