Week 2

68 days left til the wedding. I am not sure if it is good news or bad news.

I spent all day Sunday in the kitchen. I made Salmon, Chicken and my sides. I had steamed broccoli and stove top squash. I am really enjoying the ready-made meals for the week.

I do need to tell you about my Saturday, aka Binge Day.

Quoting this from what the book says:

Sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner or butter cookies at Christmas?

Sounds like a binge. That, in and of itself, doesn’t need to mean horrible guilt and extra fat
rolls afterward. If you plan ahead of time and understand a little science, it’s possible to
minimize the damage. I eat whatever I want every Saturday, and I follow specific steps to
minimize fat gain during this overfeeding.
In basic terms our goal is simple: to have as much of the crap ingested either go into muscle
tissue or out of the body unabsorbed.
I do this by focusing on three principles:

PRINCIPLE #1: MINIMIZE THE RELEASE OF INSULIN, A STORAGE HORMONE.
Insulin release is minimized by blunting sharp jumps in blood sugar:
1. Ensure that your first meal of the day is not a binge meal. Make it high in protein (at least 30
grams) and insoluble fiber (legumes will handle this). The protein will decrease your appetite
for the remainder of the binge and prevent total self-destruction. The fiber will be important
later to prevent diarrhea. In total, this can be a smallish meal of 300–500 calories.
2. Consume a small quantity of fructose, fruit sugar, in grapefruit juice before the second meal,
which is the first crap meal. Even small fructose dosing has an impressive near-flat-lining effect
on blood glucose.7 I could consume this at the first meal, but I prefer to combine the naringin in
grapefruit juice with coffee, as it extends the effects of caffeine.
3. Use supplements that increase insulin sensitivity: AGG (part of PAGG) and PAGG (covered in
the next chapter). The example intake in this chapter is quite mild, so I dosed only twice. If I’m
going whole hog, I will have another PAGG dose upon waking. This reduces the amount of
insulin the pancreas releases in spite of mild or severe glucose surges. Think of it as insurance.
4. Consume citric juices, whether lime juice squeezed into water, lemon juice on food, or a
beverage like the citrus kombucha I had.

PRINCIPLE #2: INCREASE THE SPEED OF GASTRIC EMPTYING, OR HOW QUICKLY FOOD EXITS THE STOMACH.

Bingeing is a rare circumstance where I want the food (or some of it) to pass through my
gastrointestinal tract so quickly that its constituent parts aren’t absorbed well.
I accomplish this primarily through caffeine and yerba mate tea, which includes the
additional stimulants theobromine (found in dark chocolate) and theophylline (found in green
tea). I consume 100–200 milligrams of caffeine, or 16 ounces of cooled yerba mate, at the most
crap-laden meals. My favorite greens supplement, “Athletic Greens” (mentioned in the schedule)
doesn’t contain caffeine but will also help.
Does this really work? Taking the goodies from taste buds to toilet without much storage in
between?8
More than a few people have told me it’s pure science fiction.
Too much information (TMI) warning: I disagree, and for good reason. Rather than debate
meta-studies, I simply weighed my poo. Identical volumes of food on and off the protocol. On
protocol = much more poo mass (same consistency, hence the importance of fiber) = less
absorption = fewer chocolate croissants that take up residence on my abs. Simple but effective?
Perhaps. Good to leave out of first-date conversation? Definitely.
On to one of the cooler aspects of this whole craziness: GLUT-4.

PRINCIPLE #3: ENGAGE IN BRIEF MUSCULAR CONTRACTION THROUGHOUT THE BINGE.

For muscular contractions, my default options are air squats, wall presses (tricep extensions
against a wall), and chest pulls with an elastic band, as all three are portable and can be done
without causing muscle trauma that screws up training. The latter two can be performed by
anyone, even those who have difficulty walking.
But why the hell would you want to do 60–90 seconds of funny exercises a few minutes
before you eat and, ideally, again about 90 minutes afterward?

So anyway..........I did do the AGG and the grapefruit juice and the squats. But I sure did enjoy my carbs on my binge day! :-)

Morning: 27 grams protein drink....coffee with milk AND sugar.
Breakfast: Migas, potatoes, beans, waffles and iced tea. HEAVEN!
Lunch: Rosa's cheese enchiladas, rice and beans PLUS a Dr. Pepper. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH
Dinner was just some tuna with veggies and popcorn during the movie.

I felt like crap at night - but it is totally worth it. Hahahahaha!

Sunday was back to the grind. Feeling great today!

More later,

Eldahg