Next week begins my favorite time of year. Lent is my most focused time of the year for work, training, and spiritual discipline. Then we get into Spring, baseball season, Easter, my birthday, my wife's birthday, and summer is just around the corner!
This will be my 3rd Lent of fasting and I love it! I love the clarity of thought and having one less thing (ok, eating is more than just a thing, I know) on my "to-do" list on my busiest days. Beyond the spiritual implications, I am excited about the recent research and information supporting intermittent fasting as a viable approach to healthy living.
I am fasting for two 24-hour periods (Tuesdays and Thursdays) through Lent. I stop eating at 9pm Monday and resume eating at 9pm Tuesday, after my last bootcamp. I will eat all day Wednesday, then stop again at 9pm and resume at 9pm Thursday. I will still drink water and coffee (no cream or sugar).
The key to making this work is staying hydrated. If you get the least bit thirsty, you will want to eat your arm off! But if you stay hydrated throughout the day, it is not that bad.
The ultimate resource to learn all of the nuances, tips, research, and more about this concept is Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat. His e-book is tremendous for laying it out in a very easy to digest (ha!) format with strong research and real-world application.
I also read Brad's blog often called Eat Blog Eat. Another great intermittent fasting blog is The IF Life.
If you have a spare hour to watch a great documentary on fasting, then check out Eat, Fast, and Live Longer.
Finally, let me offer a couple of personal insights. The key with Brad's program is that you still eat every day! This is huge from a psychological stand-point. Because sleep is about a third of my fasting period, it is not really as bad as you think. Secondly, I picked Tuesdays and Thursdays because they are two of my busier days. You can pick any two days you want in a 7-day period. Or just pick one day. This is very flexible with your life schedule.
My training schedule during this time is Monday, Friday, Saturday – mainly kettlebells and bootcamp style training with periods of running and body-weight challenges, as I get ready for the first Spartan Race next Saturday.
Hit me up with any questions…you can do this!
Live with Strength!
Jason
