week 4 progress

It is Friday of week 4. The low of 82.0 last Sunday was very low. The good news is that I am back there now on Friday morning. I hope to drop below 82 on Saturday morning.

I believe that a I had a long transition period before ketosis kicked in. It took two and a half weeks this time. This is longer than previously, but not really a problem. The problem is a mental one. While the weight loss stage has not been reached the two and a half weeks are long and demoralising.

Saturday is a hilly cross-country race (13.5km). I will be eating some carbs before that!

roller coaster week

What a week: from 87.6kg Monday and Tuesday to 82.1kg on Sunday morning. You would think you would have to chop your leg off to lose that much that quickly! (I didn't).

The amount of water in my body must have a lot to do with it, judging by the fluctuations in recorded % fat as the total weight dropped off. The thing is, I was drinking a lot of water all week, so it is the diet causing the change in retained water; and not me going thirsty.

See the links at the top of the page for the graphs (totals / mass / fat).

It is sunday evening. I had a 12km race this morning on a flat course. It was a nice day for a run. Since then I have been for a curry, had a piece of cake, toblerone, bread & soup, and finally a couple of pancakes. The weight is not going to look good in the morning...

It is the middle of the third week. My total weight is back to where I started two and a half weeks ago. This trend has not happened before: not when I first started slow-carb in March 2011; and not after my hold towards the end of 2011.


At least the lard chart shows the kind of steep downward trend I am after. It is keeping me going! Despite being demoralised at the start of the week with the enourmous total weight, I have stuck rigidly to the rules this week. In fact the enourmous weight can mostly be attributed to the delicious stew I had on Sunday and Monday evenings. Nothing wrong with the stew, but it just weighs a lot. And especially when I gorge on it!

I like Indian lime pickle on my beans at lunch time. There's not much pickle (it's very intense!), but carbs all the same. I will avoid it once the jar is finished (tomorrow) and see what effact that has.

Another factor this week is that I was a bit under the weather from Monday to Wednesday and so did not do a run or gym. The 'run' on Monday was just a stroll round the course. I just couldn't get any go in my legs, nor any air into my lungs.

So what will the scales hold in the morning? I am counting on a sub 85kg result.

dehydrated

Eighty seven point six? That is still ridiculous. That's heaver than when I started.

And I am so dehydrated too. Would it have been worse if I had drunk enough; or is the problem that I did not drink enough?

After getting to work I drank 2 mugs of tea and 1.25 litres of sparkling water. And I was still feeling thirsty...

At midday, I went for my usual flat run which should take between 48 and 49 minutes. Today it turned into a stroll.

anything goes on a rest day

What a binge day that was! Cashews, chocolate, pancakes, stew and suet dumplings, beer...

The only exercise, a couple of hours ice skating with the kids.

I am paying for it now: a morning weight of 87.6. What impact is that going to have on the coming week?

expectations & goals

So this is the end of the second week. I had expected to be around 83kg today. In fact I am at 86.2kg. Not good, apparently.

I had rice for dinner (with tofu) last night. Not allowed, and will account for some extra mass.

It is very disappointing to see the weight figure so far above my expectations after 2 weeks.

My comfort is that the fat percentage is ahead of where I expected it to be: below 15% already!

Is this just major swings as I switch my diet back onto slow-carb? Will things level out (and the weight fall off) as I continue? We will see.

This diet is nothing if not interesting in the effects it has...

measure the fat percentage

As I approach the end of the second week, the quirks of this diet are coming back to me.

My weight is not dropping as fast as I hoped. In fact it is yoyoing around a bit, as can be seen on the graph. I had forgotten that this happens.
I was not measuring my fat percentage and so this apparently slow progress was starting to be a bit demoralising.

In fact the fat percentage is dropping. Once this is is taken into account, I can see that the diet is causing body composition changes and not just weight loss. This is in fact the goal of the diet: I do not want to be a lightweight; I only want to have less fat. 

I need plenty more fat % figures to be sure, but it is so important to monitor. If I do nothing else, the morning weigh-in and evening fat check must be done.


I weigh myself in the morning after a visit to the toilet. This gives me the best consistency in the amount of water/food in me. As a bonus, it is my lightest time of the day!

I do the fat check in the evening. For some reason it is all over the place in the morning. Evening checks last thing before bed (after toilet, once again!) give the best consistency.

current status

I have switched to Google docs, as this makes the whole update process seamless. The values in the 'figures' page are now just since I have restarted. The old graphs are still there though.

It is rest/binge day at the end of my first week back.

I had no idea how much I was working towards this. I have gone crazy on cashew nuts and chocolate (not to mention the pancakes we had for breakfast).

The week was not so easy, though I got here with no cheats. Saturday night was the worst.

At the end of the week I am down to 84.4kg. That's a 1.4kg drop, which will do nicely for a start.

Whether or not ketosis started last week is the question I am asking myself. The tell-tale signs were not really there: curious smelling urine, bad breath, suppressed appetite. Because of this, I think that I was still burning fuel in my body from carbs consumed during my holiday.

It is the appetite suppression that worries me the most. If I am hungry, I am thing about food. This is the danger time. Once the suppression kicks in, I do not even think about food at all.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the second week and I am actually looking forward to it. I really want to get back where I was, below 82kg and below 15% lard.

another nine months on

It is 18 months since the start of my 4 hour body change of diet (I am not on a diet, I have changed my diet). It was going well until May.

For whatever reason, I lost my way. The key problem was that I stopped weighing myself in the morning. I was relying on visual clues. It is now obvious how easily that I can convince myself that all is still on track when using such indicators...

Anyway, it wasn't so bad until July & August. In July I was away for a week with my friends mountain biking. Whilst this involves a lot of physical effort, it also involves a lot of stodgy food (tartiflette, chips, chocolate); and a lot of beer. Then, in August, my parents were here for a couple of weeks, which meant eating out and social drinking. And finally, at the end of August, a family holiday in the south of France, with the obvious food & drink attractions!

The result is that on return from my hols, my first Monday morning showed a weight of 86.8kg. What more motivation do I need to kick-start my monitoring and get back on track..?

nine months on

After a bit of a gap, an update. It is more than nine months since I resolved to lose some weight using this 4 hour body, slow-carb plan. After nine months, I can say it is a plan that can result in not just losing weight, but keeping it off too.

I have now a holding weight which I can comfortably acheive: 82kg. My fat % continues to drop and I am now between 14% & 15% consistently.

My diet now is simple, though I am nowhere near so strict. I sometimes include some nuts, or a spoonful of Nutella or similar. I also drink Diet Coke once again, in addition to copious quantities of St Yorre sparkiling water. Definitely no cheating at breakfast and through to lunch, as this seems to be the most important time.
Mon-Fri
- 3 x poached egg for breakfast;
- bean salad, tuna, Indian lime pickle for lunch
- low-carb dinner

Sat
- 3 x poached egg for breakfast;
- out for lunch, so a best effort!
- low-carb dinner

Sun
anything goes!

Exercise is pretty regular too:
Sun: flat road run (approx 1 hour)
Mon: gym, no aerobic (warm-up + weight machines only)
Tue: hilly road run (approx 50 min)
Wed: Wing Chun
Thur: rest
Fri: gym, including 20 min intense aerobic + 10 min light aerobic.
Sat: rest

Mass (total & lean)

fat by mass & percentage

trends

I have updated the graphs (links at the top of the page).

Interesting to see on the mass chart that the total mass continues a downward trend (since March); whilst the lean mass trend has gone from a downward trend (see earlier graphs) to an upward trend (again, for whole period since March).

The change in body composition is encouraging.

reformatting the graphs

The graph I have been updating (using Excel) since the beginning at the end of March now contains too much data. The trend is not helpful after holiday; and the resulting big spikes. The trend lines should show me if things are going well or badly.

I have created a new set of 3 charts for the period since a week after my hols and running to the beginning of October. I left a week after the hols, because of the big drop during the first week back on the diet after my hols.

It all looks lovely, with the trend lines pointing down. The exception is the lean mass trend line, which shows an upward trend. This is good news. Rugby has just restarted and I am hoping that the loss of over 10kg has not left me weak as a kitten!

The new graphs then...

fat & % fat

mass & lean mass

post-holiday recovery

For 2 weeks of holiday, just over 2 weeks diet is required to get back on track, it seems. I was concerned that this would not work a second time. I thought maybe my body would have adapted to this strange diet and cope accordingly.
As it happened, the pattern was the same as the first time, with dramatic initial weight loss; then a bit of yo-yoing, with a clear downward trend for fat (most importantly) and weight.
The indivdidual fat & mass charts are in the links at the top of the page.
My new (Salter, since 9 Aug) scales weigh about half a kilo heavier than the Tanita scale, which is the truth if compared to the balance-scale at the gym.. The Salter scale is totally consistent over a series of weighings. I still use the Tanita scale for the fat measuring for which it is consistent to 0.2% over a series of weighings. For mass it is wildly inconsistent, as it is very sensitive to where you stand on the scale (or even if you lean!). 

Apr-Aug 2011

Slow Carb and bad breath : ketosis

Bad breath is a real down-side of this diet (though if you have it, it means that the diet is working!); and the cause of this is something called ketosis. Wether this is a health problem is an interesting question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis

After the holiday

Two holidays in 4 weeks. That makes me a luck boy! However, my diet went completely away from slow carb and there is a clear impact on my weight.

The first trip was 5 days in the moutains doing some mountain biking with friends in France. This involves a lot of energy expenditure during the day ... and a lot of beer in the evening. Because it is quite taxing, lunch tended to be as many calories as possible: pizza, tartiflette, pasta, chips etc..

The second trip was two weeks in Spain with the family. This is involves very little energy expenditure, lying on my lounger reading my book... I suppose there is some 'cold exposure' in the pool and sea! Food-wise it was in no way slow carb.

The result was that I gained almost 3kg during this period. The plan now is for two weeks of strict slow-carb to see how fast the weight can be lost again...

month #3 : maintaining the weight loss

I have updated the charts (links at top of page) now I have reached the end of three months. From a starting weight of 91kg I am now holding steady just below 80kg.

This has not proved difficult so far. I have stuck with the eggy breakfast and bean salad lunch. I am less strict about no beer and the odd forbidden food. It is easy enough to be more careful to shake half a kilo if things go in the wrong direction.

The most important ritual is the monitoring. Just by checking each day and recording, I cannot deceive myself about the trend...

month 1-3

week #9 : afterwards

I have updated the graphs for the end of the second month. Whilst I am not 'on a diet' since the end of the first month, I have continued with the principles and types of food. I eat beans, etc. all week and then have a blow out at the weekend...

The trend continues to be down: over 10kg lost from a starting point of 91kg.

month 1-2

week #6 : afterwards

The planned month finished last Saturday morning. This week was to have been the first post-diet week. However, I cannot let that month just go.

I have stuck to my 3 egg breakfasts (I really enjoy my breakfast now); and my bean and tuna lunches when at work. The evening meal has slid a little. I had Chinese dumplings one evening (pastry is made with rice flour); and boiled rice on another.

The result is that my % fat measurements have been all over the place, but my weight has continued to go down. I have done no significant exercise since damaging my shoulder playing rugby on Saturday afternoon, which must have some sort of effect.

My weight this morning was 81.7kg, an drop of 1.4kg from last week. As I get lighter, it seems that the morning fat measures from the scale are more erratic impacting the graph wildly!

To compare, my fat % before my evening meal was 16.7% on Thursday, after showing 19.0% before breakfast.

week #5 : the end of the planned month

start weight : 91 kg

end weight : 83.1 kg

--------------------

loss: 7.9 kg

start % fat : 23 %

end % fat : 17.6 %

--------------------

loss: 5.4 %

I am more than happy with the results. It is fair to say that I am amazed.

The diet was easy to follow, with no calorie counting, etc., just simple rules: no pasta, rice, cereal, dairy, sugar, fruit. Eat eggs for breakfast and fill up on beans. Easy!

In fact I plan to continue with the eggy breakfast; bean lunch at the very least. I will be monitoring my weight each morning too. Small things, as the book says.

I have a cholesterol test coming up and so I am interested to see what has happened there too.

day 34 : morning post

mass: 83.1 kg
% lard: 17.6%

breakfast: 3 x poached egg (pepper & green Tabasco); coffee

So that is it for the planned part of my diet. A big drop this morning. The olives from the previous day were really dragging me down yesterday morning. A big 'movement' yesterday during the morning sorted that out.


A great result! I have a rugby match today, hence I stop today instead of tomorrow. I want to eat before the match to avoid the cramps I have seen during the month of this diet. I also want to drink a load of beer afterwards...

A summary of the month will follow tomorrow. 

day #33 : wrap up

Lunch: tuna (in brine, as usual); bean/bean/lentil salad

Dinner:  roast chicken; roast vegetables

Snack: none

I weighed myself just now, as I am going to bed. 84kg / 15.3%. It makes such a difference to do the weights in the evening. Obviously these measures do not count towards anything, as all measures on the chart are from the morning, just after I get up.

day # 33 : morning post

mass: 84.0 kg
% lard: 18.6%

breakfast: 3 x poached egg (pepper & green Tabasco); coffee

The weight is up. That was a pretty solid chili and quite a few olives yesterday evening... The lard mass stays surprisingly flat, despite the fluctation in percentage. This says something for the accuracy of the scales perhaps.

day # 32 : wrap up

Lunch: tuna (in brine, as usual); bean/bean/lentil salad

Dinner:  chili with loads of vegetables

Snack: olives with peppers; 10 x almonds

Went to the gym as delayed at work. A couple of laps around the usual weights circuit.

day # 32 : morning post

mass: 83.1 kg
% lard: 18.8%

breakfast: 3 x poached egg (pepper & green Tabasco); coffee

Perfect job with the new egg poachers. The trick was to add a little olive oil and leave them in the pan before adding the eggs. Add the eggs to the hot poachers and put the lid on the pan. Easy.