Diet

I normally watch what I eat.  For this program I will be using the LeanGains intermittent fasting (IF) eating pattern.  While dieting, in the sense of healthy food choices not calorie restriction, should be a lifestyle, it is not always easy to stay on track with a prescribed eating program.  I have tried the calorie restriction, low carb fabs and eating every few hours only to find that I wanted to kill someone because of the overwhelming cravings I got from these diets.  I experimented with the IF eating pattern and was surprised at how easy it was for me to hold out for 16 hours, prior to eating my first meal of the day.  What was harder, and will be hard regardless of the diet you choose to participate in, is making healthy food choices.

I am not a registered dietitian but plain and simple, hunger is hunger.  Whether it is from caloric restriction, carb restriction, or number of meals restriction, I get hungry just like the rest of you. However, what IF has done for me is allowed my brain to understand the difference between psychological and physical hunger.  Our brains trigger our hunger at certain intervals because those are the patterns we have taught it to expect.  If you eat every few hours then your brain will trigger your hunger response every few hours.  If you stuff yourself each time you eat, your brain will not turn off your hunger response until the point were you are stuffed each time you eat.  Keep your diet simple by remembering that you should only eat as many calories as your body will burn each day, but those calories should come from healthy food choices.  The truth is that each pound of extra fat you are carrying around on your body is 3500 calories.  That means if you are carrying an extra 10 pounds of fat you could essentially go 15 days without food and your body would have all the calories it needs to survive.  DO NOT, however, attempt to starve yourself for 15 days.  That should not be the intent of any calorie restrictive diet program.  Making healthy food choice, exercising regularly and getting ample rest are the keys of overall health.  Starving yourself does have the one positive effect of weight loss but the negative effects are exponential in comparison.

Here is what a typical day's diet would look like using the 5-6 meals a day:

5-6 meals a day:

Breakfast

• Bowl of Cheerios with unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups of coffee with artificial sweetener and half and half   

Mid Morning snack

• 1 whole fruit- (banana, apple, orange, etc...)

Lunch

• 3 cups of baby greens salad mix w/
• 6 oz. of tuna/salmon/chicken
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• Salad Vinegar to taste.      

Mid Afternoon snack

• 1 whole fruits or 1/4 cup raw peanuts      

Dinner

• Whatever my wife and I decided to make.  We are usually not over concerned about low fat, low card, etc... Moderation was our guide.

Evening

• Sometimes, a beer or two while watching TV.

New Intermittent Fasting Diet with carb cycling on heavy workout days (heavy workout days are defined as high intensity, an easy run is not high intensity).  I will probably have to push a large portion of my second meal onto my third because most days I am still at work and am not entitled to two lunch breaks per day.  Hey, this is real life.  Not all of us can plan our days around our diet and exercise regimens.  We have to be flexible and do what works best for us:

Based on my caloric needs  
Morning

• 2 cups of coffee with artificial sweetener and half and half
• As many oz. of clear liquids as you like
• Exercise between 11-1 p.m. while in fasted state

First Meal (usually around 1 p.m.)

• 100 grams lean protein (4 palm size portions)
• 3 fists full of vegetables (the brighter in color the better)
• 1/2 palm of nuts
• 1/2 palm of legumes
• 16 oz. of water
• 2 fistful of starchy carbs on High Intensity workout days only.  

Second Meal (about 3 hours later)

• 75 grams lean protein (3 palm size portions)
• 2 fists full of vegetables (the brighter in color the better)
• 1/2 palm of nuts
• 1/2 palm of legumes
• 16 oz. of water
• 1 fistful of starchy carbs on High Intensity workout days only.  

Third Meal (about 4 hours later)

• 50 grams lean protein (2 palm size portions)
• 2 fists full of vegetables (the brighter in color the better)
• 1/2 palm of nuts
• 1/2 palm of legumes
• 16 oz. of water
• 1 fistful of starchy carbs on High Intensity workout days only.  

Although fasting has been around for centuries the health affects on humans has not been extensively studied.  What does exist are individual experiments/results but nothing 100% scientific, yet.  For a comprehensive look at the different types of intermittent fasting protocols, please visit precisionnutrition.com to read/download Dr. John Berardi's report on his experience with intermittent fasting.  There are also great videos from Dr. Berardi on the site as well.