S2E1 30-Day Flexibility and Endurance Journal

[Miko]

@Compdude

Have you heard of anyone with type 1 diabetes trying prolonged water fast?

[Compdude]

I found this one YouTuber with Type 1 during my CKD research:

[Compdude]

Day 12 of Flexibility & Endurance phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 1lb - See Note #1
2. Blood sugar: 84 - (Normal is anything below 100)
3. Exercise: Rest - See Note #2
4. Fasting/TRE: 20:4 - See Note #3
5. Helping Forum & FB Group members & Book Research: 6 hours invested - See Note #4

Notes:

1. Yesterday lost 2lbs, today gained 1lb still yo-yo’ing.

12/30 Monday - 2.2 mile walk
12/31 Tuesday - Rest
1/1 Wednesday - 1 mile walk & Flexibility Workout
1/2 Thursday - Rest - Toastmasters mtg CANCELLED
1/3 Friday - Long Walk
1/4 & 5 Saturday & Sunday - Rest
1/6 Monday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/7 Tuesday - Rest
1/8 Wednesday - Long Walk
1/9 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk to and from Toastmasters mtg & 1.2 mile Walk/Bus to Dentist office
1/10 Friday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/11 & 12 Saturday & Sunday Rest
1/13 Monday - Long walk
1/14 Tuesday - Rest
1/15 Wednesday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/16 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk Toastmasters mtg
1/17 Friday - Long Walk
1/18 & 19 Saturday & Sunday - Rest

3. Fasting/TRE: Standard “light” meal routine but a bit hungry so added a Cheddar Cheese burrito and a treat, a Drumstick ice cream cone.

4. The rush of people into the forum continues. 27 newbies and 12 returnees (members who participated in past fast challenges) for a total of 39. I’ve been reaching out to all the newbies and determined by the circumstances some of the returnees. Will be interested in how the numbers play out at the end of the January Challenge. There are also 2 others helping, the founder of the forum and the member who completed her 30-day last month.

I’m learning a lot in the helping, one member provided me with some detailed information she found I did not know about and will include in the book. Also the general program plan I detailed for “6-Pack at 60” I’m adding to my book material directory. Don’t know if it will be in the 1st book or merit being the center of a 2nd book. Will see how it all turns out June 12th.

BONUS MOTIVATION VIDEO

I’ve been judiciously using this video link to help those newbies get motivated:

[Fastlearner]

Love your videos bro keep posting please. Love the info

[Anna]

Wow that’s a lot of people! That’s great! Hopefully it will be more motivating with a bigger support system!

[Compdude]

@Anna Yep. Unfortunately, with Yas being busy with her regular full-time job, admin’g the FB group, this forum and cutting new YouTube vids it’s primarily you and me. It’s great because it’s always good having a female voice in the support mix.

[Compdude]

Day 13 of Flexibility & Endurance phase

Highlights:

1. Weight loss: 1lb - See Note #1
2. Blood sugar: 76
3. Exercise: 3.9 mile walk - Longest walk so far - See Note #2
4. Fasting/TRE: 21:3 - See Note #3
5. Helping Forum & FB Group members & Book Research: 4 hours invested - See Note #4
6. BMI: 32 - See Note $5

Notes:

1. Yesterday gained 1lb, today lost 1lb still yo-yo’ing.

2. Yesterday, I found out that the BP and Weight/BMI measuring machine at the closest WalMart was still broken. So I decided to walk to next nearest one, approximately 1.8 miles away. I also needed to make a short detour to the local grocery store that added another .3 for the grand total of 3.9 miles. I decided to go for it as I’m scheduled for 2 days off this weekend. Also since my left achilles was tight and my old athletic knee injury was achy I decided to choose discretion over valor. I made sure I took 1/2 mile sitting breaks to give my achy joints a rest.

I was fine until the final mile which was all uphill. The last .5 I was breathing like Darth Vader and had to resort to my Jedi Mind tricks to finish but I did. Feet are pretty sore right now though.

12/30 Monday - 2.2 mile walk
12/31 Tuesday - Rest
1/1 Wednesday - 1 mile walk & Flexibility Workout
1/2 Thursday - Rest - Toastmasters mtg CANCELLED
1/3 Friday - 3.9 mile walk
1/4 & 5 Saturday & Sunday - Rest
1/6 Monday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/7 Tuesday - Rest
1/8 Wednesday - Long Walk
1/9 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk to and from Toastmasters mtg & 1.2 mile Walk/Bus to Dentist office
1/10 Friday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/11 & 12 Saturday & Sunday Rest
1/13 Monday - Long walk
1/14 Tuesday - Rest
1/15 Wednesday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/16 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk Toastmasters mtg
1/17 Friday - Long Walk
1/18 & 19 Saturday & Sunday - Rest

3. Fasting/TRE: Standard “heavy” meal routine.

4. The rush of people has turned to a trickle into the forum. We are up to 34 newbies and 15 returnees (members who participated in past fast challenges) for a total of 49. I’ve added a means of tracking which of these members are interacting to see how many of them are able to reach their goals.

5. The WalMart machine reports that my BMI dropped from 34 to 32 even though my weight had stayed the same which means I AM swapping out fat for muscle. It also required a recalculation of the target weight to achieve 13% body fat. The amount of weight I need to lose to achieve goal has gone down from 52lbs to 48lbs.

BONUS MOTIVATION VIDEO

Being raised, going to college, then returning after a total of 4.5 years away as an LA Native I grew up a Los Angeles Lakers basketball team fan. The GM of the Lakers, Rob Pelinka, established a speakers program to educate and inspire his team’s coaches and players. In a series of 3 videos the featured speaker is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: (I will add the remaining 2 over the next 2 journal entries)

[Cream35]

Wowwwwww this is amazing!!! Such grace in your video!!! Very impressive

[Compdude]

Day 14 of Flexibility & Endurance phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain/loss: 0 - See Note #1
2. Blood sugar: 92
3. Exercise: 1 mile walk & Updating flexibility workout - See Note #2
4. Fasting/TRE: 20:4 - See Note #3
5. Helping Forum & FB Group members & Book Research: 6 hours invested

Notes:

1. Stopped the yo-yo syndrome. Surprised considering yesterday was a “heavy” meal day; but, I think it was offset by the long walk and completing a 20:4. I’d consider myself “metabolically flexible” now. Switching seamlessly between glucose and adipose burning. I say so because after the 12 hour mark or so my body is dumping water frequently.

2a. I believe my body is adapting to the more rigorous demands I’m placing on it. After the walk, had to lie down for awhile from fatigue and there was stiffness in my feet and ankles but not as severe as my last long walk. I felt so good this morning I decided to do the 1 mile round trip to the grocery store. I noticed my stride length was shorter indicating vestigial fatigue and the last .1 mile stretch for home I was feeling it. Also happy I’m feeling the regrowth of my quad muscles as before I could actually feel my leg bones through the skin which I never recall being able to do before because I’ve always been athletic since very young.

2b. Having done enough repetitions of the Flexibility workout I feel confident enough to give my self-diagnosis and treatment protocol.

Upper Body: Amazingly has retained all of its flexibility and most of its strength. Should be easy to get back to where I was before the health crisis of Sept 2010.

Lower Body: Hamstrings has easily regained original flexibility as can keep heels on the ground and touch the ground in front of my toes. Calf muscles in good shape from all the walking, at least from an endurance standpoint. Quads retain flexibility just need to regrow back to original size.

Issue is tight ankles and tight hips. 2 parts of the kinetic chain for executing a deep squat.

Found this fitness consultant, Tom Merrick, Bodyweight Warrior, on YouTube, who is science based and knows what he is talking about from my evaluation as a former CPT. I’ll be putting his therapy workouts to fix my hip and ankle tightness issue into a single routine. Haven’t decided if I’ll precede the flexibility workout with this routine or do it during rest days and before my long walk days. We’ll see after I put together the routine by tomorrow evening The proof in the pudding will be able to execute the dynamic squat with LB rotation and the low runner’s lunge with the calf and hamstring stretch by the end of this phase.

Here’s his routine to fix tight ankles:

12/30 Monday - 2.2 mile walk
12/31 Tuesday - Rest
1/1 Wednesday - 1 mile walk & Flexibility Workout
1/2 Thursday - Rest - Toastmasters mtg CANCELLED
1/3 Friday - 3.9 mile walk
1/4 Saturday - 1 mile walk
1/5 Sunday - Rest
1/6 Monday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/7 Tuesday - Rest
1/8 Wednesday - Long Walk
1/9 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk to and from Toastmasters mtg & 1.2 mile Walk/Bus to Dentist office
1/10 Friday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/11 & 12 Saturday & Sunday Rest
1/13 Monday - Long walk
1/14 Tuesday - Rest
1/15 Wednesday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/16 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk Toastmasters mtg
1/17 Friday - Long Walk
1/18 & 19 Saturday & Sunday - Rest

3. Fasting/TRE: The nuisance issue I’m having with 20:4 is my body frequent trips to the bathroom to dump water from using my glycogen stores. Nice problem to have on second thought…

4. Up to 36 newbies and 15 returnees for a total of 51. I’m really happy about one returnee as she is one of the first two people I helped that reached her fasting goal of 15-days.

BONUS MOTIVATION VIDEO
As promised the 2nd In a series of 3 videos featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:

[Cream35]

It’s always such a joy to read about your progress! Very inspiring! Thank you for sharing these videos. A few months ago I had started training with a professional trainer in a private gym and I couldn’t do a squat. He noticed that I had no ankle flexibility and we were constantly working on this. He would do all sorts of things to help my ankle flexibility, including pulling them with bands, rolling balls and other methods. I shortly was able to do proper squats with good form, it was a proud moment! This video seems to be great and I might eventually try it out! I enjoyed the Dwayne video as well even if I was imaginatively aching when he was describing his incident in the ring. It must’ve huuuurt! I completely understand his point but I can’t help thinking about what happened to me when I pushed myself beyond pain at the gym and ended up in the neurophysiology emergency operation room to have a back surgery. Obviously these are different circumstances than him. I’m just glad that he could recover and not have a long-term physical problem. I ended up okay but my left foot was almost completely paralyzed for a while.

[Compdude]

Ouch! I’m glad you have fully recovered. Was your trainer there when you got hurt?

Thanks for the compliment on my writing style. Writing these daily entries helping hone my narrative skills. If you find them inspiring, it’s my hope others do to.

[Cream35]

No I was training alone when that happened three years ago! I had back problems already and I was certain that I had to train myself and lose weight. I pushed myself beyond pain. Turned out I had a disc pushed out in my back, damaging my sciatic nerve probably for years. The doctor told me that I had the back of an 80 year old . I’ve learned to listen to my body and that I have a naturally scary tolerance for pain!

Yes your writing style is definitely fit for a book!!

[donna]

Have you read Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover? It’s very inspiring/challenging. He was the trainer who focused on mental toughness as well as physical and trained many elite athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Charles Barkley.

[Compdude]

@donna No. But I know who Tim Grover is. He’s the one who convinced Michael to completely change his approach to training and started the popularity of myofascia tissue release (aka foam rolling). I’ll add the book to my titles to read list.

When I was with 24 Fitness and I took the required certification with NASM that’s the first thing they teach you.

Here’s a success story. I picked up an Asian woman as a client, in her late 30s and 40s. She had been in a car accident and suffered pain in her right leg for years. She had tried everything: massages, acupuncture, etc. Nothing worked. So I proposed a combination of foam rolling, stretching and strengthening exercises. In 6 sessions, she was pain free.

[Compdude]

Day 15 of Flexibility & Endurance phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain/loss: 0 - See Note #1
2. Blood sugar: 71 - See Note #2 (Bad Day of Eating)
3. Exercise: 1.3 mile walk - re-reviewing Ankle and Hip Therapy videos - See Note #3
4. Fasting/TRE: 20:4 - See Note #4
5. Help Forum & FB members, Book Writing & Recommendations for updating Church website on upcoming Prayer and Fasting for 21 Days: In Progress - See Note #5

Notes:

1. 3 days at 210lbs. Very interesting seems I’ve established my body’s new set point. I also noticed that 210lbs was the same weight I ended the previous Regrow Major Organs phase. However…(See Note #2)

2. Bad Food Day: Started off well with my usual coffee and carbs then it was downhill from there! LOL

The family had gone to the Filipino market and had brought home my favorite goodies for lunch. So its the first time in a LOOOONG time I’ve had 3 meals in a single day:

6am - Coffee w/Strawberries

2pm - Two Pandesal (Filipino Sweet Loaves - think Hawaiian Bread but less sweet), one Sky Flakes pack (Filipino Crackers), and one Shoupau (Filipino dumplings) with a pork center.

5pm - 4 slices of pizza and a Drumstick vanilla ice cream cone.

The reason for the pizza for dinner is I volunteered to help take down holiday decorations at my new church since its within walking distance. Pastor had ordered too much pizza so I was given 2 pies to take home for family. It has been a loooonnnng time since I last tasted pizza so I indulged.

I ate without guilt all day because the reason I work hard is to enjoy times like these.

One thing to note is that the lunch was almost all carbs yet I only ate half as much as I used to. Also I was happy I only ate 1 pack of Sky Flakes, whereas before I’d eat 10 of the 2-cracker packs. Same thing used to happen with with Drumstick ice cream cones. I wouldn’t be satisfied with one and sneak to the fridge to eat 2 to 3 more.

3. I was going to do a rest day. But when the call went out at morning service for volunteers to help take down holiday decorations at 3pm I decided to answer. My new church is only 1.3 miles away, it was 70 degrees out, I was felt good as I had slept 6 hours and ankles and feet were not sore or stiff. So I did the walk, took down holiday decorations, moved a couple of old couches and got better acquainted with members of my new congregation. Didn’t have to walk back as a kind couple gave me a ride home.

Re-reviewed the two therapy videos. Yesterday was the first in the sequence (ankles) here is the 2nd for tight hips:

12/30 Monday - 2.2 mile walk
12/31 Tuesday - Rest
1/1 Wednesday - 1 mile walk & Flexibility Workout
1/2 Thursday - Rest
1/3 Friday - 3.9 mile walk
1/4 Saturday - 1 mile walk
1/5 Sunday - 1.3 mile walk and moved stuff
1/6 Monday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/7 Tuesday - Rest
1/8 Wednesday - Long Walk
1/9 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk to and from Toastmasters mtg & 1.2 mile Walk/Bus to Dentist office
1/10 Friday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/11 & 12 Saturday & Sunday Rest
1/13 Monday - Long walk
1/14 Tuesday - Rest
1/15 Wednesday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/16 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk Toastmasters mtg
1/17 Friday - Long Walk
1/18 & 19 Saturday & Sunday - Rest

4. Fasting/TRE: Another 20:4 Fasting and Eating cycle done.

5. 41 newbies and 20 returnees in the forum for a total of 61. Cool thing is that with some early successes some of the newbies are helping the others out.

Did some book writing. Also got permission from someone in the FB group that I had counseled, to use her name about her story in illustrating one of reasons that cause people to fail at completing an extended fast.

At morning service Pastor provided the website for the upcoming 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Reviewed it when I got home. Talked to Pastor about it this afternoon. He told me he welcomed my recommendations as the website had been updated in years. I’ll be writing up the email after I finish this journal entry. Here’s the website if you’re interested:

Home - 21 Days of Fasting + Prayer

BONUS MOTIVATION VIDEO
As promised the 3rd and final In a series of 3 videos featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:

[Compdude]

Day 16 of Flexibility & Endurance phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 2lbs - See Note #1
2. Blood sugar: 80
3. Exercise: Forced Rest - See Note #2
4. Fasting/TRE: 13:11 - See Note #3
5. Help Forum & FB members - See Note #4

Notes:

1. That I only gained 2lbs of water weight considering the amount of carbs I ate yesterday I attribute to 2 factors:
   A. I did the 1.3 mile walk after lunch
   B. I finished eating dinner while still in the “Insulin Sensitivity Zone” as dictated by Circadian Rhythm theory.

2. Forced Rest Day. I woke up with a cold. Not sneezing but having to blow my nose often to clear it and feeling my body fighting back primarily in the chest and sinus region. Benefit of having replaced all the dead and senescent cells in the body with new cells is becoming more aware of what your body is doing and of course a strengthened immune system. 5 hours later at the time of this writing no longer having to blow my nose, feeling the parts of my body engaging at fighting the cold the number has gone down to just my chest area and the back of my nose. Cool.

12/30 Monday - 2.2 mile walk
12/31 Tuesday - Rest
1/1 Wednesday - 1 mile walk & Flexibility Workout
1/2 Thursday - Rest
1/3 Friday - 3.9 mile walk
1/4 Saturday - 1 mile walk
1/5 Sunday - 1.3 mile walk and moved stuff
1/6 Monday - Forced Rest - Cold
1/7 Tuesday - Rest
1/8 Wednesday - Long Walk
1/9 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk to and from Toastmasters mtg & 1.2 mile Walk/Bus to Dentist office
1/10 Friday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/11 & 12 Saturday & Sunday Rest
1/13 Monday - Long walk
1/14 Tuesday - Rest
1/15 Wednesday - Short walk & Flexibility Workout
1/16 Thursday - 1.2 mile walk Toastmasters mtg
1/17 Friday - Long Walk
1/18 & 19 Saturday & Sunday - Rest

4. Being disciplined and ending dinner by 6pm allowed me to do the minimum I.F. Schedule on my Zero app which used to be 12:12 (Circadian Rhythm) to 13:11.

5. From a physical standpoint I really should have rested yesterday instead of making the hike to my new church, taking down Christmas decorations and helping to move old couches. But from a writing standpoint, it gave me the opportunity to take my knowledge, simplify and summarize it for a non-fasting audience in writing recommendations for updating the language of the church’s website for their 21 day prayer and fasting project and also explain it to the couple who drove me home.

[donna]

Can you point me to a resource that can help me understand how to apply foam rolling for myself?

[Compdude]

@donna @anna @Cream35 @Yasemin

One of the things I love being a former CPT in a YouTube world is I don’t have to create any exercises in flexibility, weight resistance, and body weight areas of fitness. I just have to look at YouTube videos and investigate the creator’s backgrounds and see if they check out.

As I mentioned in a post to Donna, I used myofascial release (foam rolling) techniques to help a former personal training client be free of leg pain from an auto accident. For new clients I would use foam rolling as a means of evaluation to determine areas to target for flexibility and strenghening. As they became flexible we would reduce the amount of time devoted to foam rolling as part of their warmup until it was reduced to a couple of spot exercises called upon when needed.

Anyway, sorry for the long preamble but I always like to give context to everything, This YouTube creator’s trainer certifications check out. One of them I used to hold AFAA and ACE her other certification is well respected in the industry. Here’s the routine you asked for:

Let me know if you have any questions.

[donna]

Thank you so much! Do you recommend a high density or medium?

[Compdude]

@donna I prefer HIgh Density because as the myofascial tissue becomes more pliable and you work out all the knots the High Density foam roll remains relevant longer. Of course, it could be an exercise in masochism in the beginning!

New “know it all” clients would always bring out my sadistic streak. I loved how they would yak yak yak how they didn’t need foam rolling as they were sooo flexible from doing yoga and Pilates until they hit a knot in their myofascial tissue. Their face would freeze and a groan or a barely withheld scream would then happen. Hahahahahaha!