I had decided at the very end of last month/beginning of this one to try out intermittent fasting. This is when you eat all of your food in a certain period and fast (don’t eat) during the rest. It allows your body to lower insulin levels (which facilitates fat burning) and increase human hormone growth (which increases fat burning and muscle gain). I chose to follow the 16:8 form of intermittent fasting which is when all the food for the day is eaten in an 8 hour period and nothing is eaten for the next 16.
The fasting worked well but it simply wasn’t compatible with the amount I was working out per day which had changed from four hours to two-three hours.
My new regimen looked like this:
Morning Upper Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of pectoral flys (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
Evening Upper Body Day:
15 minutes of bicep curls (3 sets of 10).
15 minutes of chest press (3 sets of 10).
15 minutes of tricep curls (3 sets of 10).
15 minutes of shoulder press (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of pectoral flys (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
Morning Lower Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of outward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
Evening Upper Body Day:
15 minutes of inward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
15 minutes of calf raises (as many as I could do).
15 minutes of leg press (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of outward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
This regimen, while still demanding, was considerably easier than the previous month. It was also much more sustainable.
The end of this month marked a whole year since I started my journey. At the end I stood at 135 pounds (74.5 pounds lighter than when I started) and my BMI (Body Mass Index) had dropped from the dangerously unhealthy (37) to normal (25). In addition, my pant size had gone from 38 to 29 and I was feeling amazing.
Right: It was a good decision to try intermittent fasting. Although it didn’t work out for me I’m glad I tried it. It was also a good decision to cut back on the amount I was working out while still following the two-a-day set-up.
Wrong: If anything, I would probably increase the amount of weight-lifting exercises I did on lower body day.
