Intermittent Feasting

As the Hobbits destroyed The Ring in the molten pits of Mordor or as Luke had finally overcome the temptations of the Dark Side, we must all arrive at the end of our journey at some point in our lives. For me, this week’s Intermittent Fasting meal plan should have marked the scheduled termination point for my diet and exercise plans. However, I have discovered over the course of this simple experiment for my English class that this lifestyle has become far more important than I had ever imagined.

            This week’s meal plan was supposed to be my attempt at Intermittent Fasting, where one consumes their daily intake of calories and nutrients within a 7-9 hour window, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. My mother had just recently traveled from Hawaii to Santa Clara on a business trip, and I could not pass up that opportunity to spend time with her for all the riches in the world. This week was going to be one of quality time spent with one of my best friends.

            During my mother’s visit, I abandoned all memories of my diet and enjoyed delicious food trips to places such as Red Robins and Cheesecake Factory. Such delicacies could not be held to a 7-9 hour period or even reasonable portion sizes, for that matter. Cheesecakes, omelets, burgers, and clogged arteries were plentiful during this wonderful vacation away from school, stress, and worries. For once in the past few months, I felt at home and at peace with myself. This journey went on for a few days, and finally ended when I saw my mother off at the airport while tears slowly formed in the corners of my eyes. While I was not focused on my diet project, I do believe that those few days of joy were far more important than any experiment could ever be.

            With only a few days to actually experiment with the diet, I found it quite difficult to accomplish any type of results. I found that the hardest thing to accomplish during the remaining days of dieting was limiting myself to a 7-9 hour window of eating – which I chose to designate from 2-9 pm. I thought that I couldn’t handle drinking only water or tea for the other 15+ hours; I was wrong. I miraculously accomplished this feat, albeit under extreme stress resulting from a lack of mental preparation and physical satisfaction. Though, it was hard waking up every morning only to remember that I would have to replace my exciting breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, and potatoes with dreadfully boring cups of water.

            I surprisingly found this meal plan to be somewhat effective when it came to cardio exercise because I had assumed the lack of a continuous intake of food would result in a loss of energy – much like the low-carb diet proved to do. During my first run in the blistering cold, I traversed a mile in under 10 minutes – a personal best. However, almost exactly during the midway point of my first nightly run, I felt something was wrong with my left foot. It felt way too tight for comfort, so I immediately investigated further.  I sadly found out that I had twisted my ankle, leaving me to limp all the way back to my dorm room with my head down in shame. Not only have I wanted to get skinnier for my health, but I also wanted to impress a girl that I have been in love with for quite a while. I wanted to appear my best when she visited me from Canada, so this hitch in my physical appearance is truly disheartening.

            However, this ailment could not stop me from bettering myself in the muscle department. I ventured to the gym angry, depressed, and focused on making myself the best that I can be aesthetically. However, as I rest for two days in between heavy workouts, I only had time for one workout this week. I hoped that this would somehow make up for my injured ankle and depressing relationship problems, but sadly neither would heal quickly enough. Here are my results: one set of tricep pulldowns (10 reps at 50Ib), one set of tricep pulldowns (8 reps at 50Ib), one set of tricep pulldowns (10 reps at 40Ib), two sets of shoulder press (12 reps at 15Ib), one set of overhead tricep extensions (20 reps at 7.5Ib), two sets of shoulder raises (10 reps at 12.5Ib), two sets of deltoid raises (7 reps at 7.5Ib), and two sets of reverse flys (10 reps at 7.5Ib).

            Through tumultuous hardships and a rocky start, I’m proud of where I am today physically and mentally. I have lost over 3 net pounds and have gained much more definition in my muscle tones. I have also gained the knowledge of what true health actually is and what bodybuilding can be used for other than pleasing one’s own ego. I find that this experiment to be a success and will hopefully attempt to create a new lifestyle from my results.

Works Cited

·      Berkhan, Martin. The Leangains Guide. “The Leangains Guide | Intermittent fasting diet for fat loss, muscle gain and health” April 14, 2010. May 31, 2013 http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html