Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha (57 page)

 

 

^*
Speaking generally, fasting is easier earlier in the day than later. We do not, for example, recommend starting your feeding window when you wake up at six a.m. and ending at two p.m. That's a recipe for disaster; psychologically, it's much easier to wait until you're allowed to eat than it is to stop eating once you've already started. But if that's your preference, it can be done.

 

 

^*
Padawan
is the official term for a Jedi apprentice. If you haven't figured it out by now, we are huge fucking nerds, and we love us some
Star Wars
.

 

 

^*
Miyagi the mentor leading Daniel the hero through a series of tests on the Road of Trials; the resulting ability to defend himself is both the magic weapon and the ultimate boon. Campbell is everywhere. We're not making this up.

 

 

^*
A more extreme version of this dietary approach is IIFYM, or If It Fits Your Macros, popularized by Alan Aragon and Layne Norton, two nutritional wizards whom we would like to honor with a bro-fist.

 

 

^*
The term for this is
gluconeogenesis.
We haven't had any science terms in a while, so this seemed like a good time to throw that in.

 

 

^*
It
is
possible to eat 14,000 calories' worth of ice cream, by the way, and Roman has done it—twice. There is a monstrosity known as a Vermonster, a Ben & Jerry's confection made of twenty scoops of ice cream topped with four bananas, three chocolate chip cookies, a brownie, several ladles of hot fudge, and a mishmash of other toppings. Designed as a shared dessert suitable for feeding every attendee at a child's birthday party, the Vermonster is also considered an eating challenge. Very few people attempt to take the Vermonster down on their own, and fewer still accomplish it. Roman has attempted this twice, with one failure and one success to his credit. The success was documented in Tim Ferriss's bestseller
The 4-Hour Chef,
in which Roman is featured. Both Roman and Ferriss take their cheat days very seriously.

 

 

^*
Roman swears this is true. He also feels that the ability to console himself with food when the Jets lose is incredibly helpful. Or, as he puts it, “Scheduled properly, cheat days can make life as a Jets fan a little more bearable.”

 

 

^*
People don't really say
kick it
anymore, which is regrettable. We're bringing it back. #alphastatus.

 

 

^*
While you don't need us, we definitely want you to become a member of our community. Head to engineering thealpha.com to get everything from the latest tips and strategies to extra workouts, completely free.