Day Twenty Eight - Rest Day

Today is a rest day from exercise. Undereating is some apples, a banana, some raisins, and a good healthy doughnut, whoops.

Overeating is going to be some chicken breast and broccoli and cheese couscous.

Looks like a high carb today.

Day Twenty Seven - Overeating

I had my protein shake after the workout and then I started eating pretty much right after that and I skipped the salad just because I didn't feel like having one today. I had the other half of the roasted chicken, some walnuts, raisins, fried potatoes, an apple and some Kashi Go Lean Crunch with dried cranberries added. That's less than 2000 calories but about 123 grams of protein. I'll probably have a few more snacks before bed.

When I ate upwards of 3000 calories for a couple of days a few weeks ago, I was really overeating, partly because I got freaked out about the 6 pound weight loss in the first week and partly because I was taking advantage of the whole "overeating" part of the overeating phase. I actually ate myself uncomfortable a few times. I've really learned just about exactly what I need to feel satsified. I think why this diet is so successful for some is that it's pretty easy to restrict calories on this diet, if that was something you wanted to do. I need to average about 2500 calories a day, give or take but it'd be easy to eat say 300 calories during the undereating phase and then fill up on 1500 calories during the overeating phase. You'd feel pretty satisfied after 1500 calories but you'd still be in the negative.

Last Sunday when I was sick and after two days of poor eating I weighed in at 186 pounds but this morning, focusing on better foods throughout the week even though I was still off and on sick, I'm down to 175. I've never had an 11 pound swing like that before in less than a week. I feel it has something to do with this way of eating. It's like if you eat a lot of crap, you get fat quick, but if you eat good food, the fat melts off. Does that make sense? That's probably not possible but it feels that way.

Day Twenty Six - Overeating

The usual salad, half a roasted chicken, some cheese, an apple, some cranberries, 10-grain hot cereal with raisins and a glass of chocolate milk, oh and two chocolate truffles. 2300 total calories for the day. 150 grams of protein.

I'm so wiped out from working out this morning and being sick. I'm planning a kick-ass workout tomorrow just to let my body know who's boss. Like a two-hour marathon of killer exercises. That'll teach my body to let its guard down against germs. Next time those white blood cells are thinking about taking a break they'll remember what happened the last time we got sick.

Day Twenty Five - Overeating

Salad, rest of the shrimp, soft taco, cheese, apple, 10-grain cereal and cranberries, and a protein shake. That made a little less than 2000 calories for the day and 110 grams of protein.

Day Twenty Four - Overeating

More spinach salad with an avocado cut up on top. This diet has really made me appreciate avocados. They're delicious. Two dozen shrimp. Meatloaf sandwich. Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain cereal with some dried cranberries for dessert. That's about 2000 calories for the day with 130 grams of protein.

Day Twenty Three - Exercise and Overeating

I did a bit of heavy bag work and then some core exercises and finished off with a few sets of kettlebell swings. Nothing too demanding.

I found a good deal on some shrimp so after my salad, I cooked those up and ate a couple dozen for a healthy dose of protein. I then had some walnuts, a meatloaf sandwich, an apple, and some oatmeal with cranberries and a glass of milk.

Around 2200 calories this evening. If I weren't doing a 30 day experiment, I wouldn't even be counting calroies.

Day Twenty Two

I slept straight through until 10:00 A.M. this morning. I felt much better. I didn't really track what I ate and drank yesterday. I couldn't stay hydrated yesterday. I think I drank a gallon of gatorade and didn't have to go to the bathroom all day. I guess my body was definitely fighting something. A little after I woke up I ate a hamburger then I went to the gym and had a great workout. Again, I improved in either weight or repetition. I had a banana and a protein shake after the workout. Later in the evening I had a meatloaf sandwich, apple, taco and some oatmeal with cranberries. I think I'll probably get about 2400 calories in total today.

Day Twenty - All in One

Today was tough because I started to feel sore from an intense workout yesterday so I was pretty lazy all day which made me want to snack and watch TV. But I was good and only had coffe, blackberries, strawberries and some carrots during the undereating phase. I managed to hit the heavybag for a while and do some ab exercises in the afternoon and followd that with a protein shake. A couple of hours later I had a salad to start the overeating phase. I had about 2500 calories during the overeating phase.

Day Nineteen - Overeating

About 2600 calories, give or take. I had a big salad, tuna, almonds, pizza (quite a bit of it), yogurt and some cereal with milk.

Day Eighteen - Overeating

I got about 2600 calories in this evening. I'm starting to take a liking to avocados in my salad. I had a huge ham sandwich on a bagel with a bunch of provolone. That was delicious.

The avocado put my mono-unsaturated fats way above the RDA. That brings up a question I have to research. Mono-fats are the good fats but I imagine you can eat too much of them too. I'm guessing the RDA on mono-fats is quite low but I'd like to get a good idea of whether I'm eating too much of them. I tend to doubt it as I've seen some people say they drink fish oil and/or olive oil to get their fat intake to 50% of the daily caloric totals. I'm no where near that as on high-fat days, I may hit 40%, and usually around 35%.

I also had the lowest bodyfat reading I've ever registered for an afternoon reading, 15.1% I think I might get some calipers so I can give myself a more accurate body fat reading. These scales are good for measuring trends but that's about it.

Oh, here's a good article for starters on Oils, fats, etc.

Most cardiologists and nutritionists sing the praises of high-mono oils like olive and canola because monos are especially vital in heart health—keeping damaging LDL cholesterol low, while boosting levels of cholesterol-clearing HDLs. But our hearts are not the only beneficiaries. In countries where high-mono fats predominate in the diet, rates of some cancers are remarkably low. No wonder plant geneticists rushed to develop high-mono hybrids of safflower and other traditionally low-mono oilseeds, by boosting their content of heart-friendly oleic acid. High-oleic sunflower and safflower oils are now widely available, and high-oleic corn oil isn’t far behind.

This one from the Harvard School of Public Health sums it up just about the way i thought:

Detailed research -much of it done at Harvard - shows that the total amount of fat in the diet, whether high or low, isn't really linked with disease. What really matters is the type of fat in the diet.

Seems that if you're getting mono-fats, don't worry about how much.

Day Seventeen - Overeating

A little under 2500 calories this evening. Five ounces of tuna and another protein shake really made it a high protein day. Good thing I like tuna because it's a perfect food for adding muscle. Low on protein? Crack open a can of tuna and you're probably good for the day. Almost 30% of my calories came from protein today. I think that's going to be the plan. High protein on days when I've lifted weights and higher carbs on the off days. That way I'll have ingested a lot of carbs the night before a morning workout routine. That should mean more energy, theoretically.

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 Fifteen - Overeating

Overeating managed 2200 calories this evening. Protein at around 25%. I started with a spinach salad, then some almonds, bean sound, casserole, and trail mix. I had a bunch of strawberries and some cookies and milk before bed. I've got to have the homemade cookies.

Day Thirteen - Overeating Phase

About 2700 calories this evening. Normal stuff. If I do decide to conitue with this or try it again sometime, I'd be fairly confident that I wouldn't need to count calories on it. Seems like the day after I'm close to 3000 calories, I naturally reduce to around 2000. Same thing on days I workout and days I don't. When I don't workout, I eat about 2000 calories or even less. Days with a good workout seem leave me able to eat more calories at night. Can it really work that way? I don't know, maybe it's just all in my mind.

Day Eleven - Overeating

Spinach salad, meatballs, cheese, protein shake, almonds, walnuts, apples, dried cranberries, prunes, yogurt, steel-cut oats, milk

About 2200 calories total and I'm stuffed but I wasn't extrememly hungry this evening probably because I didn't work out today. Maybe a bit more carbohydrates than what I'm shooting for but the protein choices are getting slim around here. Lots of sstuff is frozen and I keep forgetting to take it out to thaw.

Day Ten - Overeating

Nothing of any significance to report. I ate about 2500 calories and have a fairly good idea of how many calories I can consume in a the overeating window. If I'm sticking to better quality foods and I don't eat until I uncomfortably stuff, I'd guess that I'll be in 2200-2500 range 99 times out of a hundred. That's right about what I should be eating. Macro-nutrients remain in the same range 35-C, 35-F, 30-P

I didn't drink enough water, I'm sure of that.

Day Nine - Overeating

Put down about 2900 calories this evening. Big bowl of Reese's Puffs* added a good chunk, I couldn't resist, they looked so good. 2900 is way more than I usually eat. Before I started, I was averaging about 2200-2500 range. It's starting to get easier to eat more at night. This afternoon when I stepped on the scale I was up to 176.0 pounds (from 172 something) but my bodyfat reading was down to 15.5%, the lowest reading ever. So maybe there is something to the muscle building aspect of the warrior Diet. That would be a nice bonus, but it's only been a week or so.

Incidentally, I was having a discussion about my body fat % over at traineo. When I say my body fat is 15.5%, that's using the old Tanita scale I have at the setting I've always used it on. It's not necessarily accurate, just what I know. I switched the Tanita from normal "Adult" mode to "Athlete" mode and I get a body fat reading of 7.0%. I believe the true answer lies somewhere in between. I think the difference in the setting is based on the amount of muscle mass you believe you have. Just so you know in case you're looking at my photos and thinking that they don't look right according to the numbers I'm using. The Tanita varies widely depending on the time of day, the wetness of your feet, the food in your stomach and the amount of water you've recently consumed. I've found that using it first thing in the morning is most consistent, although not nearly an accurate reading.

* = I actually substituted Kashi Honey Almond Flax at the last minute. That has 9 grams of protein so it wasn't a total loss but the carbs did effect me.

Day Eight - Overeating

I managed about 2700 calories this evening. I had some pasta and that upped the calories quite a bit. Cravings for sugar or anything sugary sweet like candies are virtually non-existent although that was never a problem for me before. I do tend to get sugar cravings when actually restricting calories, but I don't get here, no even during the day, and I'm not restricting calories. But sugary stuff is just not compelling. When I'm hungry, it's not something I think about and onve I've started eating, I really don't want anything sweet until later. I usually have a chocolate truffle before I go to bed and that seems to top everything off nicely.

Dat Seven - Overeating

Eating one meal a day is pretty entertaining. I ate a huge 10 ounce ham steak without blinking an eye. I notice that I have little cravings for carbs anymore, and I love carbs. The biggest change in diet is the carbs dropped about 10% in my daily totals where it was once 50% of my calories, it's now around 40%. The carbs I do eat are mainly from vegetables and fruits rather than grains.

I packed away about 2300 calories this evening. I'm only measuring because I'm curious, I eat until I'm stuffed. Very difficult to eat more than that over 4 hours unless you're eating junk.

Here's the macro breakdown for those 2300 calories:

Day Six - Overeating

A little short on the protein today, which isn't much of a problem considering I didn't work out. Looks like about 2200 calories today.