I have decided to put my stake in the sand and declare that I have reached my goal weight. I have
been as low as 85.5 kilos, which is a loss of 12 kilos, and I seem to be "wanting" to stay in the
86.5 to 87.5 kilo range, which is a loss of 10+ kilos, which was my original goal. At least three
people have commented that I appear to have lost too much weight, which might be true, given that
when I look at myself in the mirror, naked, I look very thin. Given my hopefully standard level of
vanity, the fact that even I think I am a bit too thin probably indicates I should stop trying to
lose weight.
Still, my BMI is 24.6-24.8, which is in the normal range near the top but well above the ideal
range, according to the BMI page, which says I should be at 22 and weight 82 kilos. One (supposed)
MD on the low-carb diet newsgroup said I should be at 20!. When I replied that at 74 inches cm I
would have to weigh 156 lbs to have a BMI of 20, and that I haven't weighed 156 lbs since before my
growth spurt as a teenager, the doctor said that 20 is still what he would recommend. So I guess you
can't really trust advice you get on the internet after all.
I have not yet remeasured my body fat percent. The one time I did measure it using the electrical
impedence method, it registered 19%, which I think is too high. But the electronic impedance method
is dependent on the body's state of hydration, so I will wait until I can buy my own body fat scale
to resume BF measurements. I would like to get it down to 15% or so, but I don't see a lot of fat,
so if I really am at 19%, maybe I will have to stay there.
Officially, I am now in the Pre-mantenance phase of the Atkins diet, which is a phase in which you
are no longer trying to lose weight. Rather, you are adding carbs back into your diet, 10 grams of
daily carbs per week, until you reach a total carb weight at which you no longer lose weight. Well,
I haven't been that precise about following the rules in either of the first two phases, and I don't
plan to measure carbs to that level of accuracy. I will eyeball it as I have been doing. I plan to
add some fruit (maybe a second banana and one or two apples, etc), some higher gi cereal (maybe some
granola instead of All Bran Plus), and a weekly sushi dinner (rice). I plan to reduce fat a little
by reducing cheese and red meat. I will also probably drink more fruit juice (unsweetened) and
sample the occasional chocolate chip cookie.
We'll see how that goes. If it goes well, then I might try an experiment in which I switch to the
Pritikin diet for at least part of the Autumn, which is when I would still be on that diet naturally
anyway, if I were a hunter-gatherer.
I have increased my total amount of exercise per week, because my fitness club has just begun its
fall class schedule, and they have increased the number babe-fest aerobics classes. I am doing two
one-hour aerobics or spinners classes of fairly high intensity four days per week now, in addition
to my 1500m swim each weekday morning. Some days I do a longer swim session with another guy who
swims an actual workout. He's a lot faster than I am, but he adjusts his intervals to suit me. So I
suppose I am doing 12 to 15 hours of high quality exercise per week, which is a bit over the top,
but I enjoy it. I think the Atkins diet is better attempted in conjunction with a vigorous exercise
regiment, and the book recommends it be done that way.
martin
--
Draft Wesley Clark for President! www.DraftWesleyClark.com
Martin Smith email: [email hidden]