Can the Geek on Fire burn a little brighter?

[Geek On Fire]

OK, so I feel a little settled in here now, and I think I'm ready to make myself accountable for my future.

I'll keep a log here, as best I can, of my effort, progress, and failures.

 

My goal is to get myself below 80kg by the end of 2016 - I was at 95kg when I figured something needed to be done, and have been on a gradual decline for about 18 months. I weighed in at 85.2kg (fasted) this morning, so I may have to revise that down to the mid 70's as I go and try to earn some bonus XP. Apparently 70kg will put me at the lower end of a healthy BMI for my height, so we'll see how we go...

After reading Steve's post on intermittent fasting I've finally taken the plunge, and have been on a 16/8 fast/feed routine for 3 days now. Neither of my arms have been chewed off, so I think it's going well, but I'm still trying to adjust what I'm eating (probably my biggest challenge) so ensure that I don't start running out of energy.

Today I got up at 5:30am, went for a 10km (6 miles, I think that is) run, and stayed fasted until midday. Lunch was a salad of mixed leaves, a couple of baby carrots, 2 baby cucumbers, vintage cheese crumbled on top, and a handful of walnuts. It's been my regular lunch for a few weeks now (previously it was reheated leftovers, or takeaway), and it seems to be working for me, although I'd like to add some protein in there after reading the NF nutrition guide. 

 

Dinner was some sort of pork stir fry with peanuts that we ate in lettuce leaves, which I ate until I felt satiated.

 

Then it was off to karate for an hour and a half, and I'm basically done for the day (pretty much bed time as I type this.

Tomorrow morning I plan to add the beginner's bodyweight workout to my routine, as most of what I do is endurance and stamina related, so I think alternating my morning run with some strength training might be what's needed to level up.

Let's see what happens...

[Geek On Fire]

Battle log day 2:

 

Woke up at 5ish (before my alarm!). Today I'm introducing bodyweight exercise into my routine.

 

Reread the beginner and advance routines again last night, and ended up putting together a version of the advanced one.

 

This morning I managed:

Warm up - skipping for 1:30 (just bought the rope, man it's tricky getting that coordination right in the beginning!)

20 squats

20 walking lunges

5 inverted rows 

10 dips

10 push ups

30 second plank - front, then both sides

5 inverted rows with reverse grip

 

I was able to (just!) complete 3 sets with full control in 27 minutes.

 

What the numbers, and my aching muscles, tell me is that I have the most to gain in the upper body area. It's always been my weakest part, so it's where I'll play the long game and make those incremental improvements.

 

I'm now enjoying my morning coffee (the one concession I'm making to the fasting routine), and feeling good.

 

[Post lunch update]

Survived my fast again, but was feeling it a little more today.

I think I had a good lunch - a plate of mixed lettuce, walnuts, ham and roast beef (only about 50g total), a few olives, 1 microwaved egg, 2 baby carrots, 1 baby cucumber, 2 cherry tomatoes.

 

I feel satiated - if anything, I think I could have a bit less tomorrow. My focus today was adding some protein sources to my lunch, and I feel that I succeeded.

 

The big achievement for me is the absence of sugary snacks now. Last week I grabbed a 200g bag of M&Ms for a treat to last a few days, but got caught in the "oh, just a few more" trap until the bag was empty. I've cut out that temptation, and I think it's working for me.

 

[mid afternoon update]

Just had a 170g tub of Chobani blueberry yogurt and a coffee. I've chosen to follow the "Paleo-ish" path.

 

That's it until dinner.

[final update for day 2]

 

Thanks to a meeting at my kids' school, dinner was a thrown together pizza of ham, mushroom, and olives (3 slices) followed by an apple.

 

Then it was 8pm, and I'm in my fasting window again.

 

Feeling a little snotty, hope I'm not getting a cold. Will find out on tomorrow morning's run, I guess.

[Geek On Fire]

Captain's Battle Log - Day 3.

 

Looks like I'm not getting unwell (fingers crossed)

 

10km fasted run this morning, it was drizzling, and I was a little slower than previous efforts.

Could definitely feel the effect of yesterday's bodyweight workout as I ran. Man, were my pecs/man-boobs and shoulders achy.

 

Coffee (no sugar, BTW) before leaving for work. Having another here at work now.

 

[afternoon update]

 

A colleague was leaving today, so lunch was at a Malaysian restaurant. I tried to keep it pretty clean, and had some beef satays and a few vegetarian dumplings, plus some sesame drink. Not as filing as the salads I've been throwing together of late, but still OK.

 

Topped up with a yoghurt (coconut Chobani). was reading about yoghurts today, and apparently natural is a better option than Greek, so I might change it up a little, or find something else for a mid afternoon top up. Does anyone have suggestions? I've mainly been hitting the yoghurt to improve my gut health, as I've read lots and lots lately about maintaining your gut microbiome.

 

As a bonus, I weighed in at 84kg (185lbs) this morning, which may just be a daily variation, but it's the lowest weight I've been in a long, long time. I think there's really something to intermittent fasting, and I think I'm going to work towards getting as close to 70kg as I can now.

It seems like it's actually doable.

 

[evening update]

Dinner was reheated leftover lasagne (home made) with some green veggies on the side.

Feeling good.

[Geek On Fire]

Day 4

 

Kind piked it this morning and skipped my strength training. I stayed up late last night playing Firewatch, and decided that my body needed sleep more than anything. I did a couple of sets of pushups and dips just to make sure I did something, but that was all. I have karate training tonight, so I'll surely make up for it then.

 

Have once again survived without breakfast. If you've been considering intermittent fasting I say give it a go. It feels like my new normal now, and I've noticed a dramatic reduction in my sugar cravings, which is a big deal for me.

I think that going forward, IF is just something I do.

 

Currently enjoying my lunch of salad, more or less the same as earlier in the week.

 

[update]

My other half was super tired when I got home tonight, so dinner was just a simple pasta and Napoli sauce. 

 

Then 90 minutes of karate, which was a great class, and probably made up for not doing my weight training this morning.

I'll be back on track tomorrow.

[Geek On Fire]

Great morning today.

 

Did my 3rd 10km run this week, thus cementing my new routine! That's 30km, before 7am, fasted!

 

Lunch was the same as previous days, and continues to satisfy.

 

One BIG change I'm already noticing is that my sense of taste is becoming much more sensitive to sweetness in foods. Fingers crossed, I think I'm on the way to conquering the sweet tooth that has always led to my downfall. Tonight will be a test, as Friday night is family movie night at my place, and we normally enjoy a movie snack together. In lieu of finding a good paleo style treat to enjoy, I'll probably have just a little really dark chocolate.

 

I'm still tired today, but feeling positive.

[Geek On Fire]

Day 9

 

I know, I missed a few days. Sometimes life gets in the way, y'know?

 

Relaxed the standards over the weekend, and enjoyed a couple of bit of chocolate (some nice, dark Lindt), BUT I did stop at just a couple. In days gone by, I'd have had one or two, then one or two more, until eventually it was all gone. This is progress, people! And I felt good for it. I also allowed myself a single glass of whisky on Friday and Saturday nights, and a beer on Sunday.

 

Probably the biggest deal though is that I've now maintained an intermittent fasting regimen for a whole week! And I feel good for it!

Heck, on Saturday, I had karate with my son at midday, then an errand to run, so I didn't get to break my fast until 3pm - that's 19 hours of fasting, and I felt fine.

 

Bodyweight training fell to the wayside for a few days, so this is something I'll focus on, possibly for my first challenge.

Oh, another big achievement - I'm officially into the healthy BMI range (just). It looks like there's a lot of truth to the idea that 80% of our weight loss is down to diet. The combination of cleaner eating and intermittent fasting seems to be helping me to lose about 1kg a week. Definitely going to need to chase a lower goal than 80kg by the end of the year - I might have a quest on my hands...

[Geek On Fire]

Day 13

 

OK, so I'm bad at this daily logging business...

I think I've done well this week. I'm still on track with my intermittent fasting, which I now just consider "what I do". One benefit I've found is that because I'm only eating from 12-8pm, I'm much more mindful of what I'm eating, and I feel like my sweet tooth is cured. This is a big deal for me, as the sweet tooth has always been my downfall.
Lunch has consistently been the mix of meat and veggies I've described in previous posts, although I did have Japanese for lunch one day this week, but I kept it pretty balanced.
I've stuck with yoghurt as a mid afternoon snack, as the small tub is making me feel full, and keeping me going through to dinner.
Dinners have been a mixed bag, but always home made. We've always been lovers of carby food for dinner - pastas, home made pizzas etc. - so I'm working on reducing the flour and potatoes in dinner. 

My training has gone really well this week. I've managed 3 x 10km runs in the mornings again, and have rebooted the bodyweight training, as I kinda slipped with that last week. I kept the reps consistent this week, just to set a baseline, and will do incremental increases next week. As I type this my shoulder muscles are tingling from the work I've put in, so I take that as a good sign.
Karate training has been good this week, and I'm very close to being ready to grade in the next few weeks. I think I'm ready, even though I'm never happy with the quality of my work.
I haven't been on the bike this week, which I will remedy tomorrow morning. Only 1 week to go until my big mountain bike race, so I'm excited and nervous.

Weight is into the 83kg range now, and I've ordered a cheap body fat caliper so I can really quantify any gains or losses.

I feel compelled to contact Steve just to say thanks. I was doing stuff, but without any real direction or gains, and now feel like I'm on the right track at last.

[Geek On Fire]

Day 19

 

Still on track with IFing, it's definitely working well for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering taking the leap into fasting.
 

I've decided to drop leg exercises from my bodyweight routine. I feel that I'm doing enough leg work with my running and mountain biking, so I will focus purely on upper body and abdominals for the time being.

Running is still Mon/Wed/Fri in the morning, but I'm increasing my distance as part of my first challenge.

[Geek On Fire]

After a bit of a burn out, and fall from the healthy lifestyle wagon, I'm still here, and feeling better.

Going to back off from the 4 week challenges for a while, and stick to what's working for me, but with minor tweaks from time to time, as I found the constant changes were too much for me, so I'll remain in Battle Log purgatory for the time being.

 

I did get my weight down to around 78kg for a little while, but I think I Overdid All The Things and ended up burning out. I'm now hovering around between 80-82, which is still OK.

At present, my activity routine (because I need a routine) consists of the following:

Sunday - long run, at least 13km, keeping heart rate between 136-146bpm where possible

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - Primal Blueprint Lift Heavy Things workout. It took me a while to find a body weight workout I enjoyed, and this is it. I'm doing 2 sets of 1 leg assisted pull ups, traditional pushups, Bulgarian split squats (should actually be doing box squats now, but they hurt my right knee, so I backed off), and up-and-down planks.

Wednesday - 1 hour of karate with my kids

Thursday - 1 1/2 hours of karate

Friday - Ride 27km to work (weather permitting) or rest day

Saturday - LHT workout in the morning, followed by 1 hour of karate

 

In addition to this, I try to get a walk in at lunchtime on weekdays, and would like to turn this into a short run once Spring has sprung. To keep me motivated, I'm also passively taking part in the step challenges on Garmin Connect, typically in the 45K group - I've even won a couple of times.

 

For the last 2 weeks, I've also been logging my meals on My Fitness Pal. I've been sceptical about trying this for a long time, but the evidence all points to it having a positive effect for people who do it, so I decided to give it a go. Doing well so far, with 2 weeks of consistent logging. I must say, as a creature of habit, it has become easier after getting past the initial hump of looking up the foods I eat, because they're all now there in my list, and it's no big deal to just add a meal or snack. Starting to see a pattern in my kilojoule intake, too, but I will wait until I've done a few more weeks before drawing any conclusions.
I'm also still taking weekly measurements of my dimensions and plugging them into my body fat calculator. Frustratingly, I'm not really making any progress here. I was at about 16% BF in May, and am still there now. 

To get my head back in order, I've chosen to study only one subject at uni this semester, which has had an almost immediately positive effect on my headspace. I've even managed to find time to do things like read a book (I'm halfway through The Girl Who Kicked THe Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson), or watch a little TV (Mr Robot).

At the moment, I feel balanced, which is a pleasant change. I'm contemplating trying to add meditation to my repertoire, but it will take a bit more research.

 

 

[Geek On Fire]

After a bit of reading up on the 3 main different body types, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a classic endomorph - not much upper body musculature, and too much squishiness around my waist. As such, I'm trying to read up on the optimal exercise and nutrition for my body type. It's interesting to learn about, and I am planning some minor tweaks to my diet, since it appears that I'm more or less doing the right exercise for me.

 

[Killyourfeet]

Hi there! This was a good read, I'm interested in intermittent fasting. I'm not sure I can do it, I have hanger problems  Looking forward to reading more of your log!

[Geek On Fire]

Thanks!

I had a similar mindset to yourself towards IF. I'd been aware of it for a couple of years, and had read up on the potential benefits, but didn't think I could miss an entire meal without losing my mind. Starting on a weekend definitely helped me to transition into it gently, as did going with 16:8 fasting, which I think is the least restrictive form.

It was definitely worth doing, as I managed to drop 8kg really quickly, and have kept it off. The thing to remember is that none of this is a religion, so it's fine to have a day where you do get breakfast in here and there, or sometimes have a little something in the evening - I've recently tweaked the formula and now subscribe to Mark Sisson's mantra of WHEN (When Hungry, Eat Now), so if I've had a couple of days of good training, and I'm hungry in the morning, I'll eat, and be OK with that.