Naif noun: A Naive or ingenuous person
Hello
I will be using this journal to record my intermittent fasting (IF) experiment – it’s been in the media lately and well... I fancied giving it a go. Some history and rationale follows, hope folks will follow along. I have no idea if it will work or go entirely pear-shaped
Ancient History
In my early twenties I was light(ish), muscular and fairly fit. I jogged and lifted reasonably heavy weights on a regular basis.
Recent History
Fast-forward half a decade and I was over 280lbs a heavy drinker and smoker
. I regularly got tired walking up stairs... Not good. A year later, I stand at 250lbs, drink socially 
and don’t smoke. I also exercise regularly again (free-weights, kettlebells, cycling, walking and hiking). It hasn’t been the perfect year; there have been slips (and even jumps) off the wagon. Yet a good 30+ lbs has been lost and has stayed off for a few months now and I’ve lost 10†on the waist. Further, my resting heart rate has dropped from approximately 98 to 63. I am healthier and fitter than I have been in years. Something to be proud of
Why IF
Recently, I read a few books on IF that got me thinking – Brad Pilon’s ‘Eat Stop Eat’ and ‘How Much Protein?’ I then had a look at leangains.com, browsed scholarly articles and perused some of the bodybuilding/lifting forums. The literature on IF challenged the majority of my beliefs about nutrition and exercise...
It was in my late teens and early twenties that I became interested in nutrition and exercise. I was looking to gain muscle, strength and lose a little body fat. I educated myself by reading various bodybuilding forums, the magazines and talking to people at the gym. I became socialised into the bodybuilding culture and so adopted the prevalent values and beliefs. These served me well – I became a fit and healthy young man. A year ago, I designed an exercise program (cardio and free weights 3-6 times a week) and a nutrition program, that I’ve been adhering to on and off based on what I considered to be sound principles:
Eat 6-7 small meals per day
Consume protein at every sitting, aiming for at least 1g per lb of bodyweight each day – otherwise you will lose muscle mass/compromise muscle gains
Ensure that a lot of protein (50-70g) is consumed post-workout
Consuming more calories than the body requires will increase weight while consuming less will decrease weights
And so on.
The books I read on IF challenged all those principles except the last one. I wondered if I’d been getting it wrong. To summarise, the recommendation is roughly this: engage in weight training a few times a week, consume meals as you prefer, aim for 70-120g of protein a day and you will preserve muscle mass. Fast for 24hrs or so once or twice a week, this has many apparent health benefits and will also decrease overall calories consumption by 25-30% and lead to fat loss.
I am not capable of evaluating the science. I’m an active researcher (management, training and learning, org behaviour) – so I do have some understanding of quantitative experimental work, but not much as I typically do qualitative case studies. I also don’t have a background in nutrition or sports science. Rather than spending years learning about these topics I’ve decided to just give it a go – a thirty day trial.
The Program
Here is what I will attempt.
Day 1: Fast
Day 2: Eat normally, my active metabolic rate is around 2800 kcal (not including exercise) and perform resistance work: shoulders, lower back & hams
Day 3: Fasted State HIIT (stationary bike) and then aim for a small calorie deficit
Day 4: Fast
Day 5: Eat normally, and perform resistance work: Chest and upper back
Day 6: As Day 3
Rinse and Repeat... or possibly take a day off from fasting, cardio and resistance work. As for food choices: complex carbs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, lean beef, fish and chicken.
I will allow myself some flexibility - at the moment I'm moving house with my partner, starting new projects - and life is generally just difficult right now. So I will do the best I can with this and report as often and honestly as I am able.
As of this morning I am 250lbs, 49.75†around the widest part of my waist. I will look at changes in weight, waist measurement and strength/endurance on compound resistance exercises to decide if this is working or not.
Thanks to anyone who could be bothered to read all of this
EDIT: Spelling
Hello
I will be using this journal to record my intermittent fasting (IF) experiment – it’s been in the media lately and well... I fancied giving it a go. Some history and rationale follows, hope folks will follow along. I have no idea if it will work or go entirely pear-shaped
Ancient History
In my early twenties I was light(ish), muscular and fairly fit. I jogged and lifted reasonably heavy weights on a regular basis.
Recent History
Fast-forward half a decade and I was over 280lbs a heavy drinker and smoker
. I regularly got tired walking up stairs... Not good. A year later, I stand at 250lbs, drink socially and don’t smoke. I also exercise regularly again (free-weights, kettlebells, cycling, walking and hiking). It hasn’t been the perfect year; there have been slips (and even jumps) off the wagon. Yet a good 30+ lbs has been lost and has stayed off for a few months now and I’ve lost 10†on the waist. Further, my resting heart rate has dropped from approximately 98 to 63. I am healthier and fitter than I have been in years. Something to be proud of Why IF
Recently, I read a few books on IF that got me thinking – Brad Pilon’s ‘Eat Stop Eat’ and ‘How Much Protein?’ I then had a look at leangains.com, browsed scholarly articles and perused some of the bodybuilding/lifting forums. The literature on IF challenged the majority of my beliefs about nutrition and exercise...
It was in my late teens and early twenties that I became interested in nutrition and exercise. I was looking to gain muscle, strength and lose a little body fat. I educated myself by reading various bodybuilding forums, the magazines and talking to people at the gym. I became socialised into the bodybuilding culture and so adopted the prevalent values and beliefs. These served me well – I became a fit and healthy young man. A year ago, I designed an exercise program (cardio and free weights 3-6 times a week) and a nutrition program, that I’ve been adhering to on and off based on what I considered to be sound principles:
Eat 6-7 small meals per day
Consume protein at every sitting, aiming for at least 1g per lb of bodyweight each day – otherwise you will lose muscle mass/compromise muscle gains
Ensure that a lot of protein (50-70g) is consumed post-workout
Consuming more calories than the body requires will increase weight while consuming less will decrease weights
And so on.
The books I read on IF challenged all those principles except the last one. I wondered if I’d been getting it wrong. To summarise, the recommendation is roughly this: engage in weight training a few times a week, consume meals as you prefer, aim for 70-120g of protein a day and you will preserve muscle mass. Fast for 24hrs or so once or twice a week, this has many apparent health benefits and will also decrease overall calories consumption by 25-30% and lead to fat loss.
I am not capable of evaluating the science. I’m an active researcher (management, training and learning, org behaviour) – so I do have some understanding of quantitative experimental work, but not much as I typically do qualitative case studies. I also don’t have a background in nutrition or sports science. Rather than spending years learning about these topics I’ve decided to just give it a go – a thirty day trial.
The Program
Here is what I will attempt.
Day 1: Fast
Day 2: Eat normally, my active metabolic rate is around 2800 kcal (not including exercise) and perform resistance work: shoulders, lower back & hams
Day 3: Fasted State HIIT (stationary bike) and then aim for a small calorie deficit
Day 4: Fast
Day 5: Eat normally, and perform resistance work: Chest and upper back
Day 6: As Day 3
Rinse and Repeat... or possibly take a day off from fasting, cardio and resistance work. As for food choices: complex carbs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, lean beef, fish and chicken.
I will allow myself some flexibility - at the moment I'm moving house with my partner, starting new projects - and life is generally just difficult right now. So I will do the best I can with this and report as often and honestly as I am able.
As of this morning I am 250lbs, 49.75†around the widest part of my waist. I will look at changes in weight, waist measurement and strength/endurance on compound resistance exercises to decide if this is working or not.
Thanks to anyone who could be bothered to read all of this
EDIT: Spelling
Talking of hearts... good news, my partner and I will be reunited and move in together the weekend of the 25th (we both moved back to our parents while we found somewhere new to live).Yay 
Oh and the brussell sprouts... Think I'll be leaving them alone for a while, they looked fresh and tasty in the pack and were ummm not the tasty christmas veggie i remember from last year...Yesterday I ate 200g of raspberries... much better!!