OMAD adapted
Being in OMAD for a long time will help me when confronted with the idea of fasting for 47 hours. I do OMAD every day with no adverse effects. I do a daily intense workout routine of 1hr of tennis and 1 to 1 1/2hrs of calisthenics. I do not want to alter my workouts because they are critical for maintaining my physical and mental well being. Going into OMEOD (One meal every other day), I believe that it could negatively affect my stamina. So I chose Thursday-Saturday to do my OMEOD because I normally take Saturday as a break from my daily routines. On that day I do only 1hr of calisthenics. My plan is to do OMEOD weekly. First, I want to see if can adapt to it, at the same time, if I could see long term benefits from it.
My Experiment
I started my OMEOD following my last meal on Thursday at 11 am. On Friday I had my regular coffee with 1tbsp of MCT, my regular Tumeric, Centrum silver vitamin suplement and Omega 3. I started with a little more than I normally do for working out. I did my regular 60 min of tennis and 95 min of calisthenics, more than my regular 75. According to MyFitnessPal.com, this is a 1450 calorie burn.
My wife complained that she did not like having her meal without me, at 11 am, as we normally do. I felt dehydrated with the workout so I drank plenty of water right after, and through the day. Following my workout, I felt hunger but nothing I could not control. I proceeded with my life as I routinely do. In the evening I felt more aware of my fasting but kept drinking water. I also had a cup of coffee. I tried to focus on something else. I did not experience any changes in mental clarity except that at bedtime: I was quite mentally active. Saturday morning I felt light-headed and weak, but nothing hard to handle. I took my coffee and supplements as usual (see above for details).
Fasted workout
This is the real interesting part of the experiment. I was not looking forward to it, as I was not sure that I could do any more than a few minutes. I started my routine pushup pyramid. My plan was for 2 pyramids of 17 pushups or 289 x 2 = 578 pushups. One pyramid was inclined pushups with my feed on a sofa and my hands wide on the floor. The other pyramid was more extreme, using dumbbells to expand the range of motion.
I Alternated on each leg of the pyramids so I could complete them both simultaneously. As I went along, I duplicated some of the legs of the pyramid on the way down. In the end, I completed 390 x 2 = 780 for 68 min, and 677 calories burned. I then weighed 165lbs and 20.3%. This is an almost 2lbs reduction, perhaps due mostly to water loss.
Workout performance and endurance
The amazing thing was that I was able to do my expected workout and in the process I felt better than during the previous hours. My lightheadedness dissappeared and my strength and endurance was as good as any other day. It makes me think that I was affected by the ketone bodies in my blood before the workout. The ketones might have been taken up by my muscle and used in a more efficient way for energy production. In the next part of this series, the breaking of the fast, and my conclusions of the experience.
