Weight: 223.4 (-7.8)
Fat: 34.7% (-4.6%)
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Exercise: Cardio (Treadmill 31:00 WL4 - 348 calories, 2.06 miles)
Pictures: Front/Side/Back/Flex
Okay, it's not my intention to do daily progress reports, but since the barefoot running and fasting are still new to me I thought it would be good to update again on those.
Barefoot Running
Instead of paying attention to my running or trying to ignore it entirely, I focused today on loosening up my lower legs. My knee caused absolutely no issues today, although I'm not sure if this is due to the loosening or an adjustment to three days running without shoes. Either way, I'm less concerned about that flaring up into something that will keep me off the treadmill.
The pads on my feet hurt less today than they did after the first day, and much less than yesterday. My fear of a blister has relaxed somewhat and the soles are starting to toughen up. There's still a little rubbing on the left and I'm not sure if today was just an outlier or if that will get better. Either way, my Vibram FiveFingers should arrive on Friday. They didn't have the black so I settled for the gray.
My calves are still adjusting and it's hard to know long-term what the effects may be. All the soreness in my upper calves (Gastrocnemius muscle) has pretty much gone away. My lower calves (Soleus muscle) have taken up the slack but seem to recover very quickly after my workout is done. There's some lingering soreness there, but only time will tell if this will continue to grow until it reaches my old level of upper calf soreness.
Intermittent Fasting
Last night I finished the fast I started Monday night at 7pm. I last ate on Monday at 4pm and I didn't get my food last night until 8pm, so I fasted for approximately 28 hours. So was I ravenous and eager to devour a large meal? Not really. I did eat more than I would have dieting normally; I had a full burger, steak fries... and half of my partner's burger and fries. So I did feel full and satisfied afterwards. But I wasn't dying waiting on my food to arrive, my head wasn't swimming with hunger and I didn't have the shakes from low blood sugar.
Interestingly enough, my stomach didn't grumble for the entire 24 hours that I was fasting. It wasn't until I sat down after ordering, waiting for my food to arrive that my stomach rumbled and I felt hungry. This begs the question, how much of our hunger is the anticipation of eating, and how much is necessary for us to eat? I didn't spend all day starving, anticipating the giant meal I would have that night. In fact my stomach seemed to sense that it wasn't going to get anything until that night. And when I knew food was coming was when my stomach woke up.
And when I did fill up on that meal, I was sated for the rest of the night. I was awake for another full 6 hours, and yet not once did I feel the desire to even fix myself a snack. I still felt pleasantly full when I finally did crawl into bed. I had fully expected to want something, if not another meal, a snack of string cheese or maybe a protein bar. And I wouldn't have denied this urge if I'd had it. The reason fasting appeals to me is that I don't have to feel guilty, I don't have to deny myself on non-fasting days. But if I don't have the desire, I'm not going to force myself to consume more calories.
Now I'm on my first post-fast day where I can eat what I want, when I want. Going into the fast I was concerned that I would take this opportunity to gorge myself, to make up for lost time. I'm finally hungry at 4pm, after a full half hour on the treadmill. I didn't wake up hungry, I didn't plan to order an entire pizza to eat in a single sitting. And even now, as I plan to run out and get some fast food, I'm not wanting to stuff myself silly.
My next fast is tomorrow after I've had my nice big mexican lunch. I'm actually looking forward to it. I've thought about extending my Monday fast to 48 hours, or maybe just 36, but I don't want to go overboard. Remember the goal, to change my habits and learn to live a healthy lifestyle. Going to the other extreme isn't any more healthy. I'm not saying I won't extend my fasts, or add another fasting day, but only after I'm certain that it's the right thing to do and healthy for me to do so.
Strength Training
Lost in all the barefoot running and fasting, I almost forgot to mention how my strength training went yesterday. I felt soreness in my quads when I woke up today, although it wasn't bad. If I move my arms around I can feel a little stiffness in my chest as well. But the other muscles I worked have no residual effects from my workout yesterday.
This means that tomorrow I can increase my weight for those exercises. I'm going to continue to go easy on the straight leg deadlift since it does have an effect on the lower back, at least until it strengthens up and I know I won't injure it. But the others definitely can use a little more work. I'm not in serious lifting mode yet, I'm not planning to work my muscles to exhaustion, but I should feel at least a little stiffness the next day.
