Followers may
recall that a few months back, in my 1st 30-lb Challenge, I lost 31
pounds in 10 weeks. They may also remember that I then embarked on a 2nd 30-pound
challenge, this one of 16-weeks duration. After 12 weeks, I reported a less
than stellar performance and amended the 16-week goal from 30 to 15 pounds.
This is the 4thQ/Final report on the amended goal. I started the 4th
quarter at 215 lbs. The goal is to return to 202 in 4 weeks, then 197 two weeks
later. That’ll be over 50 pounds lost with full-day “fasting.”
Week 13: Attended Keto Fest, a
festival in New London, CT, organized by 2 Keto Dudes. It was educational and fun, and I
ate too much: Eggs/bacon breakfasts (in a hotel), ketogenic lunches (at the
festival) and half-priced cherrystones and white wine (dinner on my own), but too much food/wine. I gained 5 pounds. FBG aver:
103!
Week 14: Fasting Mon-Wed-Fri. I dropped 10 pounds from 220 to
210. Amazing! Including an amazing buffet lunch at the Otesaga Hotel in
Cooperstown before seeing “Porgy and Bess.” And I cheated a little each fasting
day, but only with a protein/fat snack (bought at Keto Fest) with my happy hour
spritzer. FBG aver: 99mg/dl.
Week 15: Fasting Mon-Wed-Thurs
this week. Tuesday we’ll again have lunch at the Otesaga Hotel before seeing
“Oklahoma” at Glimmerglass, and then a light “all protein” supper at home. All
went well ‘till Saturday, the annual neighborhood association picnic. I had
just one plate of protein and fat, plus 3 cups of my keto clam chowder, and 3
cups of white wine. Virtually no carbs (except in the wine) and no dessert!
Alas, I gained 2 pounds for a net 4
pound loss for the week. Next morning: FBS up 29 points. FBG weekly
average: 86mg/dl.
Week 16: Need to lose 4-6 pounds
this week to reach my target. Glimmerglass (“Xerxes”) on Tuesday, so I will try
“IF” Mon+Wed-Thu and maybe Fri. I have a gallon
of leftover keto clam chowder: ergo, I will do a modified OMAD (one ‘mug’ a
day) fast this week: for ‘supper’ I’ll substitute 12oz of chowder, plus iced tea, for my usual spritzer (6oz red
wine + 8oz seltzer): fewer carbs, more fat, no wine. By week’s end I had lost 3 pounds, down to 203 (1
shy of my target). 26 week total: 45
pounds. FBG average this week: 90mg/dl.
Conclusion
Multiple,
consecutive day “fasting” is easy, if you’re “fat adapted.” No hunger. Never
was any at “breakfast.” Just coffee with cream. No hunger at “lunchtime.” I
usually forget about it if I’m busy in the yard, etc. Supper has proved to be a
little harder. In recent years I “snacked” before supper. (I say “supper” to
suggest a smaller meal than “dinner.”) It’s usually been solid food, recently
plain celery; before that radishes with salt and sometimes butter). Since
beginning full-day “fasting,” I have substituted a red wine spritzer (6oz wine
+ 8oz seltzer) for solid food, to wash down my evening pills. In week 16, for 3
days I replaced the spritzer with iced tea, to save 150 calories while I used
up leftover, calorie-rich keto
chowder. It worked out okay. No cooking.
Other Related Thoughts
The brain is so
facile at rationalizing. I have quickly come to accept that losing less than
half the weight I wanted to lose in my 2nd 30-lb Challenge was still
a good outcome. After all, a pound-a-week-loss really is respectable. Many
healthcare professionals would even describe it as commendable. But I consider
it a big disappointment. Not exactly a failure, but then I have high
expectations for myself (and others, my wife says).
Going Forward
I have, however,
gained another insight from this less-than-desired outcome. I have reasoned
that to maintain each weight loss, the
challenge must continue. And the best way to do that is to continue to set goals – albeit
incrementally smaller goals – in successive weight loss campaigns. There are
just two variables: elapsed time and weight. Time was the variable in the two
original plans: 30 pounds in 10 weeks and then 30 pounds in 16 weeks. When I
faltered in the 2nd plan, I cut the goal to 15 pounds in 16 weeks.
Going forward, beyond this 16-week
challenge, with 15 more pounds to lose,
I will propose to lose 5 pounds in the 1st 2 weeks. And then, the
“final” 10 in the last 6. Or something like that. We’ll see how it goes. And
then? Another challenge? Of course.
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