Fasting to Lean Up

I was perusing through my book marks this lovely Sunday morning and came across this article and thought I would share with you all.
Ready Set Fast: How Strategic Meal-Skipping Can Help you Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, and Get Healthier
When we were kids, mom was always looking out for our health. Chew your food, Eat your vegetables. And always eat breakfast because it is the most important meal of the day. Continue reading....

I was introduced to Intermittent Fasting (or IF) by Crystal Nelson when I did her Fuel 21 about eight months (read about results here) and saw some pretty good results. Since that time I had done some variations of it off and on but have not been as strict as I know I should be. I have also added raw milk to the mix and have seen some dramatic weight gains and strength gains as well. In the process of the weight gain I also got a little laxed on my diet and put a little fat on around what I call my trouble spots (my midsection and back). Since September when I added raw milk I had gained about fifteen pounds having tipped the scale to about 207 pounds. My pants hardly fit and I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. Something had to change!
So in December I put myself on notice and started to clean things up. Then in January I Am Crossfit was kicking off and I decided to take on the challenge along with my team. In one of my previous post about I Am, I put my body comp up and was not pleased. I was in at 21% body fat and WOW! not good. Since that time I have done the IF and just completed a week long cleans of eating nothing but veggies. Not easy for a meat eater like me! And I did a 24 hour fast this past Saturday, and I am considering doing the 24 hour fast once a week. In the time I started the IF it is starting to pay off! My pants are starting to feel a little loser and one of my athletes even told me I looked leaner! Talk about motivation!
One thing that I find ironic thou is my weight hasn't come down. I am still hovering around 200lbs. To be perfectly honest with you I don't really care. If I can get my body fat under 15%, and still weight 200lbs I will be a beast on the platform! My strength has gone up and my sleep has improved so I am not scared about losing and strength or energy. I plan on keeping this as my life style for the foreseeable future and will experiment with it. Can't wait to see were it all leads. I'll keep everyone posted on the results.

Power and Speed

As the sport of CrossFit has grown so have many other not as well known sports. With CrossFit, Olympic lifting and gymnastics have become more mainstream, at least with the CrossFit community. But, those of you who have never played organized sports or it's been a few years since that time may not realize that Olympic lifting has been a mainstay in many of your high school and college weight rooms. There are varying opinions on whether or not Olympic style lifting is as affective as say, power lifting or strongman training for your competitive athlete. I personally think there is room for both, but to build power and speed there is nothing better than the Olympic style lifts.

Artie Dreschler says, "The mere practice of the Olympic lifts teaches an athlete how to apply large amounts of force. Part of the extraordinary abilities of an Olympic lifter arises out of his having learned how to effectively activate more of his muscle fibers more rapidly than others who aren’t trained to do so. This becomes extremely important for athletes who need to remain at lower body weights for athletic purposes but need to learn how to apply greater force. Olympic lifts will help build force development without producing unnecessary hypertrophy, which could even tighten the athlete up and make him or her slower."

You can directly apply this understanding to train football players, wrestlers, baseball players, and even basketball players. Oh, and CrossFitters as well. These lifts can also be applied to your younger athlete to help develop body control and explosive power.

Matt Delany of www.EliteFTS.com says, "However, with younger athletes, there’s a lot you can do to progress them to have bulletproof shoulders with Olympic lifting movements. At this young age, there are many structural and postural changes that can be made quickly as long as you make smart progressions. A very intelligent physical therapist, John Pallof, has actually found a place for cleans in his program for pitchers because he believes the lifts have some unique qualities in force absorption for the shoulder.

Not only will Olympic lifting help with all the stated points above but will help with strength gains. Over the past three months I have dedicated myself nearly to Olympic lifting only with one to two CrossFit workouts a week and have managed to take 80% (#360) of my back squat max and do 6x6 with out any real spotting. Managing to make this jump in such a short period of time is quit an accomplishment for someone who didn't back squat on a regular basis. I have also managed to keep myself in fairly descent metcon shape.

I think Olympic lifting can and should be a valuable part of your training package. You should have a knowledgeable coach to help with form and to guide you with your progressions. The lifts are fun and will help you have the strength gains you want and help develop either the athletes you train or yourself.

Source: Defending Olympic Lifting Movements for Athletes, Strongmen, and Powerlifters.

Update on Fuel 21!
So this is day three of Fuel 21 and so far so good. Sticking to the list and eating when hungry. My body comp was about what I thought it would be with 15% body fat and weighing in at190lbs. My goal is for below 10% body fat and weighing in at below 180lbs. It's gonna happen!
Look for more to come!

Fuel 21 and Me

So here in the next few days I will embark on a new eating adventure. I have committed to doing Crystal Nelson's Fuel 21 for the next three weeks starting this coming Sunday. I received the allowed to eat food list this past weekend and didn't see any beer on it. I say this because during the 21 days I will be going to my home town of Lubbock for a wedding. When in Lubbock I drink a lot with my buddies who are still there and I will be challenged to say the least. Not to mention, my parents own a Mexican food restaurant which is another frequently visited place while in my hometown. And, did I mention I'm going to a wedding??
This should be fun!

I would say darn near everything on the list of acceptable foods I already eat. The biggest difference will be when I eat it and in what combination I eat it. Not to mention I won't be using any supplements other than fish oil and supper foods which I already use. As much as I enjoy post workout shakes, protein shakes along with some other supplements I am looking forward to going the 21 days without them. I am also thankful that everything that is growing in my garden is on the list of foods I can devour. I'm going to state right here right now that I am shooting for a loss of 5% body fat and drop below 180lbs. I weight 188lbs right now as I type this and know for a fact I will get to my stated goal. If I drop 5% body fat that should put me around 10% body fat which would be GREAT! Get stronger and lighter? I can only imagine what my lifts and conditioning will be like!

To say the least, I am excited to get this started and look forward to the challenge of travelling and sticking to the list. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and might even post some before and after pics. After seeing what Fuel 21 did for coach Chris Hartwell I know I will get the same results.
LETS GET IT ON!