Day 3

…is over! Thank goodness. I enjoyed my first real meal last night – we were in the city again, eating out with friends – after the 3 day fast. It tasted unbelievable! I made a healthy choice of lemon-crusted salmon and spinach and each bite was like a little bit of flavoured heaven!

Day 3 was another really busy one and so I wasn’t able to get a run in. However, I downloaded a pretty neat home muscle routine from Men’s Health, thanks Konrad! Feeling the burn today!

So far, I think I’m on track. I feel much better this morning and already I’m starting to crave sugar less and fresh food stuffs more. The fast was easier to accomplish than I suspected, I may try it again next week. However, I think 3 days is the limit for anyone who still has real-world responsibilities. You have to keep a clear head, or at least remain conscious, to get any real work done especially if you’re expected at business meetings or operating heavy machinery!

The other good news? At this morning’s daily weigh-in, the needle stopped at just 184. Ah, the sweet smell of success!

Weight-loss strategy

The idea: Lose as much body-fat as possible, as soon as possible, and replace that with muscle mass.

As our guru, Jason Hough, once told me, the more muscle mass you have, the higher your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), enabling your body to burn more calories per day. Which makes a lot of sense, if you think about it: When I was a teen, I could eat pretty much anything I wanted because I was so active and had a much higher percentage of muscle mass. As you get older, and less active, your body-fat increases and muscle mass decreases. I really don’t want to eat less, rather, I want to get my body back into calorie-devouring shape. I want to boost my own metabolism.

The method: Stage 1) 3-day fast/detox. Stage 2) Muscle-time!

The 3-day fast/detox has two main benefits: 1) cleanse/flush my system from all the junk I’ve been consuming, and 2) *hopefully* accelerate initial weight-loss. Because true fasting can have a pretty radical effect on one’s body I’m trying to do it as sensibly as possible. For three days my diet will consist solely of: a single bowl of Kellogg’s All Bran Extra Fiber, 2 soft-boiled eggs, a LOT of water, green tea and cranberry juice. Thereafter, I simply plan on eating healthier foods, in smaller portions for the remaining 24 days. I’ll try to eat 6 smaller meals throughout the day, focusing on some of the renowned muscle building foods. My wife has always cooked healthy and delicious meals, so for dinner, I’ll eat the way we usually do, just earlier at night and, again, in smaller portions. Hopefully, this eating plan in conjunction with an intensified training program will help me achieve my goal.

Now, I’m off for a run!