Day 4 Of The Warrior Diet

My sleep has been light and I have been extremely tired in the morning. Today I weighed surprisingly low at 206.

I had a pretty decent workout. I am continuing to try and incorporate the Super Muscle CFT training. There are some new exercises that I'm not used to like the Clean and Press that I am trying to guage appropriate weight for.

Today I did a pretty intense workout including a long set of 3 supersets including a varying sets of step ups, renegade row and pushup complexes, and ballistic and regular pushups. My set of these exercises lasted about 10 minutes without stopping and included 3 full cycles. I pre-exhausted with 4 1 minute sprint/jog 50/50 intervals.

For back, I did 4 Clean and Press / Lat Pull Down supersets. For the clean and press I went way too light with my first set of just the olympic bar, and then only adding 20 total pounds. Next time I'll start heavier.

I also did a 5 minute non-stop ab workout, which I rarely document.

I'll give more details on these workouts as I get a better handle on them and have more information to give.

Meal 1: 2 Kiwi
Meal 2: 1 Pear
Workout
Meal 3: Brocolli, Cauliflower, approx 1/4 lb of various cheeses, and spelt bread

I felt that I underate slightly today.

Day 3 Of The Warrior Diet

Today I felt a little lighter. I weighed in around 208/209 in the AM, fluctuating back up to 210/211. There was no workout today as I was letting my body repair. Overall my mood was good and my energy was stable throughout the day.

Meal 1: 2 Bananas
Meal 2: Handful of Almonds, roasted and salted
Meal 3: 2 Kiwi
Meal 4: Edamame, steamed broccoli, Sashimi: Fluke, Shrimp, Crab, and Yellowtail, and a small bowl of White Rice

Day 1 Of The Warrior Diet

I recently read the Warrior Diet. You can see a more complete summary on what it is in my Warrior Diet review post. I really like what I read so I am going to go at it for four weeks like I did the Paleo Diet and see what happens.

The Warrior Diet is pretty similar to the Paleo Diet in many senses, but allows for additional foods such as some grains and dairy products like cheese, yogurt, and high quality whey protein powder.

Today was the first day, and it was remarkably easy. I've been well prepped by my fasting experience and with how I responded to my raw/paleo hybrid diet. However, my evening meal was cut abrubtly short by a lack of appetite. I conjecture that is due to my system still being somewhat full from the three day vacation. I simply ate what my body asked for about an hour later.

What I first noticed was different this time was the very small amount of food that I ate during the day. However, my workout went pretty well considering how low you would think my blood sugar would have been. I'll be noting in my meal listings where my workouts fit in.

Over time, I also plan to adopt a more Warrior style work out, also detailed by Ori in his book, and supplemental materials. All in all, considering that I took 3 days to eat what ever I wanted, and hadn't been to the gym in about 5 days, today felt pretty damn good.

PS,
I just finished typing my workout and scrolled back up. Simply typing out what I did, makes me want to do it again. ROAR!!!!

The Workout:
Super Set 1
Steps Ups with 40lb DBs x 8 each leg, Renegade Rows with one push up between each row x8 each arm, Step Ups with 25lb DBs x 6 each leg, Plyo Pushups x 10, Step Ups w/ no weight 6 each leg, regular pushups x 10.
This entire super set was completed all the way through with no rest, twice.

Super Set 2
DB Bell Press with 60lb DBs x 8, Stability Ball Flies with 30lb DBs x 8,
DB Bell Press with 60lb DBs x 6, Stability Ball Flies with 30lb DBs x 6, 10 Push Ups

Super Set 3
Lat Pull Downs 150x9, Stab Ball Rolling Xtensions x 10
Lat Pull Downs 150x8, Stab Ball Rolling Xtensions x 10

Super Set 4
Bent Single Arm Row x 35lbs x 5 each arm, 5 Squat Jumps (repeated twice, no rest)
Bent Single Arm Row x 35lbs x 8 each arm, 12 Squat Jumps

Meal 1: 1lb Strawberries
Meal 2: 2 Bananas
Workout
Meal 3: 1/4lb grassfed beef, 1 Brocolli Stalk, 1/2 Cauliflower....about an hour later Raw Unpasturized Cheese and sprouted wheat bread

Day 28 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Today, I continued making a transition to the Warrior Diet. I ate only Paleo approved foods, (with the exception of the sprouted wheat) but I did so in a fashion that is outlined by the Warrior Diet. Through most of the day, I had nothing but fruit, and very little of it, but my evening meal after my work out was HUGE.

My work out today consisted of my usual very long mult-functional super sets. I felt incredibly strong, and pushed myself to the limit, and beyond. And my appetite tonight was inSANE. Here's the food list for the day.

Meal 1: 1lb of Strawberries
Meal 2: 3 Bananas
Meal 3: Handful of cashews
Meal 4: 1 Brocolli stalk, 1/2 an Eggplant, 1/2 a cauliflower, 1 full LB of grass fed beef, 3/4 of a small loaf of sprouted wheat bread

Day 27 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Between yesterday and today I finished reading the Warrior Diet by Ori Hofflemaker. I will write a general post on the jist of the diet, but today I gave it a run and it is pretty cool. It is basically Paleolithic in nature, with a little more allowance for some grains.

The general idea is to engage in a controlled fast throughout the day with some fresh fruit, and a giant feast at night of highly nutritious vegetables, proteins, and carbs. There some rules to follow during this major over eating phase of the day, but the focus is on making sure you become satiated and fueled.

I gave it a more informed shot today (as opposed to yesterday when I hadn't read the whole book yet), and it was actually very satisfying. Here are the details.

Meal 1: 1lb Strawberries
Meal 2: 2 Bananas
Meal 3: Handful of Cashews
Meal 4: 1 Brocolli stalk, 1/2 cauliflower, 1/4lb of organic, unpasteurized raw cheddar, 1/2 cup of brown rice

Day 26 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Today was a great day. I am transitioning at this point into the Warrior Diet, which is a very cool concept. I am planning on loosening up this weekend for July 4th and will hit the Warrior Diet head on the following Monday. At this stage, my weight has dropped to consistenly stay around 209, which is hugely significant. My workouts are still strong, containing very long multi-muscle group super sets.

I took a trip with my buddy to Atlanta today to meet with a top Naturepath to talk about nutrition and supplements. I told him about my Paleolithic Diet experience, and was pretty intrigued. Especially when I described the results and my buddy corroborated the intense change that he witnessed in me.

The best part of the trip was the humungous helpings of different varieties of meat that I had at the Brazilian barbeque. It was definitely an experience.

Meal 1: Fresh figs
Meal 2: Shrimp cocktail and grilled asparagus
Meal 3: Brazilian Barbeque: chicken, steak, and some rolls (rolls are not part of the Paleolithic diet)

Day 25 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Well, last nights little experiment confirms that my body still doesn't want pizza. I was practically grey at work today, and a zombie. I felt pretty sick and tired.

At around noon I ate some strawberries and started to come around. I know I keep saying this, but this proves again, that once the body is cleaned out and in it's natural state, you really do learn the hard way that it does NOT want unnatural substances running through it.

My mood and physical condition today proved that fact.

Meal 1: Strawberries
Meal 2: Bananas
Meal 3: Raw cashews
Meal 4: Grass fed beef and brocolli

Day 24 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Today I decided to try another experiment in cheat eating with my newly cleaned out body. Last weeks episode was pretty disastrous and convinced me beyond theory that my body will in fact viciously reject certain foods. Last weeks event was pretty nasty as the food that I ate could be called food loosely at best. Today I am going go to indulge a craving, but with a higher quality of food and see what happens.

I spent most of the day today relaxing and working on a few things so my body is pretty well rested.

Meal 1: 4 Kiwi
Meal 2: Green grapes and cheddar cheese (grazed all day)
Meal 3: 1 Cheese Cake Factory Roasted Veggie Pizza

Day 23 Of The Paleolithic Diet

This morning I woke up with the WORST head ache! At first I thought I ate too much yesterday after breaking my fast. But after more careful examination, I realized that the two tiny little pieces of chicken that I ate last night were likely full of MSG.

Just that small dose of MSG kicked my ass! I couldn't believe it. Imagine what would have happened if I had eaten an entire meal full of MSG? It would have probably killed me.

There are a few things that I learned from this fast. Most notable in relation to this post is just how clean by body has gotten. If even such a small dose of something could leave me feeling that bad, I must be pretty sensitive to it. It makes me wonder how anyone can survive at all eating large portions of that food. But they do. My buddy ate two plates of it right in front of me while I nibbled on my edamame. And he's fine.

Today I noticed that I really don't need to eat that much. I am guessing that as my body clears and repairs, it is becoming more able to extract more nutrients from less food. As a result, I am less hungry and more quickly satisfied.

Today's food:

Meal 1: 3 Peaches
Meal 2: 4 Bananas
Meal 3: Handful of cashews (raw)
Meal 4: 3 Kiwis

Day 22 Of The Paleolithic Diet

And Breaking The Fast

I made the decision last night to break my fast today. I think for the first time doing a fast, which was mostly a water fast with the exception of some juice, 3 days is a good effort and probably reaped some benefits. I lost about 7 pounds in the three days, which is probably a combination of water and fat, along with some toxic material. I’m not sure what the proportions of each were, but I am sure it was what my body needed.

Also my food cravings really have gotten ridiculous. Although it’s funny how my body hasn’t been sending me hunger signals. It has been all in my head. They say that you realize what you really like to eat when you are on a fast because you obsess about it. Apparently I really like pizza, calzones, cheese steaks, and oatmeal, peanut butter and egg pancakes.

Anyway, back to today. I made sure I had some juice in the morning so that my stomach wasn’t totally empty. Then at around 11am I had a banana. I chewed really slow, and really well. I was kind of paranoid about running into problems like I’ve read about, although the fatalities resulting from people breaking fasts were in situations far more extreme than mine, ie. 20+ days, breaking with several sandwiches, or diabetics breaking with dates, etc.

A couple hours later I had 2 bananas. An hour or so later, I munched on cashews. Then bananas and PB at home.

Then late night, I went to my favorite sushi place with my buddy. I had some edamame, an order of shrimp, an order of crab. The servings are very small. I also had a bite of some chicken dish, and a few bites of white rice. That wasn’t too smart. We’ll see how I feel in the AM. As of now, no issues.

Day 21 Of The Paleolithic Diet

And Day 3 Of My Fast

I am writing this post on Friday in retrospect to yesterday and last night.

First off, I woke up pretty easy, again with that suspended animation feeling. I'm most conscious of the fact that I haven't been eating more than anything else. I weighed in at work, and was shocked to see that I was down to 209. Even though I didn't drop yesterday morning, it looked like I lost two pounds. And even with fluid in take through out the day, my weight didn't increase much. Very interesting indeed.

Well, this day was easy, but the night was ROUGH. There were periods of real euphoria, and periods of neutrality throughout the day, but cravings kicked in HARD at night. I couldn't sleep, and all I thought about as I was trying to fall asleep was food. I was starting to panic a little about what I was going to do, and eat, after this fast was over. I wanted to pig out. And I was thinking about heavy rich foods again, pizza, calzones....etc.

But I did manage to get through it and fall asleep.

Day 20 Of The Paleolithic Diet

And Day 2 of my Fast.

I would say that titling these posts in my blog as Paleo Diet makes sense, because the people who ate the Paleo Diet during that era didn't eat every day. They couldn't many times because food just wasn't available like it is in the modern day world that we live in. The matrix we live in has us thinking that stuffing our faces several times a day is necessary. But it isn't. The human body really is designed to fast.

I'm pretty amazed that I'm doing this. I woke up today, almost with a sensation of suspended animation. Like I couldn't believe that I hadn't eaten. It was pretty cool. I have been drinking coffee during this thing....not very Paleo of me because there were no coffee makers or Dunkin Donuts during the Paleolithic era. But I will point out that yesterday morning I weighed in at around 216, and this morning I weighed in at 211. That's a pretty heavy drop in weight over a day. It would appear to me that my body has begun its feast on my fast tissue and begun digging for toxins.

I felt somewhat clear all day, although just the slightest bit sick/dizzy. Although this is typical of the detox process, the caffeine probably plays a role in that.

I'm also having some cravings for cheesy, sodium rich foods. Pizza, cheese steak, etc. But I stayed on track all day and drank a gallon plus of distilled water.

As far as sleeping, I'm doing that a lot. I went to bed around 9:30 last night, and I slept pretty solid with the exception of having to get up to take a leak at some point, until about 7:30. My body really seemed to appreciate it too.

Day 2 of my fast was a success.

Day 19 of the Paleolithic Diet -- Or Is It?

Last night I decided that I am going to fast for a few days. I explain why in my post, "Reasons For Fasting" And today was the first day. Let me tell, you, it was educational in a lot of ways. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but it also wasn't easy.

Today was a bit of a combination of a water fast and a juice fast. I ended up going out for some apple juice in the afternoon from a health food store. I made sure I got some real juice made only from fresh organic fruit. And I drank just enough to stabilize my blood sugar and assure myself that I wasn't going to black out and keel over at work. I know this dilutes the effects of the fast, but I didn't want to pass out in the middle of the office. Which is likely the reason why most fasting experts suggest that you do this at home, while resting.

At 6PM I was on the train and getting a bit motion sick, and panicky. I came up out of the subway and was really really hungry. The train or on the street would be another two places that I would prefer not to pass out. I ended up standing in pizza shop windows considering grabbing a slice. I'm glad I didn't. Then I went to went to a health food store and bought some high quality fresh bread and cheese. I was planning on eating it outside.

But I couldn't do it. As bad as I wanted to, I couldn't eat it. So then I was carrying around food, and not eating....starving! It was pretty maniacle thinking back on the situation. All I did was hold on to it.......all the way home.

As I was walking through the tunnels from the green line to the orange line it occurred to me that there were people who felt like I was feeling every day. They might be getting just enough food to stay hungry all the time. I learned from this experience that the physiology of our bodies actually creates that effect. With the realization that I could end how I was feeling just by eating the food that I was carrying with me, it occurred to me that to be hungry, and have the psychological pressure of not being able to fulfill that need must compound the feeling 100 fold. I also realized that in 30 years, I have NEVER been in a position where I was totally unable to fulfill my desire to eat. And this would be the first time in those 30 years that I was going to go at least a whole day without food. I was over come with gratitude at that point, which made getting through that first day much easier.

Now I'm home, I'm exhausted, and I'm glad I didn't blow it. I put the stuff in the fridge.....and I'm going to bed.

And that ended Day 1 of my first fast.

Day 18 Of The Paleolithic Diet

I woke up today feeling pretty cramped up. I almost had trouble standing up straight. My little cheat experiment from the night before did not go unnoticed by my body.

The Paleolithic Diet has shown me a pretty efficient and clean way of eating. To stuff a bunch of processed chemical filled crap into my body didn't feel too good. I spent most of the day listening as my body expelled all the toxins that I ingested the night before.

All in all, it was pretty amazing to see how my body reacted to the assault. Because it has cleaned out so much, it appeared to be pretty efficient at expelling the toxins and repairing itself.

By mid morning I didn't feel so bad, and by the end of the day, I was pretty much back to normal.

Meal 1: Canteloupe
Meal 2: 1lb of strawberries
Meal 3: 2 Kiwis
Meal 4: 1 Peach
Meal 5: edamame, yellowtail, mackerel, white tuna sashimi

Day 17 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Again, I was tired all day. I didn't feel hungry, just drained. I think my body is continuing it's deep cleaning and detox process. I should talk to Adam more about the fatigue. He did mention something about hitting a wall at some point during this diet. Again I slept about 9 hours and then took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Another factor for my being so tired, may also be that I have been keeping myself in the house doing a lot of reading and research. I wonder how much of a role the inertia is playing. I'm not sure because last weekend I was raring to go all day. I suppose time will tell.

My diet was clean all day.......until. Yeah, I had some major pizza cravings again. I thought I had it under control, again with PB and celery. But for some reason, I convinced myself that a cheat would be a good thing. But how wrong I was.

This time, I didn't just pay the price mentally. I feel physically sick and disgusted. I had two of those nasty little Mr Pibs pizzas. I literally tasted like cardboard to me. I didn't even enjoy it. If I'm going to cheat, it should at least be with something worthwhile.

However, my body is becoming so accustomed to eating clean, that I don't think it can even handle anything processed or altered. I feel like there is something alive and evil sitting in my gut.

Meal 1: Grapes
Meal 2: Cashews
Meal 3: 1/4 of a watermelon
Meal 4: 5 Bananas 4 dates and flax seed
Meal 5: Celery and PB
Meal 6: ***Cheat meal from hell!!!*** 2 mr pibbs pizzas (small) and some coconut shrimp

Day 16 Of The Paleolithic Diet

I have been sleeping a LOT lately. Last night (Friday) I fell asleep at 7PM and woke up around 9pm. Then I went to bed at around 12 and woke up today around 9:30 - 10, and felt compelled to rest until 11am. I am wodering if my body is just going through the whole detox, deep clean process that I have read about. It also seems that I am continuing to drop weight pretty consistently. I also fell asleep in the afternoon from about 4 to 6. Very odd. But it felt good and I woke up refreshed, so I guess I needed it.

I did a work out today. I didn't do any direct arm or shoulder work because it felt like I was hitting them pretty hard indirectly.

Superset 1:
Weighted Step Ups / Pushup Renegade Rows
*Pushup Renegade Rows Instructions:
Grab 2 dumbbells and put them under your shoulders and grab them like you are getting into pushup position with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. Drop down and do a pushup, then while keeping your body parallel to the floor, row with your right arm, then control the weight down. Then drop and do a push up and row the weight up w/ your left arm. That is 1 Rep. When you get really burnt, you can change the push up to only one per rowing with each arm.*

Ok, back to the work out:
Superset 1:
Weighted Step Ups / Pushup Renegade Rows
Set 1: 45lbs ea arm x 10 ea leg / 25lbs ea arm x 8 ea arm x 16 push ups
Set 2: 45lbs ea arm x 10 ea leg / 25lbs ea arm x 8 ea arm x 16 push ups
Set 3: 45lbs ea arm x 10 ea leg / 25lbs ea arm x 8 ea arm x 8 push ups

Superset 2:
Incline Single Arm Dumbbell Press / Medicine Ball Push Up / Lat Pull Down / Front Lat Pull Down
Set 1: 45lbs each arm x 12 / 4 ea arm / 140 x 10 / 50 x 12
Set 2: 45lbs each arm x 10 / 2 ea arm / 120 x 8 / 50 x 10

Meal 1: 1lb of strawberries
Meal 2: 3 large pears
Meal 3: (post workout) 5 bananas blended in water
Meal 4: 5 mashed bananas, 4 dates, and flax seed
Meal 5: 1 pint of raspberries
Meal 6: 1 cup baby carrots
Meal 7: 1 banana
Meal 8: 1/2 bunch of celery w/ lots of chunky all natural pb

Day 15 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Today was a rough day. Srong pizza and steak and cheese cravings which I answered with Celery and pb. I was figuring that the cravings were my bodies response to a slight deficiency in sodium. That definitely helped.

My mood also sucked all day. Not sure if it was purely diet related, psychological, or a combination of the two. I went to bed early this day as well. Details about my sleep habits on this day are in Day 16's Paleolithic diet report.

Meal 1: 1lb of Strawberries
Meal 2: 3 Mangoes
Meal 3: 5 Mashed Bananas, 4 figs, flax seed
Meal 4: Coconut and macadamia nut
Meal 5: Handful of Grapes
Meal 6: 1/2 bunch of celery and all natural smooth pb

Day 14 Of The Paleolithic Diet

I think the calories were probably a little low today. My energy was pretty good all day. I did take another day from the gym for good measure. I'm going to hit it seriously hard tomorrow. We'll see how that feels.

Meal 1: 1 Honeydew
Meal 2: Approx 1 lb of Strawberries
Meal 3: Celery and natural peanut butter
Meal 4: 5 mashed Bananas 3 Dates, and flax seed

Day 13 Of The Paleolithic Diet

Today was an interesting day. I felt pretty good, although I got really tired as the day went on. I was also in a sour and nasty mood at work, but I think that has more to do with the ugly predicament I am in than anything else. By the time I got home, I felt like my body was trying to keep me out of the gym. I'm wondering if I've been clean long enough for my body to be digging a little deeper to do some repair work. It feels like that is the case. I heeded Adam's advice (to keep the fruit away from the meat) today, although I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I was hungry soon after meal 6 and had meal 7 within a few hours. I should have ate a bit more substance throughout the day and put meal 6 where meal 7 was. Other than that, I really get the feeling that, as I said, my body is repairing and rebuiling. My caffeine intake is also high.

I'm going to hit the hay and encourage some additional anabolic processes.

Meal 1: 3 Oranges
Meal 2: 1/2 cup of Blueberries
Meal 3: Handfuls of Macadamia Nuts and 1 Cup of Raspberries
Meal 4: 2 Cups of Large Green grapes
Meal 5: 6 Bananas
Meal 6: 1/2 lb grass fed beef (pretty rare) 2 ears of corn
Meal 7: 3 Mashed bananas, 3 figs, handful of sun flower seeds

Day 10 Of The Paleolithic Diet

The day started off pretty sluggish. I was out and up late again last night and tried a heavy B12 supplement. I woke up GROGGY as hell today. I started off good with 4 kiwis, but had to go out to my mom's house. This always spells trouble, and I should have been more prepared.

My mom's bf LOVEs to cook lots of food and desert. He's one of those Italian force feeders. In his mind, you can ALWAYS eat more. On my way over my mom called to make sure I was hungry. And I was. Not good.

When I got there, there were shrimp and grapes on the table. I ate a good portion of that, but when we sat down for dinner, all there was was pulled pork, hot dogs, ribs, and all kinds of potatoe salad. Not good. I ended up eating a pulled porch sandwhich on a kaiser roll.

You would think that after all this clean eating it would have felt great, but it really didn't. I didn't enjoy it that much knowing what I was putting into my body, and it didn't sit in my stomach well at all.

Then it got worse. It was my birthday a week ago and my mom was very proud of the giant ice cream cake that she made me. How the HELL do I say no to that?

So I had a lot of ice cream too. It was good, but again, did not sit well.

Then.....my gift from my mom's bf. Canolis. Yep. Canolis. I couldn't win today.

By the time I got to Whole Foods to do my shopping for the next couple days, I felt like shit. I need to get around these situations better. I was thinking that maybe a cheat day would be a good thing, but no. It really wasn't. I don't feel well at all, and I won't be doing that again.

People like to say....come on! Live a little! Have some! But you know what? I don't feel like I lived a little. I felt more alive before I ate it. And frankly, I feel like I just died a little.

I'm looking forward to being on track again and purging my system of all the crap that I just put back into it.