I blinked and I had put on 8 kg. I hadn’t stopped training. I had taken two weeks off, but after that I hadn’t had more than 2 to 3 days off since Ironman Cairns in June. Then how the Fuck did I go from 81 kg in June to 89 kg by the end of November? I mean I knew my shorts were a little tighter, my t-shirts were a little more fitted than they were a few months back. But still 8 kg. Seriously. The scales must be wrong. You fat piece of shit. Wow. No wonder my last 3 runs in 70.3’s were harder than they were back in May and June.
I went over the last 5 months what had I been doing? Well when I start to really look. I had been snacking regularly, sugary treats and eating big meals and plenty of deserts every night with out even thinking about the consequences. I had started to crave sugar and all mannerisms of sweet treat again. Worse than that my impedance scales which aren’t all that accurate, but it is information told me that my visceral fat levels have gone from a level 3 to 7. Which is really when the alarm bells started to go off.
You see I want to live till a ripe old age and I feel I am already up against it with my genetics. My dad died of smoking related disease after a burst Aortic aneurysm operation. I also never met any of my male grandparents. They died before I was born. Also from my job in the RAAF as an Aircraft Technician I worked with many hazardous substances and cancer and other maladies are a common thing of people with my work history.
So how, as a nearly 49 year old Remedial Massage therapist/ Strength Coach/ Ironman Triathlete can I better my chances of 1/ growing old in a fit and healthy state and 2/ drop weight get my sugar cravings under control and in alignment with 1 get my visceral body fat back down to a more healthy level.
Come in Fasting. Fasting is an ancient method that has been used by many cultures for thousands of year as a tool for health and longevity. There is compelling evidence from numerous studies that show the benefits in numerous areas of extended periods of no eating.
Re-set insulin sensitivity
Improve immunity
Kill precancerous cells
Longevity
Improve will-power
Develop the ability to fast if needed
Reduce body fat
For me the insulin sensitivity, killing off precancerous cells and longevity are the major draw cards. The fat loss is an added bonus that getting insulin back under control will as a flow down affect help me lose the weight I want.
Many people call fasting bio-hacking. The latest trend on self experimentation in the health space. But this is no recent trend. As I said this has been getting done for thousands of years by many cultures through out time.
So how did I do it, How did I feel? What were the outcomes?
Day Minus 2 days. That’s when I weighed my self. 89.4 kg.
Day Minus 1 day. Total Performance Centre’s Christmas function. Did a 2 km swim in the morning before work then did a 2 hour ride with High Intensity Intervals in it. Then went to the Gym end of year party and had a Hamburger. It was meant to be epic proportion size but was a tad on the normal size if truth be told.
Day 1 Starting the fast. Woke up 6 am and went for a fasted 2 hour easy run. Came home and cooked breakfast which was a 3 egg omelette with cheese, spinach, mushrooms, shredded chicken and turmeric. I finished that just before 10 am and started my fast. I have no evidence of this but I truly believe that how I started my fast had a massive effect on the final outcome. The 2 hour run followed by a very low carbohydrate breakfast started my with a very low insulin level to start with in a carb depleted state from the run. Straight after Breakfast I cooked the meals for the rest of the week for after the fast finished. I did this when still feeling nice and full. Once I was under way during the day it actually went pretty easy during the day. Evening time Wendy had a yummy Chicken pie that had my mouth juices flowing but that settled down and I was fine after about 10 minutes.
Day 2 Fast. My biggest problem was the habitual eating. I constantly found my self going to the fridge looking for that snack. Only to catch my self and stop it. During the day I felt pretty good and had plenty of energy and was mentally with it. I did an hour brisk walk through Newcastle and over a couple of decent hills just to get the heart rate up a bit and keep busy through out the day. That day was quite cool and the air-conditioner in the shop was working really well and I could not get warm all day and even in to the evening my core temperature was low and had trouble sleeping due to feeling cold.
Day 3. It was actually pretty liberating knowing that when I woke up on Wednesday morning I only had 5 hours left of the fast. That is a bit of a cake walk after nearly 3 days. So I decided to do some light training and completed a 2 km swim followed by an 8 km beach woalk with the dogs and a 90 minute stationary trainer bike set. I knew that 1 hour in to the bike ride I would be allowed to eat again so I chose to have a water bottle on hand with a weak carbohydrate mix. I ended up not using it until after I got off the bike as I felt I just didn’t need it at the intensity I was riding at.
Straight after the ride when I drank the mix I felt the drink hit my muscles. It was a quite surreal sensation with the feeling of energy coming back in to my muscles. For my first meal I decided a hard boiled egg and some MCT oil would be a good way to start eating again.
Now a week later I am a full 2 kg lighter than day 1 of the fast and feel like I am back up to full energy levels and am in to full swing training for my next race. Ironman New Zealand in March 2020. Did it make a large scale change. I believe I feel better, my little niggles seemed to settle quickly and I am happy with how I actually feel and what I can achieve when I put my mind to something.
Mick Rand