Day 3 of Fast

More restless sleep, more muscle cramping.

1. 0600  --  260.4lbs - 120/73 

This was the lightest I have been since November.... 2017...  That was extremely motivating!

With the help of a little more bone broth (90 calories I made it to the 72 hour mark). So all of 170 calories in 3 days. Broke my fast proper with a visit to a Vietnamese Pho place (so more bone broth! But this stuff was so much better).

Overall impressions? I can do this, and I think I can do this for longer (I can't believe I am writing this but I would be interested in doing a 7 day fast sometime in the future). I might even be able to incorporate back in my exercise into this (I think in particular in the beginning, as an effort to burn out the sugar in the bloodstream and speed the transition to ketosis). I really wasn't crazy hungry and things were busy enough.  I think this would be easier without kids (because they need things like food and it is hard to be around food when doing this). I definitely wouldn't do another 3 day where it goes over weekend (though with this being a drill weekend I was away and busy).  I really didn't feel as off as I expected, a pleasant surprise.

After re-feeding and a full cycle of meals, 48 hours after that weight I was 265.8, which was still better than a when I started.

Day 2

Restless sleep (but somehow a Fitbit sleep score of 78 on 7:26 of sleep). Some Crazy more muscle cramping, I was in a meeting and had 3-4 muscles all messing with me at the same time.

1. 0700  --  263.9lbs - 133/87 69bpm
2. 1230 --  Still feeling mostly fine other than the cramping issue. Amazingly my stomach is not crying out right now for food as I expected/feared. Coffee and an electrolyte mix (I really like this one, Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Hydration Powder, Grape ) have kept me going, will probably switch to macha tea in the afternoon to ease the caffeine load. 40 hours in  
3. 1600  --  265.9lbs
4. 2137  -- 264.8lb

I broke down a touch (though it depends where you read if it was ok) and had a package of bone broth in the evening. So all of 80 calories in more than 2 days.

Day 1

Last food was at roughly 1900 last night.  Slept poorly but there is something about the taco's we had for dinner that doesn't settle well (massive acidity in stomach.. I am trying different variations to find what is causing it, onions just got excluded). Overall this will be the easy day, at least until 1800 or so, because that is normally when I break a 24 (ish) hour fast.  60bpm resting heart rate.

1. 0800  --  268.6lbs - 44 waist
2. 1600  --  267lbs - 44 waist.  129/98 67bpm

Only odd effect so far has been some cramping. That and some grumbling from my stomach.... But I have been prone to cramping for a long time so I cannot blame this (yet).....

I started with this which got me into 24 hour fasts:

Eat Stop Eat: Intermittent Fasting for Health and Weight Loss

Then I moved to my reference for this:
The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended


Note: Today I had a physical. Then I had to take our sick cat Legend in.Who the vet not so subtly told me needs to be put down, there is no return to normal (pain free) for him. FML, I almost broke this thing before it started since I _really_ wanted a drink after that news...

Not quite dead (but I may feel like it in a few days)

Going to use this to sort of live blog my new experiment, trying a longer fast. I have been doing a number of short 20-24 hour fasts for several months now (minus travel, holidays and extreme stress times). So given the fact that I may have to be taped this weekend (but no PT test) I figured it would be chance to maybe lose an inch or so from the waist and try to extend my to (*gulp*) 72 hours. I already had to fast for both my annual physical as well as my annual Army physical, so why not combine them.
I have been reading so many good things about the benefits of extended fasting that I am kind of interested to see how it goes. Not horribly excited, but interested to see how it goes.  I predict that Thursday night will be the worst because my body is used to eating after a 24 hour fast and isn't going to be happy.

The 24 hour (ish) Fasting Experiment

I like experimenting with various ways to try to lose weight.  I am in the Army National Guard and at this point don't want to get kicked out for my weight, as I will have just completed 14 years of service at the end of this month.

Over the years I have tried Adkin's, Keto, Intermittent Fasting(IF), etc. I like the science behind fasting but honestly, I find IF burdensome as, while it claims to be intermittent in practice most people do it 5-7 days a week. I actually like breakfast (even after my time in AFG where it was my dinner for 6 months) so I was never good at following a consistent IF plan. Then early last month I found some references to a book, "Eat, Stop, Eat," (by Brad Pilon) that intrigued me. Basically the book breaks down to just trying to go for 24 hours 2x a week (for those of us who are overweight... so America as a whole, then if you get really close you can drop to 1x week). I love that the book has something like 20 page of scientific citations at the end. And even besides fat loss there are additional health benefits to a 24 hour fast that made it an easy sell to me.  

So the basic numbers when I started the first fast on 13FEB19:

Weight: 275.1 lbs

RHR: 62 bpm

After 3 full weeks of 2x Fasting for 24hrs (08MAR19):

Weight: 265.2 lbs

RHR: 55 bpm

Interesting note, you can see my RHR spike during drill(1-3MAR)....  I was less than good going to the gym (only 2-3 time a week) during this period, but because I have a record APFT coming up, I need to get moving on that.

I also had a checkup on 28FEB19 and I will need to have some more blood work done in 3 months, so that should have some interesting nuggets. (one desire of this trip is to not need BP meds anymore)

I will check back in next month to see how things are going.  I find that while I am hungry, I don't feel tempted to cheat.  During these fast periods I try to be as strict as I can be, developing a taste for black (but with fake sugar) coffee and lots of water. I generally break the fast with some probiotics (fermented garlic, sauerkraut, plus maybe some kefir) and carrots/hummis.

Weekly Weight (9/22)

259.4
Tired. But still getting to the gym.  I passed my certification exam (ISC2 CAP), was sick one day and had to travel this weekend for the Army again (and the coming weekend... I am tired).

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 (July)
• 259.4-261.7
• Month 3 (August)
• 257-264.
• Month 4 - Week 2
• 261.2
• Month 4 - Week 3 (now)
• 259.4

Weekly Weight (9/15)

261.2
Whoops. Took a little break from blogging (that pesky real life thing). I had a bunch of Army stuff going on, a vacation to Orlando (me and the kiddos on the plane... that was an experience) and was also prepping to take a Certification exam (ISC2 CAP).

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 (July)
• 259.4-261.7
• Month 3 (August)
• 257-264. Gotta love those big swings...
• Month 4 - Week 2 (now)
• 261.2

Now that most of that is past me and I start to prep for one of my favorite races (the Army Ten Miler) we shall see if I can make some new progress) as well as my annual APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test).

Weekly Weight (8/18)

259.3
I didn't get to the gym as much as I hoped. But I am recommitting now and getting my training on for the Army Ten Miler in October as well as the annual APFT (probably in November for OER reasons).

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 (July)
• 259.4-261.7
• Month 3 - Week 1
• 259.2
• Month 3 - Week 2 (now)
• 259.3

Steps:

• Last week 
• 119k
• First week August
• 173k
• July
• 124k-90k
• June
• 123k-93k

Weekly Weight (8/11)

259.2
Considering that I just got back from 10 days in Las Vegas (for Black Hat and DEFCON) I consider this an accomplishment. It helped that I was getting around 30k steps (15 or so miles) on most of the days out there. I even went to 3 buffets while I was out there (Wicked Spoon in the Cosmopolitan was the nicest of the batch) and ate (and drank) well. Back to reality now (and back to a better gym, I definitely took a hit in my strength during this trip)

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 (July)
• 259.4-261.7
• Month 3 - Week 1 (now)
• 259.2

Steps:

• Last week 
• 173k
• July
• 124k-90k
• June
• 123k-93k

Weekly Weight (7/21)

259.4

A pretty good week from exercise and activity. Even with all the heat and the PF still going, it was a solid week.

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 - Week 1
• 261.7
• Month 2 - Week 2 
• 259.9
• Month 2 - Week 3 (now)
• 259.4

Steps:

• Last week 
• 105.5k
• Last week -1
• 90786
• Last Month (weeks)
• 123k-93k

Weekly Weight (7/14)

259.9

A drill weekend (which always seems to involve less exercise than a non-drill weekend), feeling off and the continues visitation of planar fasciitis in my right foot, but somehow a drop....

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 - Week 1
• 261.7
• Month 2 - Week 2 (now)
• 259.9

Steps:

• Last week
• 90786
• Last Month (weeks)
• 123k-93k

Weekly Weight (7/7)

261.7 (Lucky 7 was not with me.)

It was the 4th of July weekend, the weekend of booze and bbq, so not too horrible. Been feeling off this past week, which kept me away from the table (and sadly between that and a reappearance of planar fasciitis, not really been to the gym much this week)

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 (June)
• 262.5 - 261.8
• Month 2 - Week 1 (now)
• 261.7

Weekly Weight (6/30)

261.8

Considering I am single parenting this week and my planar fasciatis decided to come back and visit, I am not too bothered by this. The upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend so that will be a challenge. Oddly my steps are not too bad (110k for the past week) even though I have had to drive more than normal due to kid related activities.

• Day 0
• 260.9
• Month 0 (May)
• 257.8 - 263.1
• Month 1 - Week 3 (June)
• 262.5
• Month 1 - Week 4 (now)
• 261.8

Weekly Weight (5/26)

260.0

Course correcting back to the right direction. Stepping up the workouts as well as the steps (18919 a day from Sunday to Wednesday).

• Week 0
• 260.9
• Week 1-2
• 257.8-260.1
• Week 3 
• 263.1
• Week 4 (now)
• 260.0

Things are going to get weird (and I will skip two weeks in June as I will be off for my yearly military service obligation) for the next two couple of weeks.

Weekly Weight (5/20)

263.1

A little bit of concern but it has been a weird week (Drill this past weekend, where I passed my annual PT test (18:07 2 mile run, 60 push-ups in 2 minutes, 55 sit-ups in 2 minutes) and height and weight, then off to Florida to "vacation" with the kids/wife/parents (I had all the intentions of running every day, hitting the gym, etc. but those plans did not survive the enemy, I only got one run in and no other workouts, other than a lot of walking). With a 2 week trend I am a little annoyed (but I am doing a partial fast day today to set me back on the right course).

• Week 0
• 260.9
• Week 1
• 257.8
• Week 2 
• 260.1
• Week 3 (now)
• 263.1

I got a new Fitbit HR (to replace my Dead Basis Peak) so I am getting used to that again.

Weekly Weight (5/12)

260.1

Some may freak out (ZOMG, the scale must always be lower than the previous one). But as a trend line it is still going down and I feel comfortable with my general fitness (still getting stronger, Deadlift (3 sets x 6 for all of these) 270, Squat 235, Bench Press 250 and faster on my runs).

• Week 0
• 260.9
• Week 1
• 257.8
• Week 2 (now)
• 260.1

Next week may be bad (and a day late) as I have Drill this weekend and then a quick family trip until Thursday (so I also don't really see a fast day until maybe Friday of next week). But the trick is to eat as right as possible and get as much physical activity as possible.

Weekly Weight (5/5)

For transparency, and to keep me motivated, I am going to toss in a weekly weight report. Thursday is a good day to do it since I probably have been eating fairly clean (before heading into the weekend that offers more temptations).

So thanks to some fast days (Tuesday and Thursdays... they are more partial fast days since it simply means that I pretty much have nothing but coffee (with some cream) and some fish oil, though I will toss in some protein shakes if I am working out (with a little BCAA )) I am happy to see the lowest weight in 4 years (basically since I got back from Afghanistan in January 2012 I was 245lb, and by May 2012 I was 265 with a long upward climb until my embarrassment point of April 2015 where I tipped the scales at 287.5).

Last week (we will call that week 0) :

• 260.9

Thursday : (week 1)

• 257.8

Constant struggle

I am a big guy. Lately I have been having some success (over the past 6 months I have managed to shed 20+ pounds)...

So the picture on the left is depressing to me. I came back from Afghanistan nice and lean (245lbs, which is a good weight for me). Made for some pretty good wedding pictures, though even by that time I was inching back up.  But now through a combination of renewed commitment to working out, cutting back my soda consumption (and replacing it with coffee, which finally is palatable to me) less eating out (side effect of the budgets post) and a few things I have been trying (adding MSM to my diet, fish oil, less carbs, occasional (once or twice a week) fast (or partial fast) days, vinegar in water before every meal)) I have been able to slowly drag my ass back down to a more acceptable level. 

I like it and now if there are any trendable upticks (since the app I use, Withings, which is tied to my electronic scale will normalize the data set) I take strong action to get it back to normal. I am looking forward to start flirting with the 250 zone shortly (it shows up occasionally after a really good workout).

This post was somewhat inspired by buddy F, who has been tracking his efforts (our battles of the bulges) on his blog at: www.ahealthylife.me  I don't know about the 700 calorie a day thing though that he was doing for a while, that is crazy to me, but it did have some good effects on him.

Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon

What a wonderful day for a run! I was concerned based on the weather recently (last weekend was awful) but Mother Nature really put out all the stops and gave us a wonderful Mothers Day.
Overall this was a pretty great race, relatively flat, attractive view and of course my GF, H, was there to cheer me on. My only issues were that this course is not the most accessible supporters and that they really could have used another couple of porta-potties.

Final time? 2:24. Basically 11:00/mi. And that included a 2-3 minute visit to one of those scarce porta-potties on the second loop.

Not my personal best, for 2 factors. One was that I made a critical fail and went one scone too far in my pre-race breakfast/snack. Normally I do some toast and tea, but today was tea and scones (3 large ones). And I paid for that indulgence for 3/4 of the race, where I did not make my best time since I had to stop more frequently to prevent myself from vomiting. Additionally this race I was about the heaviest I have been in for quite a while and I could feel that as well.

Now off to celebrate Mothers Day with my Mom!

Family Weight Loss Challenge

So I have joined my brothers and my father in a little Biggest Loser B Family style.
I definitely need to lose some weight, in particular with the races I have coming in October...

263lbs at the weigh in, target is 235. I wish I could have pushed it back to after this weekend (I have a wedding to head to with my ex-roommate). So hopefully next time (in about 2 weeks) I can show at least some forward progress...