Fasting is an interesting idea.  The way Brad Pilon explains it in his Eat Stop Eat program, you should be able to eat at maintenance most days of the week, fast for 1 or 2 days, and be able to lose weight.  The theory mostly makes sense to me.  I still have some questions about how many calories your body really uses when you fast or what effect this may  have on your metabolism.  But when you think about the number of calories you generally eat in a day, not eating for 1 or 2 days per week should equate to at least a pound of weight loss.

I have only tried fasting twice, so I am far from an expert on the subject.  All I have is my own experience on which to comment.  But so far, I’m really not impressed with my own weight loss (which I’d really prefer to think of as fat loss) experience with fasting.   The data:

Fast #1 

• Length: 24 hours
• Calories consumed during fast: whatever is in a couple packets of Splenda
• Time of day started/ended:  9:00 am
• Eating at maintenance/deficit on other days: maintenance
• Weight loss at end of fast: 1.5 lb.
• Weight loss as of 3 days later: 0.

Fast #2

• #Days since prior fast: 6
• Length of fast: 24 hours
• Calories consumed during fast: whatever is in a couple packets of Splenda
• Time of day started/ended:  9:00 am
• Eating at maintenance/deficit on other days: slight deficit
• Weight loss at end of fast:  3.5 lb.
• Weight loss after 3 days:  0

The bottom line on my two fasts:  no effect at all.  Again, this only represents two fasts, and things may change as you fast more.   However, given that fasting is something of an extreme experience, it is not something I want to jump into regularly without due analysis.  It is strange to me that there would be no net loss after two fasts within a week.  (The weight lost right at the end of the fast could be attributed to there being no food in the digestive system at that point and although attempts were made to avoid it, slight dehydration.)

To verify that there were no changes that the scale alone couldn’t detect, I also measured body fat using digital calipers and took measurements.  The measurements were exactly the same, taken 3 days after each fast, and body fat was up by around 1% after the second fast.  That of course, is well within the margin for error for the device.

There are some other benefits to fasting which cannot be overlooked.  During both of my fasts, I enjoyed a terrific night’s sleep.  In addition, I was generally free from the hassle of cooking for about a day each time.  Some people report being more creative or more alert, although I never experienced that.  I did feel refreshed and somewhat “cleansed” after each fast, as if I had reset my system.  That part was great.

 I’m not sure why I didn’t have success with my two attempts.    My instinct is that I burned so many fewer calories because of the lack of the thermic effect of food (the calories expended by consuming and processing food)  that a large enough deficit was never created by the fasts.

 Maybe the next fast would be different.  I am not convinced that fasting won’t work for me.  I will probably try again at some point.  Some people do seem to have success with intermittent fasting for weight loss or management, so there must be a way to make it work.  

For the meantime, I am putting intermittent fasting on hold, except to the extent that I may try eliminating an occasional evening meal.  My strength and endurance goals take priority over fat loss at the moment, and my weekly workout schedule doesn’t leave room for being low on energy.  However, the subject is intriguing, and I would like to collect more information about others’ experiences with fasting.  Please comment and let me know how it has worked for you.

Remember:  Consult your doctor before starting a new exercise or nutrition plan, including a fast.  My experiences should not be considered recommendations for anyone else.

I’m shifting gears with my training.  I have followed the Beginner Kettlebell program that Elise designed for about the last 2 and 1/2 months.  It’s what she gives all of her new kettlebell students.  I think doing them helped me in many ways, and I feel that the time doing those workouts was well spent.

However, I’ve decided to follow the program designed by Pavel in  Enter the Kettlebell.  It seems to be the most trusted method for developing the kind of pressing ability and conditioning that is necessary for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge.   Given that I’m jumping into this game a little bit later in life than most, I want to follow the program that I feel will give me the greatest chance of success at RKC, in the shortest period of time.

That is not to say I’m in a hurry to get to RKC.  In fact, having started Enter the Kettlebell this week, I see now that it is probably going to take me even longer to get ready than I thought before.  That’s okay.  As long as I’m moving forward at a steady pace and seeing regular gains, I know I’ll make it when the time is right. 

I am cheating a little and I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt me.  I am skipping the Program Minimum section of ETK.  I feel that my workouts from Elise have earned me the right to start at the beginning of the second part of the training, the ”Rite of Passage.”   If I can’t handle it after I’ve tried it for a few weeks, I will reevaluate. 

For anyone unfamiliar with Enter the Kettlebell, the idea is that you begin the program with the kettlebell that you can press 5-8 times.  You follow the program, repeating it as many times as necessary, until you are doing  presses, swings and snatches with the size kettlebell that is appropriate for your tests at RKC.  Or until you can one-arm press half your bodyweight and snatch a 53 pound kettlebell 200 times in 10 minutes (men.)  The similar goal for women is to be able to perform the 10 minute snatch test of 200 reps with a 12kg kettlebell and clean and press the kettlebell closest to  a quarter of their bodyweight once with each arm.  I will be following this program a long time.

 My ETK training actually started several days ago.  I’ll finish Week 5  on Saturday.  (It’s week number 5 because I skipped  those 4 weeks called “Program Minimum” this time and went straight to “Rite of Passage.”)  So far it is going well, and I’m finding I have a bit of DOMS from the pressing, a very good sign in my opinion.

“Rite of Passage” in Enter the Kettlebell calls for 3 structured practice days, 2 variety days in which you pretty much do whatever exercise you want,  and 2  days off.  One of my variety days will be spent doing sprint intervals.  I’m doing this for extra HIIT benefits and for the extra lower body work.  You may know that lower body is the part of me that I love to hate.  My other variety day will probably be spent doing Turkish Get Ups and/or trying out the workouts I’ll be using in my coming-soon fitness classes for women. 

I’m also hoping to continue Eat Stop Eat,  the intermittent fasting that I’ve tried recently.  I completed a second fast this week. It was more difficult this time, quite different from the first.  But I’m starting to see some results.  (I’m after a bit of body fat loss.)  I’ll be closely monitoring my strength as I go along, as I know it is difficult to see fat loss and strength gain at once.  Since strength is primary for me, I’ll stop the fasting if things don’t go well.

Probably I won’t post my ETK workouts.  They are quite repetitive.  I’ll likely only write about whatever is new or what my variety days are like.  Or maybe I’ll find other things to drone on blog about. 

That’s my plan.  Unless I change it.