Thursday, August 8, 2013

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Total Calories: 1800

This was one of those tricky days that would have foiled me on most other plans. For one, it's difficult to know exactly what serving size I'm getting when I'm eating something like a casserole (even though Keli does a great job of staying in limits when she measures things out) or when I'm eating, even when it's a place like Subway, that is conscious of its nutritional profile. For another, it's difficult to quantify the "activity level" I have because of teaching and cleaning house. Since I'm on ESE, my only real goal is the fasting. My secondary goal is 1700 calories four days per week. My tertiary goal is one day without measurement during which I also don't go ad libitum nuts. ESE promotes stress-free relationships to nutrition, though, so it's a lot easier psychologically to not freak out if I miss one of the other goals. For Week #1, which concludes with Wednesday night, I feel rather satisfied with myself.

Progress/Lessons Learned

  • I do best these days by completing a regular, calendar day of fasting. Although one of the benefits of ESE is that Brad shows you how to be able to eat every day while still fasting for 24 hours at a time, I have found that my current schedule works better in many ways when I have my usual dessert at night and fast until the morning of the second day (so, stop eating at 10 PM, eat again roughly 32 hours later). It sounds rough, but in doing it this way, I'm getting almost half of my fasted time in during sleep. Other set-ups have worked for me, but when I get home around four or five in the afternoon, it's psychologically easier to keep the momentum I've built up (I don't want to waste the entire day of fasting) than it is when I have eaten lunch and am planning on skipping dinner.
  • I still prefer to backload my calories. I switched to LeanGains (which includes 16/8 Fasted/Fed protocol) because (a) I prefer to eat big meals and (b)... I don't know why. ESE was working. But I did switch. And if I learned one thing about myself, it's that I do like backloading calories. My strategy is
    • to keep breakfast to 100 - 200 calories, bland food (omelet, scrambled eggs, milk, etc.) that is also high protein
    • to keep lunch to 100 - 300 calories, some flavor is okay (leftover dinner from night before) but keep the portion small and the protein high.
Things to Ponder

  • Protein and Satiety. I can't recall if I have pointed it out or not, but protein fills you up and helps you stay that way. High fat content can have the same effect, but you're also looking at a smaller portion (fat has 9 calories per gram and protein has 3 calories per gram, so a 25g protein meal would equal a 75g fat meal in terms of calories!)
  • Questions from Friends. I have had some of you message me about nutrition. First, I'm not an expert. I'm well-read, and I am conscientious about reading opposing points-of-view. Second, my focus is on fasting: I believe it works for almost everyone; I believe it will eventually be shown to have health benefits beyond weight loss; and I believe that most of us eat way too much food, whether we're slender or not. That said, you're welcome to ask me questions here or via Facebook, but understand that I can't speak to Paleo-, low-carb-, low-fat-, Warrior-, etc. eating protocols. I have a basic knowledge of them, but I have not followed them for myself, not in any meaningful way. I can talk to you about what macro-nutrients do to your body, which is information everyone should know and understand, but my advice will likely come back to "Hey, you should try fasting." Still, feel free to ask me questions, and I will do what I can to answer them.

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