My First Fast for Fat Loss

As many of you know, I decided to give fasting for fat loss a try as described in Brad Pilon's e-book Eat Stop Eat. The length was 24 hours with getting over 18 hours being the most important. After 18 hours is when your levels of human growth hormone rise dramatically.

I started my fast yesterday after a 3 pm snack of raw vegetables and hummus, a sesame crunch bar, and some green tea. I would say I didn't start to feel hungry until about 8:30 pm. I had a few glasses of water and felt better. This morning I woke up thirsty but otherwise fine. I felt okay until I hit the 18 hour mark. I was starting to feel tired and a little weak. Drinking water and keeping busy definitely kept my mind off food.

At about 23 hours, I was just not able to concentrate and was really dragging. I ended the fast with the same snack I started with. The rest of my day went like this:

1. snack - raw broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper w/3 tablespoons hummus, sesame crunch bar, green tea

2. sushi - salad w/ginger dressing, seaweed salad, 4 oz salmon sashimi, 5 pieces of spicy tuna roll, 1 piece of eel avocado roll, and 2 pieces cucumber avocado roll

3. snack pack cottage cheese, nut and seed crunch bar

I know I went a little overboard with the sushi. We order it every Saturday night and this week I splurged a little. We did great at the garage sale though. We made $236!

In conclusion, I would definitely do it again when it is convenient for me. Not sure if I'd do it once or twice a week as suggested in the book. If you would like more information about fasting for fat loss, check out http://eatstopeat.com

Tomorrow I will be updating measurements and goals for the week.

Workout and Meals for 5/15/09

So glad it's Friday! This means I made it through another tough training week intact. Wow! The 5 mile race is next Saturday so I am going to do everything I can to get in a 5 mile trail run this Sunday.

Workout and Meals
a.m. - workout 3 min walk warm up, then run 3.5 miles
1. on the way home from the gym - syntrax nectar w/ 1tsp glutamine
after shower - green drink - organic kale, collards, spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, apple, ginger, lemon juice and apple juice, 1 tablespoon flax oil, green tea

2. 1 cup Lifeway pomegranate kefir with a scoop Miracle Reds, serving of Mrs. May's fruit and nut crunch

3. 3 oz chicken burger w/salad of spinach and grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegrette, strawberries

4. raw organic cauliflower, red pepper, and broccoli with 3 tablespoons hummus, sesame crunch bar, green tea

Start of a 24 hour fast for fat loss! My husband and I are doing this together which makes it easier. He's looking to shed some bodyfat as well. We have a neighborhood garage sale tomorrow so it will be very busy around here! No time to think about eating. The plan is to make enough money at the garage sale to get ourselves some sushi for dinner tomorrow night.

I will post my thoughts about the fast tomorrow night! Sunday I will be updating measurements and posting my training schedule and goals for the week.

If you would like more information about fasting for fat loss, check out http://eatstopeat.com

Workout and Meals for 5/14/09

I was very tired this morning and actually snoozed the alarm twice but the thought of not sticking to my schedule and scrambling to get the workout in this evening made me get up!

Meals
a.m. - workout
1. immediately following - syntrax nectar w/ 1tsp glutamine, brown rice cake
after shower - green drink w/flax oil, green tea

2. vanilla greek yogurt, serving of fruit and nut crunch

3. 1/2 c organic chickpeas, 1/2 c rice, salsa, strawberries, green tea

4. cauliflower and red pepper w/3 tablespoons hummus, green tea

5. 3 oz chicken burger, 1/2 avocado, grape tomatoes, a pear

6. syntrax nectar w/1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch


Workout

5 mins bike

Straight set
hang cleans - 5x5 - 35, 35, 40, 45, 45

Giant set
reverse lunges 4x8 - 8, 10, 15, 15
incline barbell press 4x8 - 45, 45, 50, 55
db shoulder press 4x8 - 8, 10, 12, 12
wide grip lat pulldown 4x8 - 50, 60, 70, 70
push ups - 4x8

Straight set
romanian deadlifts - 1 set for warm up 45x6, then 5x5 - 55, 60, 65, 70, 70

Superset
plank 30 second hold - 3 sets
cable reverse woodchop - 20, 30, 30

Bodyweight matrix - 24 squats, 12 lunges, 12 lunge jumps, 24 squat jumps

5 mins bike + streching

It took 57 mins to complete the weight portion of this workout.

This was my first time attempting hang cleans and the first set was horrible but by the second set I felt more comfortable. I watched a few videos on youtube but found this one helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfOBmNLCH0g I would definitely include this exercise again. It's very challenging.

One last note. Last time I did lunge jumps, I thought I was going to hurt myself. I am getting much more comfortable with that exercise as well.

Tomorrow morning is running 3.5 miles! Running this race next Saturday ready or not people!

Workout and Meals 5/13/09

a.m. - workout - treadmill
3 min walk to warm up, steady pace running, 6 intervals thrown in toward the end, and 7 min walk cool down. Total of 3.75 miles 40 minutes

1. syntrax nectar, 1 tsp glutamine on the way home from the gym
after shower - greens drink, green tea

2. plain greek yogurt w/a scoop Miracle Reds, serving of almonds

3. spinach salad with grape tomatoes, feta cheese, 1/2 cup chickpeas, balsamic vinagrette, strawberries, green tea

4. raw cauliflower and red pepper with 3 tablespoons hummus

5. 3 oz chicken burger (ground chicken mixed with grated onion, 3 tablespoons peter luger steak sauce, gluten free breadcrumbs), roasted asparagus, 1/2 avocado, grape tomatoes, a pear

6. syntrax nectar w/1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch

Tomorrow morning I am attempting to hang clean. Will report results.

Workout and Meals 5/12/09

Meals
a.m. - workout
1. immediately following - syntrax nectar w/1 tsp glutamine, brown rice cake
after shower - Green drink - organic kale, collards, spinach, parsley, celery, ginger, apple, lemon juice and apple juice w 1 tablespoon flax, green tea

2. vanilla greek yogurt, serving of almonds

3. 3 oz chicken marsala (leftover from Mother's Day), about 1/4 cup scallop potatoes, and alot of salad with balsamic vinagrette, green tea

4. snack pack cottage cheese, veggie fries

5. 3 oz chicken breast, about 1/4 cup scallop potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, green tea

6. syntrax nectar w/1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch


Workout
5 mins bike

Straight set
deadlift - 1x8, 4x5 - 45, 65, 70, 75, 80 (and a PR for me!)

Giant set
seated cable row - 1x8, 4x6 - 70, 80, 90, 100, 110
flat bench db press - 1x8, 4x6 - 10, 15, 20, 20, 20
barbell split squat - 1x8, 4x6 - 35, 45, 50, 55, 55
push up - 5x12

Straight set
front squat push press - 1x8, 4x6 - 35, 40, 45, 50, 50

Superset
45 degree planks hold for 45 seconds - 3 sets
flat bench reverse crunches 3x8

Sprint intervals outside for 12 minutes! Holy hell that was tough. The high school kids were waiting for their bus while I was haulin ass down the street :).

Gonna run my 3.5 miles tomorrow!

Finding my Inner Powerlifter

We all have our favorite exercises. A few of my favorites are front squat push press combo, dumbell or barbell push presses, and any pulling exercises. I'm finding over time that I like explosive powerlifter type exercises because they are challenging and recruit alot of muscles in the body to perform so they are super calorie burning.

Am I concerned that I'm going to look like one of those strongmen on ESPN? Not in the least. I don't have the hormones nor am I eating in excess so not a concern for me. My only problem with learning these types of exercises is correct form. It took me a while to do a front squat push press correctly!

Going forward I am going to try a new exercise every few weeks to learn proper form. Hopefully they'll make their way into my workouts and maybe I'll have a new favorite. This is me stepping out of my box. We should all do it once in a while!

What are you doing to step out of your box?

Please leave a comment if you have an exercise suggestion for me. I'd love to hear!

A Little Experiment

I recently purchased Brad Pilon's ebook Eat Stop Eat after reading some of the information on his website and also doing a little online research of my own about growth hormone. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in the form of injections has reportedly been used by some celebrities as the "fountain of youth". I don't know if you remember but not too long ago Sylvester Stallone was arrested for having HGH!

Some of it's benefits, as listed on Wikipedia.org are:
-decreased body fat
-increased muscle mass
-increased bone density
-increased energy levels
-improved skin tone and texture
-improved immune system function.
Who wouldn't want that?

Also, Wikipedia.org lists the following as stimulators of growth hormone:
-sleep
-exercise (in particular restistance training)
-low levels of blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
-short term fasting
-dietary protein

So this had me thinking that Brad Pilon may be onto something with his theory of short term fasting for fat loss. In his book, he states that HGH levels are elevated after approximately 18 hours of fasting. Fasting meaning only water, black coffee, tea, or diet no calorie beverages if desired.

He also talks a little bit about being a slave to eating every 3 hours. Now I have to agree with him here. I have two young children that eat every few hours and so do I. Needless to say I'm in the kitchen preparing something 3/4 of my day. It is exhausting!

This Saturday I have an all day neighborhood garage sale that we are participating in. It's going to be a busy day and tough to find the time to eat. From Friday around dinner to Saturday around dinner, I going to try a 24 hr fast and see how I feel. In addition to having a spike in HGH, I am creating a weekly deficit in calories therefore resulting in some additional fat loss (hopefully).

I am looking forward to reporting my results!

For more information on Eat Stop Eat, check out this website http://eatstopeat.com