Type 2 Diabetes, a Dietary Disease #385: My 2nd (and Last) 30-lb Challenge: Half-time Report

This is my 2^nd 30-lb Challenge since I started to experiment with full-day fasting after the Super Bowl. This one did not start off well. In the first four weeks, where my goal was to lose 7 pounds, I lost only 1. This period was plagued by a succession of missteps and generally reflected a lack of focus. I just got off to a bad start and never got my head straight. I knew I could do better. So, to jumpstart the 2^nd Quarter, I did a 3-day fast. 

Week 5: It was a rough start. We had company Monday night, and I made a delicious dinner…and besides a big drink and 2nds of my roast pork, I had dessert: Gained 2 pounds. FBG Tuesday: 108. That was followed by a 3-consecutive day fast in which I lost 8 pounds. I worked 4 to 6 hours in the garden in scorching heat on all 3 days, drank pickle brine and ice tea to keep hydrated, and felt great. In fact, I mentioned to my wife on the 3^rd day that I felt really pumped! Ate 2 meals Friday and gained 2 pounds back (probably water), but all my FBGs this week besides Tuesday were 70s and 80s. My 7-day average was 85mg/dl (4.7mmol/L), and I lost 4 pounds.

Week 6: I started the week still 4 pounds behind plan, and because we have theatre in NYC on Tuesday, I’ll fast (300 kcal/day) just Wednesday-Thursday this week, from Tuesday supper to Friday lunch. That’s a good thing about full-day fasting. You can mix and match, including alternate day or consecutive day. That didn’t occur to me before I started in February, but I discovered it makes no difference when you’re keto-adapted. Result: FBG average 82mg/dl – mostly 70s and 80s with 1 low 90s from a cheat at a pre-theatre restaurant. But, I gained 3 pounds for the week – 4 in the last 2 days. Either my body is resisting its weight loss, or I’m eating too many calories on my “feasting” days. Honestly, I think it’s mostly the latter. So, I resolve to try to eat less.

Week 7: Now, starting the week 9 pounds behind plan and with theatre in NYC 2 times this week, I need to tweak my fasting plan again. Fundamentally, I am never hungry, so when I eat – either too much at supper or to snack before supper – it’s not from hunger. I need to recognize that and act accordingly. That’s my plan. Well…as they say about war, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” On Tuesday I had a 3-course dinner before the theatre. The cheese course, for desert, had more calories and carbs (in accompaniments) than the appetizer and entrée together. By next morning both my FBG and weight had risen. Thursday’s pre-theatre supper wasn’t much better. But, because I fasted M-W-F this week, I lost 4 pounds and my weight was down to 211. So, I gained 2 on my 9 pound deficit but, 7 weeks in, I am still 7 lbs behind plan. FBG aver. = 91.

Week 8: Halftime is looming and I need a 2nd consecutive week of losses to be in the best position to catch up in the 2^nd half and achieve my 2^nd 30-pound challenge and reach my teenage weight of 187 pounds. There are few confounding factors this week. I know I can do it. This week I plan to fast M-T-W. Net result: DISASTER! I lost 5 pounds in the 3-consecutive day fast (and accomplished lots in the garden); then, naively ate pasta and 1/3 of my wife’s desert in a restaurant on Thursday, and snacked without discipline at receptions after an art gallery opening and a harpsichord concert on Saturday. Outcome: a shameful and embarrassing gain of 8 pounds in 3 days. FBG aver. = 99. It’s a head shaking setback, but it is what it is. And fasting isn’t the problem.

Conclusion: Halfway into my 2^nd 16-week, 30 pound challenge (34 actually, since I started it after a 4-pound gain), I am only 2 pounds (6 actually) down, 13 behind plan. This looks insurmountable BUT, the last 8 is water. So, if I think of it that way, I have only a 5 pound deficit to overcome in the next (final) 8 weeks. That’s doable.

Discussion: Currently, I think I prefer a 3-day, weekday (Mon-Tue-Wed or Tue-Wed-Thu), 300kcal/day, fast. I think my wife does too. She is spared the trouble of cooking for me, and she can prepare foods that she prefers to eat. One night last week she had a micro-waved baked half of a potato, stuffed with butter, sour cream and shredded cheese. In any case she has accepted my full-day fasting. Perhaps it is because, for all my misadventures, she knows that I am losing weight and my blood sugar regulation and other health markers have improved greatly. Or maybe she just misses baked, stuffed potatoes. Anyway, the challenge continues.