These last few weeks have been grueling at work with limited free time. Between high volume, several new hires, lack of sleep, many hours at work, many long meetings, and summer heat, I have not had the energy or time to live like I want. That’s never unusual during this time, the 4th of July holiday prep weeks and post 4th weeks are always the highest volume for the year. This year had days of over 30% increase of prior years, which is very unusual, when normal growth is 3-9% on days. Volume was somewhat predictable to a rough estimate, but this year has proven to unpredictable to an extreme level.

With the volume unpredictability, so has my life been unpredictable and lost many enjoyable routines. I haven’t set any time aside for myself/projects, as each day it’s a choice between trying to sleep for a few hours, or choose not to sleep for another 24+hrs in order to accomplish some errands. Also my eating has been very sporadic, at times not eating at all, to eating very unhealthy before bed due to being very hungry.  I need routine again, and these next two weeks I’m going to be very strict on my eating.

June 26th I weighed at a bit over 192 lbs, and after a few crazy nights a work with no breaks at work and not eating until arriving home, I was down to 185.4 by June 28th. I’ve kept about this weight for the remaining few weeks. I didn’t eat much at work, rarely having more than 5min of time in 12-14hr days to take a quick break. Each weekend I would eat a bunch of carbs, and my drinking became far more frequent during the weekdays in order to help aid sleep. Ice cream, pizza, and cheeseburgers, those have been a large staple of my meals lately.

All in all, life hasn’t been healthy with little sleep, eating unhealthy, lots of long hours at work, and little hours to enjoy with family and my fiancé. I need to get my health back under my control or I won’t have much life to live if this trend continues. I’m not at an unsafe health level now, but my health has been at several times. Since yesterday and some time this morning I’ve been planning several challenges for my health these next two weeks. The first six days of the week I plan to be very strict on my food and plan some quick exercises, but the two Saturday’s will be a relaxed cheat day.

Over the years, my most successful and consistent eating routines have been intermittent fasting and a keto diet. Combining these into a 1-2 punch has been my favorite. Keto diets hold a lot more flavor due to the fat eaten, but still need to be cautious in my mind what to eat. Although when I was on a keto diet for six weeks about four years ago, I ate a half to a full pound of bacon often, I also don’t think it’s the best choice. I warn you to see a doctor before trying any of these methods s they can be extreme what I’m planning. I don’t promote what I’m going to do, mainly just telling you my plans and document my experience with this.

The following is my current weight levels and my plans for the next two weeks:

6/28 – 185.4 lbs @ 20.1% fat (37.3 lbs) and 42.6% lean mass (79.0 lbs) 59.0% water weight (109.4 lbs) and about 23.9 lbs over my goal weight @ 9% body fat (approx. 160-162 lbs goal weight).

We were going to a gathering and I knew I was going to carb up in prep of the next two weeks of low carb, so I weighed myself in the morning when I woke up @ 7am.

7/8 185.2 lbs @ 20.2% fat (37.4 lbs) and 42.6% lean mass (78.9 lbs) and 59.0% water weight(109.3 lbs). After returning from the gathering, my weight was 191.0 lbs at 21.1% fat (40.3 lbs), 42.1% lean mass (80.4 lbs) and 58.3% water weight (111.4 lbs).

Morning after 7/9 I also had a grilled cheese and a beer for a late night snack at about 2am for my last carb load and alcohol beverage for the week. at 9:00am 7/9 my weight was 188.2 lbs at 20.9% fat (39.3 lbs) 42.2% lean mass (79.4 lbs) and 58.5% water weight (110.1 lbs). So far today, I’ve had three cups of coffee with nothing added, just dark coffee plain, and will have a fourth cup prior to leaving for work. My goal is to fast for at least 24hrs, with only having water, plain coffee, and a mixed drink of 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 tsp. cayenne pepper.

I plan to only eat one meal a day, roughly 18-26hrs in between each meal. Each meal will be roughly 2,000-2,250 calories with a 25 grams of carbs max and 75-100 grams of protein, the remaining calories will be from various sources of fat.

I also plan to exercise two sets of two exercises prior to eating after the fasts. Using my lean mass weight, my average of 79 lbs, I’ll do the following exercises.

0.75 x lean mass (= approx. 60 lbs total) for barbell overhead shoulder press for maximum reps at a controlled 3sec down and 1sec up count for two sets resting 3min between the sets. Resting 5min before beginning the next exercise of 1.75 x lean mass (= approx. 140 lbs total) of barbell front squat at the same 3/1 count for two sets. This will complete the workout prior to eating.

The second workout the next day prior to eating will be 1.50 x lean mass (= approx. 120 lbs total) barbell incline bench press 3sec down and 1sec up count for two sets resting 3min between the sets. Resting 5min before beginning the next exercise of 2.00 x lean mass (= approx. 160 lbs total) of hexbar deadlift at the same 3/1 count for two sets.

I will alternate these two quick workouts each day and rest on Saturday.

That is the general idea of my next two week experiment. I’ve accomplished far greater restrictions of calories, and longer fasts, with far more complicated exercises about four years ago when I lost 60 lbs, but I’m far from that determination or regular workout routines as I was back then. I aim to start slow and become consistent again with my nutrition and exercise. My goal is to get to lose 10 lbs of body fat before relaxing more, and then try consistently losing body fat every two weeks for my main goal of 9% body fat somewhere between 155-165 lbs.

Hopefully without the July 4th volume, these next few weeks will be under 60-80hr weeks and I can focus on LivingLife again to find a balance. Once again work has run me off track in life, and I need to get back on track asap.

Until next time, keep LivingLife, and take care of yourself and those you love!

Have comments/questions? Please feel free to email me at my2cents@livinglife-blog.com

“Remember, I’m NOT a qualified doctor, trainer, physiologist, philosopher, or have any other certified qualification. I’m only someone who’s passionate to learn & develop personal skills, habits, goals & finding a balance life-style, while sharing my journey through experiences.

– Developer of LivingLife-Blog”