My Leangains Approach
On the subject of nutrition, I’m typically most interested in discussions of health and performance, but I openly admit that vanity weighs on my favor as well. Enter Leangains.
Leangains is, at its simplest, a protocol designed by Martin Berkhan to get the dieter to absurdly low body fat percentages (on the order of 5 or 6%!), all the while maintaining or gaining strength. The base of the protocol is intermittent fasting (IF) with a “16/8 splitâ€; the dieter fasts for 16 hours each day and eats all meals within the remaining 8 hour window. This may sound abnormal, but it really isn’t too far removed from the norm. For me, this split has me eating breakfast at around 11am and dinner at about 7pm – pretty standard.
I’ve played with IF in the past, for alleged health benefits and for the sake of convenience. Primal eating has taught me to love cooking real meals, but I still don’t have the desire to do that before 8:00am class. Near the end of last year, I went on a Leangains binge. I read Martin’s blog cover to cover and decided to be more methodical with my IF and training.
Lots more on the other side.
7 comments April 12, 2011
My Reply to Durianrider
I posted this as a comment on this atrocity of a blog posting. We’ll see if it makes it through moderation:
Hey Durianrider,
Some really interesting science you’ve got going here. 
I’m posting two links in this comment. The first is my “recap†after trying a “primal†diet for 6 weeks. You’ll see that I posted exactly what I ate and any activity for all 42 days (save a 3 day camping trip). Clearly I lost my gut, I didn’t gain one. The before picture was the result of following the government recommendations pretty closely – diet and cardio. You’ll also see that I didn’t starve myself at all. (See average daily calories per week in first graph – the teal line). I also exercised fewer minutes per week during those six weeks than before I started. (http://perkinskit.posterous.com/debrief-six-primal-weeks)
The second link is my 6 month update. After the initial 6 weeks, I stopped tracking my intake and ate whatever I wanted (clean paleo/primal foods only of course!). [Though to be fair, I wasn’t restricting myself during the first six weeks, though one could argue that happened unintentionally due to the act of recording what I ate.] In this post I have added a third picture, the six month picture. You’ll see that although I got a new camera, I didn’t get a new gut (or even my old one back). (http://perkinskit.posterous.com/the-6-month-post)
I promise I’m not “on HGH shots†– or starving myself. 
Thanks!
Oh and I’m just getting my own site going (www.engrevo.com) so you can call me a blogger too!
I’m looking forward to the great debate! Go get ’em Richard.
Update after the jump.
6 comments April 12, 2011
Manic Monday: The Diabetic Climber
Manic Monday is a feature I hope to run every Monday(ish) – provided folks out there in the “mainstream” keep supplying the fodder.
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I’ve had this story on reserve for a while now, but it is no less relevant than it was a few months ago. In fact, just a few days ago Jimmy Moore of “Livin la Vida Low Carb” had a guest addressing the same issue.
In early February, I decided to finally go bouldering at the local climbing co-op (covered here). “Finally” because I had been meaning to go since July (it’s just now occurring to me how representative this post is of my procrastination).
The co-op was a very welcoming place to a new climber, and a friend of mine had lined up a climber he knew to play “tour guide” for me – a favor I sorely needed. That tour guide was The Diabetic Climber (TDC). As you may have guessed, TDC is diabetic.
Read on for the rest of the story and some diabetes stats. (more…)
April 11, 2011
Chock Full o’ Meals
Thanks in part to my own slow transition, I have a bit of a meal pile-up on my hands. Which means you’ll be receiving a bountiful feast of recent meals in the form of one giant post. Hope you’re hungry.
First up, an American classic: a burger with fries.
The burger is 80/20 grass-fed from Hearst Ranch. It’s just up the street from us, but they ship anywhere too (if you give them a call, they’ll give you free shipping on orders over $35). I mixed 1/3 lb with one pastured egg and some cumin, then pan-fried it in some bacon grease we had stored. It was great with the pepperjack slice on top.
The sweet potato fries were easier than I expected. I just peeled and cut a large one with a sharp knife, then pan-fried in bacon grease. Next time to crisp them up a bit I’ll try baking after frying then cooling on a rack.
Jump for more.
April 10, 2011
What’s Being Said