Well, day 4 is almost over, and I have to say, sticking to the diet has been easier than I thought. I have wished I could have some of my favorite foods, but I haven't suffered at all. There's plenty of choices if you're willing to cook. The most difficult part of sticking to the diet for me is preparing my meals ahead of time so I have the food to eat while I'm at work. Some of the foods take some extensive prep time as well. For instance, I can't just go home after work and cook beans for dinner. All and all, I'm fine with the food.
aleksin shalavyI lift weights everyday, and that has been a challenge. I worry that with my salt and protein intake so low, I'm going to find it harder and harder to find the energy and strength to workout. So far, my intensity hasn't suffered. I'm not as strong as I'd like to be, but with the low amount of calories I'm eating, that is to be expected. My biggest concern with lifting weights is recovery. I have that fatigued burning feeling much longer now than I'm used to, and I stay sore a lot longer. The soreness seems to be more intense as well. I don't know if this is a product of only eating 950 calories a day or only eating 35 grams of protein a day. I've never been an advocate of the eat 300g of protein a day when you lift weights so your body can rebuild your muscles, but I do worry that I'm not getting enough on this diet. In reading the book it seems that the basic diet was designed for sedentary people whose exercise was mostly limited to walks. Even as they got into better shape, cardio was still the main focus of their exercise. I'm wondering if I need to adapt the diet somewhat to accomidate the intense weight training I'm doing. For a while at least, I'm going to follow the plan to the letter and see how it goes. If over the course of a month, I'm losing a lot of strength, I'll reconsider my protein intake and try to find a way to increase it without scraping the diet altogether.
Sodium is another concern. With the level of effort I'm putting in at the gym, I just don't know how much sodium my body needs. I've been getting between 300 and 500 grams a day and I feel ok, so hopefully that will be enough. I know that I was getting way more than I needed before, but I do need some. Time will tell I guess. I need to more extensively research the signs of low sodium levels so I can be on the lookout for them.
My next step is to increase my cardio. I need to be swimming, walking, or cycling at least 3 days a week in addition to the weight training. I'd prefer 5, but I can live with 3 right now. This will have the benefit of burning calories without canibalizing muscle, but it brings the question of adequate sodium back into focus.
To sum up, I've been able to stick to the plan for 4 days. At least I'll have 4 days once I get through dinner without cheating tonight. I feel ok except for being tired. I'm a little run down in general from not sleeping enough, but the main complaint is how exhausted my muscles are from those workouts. Hopefully that will be temporary. All and all, I feel like things are going well so far.