We are heading for the end of
August and it is nine months since I reported on my diet regime. It has gone very well and I direct readers to
the material here attached in order to understand the system. I have played around a little bit and have
made some modest adjustments that seem to generally hold up for me at least.
Most important is that I have in
fact been losing a consistent two and one half pounds per month for a present
fasted out weight on Thursday evenings of a further twenty pounds for a total
of thirty five pounds. This is now at
195 pounds. What that really means of
course is that the range is now between 195 and 203.
My proper target will be another
twenty pounds and a range between 175 and 185.
This is my no surplus fat weight except for normal stores. Note that I carry about twenty extra pounds
on the legs as compared to the average frame and that has made my optimal
weight at this level always. I just never
saw it.
During this period I have easily
sustained the Tuesday and Thursday fast.
That also appears to be actually sufficient to date for achieving my
goals. Sunday has proven more
problematic and it has not been maintained as carefully. I suspect it will actually be easier to apply
the regimen of Saturday if and when I think it has become necessary.
Another modification that I made
quickly enough was to break my fast in the evening at the twenty hour
mark. It appears good enough and I find
that my appetite is just starting to wake up.
Most important is that the system is mostly emptied by that time and the
small intestine is in repose for at least twelve hours.
Users may find it helpful to use
Metamucil to ease the system through the transitions and I also use plenty of
ascorbic acid in my diet to supply ample vitamin C. Drink plenty of fluids of course.
Without question this system of
one day fasts has turned out to be painless with no actual cravings showing up
until the evening and the twenty hour mark.
It also turns out to fit around a social schedule rather handily. Friends easily accept a one day fast or the
idea of a fast day. They soon learn to
ask if you are eating today. Even
better, they can have a guilt free meal in front of you without feeling any
onus to offer you something while you have a coffee or tea. And when you do eat, you can indulge properly
and enjoy yourself to satiety.
Of course, if you are on a
diabetic regime, it will take some tweaking to make this work for you. In most cases, just been very careful could
be good enough. In other cases,
transitioning first to a high protein diet may assist. Again Herbalife does provide a couple of
handy crutches if you can not stomach a diet of kippers and kimchee (believe it
or not that the Viking in me likes that!).
My present weight has so far been
achieved without any significant increase in exercise although I will soon be
changing all that. It is now better than
my weight in my prime when I was thirty.
Then I ran six miles in 48 minutes three times a week and could never
break below the 200 mark. In fact the
only time I was ever properly below this weight in my adult life was during a
period of extreme physical training and during a period of dedication to the
Atkins Regime. Both were very difficult
to sustain and my body resisted in every way.
At present, some how or the other
my body observes that it can do without a certain amount of extra weight and it
suddenly just drops the weight. The two
days of fasting supplies you body barely enough food to maintain your optimal
weight and I suspect the digestive system may even begin to reduce its working
volume to adjust. This is speculative,
but the sheer ease in which I have actually lost thirty five pounds does open
the door to considering other ameliorating developments then a straight calorie
connection. After all your bowels did
have the capacity to support a much larger you.
Their shrinkage or expansion
could be an adjustment to chronic over eating or as we are now showing staged
days of outright under eating that allows full repose.
It could well be that the real
cause of obesity is strictly a digestive system that nevers gets to rest. We are now resting it two days per
week and sometimes three and the weight is simply drifting away as if it is
unneccessry.
Arclein Diet Works!
I posted four months ago on a diet that I had
implemented that took full advantage of the understanding that we are designed
to be satiated at around 125% of our daily needs. I began fasting every second day or more precisely
on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
It is noteworthy that for the first two or three
months the body resisted the loss and lost only slowly. This was not unexpected.
However, once the body adjusted its expectations
it began to lose weight at the rate of 2 ½ pounds per month for four months
with no discomfort at all. I
suspect that I have dropped fifteen pounds in all to date. An equal amount would place me at my historic trim
weight and an additional fifteen pounds would place me at my historic lean
weight only achieved in extremis.
This protocol has been no effort at all. On the days off I break fast lightly no sooner
than late evening which is twenty four hours after last meal at least. On my eating days, I consume sufficient to be
satiated and also well nutrified.
For the record, sound eating means a high protein
diet with plenty of vegetables and scant carbohydrates. Eggs and tofu are great for those who dislike a
lot of meat. I like everything. Nibbling on a sweet is not going to disturb much
either. After all, you must feel guilty about
something! My point is that it is hard to over indulge when
you actually fast the very next day.
In the past I have used the Atkins diet and have
nothing but respect for his work. Since
his death, the industry has generally shifted to some form or the other of his
protocol for true healthy eating. It
still failed to truly overcome the body’s bias to consume 125% of its daily
needs.
By fasting every second day, we eliminate the
extreme discipline of portion control as a methodology. It was way too costly in time and planning.
Instead by fasting on off days, one can simply enjoy a good well chosen
restaurant meal and not care. Of
course, eating a lousy meal consisting of pure carbs will still make you feel
sick but that still does not ruin the diet. My
favorite is a Chinese hot pot with tofu and assorted seafood and meats and a
side of rice. It is hard to
fault.
My objective is to provide the body with a surplus
of nutrients every two days so that it can replenish properly.
The revelation for everyone is that we are
engineered to utilize what we are able to eat. At 125% and the general
failure to burn an extra thousand calories every day (run six miles in 48
minutes as I used to do when much younger) in our sedentary lives, we weigh
generally 125% more than is wise. I
was dead on for much of my adult life and it has needed until now a major
personal effort to reduce this load.
To give you an example: My optimum weight was always 185 pounds, rarely
achieved. At 125% the natural maintenance weight is actually 231
pounds. Guess what? That is what it always trended toward
and settled around over the years unless strenuous effort was applied.
With the new protocol I am actually achieving a
two day shortfall over what is needed to maintain the 185, versus a 1.75 day
surplus. Obviously as I approach the 185 point, I will need
to drop the Sunday fast day which will theoretically leave me short about one
day. Since at the same time I will also be ramping up
proteins to begin promoting muscle growth it should be in good balance.
Anyone trying this should make the same
calculations in order to properly understand their correct target weight. I was never engineered to be a great sprinter
because I had superbly muscled legs that added a big chunk of mass. Thus lean and mean is a high 185 in my case. For a sprinter even taller than me the optimum
weight is 140 pounds. It is not a simple calculation and the guides are
pretty useless for unusual builds. For
most that have a stable overweight configuration, then a good objective weight
is likely to be around 70% of present weight.
If you have gone way beyond that and have become
obese, then you likely also know pretty well around were it should be. That is the real objective and it hardly needs to
be precisely defined. You may find
your body simply responding faster by shrinking the capacity of the gut.
For those who are stable and truly overweight
which is just about everyone, setting the target weight at 70% of present is a
pretty good plan or at least a good start. However,
as ever have a doctor confirm the numbers if you are in doubt.
More to the point, you are going to lose weight as
I am at a reasonable clip and at some point you will notice your belly fat is
clearly gone. That is when you drop one day of fasting and increase exercise
and protein intake to build muscle mass if you have not been already.
For those burning a lot of calories and who find
the fast a problem (why are you overweight?) an alternative is to use a protein
shake ala Herbalife and skip the meals. That should get you through the
day.
Arclein
Diet August 2010
I am presently running a diet regime that I put
together for myself. I will share the approach with you in the event
it turns out to be successful enough to recommend. As usual, I toss
a lot of things on its head.
First, though, like many I have experimented with
several other protocols and am fully cognizant with the inherent
difficulties. All rely on calorie reduction, but then demand mental
stamina to sustain the effort. If added to an exercise regime, one
merely doubles the mental loading. I discovered in the process, that
the only way that I could hope to sustain such a regimen would be to join a
monastery.
I did learn that I could initiate a fast with no
difficulty and pass through the first day with no discomfort. The
trick was simple. One wakes up in the morning and takes no
food. The system is dormant and you simply do not wake it up except to
take water and teas. With a modest bit of repetition, the body gets
into the habit of cooperating with all this and it soon is as easy as having a
meal. The fight only begins once the body has voided the previous
day’s food and is now empty. That actually will take the whole day.
More recently, I learned that the digestive system
is rigged to hold 125% of your daily needs. This gave
pause. If one ate daily to satisfaction, and what greater pleasure
is there save one allowed humanity, one always carried a 25% overage in
food. Just getting rid of the 25% would leave one insatiated and
always been harassed by body and mind to make it up.
What this meant of course, is that in a given week
we normally want to eat enough for almost nine days.
Now the actual numbers surely vary between
individuals, but I think this gives us all the idea.
This led immediately to the following
conclusion. It is enough to simply eliminate two days and possibly a
third day to help the body eliminate unwanted fat. The other days it
is necessary to eat to satisfaction. The important thing though is
to stagger the days and choose your three fast days carefully. In my
case I chose Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
In this way I can eat well on my eating days while
fast days are just that. Four eating days will provide me with five
full days of normal sustenance while forcing the body to squeeze little extra
energy from the food the other two to three days.
The results have been satisfactory. The
fast days suit my schedule and needs. Others accept such a regime
quite easily. Actual weight loss is quite slow but has been
persistent over the past three months. I find that I never feel
hungry at all. I actually feel that I am losing weight stealthily in
the same way that I gain weight.
I anticipate that it will take a good year to come
down to a satisfactory weight and perhaps another two years for the body to
bring is all down to trim. I expect that the effect will taper off
and need exercise to push much lower. However, I should be at least
ten percent lighter and dealing with the last five percent and well ready to
handle physical stress
A corollary from this is that when one has reached
an optimum weight, it is likely that the food intake and utilization by the
body will be in proper balance and one will be unable to gain excess
unnecessary weight.
I do not think that this can be applied to someone
who must support quite a bit of physical effort, but then he is rarely
suffering from overweight. It is also difficult to see how it may be
applied to someone who is diabetic. There it would be necessary to
first use a calorie restricted diet to get in a good working
range. Of course, we may also be surprised.
This does work for the modern lifestyle in which
most are sedentary at least.
I have observed no ill effects and am comfortable
that this protocol is not been opposed subconsciously. In fact it is
taking no more effort than that needed to carefully recall whether it is a fast
day or not. I am losing over a pound per month so it turns out that
even when eating only for four days a week, the loss rate is unstrained.
I have also noted that one can fit in some over
indulgence as rewards with no harm which takes the sting out and besides, the
best thing one can do after a serious overindulgence is to fast the next
day. Let the body handle it all. By the by, beer
and alcohol is not a fasting beverage.
As an after thought, right now I am conducting an
experiment of one. Readers may want to take on this approach and it
would be worthwhile to collect data and experiences from all
this. So I would like anyone who wishes to try this approach to
email me at arclein@gmail.com and notify me of your
intent. I will try to track progress every three month and collect
comments. That way we may have some useful data and conclusions to
report.
I expect that the main problem for most will be to
master the daily fast. It will be initially awkward for newbies but
you quickly get into it and become comfortable. Those who have
fasted in the past will find this very easy to do. The problems with
conventional fasting begin with the second day. Please note that a
fast day includes two sleep periods and it ends up been around thirty hours.
In
fact my approach evolved quickly to a 24 hour fast. The body seems to retain
enough to make it through the fast day. Note i eat something before retiring
and then break fast with some protein just before retiring the next night is
order to go to sleep. Neither is a full meal but mostly a good serving of
protein.
Thanks for the references. I have found that my approach postpones food craving through the full day and is easily held of until the evening. I have never had such a craving free diet and the other benefit is that impulses are easily put off until tomorrow. Want an ice cream? - have it tomorrow. That is not to far away to stop been a near term reward to your subconscious. You must also learn to manage food impulses and this cycle works extremely well.
On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 4:52 PM, Rick Watson wrote:Hello,
I just saw the article about your diet on Freedom'sPhoenix
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/intermittent-fasting/fast-way-to-better-health/
) when he attempted this way of eating he adopted a true 24 hour fast since the day on/ day off version leads to approximately 34 hours of fasting (allowing for dinner at 8 and breakfast when he attempted this way of eating he adopted a true 24 hour fast since the day on/ day off version leads to approximately 34 hours of fasting (allowing for dinner at 8 and breakfast at six).
I also found this more recent article of great interest regarding fasting (
http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
) This author uses a 16/8 hour approach that apparently still gives the same physiological benefits as a true 24 hour fast.
All the best,
Rick
Thanks for the references. I have found that my approach postpones food craving through the full day and is easily held of until the evening. I have never had such a craving free diet and the other benefit is that impulses are easily put off until tomorrow. Want an ice cream? - have it tomorrow. That is not to far away to stop been a near term reward to your subconscious. You must also learn to manage food impulses and this cycle works extremely well.
On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 4:52 PM, Rick Watson wrote:Hello,
I just saw the article about your diet on Freedom's
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/intermittent-fasting/fast-way-to-better-health/
) when he attempted this way of eating he adopted a true 24 hour fast since the day on/ day off version leads to approximately 34 hours of fasting (allowing for dinner at 8 and breakfast when he attempted this way of eating he adopted a true 24 hour fast since the day on/ day off version leads to approximately 34 hours of fasting (allowing for dinner at 8 and breakfast at six).
I also found this more recent article of great interest regarding fasting (
http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
) This author uses a 16/8 hour approach that apparently still gives the same physiological benefits as a true 24 hour fast.
All the best,
Rick
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