Diet/Training (three weeks in)

Here's what happened. I have effectively switched to a slightly different variation of IF (intermittent fasting) after the first week of being on a Warrior Diet. I found it difficult for me to fit enough calories into one huge meal a day so I decided to switch to a 16/8 schema (see Martin Berkhan's site for more info on it) which means 16 hours of underfeeding/fasting and 8 hours (feeding phase). Actually with my work schedule it works out more like 17/7 or even 18/6, where I eat my first meal of the day when I get home at 5pm and I'm usually done eating before 11pm anyway as I go to bed around 11:30.

I also slightly diverted from Martin's original plan (he assumes complete fasting during those 16 hours - no food, only drinks with no calories). I do eat during the underfeeding phase - only I limit myself to fresh veggies, which includes broccoli, califlower, celery, cherry tomatoes (yumm! love those) and, of course, pickles - up to a total of 1-1.5 portions (one Ziploc container) spread throughout the morning and afternoon. Whenever I feel hungry I just open my Ziploc container and pop a piece of celery, a little bit of cauliflower or broccoli, a cherry tomato and half a pickle and I'm good to go again. I have to say that bouts of hunger are a lot less severe now and I usually don't put anything in my mouth till about 9-9:15am and then I spread the rest over remaining hours till about 4pm which is just before I leave the office. Plus, every now and then I would mix some whey protein - about half a scoop - with hot water (tastes like hot chocolate) and sometimes add a bit of coffee as well. So it totals to a 1-1.5 scoops which gives me about 24-36 g of additional protein. I would estimate the total caloric intake during the underfeeding phase somewhere between ~80-100 (veggies only) and ~200-280 (veggies + protein).

After the first week I estimated my weight loss at about 2 lbs (I wasn't thoughtful enough to weigh in right before I started), which sounds about right for me, as I plan on maintaining my lean muscle mass as much as possible and going over 2 lbs per week usually means that more muscle is metabolized for energy along with fat. So the weigh-in was at 206.8.

After the second week I was down to 204.8, which meant another 2 lbs off. Also, sadly enough, I didn't even measure myself which I usually do quite religiously. But judging by the fact that I started using the next hole on my belt that I hadn't used for a loooooong while looks like I made some progress since those holes are about 2/3 of an inch apart so it's safe to assume that my waistline shrunk by about that much as well.

Half way through week 3 I pulled out my old caliper and measured the IC (iliac crest) fold - why didn't I think about it sooner? It measured at 10mm and I plan on doing it from this point on.

As far as exercise goes: I do my kung fu classes 3 times a week (2 times during summer) and I do my 4-minute Tabata cycles twice a week and I decided to do weights once a week as well. So I went to the "Y" on Saturday afternoon for a full body workout. I enjoyed it a lot - especially because Saturday afternoon is not the busiest time - so I had all the racks and machines readily available. I focused on major groups: did squats, pullovers, rows, pulldowns. My shoulder joints were really sore last week so I had to take it easy on them this last Saturday. I avoided any pressing movements that put a lot of stress on my joints and did more pulls and flyes instead.

To my surprise, my muscles were not as sore as I could have expected. Usually they are very sore the second next day but these last two times they weren't - only slightly. And I like that feeling!

The not so inspiring news - week 3 weigh-in was 205.4 - which means I gained about half a pound compared to a week before. Although I decided that it may have been due to some added lean mass. So I'll wait to see week 4 results before I go and make adjustments.

I feel energized and not nearly as lethargic as I used to be. So on to new hights - towards that lean and shining muscular physique!!