Day Sixteen - Overeating

2200 calories this evening meal. Salad, some peanuts, trail mix, big bowl of split pea/bean soup, protein shake, strawberries, and an apple.

And milk and cookies. Can't give those cookie up although they're not very unhealthy, as far as cookies go. There's only 2/3 cup of sugar in the 2.5 dozen. Other than that it's 2/3 butter, oatmeal, 2 eggs, flour, chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Better for you than Oreos.

Day Sixteen - Undereating

Today I had my usual multi-vitamin and coffee in the morning. Later I ate a few handfuls of blackberries that tasted like candy and provided a burst of energy with no crash. It's very enjoyable how fasting brings out the tastes in fruits and vegetables that processed foods destroy. I remember when I first read the book The Warrior Diet. There's a part that describes what the Roman soldiers would typically eat and one part mentioned they would snack on onions. When I first read that I thought, eww, how can someone "snack" on an onion? I like onions but I don't snack on them. But now that I'm intermittently fasting, onions taste sweet, not like an apple but in a different way and I would welcome eating one during the day.

Day Sixteen - Update

I just thought I'd let everyone know that I'm back up to 177 pounds but my body fat measurement didn't increase accordingly, it's right around 17.3%. I must admit I got a little freaked out the first week when I dropped nearly six pounds and 1.1% body fat. That's a good chunk of fat but also some lean mass so I made an effort to eat more calories and it obviously worked. I don't want to lose any lean mass in the pursuit of stubborn fat loss, at least not at this point in winter. I may be willing to sacrifice 1 or 2 pounds of lean mass around May when shirtless weather starts coming. Maybe not, that seems pretty weak. I'd rather be stronger with a bit more fat. I've already got a wife. I want strength, not perfect form.

So basically I dropped 6 pounds and 1.1% body fat the first week and then gained about 5 pounds back but only ~.2% of body fat. That means lean mass gain. Too bad I haven't measured my waist yet because I can swear I've lost around my midsection too. I'll check that one of these days.

Day Sixteen - Exercise

I've kind of made a temporary change in my workout program. Over the past 7 months, the Simplefit formed the core of my workout program and I would do that first above all else. At the higher levels though, it's exhausting and I just don't have as much energy to hit the free weights afterwards. So, I'm thinking I'm going to focus on weightlifting for a couple of months here and fit the Simplefit workout in-between when I feel it's appropriate. The plan is full-body workouts 3 times a week focusing on dead lifts, squats, overhead presses, bench presses, barbell rows and weighted dips and pull-ups. I'll have one day off on the weekend and the other three days will be wildcard days where I'll do whatever I feel like doing on that day, maybe Simplefit, maybe Crossfit, maybe heavy bag work, or like today, HIIT sprinting. I did 8 rounds then some ab exercises.