Diet 2020 Wk 10 - week ending 08.MAR.2020

Had a bit of a disaster of a week, diet-wise. I ate some extra snack foods on Tues-Wed, and then instead of being 'strict' about my diet over the weekend (as I'd planned) I ended up eating a lot of junk foods, including quite a bit of chocolate and biscuits on Sunday (I had a total of 4,395 cals on Sunday!). My weight had been hovering around 85-86 kg all week (and for the past month), but it had gone up to 87.9 kg this morning (hopefully a lot of that is just fluid retention due to the bulk of food eaten yesterday)! My average daily cals for the week was only about 200 more than 'maintenance' so as long as yesterday was only a lone 'cheat day' it shouldn't have a ruinous impact on my overall weight loss progress. The main thing is to get back on track asap. It didn't help that I had only gone to the gym twice last week, and my average daily step count was also down a bit (due to not doing much walking on the weekend) - so my caloric requirement was probably also lower than normal for the past week.

So, today I skipped breakfast and will make an extra effort to stick to my strict low-cal/keto diet plan, and I'll then stick with my low cal/keto diet plan for the rest of March and April to try to get rid of the last 6-8 excess kilos I need to shed. I'll go to the gym for some weight training on the way home from work tonight , despite the rapidly increasing risk of corona virus exposure in Sydney these days! Keeping my hands away from my face during the gym session and doing a thorough hand wash at the end might help reduce the health risks - and it helps that the gym is less busy than usual these days (the shopping center was almost deserted when I went there on Saturday afternoon).

Averages for past week were:
Calories:   2,836.2 kcals/day
Fibre:          9.9 g/day
Carbs:         36.9 % of cals
Fat:           43.1 % of cals
Protein:      126.9 g/day
Sodium:     4,280.1 mg/day
Weight:        85.1 kg
BMI:           27.8
Steps:      8,174   steps/day
Sleep:          6.1 hrs/night
Body Fat:      16.9 %
Gym sessions:   2
WT Reps:      643
WT volume: 39,625   kg
Treadmill:    37:38 mins

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Diet 2020 Wk 9 - week ending 01.MAR.2020

Well, I didn't get straight back into 'keto' mode as I'd planned, but I managed to eat less than maintenance calories on average last week, so my weight was back down to where it was two weeks ago. This week I'll focus on avoiding excess carbs and sticking to my meal plans. While I haven't lost any weight over the past fortnight I do seem to have replaced some fat with lean mass, which is what I'm hoping to do after I've reached my target weight!

Averages for past week were:
Calories:   1,952.3 kcals/day
Fibre:          7.4 g/day
Carbs:         23.1 % of cals
Fat:           48.5 % of cals
Protein:      124.5 g/day
Sodium:     4,363.2 mg/day
Weight:        85.4 kg
BMI:           27.9
Steps:      9,876   steps/day
Sleep:          5.4 hrs/night
Body Fat:      16.3 %
Gym sessions:   4
WT Reps:    1,127
WT volume: 77,452   kg
Treadmill:    65:31 mins

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Diet 2020 Wk 8 - week ending 23.FEB.2020

Another 'bad' week where I didn't stick to my 'keto' diet plan on Thu-Sun, and overate a bit on Friday and Saturday. Although the average daily calories for the week was still reasonable (1,896 kcals/day, compared to my 'maintenance' caloric requirement being around 2,600 kcals/day), my average weight was actually slightly higher than the previous week. The last four days I averaged 2,406 kcals/day, so I really need to get 'back on the wagon' and stick to my standard keto diet plan this week!

On a slightly positive note, my average body fat percentage (according to the wildly inaccurate bathroom scales) went from around 17% to around 16.5%, so the extra kcals probably aren't being stored as body fat (yet) - probably because I doing regular weight training sessions again (I actually did an extra gym session on Sunday, but my weight training app does weekly summaries from Sun-Sat, whereas I track my weekly diet stats from Mon-Sun, so the 'extra' gym session will be included in next week's tally).

I missed my Kendo training session on Saturday (I slept in!), so I'll need to set an alarm from now on (usually the wife and kids are up fairly early on Saturday mornings, but this week they all stayed in bed for some reason). I also need to get to bed a bit earlier, as I'm not getting enough sleep (which isn't good for either adding muscle mass or losing fat).

Averages for last week were:
Calories:   1,896.2 kcals/day (~800 kcals/day less than maintenance)
Fibre:          8.9 g/day
Carbs:         21.0 % of cals
Fat:           46.7 % of cals
Protein:      123.6 g/day
Sodium:     3,654.1 mg/day
Weight:        85.7 kg
BMI:           28.0
Steps:      9,582   steps/day
Sleep:          5.8 hrs/night
Body Fat:      16.5 %
Gym sessions:   3
WT Reps:    1,002
WT volume: 69,390   kg
Treadmill:    42:44 mins

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Tweaking my diet and exercise plan

My weight this morning was 84.6 kg, which is almost down to the best weight I achieved way back in 2001! However, the bathroom scales also gave a body fat reading of 18.2%. While the body fat reading isn't very accurate, I have read that strict ketogenic diets can lead to muscle loss, even when subjects were doing weight training. Given that I'm approaching my target weight of around 80kg, and that I've lost 8kg over the past month (much faster than my target of 0.75-1.5 kg of weight loss per week) while on the 'strict' ketogenic (<35g calorie="" carbs="" d="" decided="" diet="" high="" i="" p="" protein="" restricted="" to="" ve="">a) resume my weight training at the gym three times a week, as of today
b) possible modify my 'strict' keto diet my consuming some carbs (eg. some fruits) after my weight training sessions, as apparently a combination of protein and carbs is better for gaining/preserving muscle mass via weight training

I'll see how I feel after the gym session this afternoon, but at this stage I'm planning on having a peach and some grapes when I get home after the weight training session.

On a side note, I ordered a set of Kendo armour (bogu), sword (shinei), bags and clothing (gi) from Japan last night. The full set costs USD $555 (about A$860) but included 'free' shipping and embroidery of my name (in Kaku gothic  Katakaba script) on the clothing. I had previously bought a cheap set of Kendo clothing in traditional indigo (dark blue) colour before I started the beginner Kendo lessons, so this time I decided to order a black uniform as well as black armour. Most people wear the traditional indigo coloured gi, but I might feel like standing out from the crowd (then again, maybe not - I'm pretty sure my Kendo will remain mediocre for quite a few years). While the Kendo equipment isn't cheap, I figure that it is good exercise, and as I have to take DS2 to his Kendo grading every six months, and to Kendo training every Saturday I may as well also do Kendo training and get graded along with DS2. Assuming DS2 continues doing Kendo for another five years while he is in high school (and I do it for at least the next five years), the annual cost of the Kendo equipment (assuming nothing breaks or wears out, aside from Shinei) is quite reasonable.

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Diet 2020 Wk 6 - week ending 09.FEB.2020

A mediocre week - overate a bit on the weekend (although still well below maintenance calories), so my weekly average cals was 1,563.6/day. I also didn't go to the gym at all, but will start going again this week as there doesn't appear to be any corona virus transmission occurring within Australia at the moment. My daily stepcount was also lowered than my target, as I didn't do much walking on the weekend (there was a tropical storm lashing Sydney). But I did go to my two hour Kendo lesson on Saturday, so my overall activity level was probably still OK.

This week my average daily cals will probably be considerably lower, as I was sick on Monday and didn't each much (or go to the gym). My focus for the rest of this week will be to achieve my daily step count totals, and to resume going to the gym for weight training from Wednesday onwards.

I got my latest blood test results last week and it is all looking OK (aside from my ridiculously high IgE levels, which the immunologist is trying to get down using Imuran medication). There has been a considerably decrease in my triglycerides level (which used to be well above the 'normal' range, despite my cholesterol levels not being too high) so it is now down within the healthy range. My blood pressure has still been averaging around 105/65 since I've reduced my blood pressure medication by 50%, so I'll probably stop taking the BP medication completely (as suggested by my GP) once I've attained my target weight in a couple of months time. My resting pulse is averaing around 63 BPM, compared to averaging around 70 BPM last November when my weight was around 100 kg and I hadn't started regular gym sessions. So my general fitness and biomarkers certainly seem to have improved.

Averages for last week were:
Fibre:          5.9 g/day
Carbs:          9.9 % of cals
Fat:           48.2 % of cals
Protein:      135.1 g/day
Sodium:     4,323.0 mg/day
Weight:        85.9 kg
BMI:           28.0
Steps:      7,007   steps/day
Sleep:          5.7 hrs/night
Body Fat:      15.9 %
Gym sessions:   0
WT Reps:        0
WT volume:      0 kg
Treadmill:      0 mins

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Diet 2020 Wk 5 - week ending 02.FEB.2020

Had a pretty good week diet-wise, averaging 1,268 kcals/day. It was also ketogenic (averaging 10.0% cals from carbs) and reasonably high protein (averaging 131g/day). My sodium intake was still quite high (averaging 3097 mg Na/day), so this week I'll cut back a bit on eating packaged ham and roast beef as a 'snack' in the afternoon and aim to eat more plain, grilled beef and chicken for dinner instead. My weight during the week dropped from around 89 kg to around 86.8 by the end of the week, and this morning my weigh-in was 85.7kg (the lowest since 2001!) and about 13% body fat. I can feel a 'six pack' in my abs, but I still have about 0.5 cm of layer of subcutaneous fat covering my abs, and the skin is fairly loose, so I certainly don't have a visible 'six pack' as yet. Once I get down to 80kg (and around 10% body fat) I'll slightly increase my daily carb intake (by having porridge for breakfast and having some fruits and more vegetables at dinner time) to achieve a more 'balanced' macro ratio, and my caloric intake to a level suitable to maintain my weight and also accommodate a gradual addition of lean mass via ongoing weight training.

I didn't go to the gym at all last week, as DS1 and I decided to avoid the gym until it is clear that the spread of coronavirus in Australia has likely been well contained (ie. no new cases for a week). Meantime I'm just doing my walking, 5BX in the evening and doing a little bit of weight training at home. There's just been a 13th case confirmed in Australia, but apparently that was someone that came back from a tour of China that visited Wuhan, so there don't seem to be many new cases transmitted person-to-person within Australia, so I'll probably start going back to the gym this coming Friday.

I ended up missing my second Kendo lesson last Saturday as I was stuck in a queue to hand in the registration plates of the unregistered Jaguar I had to sell to a parts dealer last week. I'll have to pay to get new plates made with that rego number if I get another S-type Jaguar some time in the future, but at least I should be able to get the same rego number again. After dropping in the rego plates I drove out to Horsley Park Gun shop to purchase a new .22LR CZ455 rimfire that I'll use for benchrest target shooting at the local 25m range where I currently do 10m air pistol target shooting on the weekend. Once I've completed the series of Saturday morning beginner Kendo lessons I'll switch to attending the Wednesday night Kendo sessions, and do gym on Mon, Fri, Sun instead of Mon, Wed, Fri. That way I'll be able to go more regularly to air pistol on Saturday mornings with DS1 and DS2. I'll start doing benchrest rimfire shooting at another target shooting club that operates on the same 50m range on Sunday mornings.

I didn't do much walking on the weekend, and yesterday didn't reach my 10,000 step target, so I'll have to make sure I get in some extra walking for the rest of this week. I had a routine blood test done last week, so it will be interesting to see how my cholesterol etc. levels have been affected by the months of weight loss and increased activity/exercise.

Averages for last week were:
Fibre:         11.2 g/day
Carbs:         10.0 % of cals
Fat:           45.4 % of cals
Protein:      131.2 g/day
Sodium:     3,096.7 mg/day
Weight:        88.1 kg
BMI:           28.8
Steps:      7,959   steps/day
Sleep:          6.0 hrs/night
Body Fat:      17.4 %
Gym sessions:   0
WT Reps:        0
WT volume:      0 kg
Treadmill:      0 mins

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Diet 2020 Wk 4 - week ending 26.JAN.2020

I was doing well during the week, and then on the Australia Day long weekend we visited my parents up at the lake house and I had some (slightly) large meals and a small amount of excess carbs, and I didn't do much walking. I did do an hour or so kayaking on Saturday (not as much as I'd intended over the weekend), but didn't much else in terms of exercise. My overall stats for the week still look OK, but as the high cals/low exercise came at the end of the week it will probably mean that this week also won't show much/any progress and will instead be focused on getting back into my keto diet and exercise routine. My weight was a bit higher this morning, probably due mostly to extra fluid retention due to the larger meals eaten over the long weekend.

I did get in my three gym sessions last week and continued to increase volume (reps x wt) slightly, but the rate of increase in progressive overload is starting to slow down a bit. I stick to my current weekly routine for the next couple of months until I reach my target weight, then look at varying my routines to try to add muscle once my caloric intake has increased back to maintenance level (allowing for some extra calories required for the weight training to add some lean mass over time).

As yesterday was a public holiday (and I was driving back to Sydney for 3.5 hours in the evening) I didn't get to the gym, so this week I will only have two gym sessions (but I'll be doing another Kendo training session on Saturday). My weight currently seems 'stuck' around the 88/89kg level and my body fat seems to be hovering around 17.5%. I'll just have to wait for some more progress to become apparent. Doing three sessions of weight training per week and restricting caloric intake to around 1,200 kcals/day *must* eventually result in weight loss (and should be predominantly fat rather than lean mass). I just have to be patient and stick with 'the plan' even when there is no obvious improvement day-to-day.

I have to focus on the fact that I've already got back down to the 'best' weight I've been since 2016, and should soon be down to the lowest I've been this century, and closing in on my target weight *80 kg) within a couple of months.

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Diet 2020 Wk 3 - week ending 19.JAN.2020

Stuck to my nutrition and exercise plan 100% last week. Daily calorie intake ranged from 833-1,511 cals/day and averaged 1,120 cals/day. As usual I got in more walking during the week (avg 15,608 steps/day) than during the weekend (avg 7,013 steps/day), but I did two hours of Kendo training on Saturday which probably compensates for this. Continued to increase my reps and total volume in my gym training while keeping to three sessions (Mon/Wed/Fri) per week. Managed to reduce my sodium intake slightly, but still higher than the recommended maximum - while bacon is tasty and packet ham or roast beef a very convenient 'keto' snack, their sodium content means I'll have to watch how much of these I consume!

While I'm very happy with my current rate of weight loss (it might even be a bit too rapid), and I can see the reduction in belly fat, my bathroom scales body fat daily readings seem to have remained scattered around 17.5% for the past week or so. The daily data has quite a lot of 'noise', so hopefully I'll start seeing some lower body fat readings over the next couple of weeks. When I get close to my 80 kg 'target' weight I'll get my second DEXA scan done to get a more accurate reading of body fat and lean mass. The body calipers I ordered a few weeks ago should arrive soon, and then skin fold measurements will give a more accurate estimate of body fat percentage than the "bioelectrical impedance analysis" (BIA) of my cheap bathroom scales.

Apparently this sort of measurement (BIA) isn't really accurate enough to use to track changes in body composition over time, although I found the 21-day moving average corresponded very well with the DEXA reading. The main limitations of BIA estimates of body fat are that they are a) a calculation based on the correlation of body fat measurement to BIA for a specific test group - so the correlation may be different for any particular individual, b) the measurement is affected by hydration status, so a change in body water can be misinterpreted as a change in fat mass, c) my type of scale uses foot pads, so measures the current travelling up one leg and down the other, so is really only measuring how fat my legs are -- probably not the best methodology when most males carry excess fat stores around their belly, d) losing weight via cardiovascular exercise (rather than via weight training alone) can underestimate fat loss and overestimate loss of lean mass due to an increase in plasma volume that is one of the adaptions to cardiovascular training. Overall, BIA readings can apparently be out by up to 8%, so I won't worry too much. In any case, to eliminate to impact of daily reading variations I'm using a 21-day moving average, so the 17.5% estimate is for 11 days ago.

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Making good progress with my weight loss and weight training (preserving lean mass)

The new low carb/high protein 'keto' seems to be working out quite well so far. I've not really felt hungry at all, and the diet provides plenty of protein to support my weight training to retain lean mass while reducing my body fat. This morning I was 90 kg exactly on the bathroom scale (which puts me into 'overweight' rather than 'obese' BMI range), and around 17% body fat. That means I'm still carrying about 15kg of fat, and if I can get to my target of 80kg by shedding mostly fat (and not losing much lean mass) I should get down around 10% body fat (or less?).

Weight training has been progressing quite well, as shown in my total 'volume' (wt x reps) for each workout since I started going to the gym a few months ago:

There is a clear increase in volume over time (progressive overload), with the variations along the way being due to doing a low-wt/high-reps workout on Mondays, medium-wt/medium-reps workout on Fridays, and high-wt/low-reps workout on Friday. The low-wt/high reps days tend to have the highest volume, and the high-wt/low-reps days the lowest volume.

Once I achieve my target body weight I'll increase the carbs in my diet (via fruits and rice/potatoes etc.) to match my energy expenditure and provide a more 'balanced' diet over the long term (there are some studies that suggest that 'keto' dieting may increase mortality, although other studies suggest it has health benefits, so I'm not going to stay 'keto' once I achieve my target weight).

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Diet 2020 Wk 2 - week ending 12.JAN.2020

Last week was my first full week of 'keto' dieting. I didn't do any fasting days, but instead managed to stick to between 1,200 and 1,600 cals every day, and kept my carb intake below 30g/day while having between 170 and 210 g of protein each day. My walking during the week was between 12,500 and 17,500 steps/day, but on the weekend I drove 3.5 hrs up to our lake house to drop off my youngest son to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks during the school holidays, and drove back again on Sunday night. So I didn't do much walking on the weekend, but did do a bit of kayaking on Sunday with a cheap, new 'glide' kayak ($210) I bought to use when I'm at the lake house (I have a more expensive 'fishing kayak' at home that I have sitting in the garage and haven't used yet, as putting it on the car roof rack to drive down to middle harbour on the weekend wastes a bit of time). As the lake house is just across the road from the lake foreshore, and the 'glide' kayak is short enough to fit in the back of dad's station wagon, it will be a lot more convenient to go for a kayak whenever I feel like it at the lake house.

I got in three proper gym session last week as there weren't any public holiday closures. My total volume (wt x reps) was also a lot higher, as I've increased some of the weights and I also added a couple of new stations to my routine, and also did a fourth set on some of the stations during my 'heavy' training session on Friday.

My overall macros for the week show my first week of all-keto dieting. Low (<10 carbs="" high="">175 g/day) protein, and a caloric deficit (around 1,400 cals/day compared to my maintenance cals being around 2,800 cals/day). Aside from needing to do more walking on the weekends, and getting a bit more sleep, the other area I need to improve is to reduce the amount of sodium in my diet. The recommended maximum is around 2,300 mg/day!

My average weight for the week dropped considerably, due mostly to it having shot up during the holiday season. I expect my weight loss will be back to the normal rate of 0.7-1.5 kg/wk from now on (if I stick to my diet and exercise plan).

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A focus on body recomposition

One of the key points to consider when losing weight is that your goal usually isn't simply to shed kilos, but to shed FAT without losing too much existing muscle (lean mass). When I got my DEXA scan done, the technician mentioned that typically dieting reduces weight in the ratio 1:1 in terms of lean mass vs fat. For example, on a typical weight loss diet I could expect to reduce my weight by 20 kg (from 100 to 80) and that would consist of equal parts fat and muscle (lean mass includes bones, blood etc., but that won't change significantly in a short period of time).

So, under a 'typical' diet regime (caloric restriction) if you started at 25% body fat (25 kg of your 100 kg was fat), you'd expect to end up at 80 kg with 15 kg fat remaining (half the 20 kg weight loss being fat and the rest lean mass). So your new body fat percentage would be 18.75%. This would be a considerable improvement compared to 25% body fat, and accordingly your BMI would have improved.

However, a 'smarter' way to diet is to combine caloric restriction (to reduce fat stores) with additional activity that retains (or builds) lean mass (muscle) ie. weight training. This is known as body recomposition (ie. changing the ration of lean mass to fat). By modifying your calorie restricted diet so that you are still getting adequate amounts of protein you will either retain lean mass, or possibly even add some muscle while shedding fat. For building muscle a typical amount of protein intake would be 1.6 - 2.0 g protein per kg of body weight.

This is one reason that a 'keto' diet can be useful, as you can reduce caloric intake by slashing the amount of carbs being consumed without reducing protein intake.

Anyhow, I've been tracking my daily morning weight as well as the body fat (measured via bioelectrical impedance analysis) since late October, when my weight was 102.4 kg (I'd been tracking my weight but not my body fat reading prior to that). Although both the weight and body fat readings can vary considerably from day to day (depending on hydration, sleep, bowel movements, recent meals and exercise etc.) taking a reading first thing in the morning minimizes the intrinsic variability. Since I already had the data available in my diet spreadsheet, I've used the weight and body fat readings to calculate daily lean mass and fat values, and plotted them:

Combining dieting with regular weight training (2-3 45 minute sessions per week) and increased activity (walking 10K+ steps/day) I've managed to reduce my weight by 10kg with minimal loss of lean mass. The trend lines show that my lean mass has remained almost constant while my fat stores have been depleted. The ratio of fat loss to lean mass loss has been a pleasing 7.75:1

I'll continue with my current (VLCHP - very low carbohyrate, high protein) version of 'keto' dieting and weight training until I achieve my target weight of around 80 kg, by which time my body fat should have reduced to around 10%, which is my initial goal.

After that I'll increase by carb intake slightly (adding more potatoes, pasta, rice, fruit and vegetables) so I'm no longer in caloric deficit, and (hopefully) slowly add bulk (muscle mass) and reduce body fat slightly over the following 12 months. At some point everything will reach equilibrium, with my body weight, body fat percentage, and lean mass remaining fairly constant (as long as I continue with the same caloric and macro nutrient intake levels and amount of weight training).

If I wanted to seriously 'bulk up' I'd eat more than maintenance calories and do additional weight training in order to add muscle, then 'cycle' with periods of reduced caloric intake to 'cut' (ie. remove fat while retaining as much muscle as possible). But I'm too lazy (and old) to put in the hours and effort in the gym that would be required to put on lots more muscle, so I'll see what happens after 1-2 years of 'modest' amounts of weight training.

BTW, when I finished high school I weighed about 78 kg and was a bit 'chubby' so my lean mass back then must have only been around 64-66 kg (15%-18% body fat I'm guessing), so I've actually put on a considerable amount of lean mass over the past forty years, not just fat!

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Diet 2020 Wk 1 - week ending 05.JAN.2020

Last week went quite well - I stuck to my standard meal plan on Mon and Wed, and did a semi-fast on Tue and Thu. Then I got started with my 'keto' diet from Friday onwards - sticking to around 5%-6% cals from carbs out of a total daily calorie intake of around 1200 cals, mostly by increasing my protein consumption to around 150-175g/day. I also did more than 10K steps/day on the weekdays, and managed to do about 7K steps/day (plus some swimming) on the weekend. My average daily cals for the week was the lowest its been for the past 18 weeks, which helped shed the extra kilos I'd put on during the Christmas break. My average morning weight over the past four days has been 93.0 kg, so I'm happy to be back on track and making good progress with my new 'keto' regime. According to my scales my body fat over the past week has averaged 17%, so I seem to be making progress with shedding fat without losing too much lean mass.

I won't bother doing a daily 'keto' post from now on, as the novelty has worn off already. I'll keep track of my morning ketone levels just so I have some data to compare to the breathalyzer readings (when it arrives), but its been 1.5-4.0 mmol/L for the past  three days and I'll stay in ketosis as long as I'm only consuming about 10 g/day of carbs with my current meal plan. Yesterday afternoon I did notice feeling a bit tired and low energy in the afternoon ('keto flu') and felt a bit light headed (probably due to my BP now being around 100/60) so I'll make an appointment with my GP this week to check if I should lower the dosage of my blood pressure medication. I've enjoyed the lack of hunger while doing 'keto', and I enjoy eating lots of ham, grilled fillet steak and chicken breast, and a few poached eggs. Not too keen on only having broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans with my dinner though. And having eggs and ham for breakfast still seems a bit weird (and takes longer to prepare than porridge or cereal). I tried having some frozen strawberries and avocado for breakfast this morning, but found that I don't really like avocado and the defrosted frozen strawberries were unappetizing. I think I'll just stick with having some ham for breakfast (and maybe a low carb chocolate flavoured protein shake) on the weekdays.

This week's goals are to stick to my high protein 'keto' diet plan (some 'keto' articles suggest that having too much protein can kick you out of ketosis via the conversion of protein to glucose, but other research papers have suggested that protein>glucose production is limited to meet the body's basic requirement for about 120 g of glucose/day, and excess protein intake is NOT converted into glucose. The fact that I've had no trouble getting into ketosis while having about 170 g/day of protein indicates that a high protein 'keto' diet is indeed possible) and to do all three planned gym workouts (Mon/Wed/Fri) this week, as there are no more public holidays (when the gym is closed). I also need to make sure I do my daily walking and 5BX, and will also try to swim some laps every evening.

I'm visiting my parents next weekend and mum will be cooking some non-keto meals, so although I'll keep track of what I eat (and try to not overeat too much) I won't bother trying to stick to a 'keto' diet next weekend.

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Trying out a 'ketogenic' meal plan

Having decided I should boost my protein intake a bit (from around 100 g/day to about 175 g/day) to retain maximum lean mass (muscle) while continuing to loose weight, I thought I may as well switch to a proper 'ketogenic' diet for a while (this generally means consuming less than 50g of carbohydrates per day for at least 2-4 days so that your metabolism switches from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fat stores). After 2-7 days on a 'low carb' diet the 'ketone' levels should be detectable in urine, blood and breath (from the negligible ketone levels that are normal when you are consuming a diet that includes lots of sugar/carbs).

My version (based on the available low carb foods that I like) of a 'keto' diet plan that I'll be trying out from today is:

Breakfast: 2 eggs (poaches) + 80g of smoked ham

Lunch: 15g processed cheese triangle + 125g tin of smoked salmon slices

Dinner: 200g fillet steak + 200g chicken breast (grilled) + 100g of broccoli and 100 g of cauliflower

Dessert: A plate of diet aeroplane jelly (one sachet in 400 mL, aka 4 'serves').

Adding up the nutritional composition of these items gives a daily total of around:

1,187 kcals
9.9 g carbs (3.7% of total cals)
36.6 g fat (30.8% of total cals)
175.1 g protein (65.5% of total cals)

[I also drink a couple of 2L bottles of diet coke each day, which is low cals/carbs. (Not a great habit, but I've been doing it since uni, so I doubt I'll switch to drinking water now...)]

I'll stick with this for at least a week and see how I feel. The caloric content should mean that I loose around 0.7-1.5 kg/week, depending on how much exercise I do.

This meal plan seems pretty good for achieving a steady rate of weight loss while retaining muscle mass (via weight training three times a week, walking, doing 5BX and swimming some laps). Unfortunately it only provides 10 g/day of dietary fibre, so I might need to also add in a tin of green beans (which are low carb/cals) which would almost double my daily fibre intake. BTW this meal plan seems especially low-carb, as it only provides 10g of carbs/day, which is well below the 50 g/day limit for a 'keto' diet.

Today is "Day 0" for this new meal plan, so I'll monitor my 'ketone' and glucose levels each morning using the keto diastix I bought a few days ago (about $7.50 for a box of 50 test strips). I did a test yesterday morning (while on my normal diet regime) and, as expected, there were negligible (0) levels of glucose and ketones present in my urine, I'll do test this every morning for the next week, and I *should* observe a rise in ketone levels after 2-4 days that will indicate that I've entered 'ketosis'.

As the test strips aren't particularly sensitive (the colour chart only indicates levels of 0, 5, 15, 40, 80 and 160 mg/dl, which corresponds to 0, 0.9, 2.6, 6.9 etc millimolar ketone values. As readings of 1.5-3.0 millimolar are generally considered 'optimal' for a ketogenic diet, only the first two colour graduations are in the 'ideal' range.

Instead of test strips, one can check ketone levels in breath or blood. I don't fancy taking a blood drop sample every time I want to check on my ketone levels, and the normal 'ketone' breath testing units are around $90. However, I've seen some articles suggesting that cheap breathalyzer units that are normally used to check for alcohol in the breath also respond to acetone (ketone), so I bought a cheap ($14) breathalyzer unit from banggood. If it has a chip sensor (rather than the more expensive fuel sensor used in police breathalyzers, than doesn't respond to acetone) it should provide a reading for ketone levels. Once it arrives I'll compare the test strip readings to the breathalyzer readings and see how they compare.

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A free online tool for calculating caloric requirement and target weight loss

A new year, a new resolution. Not.

Same old. Same old... loose weight, get fit, and finish off the whole swag of financial planning postgrad and specialist courses that I'm part-way through (and hopefully also get my first few financial planning clients this year!).

Anyhow, reading an article about the weight loss progress of Jessica Irvine in the SMH, I followed her link to the TDEE calculator and used it to check on my maintenance calorie level. It gives and answer of 2,794 cals/day, which is about what I'd calculated from empirical measurement of my actual weight loss/gain data plotted against average calorie intake.

The tool also used various formulae to suggest my "ideal weight" is in the range 69-73 kg, which is in line with the "ideal" weight calculated using BMI recommendations.

However, the same tool calculates that my "maximum muscular potential" is to be 76 kg with 5% body fat, or a more reasonable 80 kg with 10% body fat. After the DEXA scan results I'd revised my target to 80 kg and 10% body fat, so the "maximum muscular potential" figure for 10% body fat is a much better guide (for me) than a simplistic BMI target.

The tool also suggests a maintenance macronutrient target of 279g protein, 124g fat and 140g carbs for the 'low carb' option. This would result in consuming my maintenance caloric intake of 2,794 cals/day. I'll continue to try IF (or fasting) on Tue and Thu each week, and to reduce my carb intake to that approaching a 'ketogenic diet' level (under 50g of carbs/day).

I tend to have trouble eating almost 300g of protein a day - even with extra whey protein added to my morning porridge, salmon for lunch, and chicken breast or fillet steak for dinner I tend to only get to around 120-140 g of protein. But I also tend to eat more than 50 g of carbs/day, so I suppose I'll just have to substitute some more high carb foods with more protein intake.

In any case, as long as I keep going to the gym, walking 10,000+ steps/day, and aiming to minimise carbs and eat around 1,800 calories on my 'normal' diet days and do some level of fasting on Tuesdays and Thursday I should continue to make progress towards my target of 10% body fat and around 80 kg weight by the middle of this year.

If I can average around 1,800 cals/day each week (my tendency to overate a bit on the weekends offsets the caloric deficit boost of my 'fasting' days) I should loose around 7,000/7,700 = 0.9 kg/week.

Onwards and downwards!

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Diet 2019 Wk 52 - week ending 29.12.2019

Well, Christmas went about as badly as I'd feared - I overate and under-exercised, so I ended up putting on a couple of kg in a short period of time. I really should stick to my normal eating patterns during the holiday season and not use it as a excuse to indulge in junk food!

I did a decent gym session on Friday (although the gym closed early), and I also did quite a bit of walking (I went to the shops after the gym session to buy a new swimming costume). But I then did hardly any walking on the weekend, so my average daily step count for the week wasn't high enough. I did jump in the pool and do a few (14) laps on Saturday. But as our pool is only about 8m long, that was only about 110m. I'll try to get in a few laps every evening when I get home. I used to swim about 80-100 laps a day several years ago (during the summers), so I'll try to increase the number of laps each day until I'm back to doing that amount again - at least on my non-gym days and on the weekends.

My sons received a Wii Fit Balance Board as one of their Christmas presents, so they've started doing some of the Wii Fit exercises for fun and I'll also join in for a bit of family fun. On Sunday I did a 16 min session of Wii jogging (on the spot) and did some of the planking and stepping exercises. Every little bit of extra activity helps, especially when you've been eating a bit too much junk food on Christmas Day!

I'll stick to my standard meal plan today, and drop in to the gym this afternoon on my way home to do my 'light' weight training session. Unfortunately the gym will be closed again on Wed (New Years Day) so I'll only get to the gym twice this week (unless I go in for an extra session on the weekend). Last week I upgraded my 'basic' gym membership package (about $11/wk paid fortnightly, plus an annual $40 'admin' charge) to a pre-paid annual package ($599) that includes some 'classes' (which I probably won't use), access to other gyms in the chain (which I probably won't use), and also entitles me to bring one 'guest' into the gym whenever I attend. That is the main benefit I'll use, as it means my eldest son will be able to meet me at the gym on his way home from university and do a proper weight training session (he'd out-grown the capacity of our home weight set). As I intend to keep going to the gym three times a week on a  regular basis from now on, the annual fee will work out to be about the same weekly cost as my old month-by-month membership, so he'll be getting to use a proper gym for essentially no extra cost.

My updated weight chart clearly shows the spike in calorie intake that occurred over the holiday period, and the impact that has had on my weight loss progress. As long as I now get back on track it should only be a temporary set-back.

I got an offer to purchase a 'premium' (ie. paid) subscription to mPort - which runs a chain of 'body pod' scanning devices in some local shopping centers. I had gotten a free scan last October, so I decided to now pay the $25 to be able to do regular scans for the next 12 months to easily keep track of my body measurements. The estimated body fat (based on size measurements alone) doesn't seem very accurate (it gave readings of 34% last October and 33% now), as my home scales give a reading of about 20% (+/- about 2%) now, compared to about 25%-30% when I started dieting last June. The recent DEXA reading was also about 20% body fat, so I think the mPort estimates are not very accurate for my body time, Over time I expect my chest and thigh measurements will stabilize and I'll loose more belly fat, which should improve my waist:hip ratio as I get down towards my target weight. I'll do an mPort scan every month of so to see how things are going.

Latest mPort readings: (apparently accuracy is about +/- 1cm, which isn't great)
Weight: 96.6 kg
Biceps: 38 cm (L) 41 cm (R)
Chest: 111 cm
Waist: 105 cm
Stomach: 114 cm
Hips: 112 cm
Thighs: 49 (L) 47 (R)
Knees: 42 cm (L) 42 cm (R)
Calf: 43 cm (L) 43 cm (R)

Comparison of my results to the average BMI distribution for Australia shows that I need to loose a considerable amount of weight before I'll even be 'average'. However, given that the DEXA scan showed my true body fat reading is currently around 20% and not 34%, I think the mPort body fat chart isn't accurate (due to higher than average muscle mass), and that my body fat will actually be quite low by the time I get my BMI close to an 'average' reading.

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Diet 2019 Wk 51 - week ending 22.12

Did my gym sessions as planned during the week and increased my daily walking to a little over 16,000 steps/day on the weekdays (I still struggle to get enough walking done during the weekends), so my exercise last week went 'according to plan'. Unfortunately I ate a little bit more than I'd planned during the week, didn't do any fasting days, and then had bit of a 'binge' of overeating on the weekend, which included a fair amount of 'junk' food. My weight was already crept a bit higher by this morning, but at this stage that will be mostly due to the extra bulk of food and associate fluid in my gut from the weekend's food intake. So, before I continue to excess caloric intake long enough to actually start storing fat, I need to get back onto my 'strict' diet plan today, and make sure I do a fast on Tuesday. I'll have to try to not overeat during Christmas/boxing day, despite having some guests over for a BBQ on Christmas day. The gym will be closed on Wed (Christmas Day) and also close early (7pm) on Friday and Monday. I might be able to still squeeze in gym sessions after work on Friday and Monday, as the office may close a little bit early on those days, but my gym sessions are likely to be slightly less than normal until after the New Year. I'll try to make up for it by starting to swim some laps of our pool during the holiday period.

As long as I get a reasonable amount of walking and weight training done during the holidays, and fit in a few fasting days to offset those days that I overeat a bit for social events (so I don't put on any weight before the New Year) I'll be fairly happy. I'll get back into the full-on diet and exercise regime once the 'festive season' is out of the way.

While the chart shows my weight loss has only just started to 'plateau', the increase in my daily calorie intake during the past couple of weeks is quite obvious, and will result in weight gains if I don't get back 'on the wagon' asap. From now on, whenever I feel like having a 'snack' in the evening or on the weekends I need to substitute it for going for a short walk instead. Hopefully I can make that into a habit asap.

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Diet 2019 Wk 50 - week ending 15.12

I had a reasonable week last week in terms of exercise, getting in my three planned gym sessions, averaging 10,600 steps/day walking, and only missing one day of doing my daily 5BX. I've modified my gym routine slightly so I use lighter weights and do 3 sets of ~15 reps on each apparatus on Monday, use medium weights (3 sets x 8-10 reps) on Wednesday, and do a heavy session where I can only manage 5-8 reps in each set on Friday (haven't quite worked out exactly what weights to use on each appartus for the heavy session yet). I haven't started swimming laps yet, but we're supposed to be getting several days of 40C weather later this week, so I'll probably start swimming this weekend.

I didn't do any fasting at all last week, but I managed to average about 1,127 cals/day on Mon-Fri, but then I overate a bit (around maintenance cals) on the weekend (again). On Saturday that was due to attending a party for my sister's 40th wedding anniversary, but on Sunday I just ate a bit too much during the day and then topped it off with a tube of Pringles crisps in the evening. That's caused my weight to plateau around 95kg for the past week, and my body fat seems to be stuck around 20%, so I'll try to do proper fasts on Tuesday and Thursday this week and to not overeat next weekend.

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Accurate body fat measurement and revised target weight

Having compared my plot of 21-day moving average body fat % readings (currently ~20%) vs BMI (currently about 32) using the daily data from my bathroom scales, it seemed that either my scales were very inaccurate OR my body fat wasn't as high as is 'normal' for someone of my weight/BMI. Indeed the 'normal' range of body fat for someone my height and weight is around 25%-30%, which is why according to my BMI I'm still in the 'obese' range.

Before I continued dieting my way all the way down into the 'healthy' weight range (56.6 kg -76.2 kg) for my height (1.75 cm), based on BMI (which had led me to have an initial 'goal' of getting my weight down to 74-76 kg), I decided I'd better get an accurate reading of what my body fat percentage actually is!

The 'gold standard' for determining body fat percentage accurately is hydrostatic weighing, where you are submersed completely underwater (and breath out as much as possible) in a special tank while they weigh you. As the density of fat mass (fat) and lean mass (muscle, bones, blood etc.) is well known, once your displacement (volume) and weight are known, your body fat percentage can be quite accurately calculated. A more recent version of this displacement method is the 'body pod' which uses Air Displacement Plethysmograph (ADP) to determine body composition (ratio of fatty mass to lean mass) in a similar way. But both these methods are a relatively inconvenient (especially as there isn't one close to where I live or work).

So a more modern alternative that provides comparable (or better) accuracy is the DEXA scan (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). It uses low-intensity X-rays at two different energy levels that are absorbed differently by different tissues. DEXA scans can provide bone density and body fat measurements.

I went and got a DEXA scan done at lunchtime today, which took about 15 minutes (plus a 15 minutes discussion of the results) and cost me $110. A second scan normally costs $90, so I decided to buy a two scan 'package' for $160 as I will want to do a follow up scan in about 4-6 months to check on progress as I get close to my 'ideal' weight. Getting a package deal meant that this second scan will effectively cost $50 rather than $90.

Anyhow, my result showed a couple of interesting things:

* my weight at the time of the scan was 99.1 kg. This is a bit higher than my morning weigh-in of 95.7 kg, but that difference is probably partly due to having eaten breakfast and drunk a fair amount of fluids during the morning.

* my body fat percentage is currently exactly 20.0%. This suggests that my bathroom scales (on average) give a quite accurate reading, although the precision (day to day fluctuations) mean the precision is only 2-3% using my bathroom scales. But that is good enough for me to use the 21-day moving averages of body fat and weight to track my progress. It also shows that I am relatively muscular, with my fat mass index being 6.48 (normal range is 3-6, and obese is 9-12). So I'm actually (now that I've lost some weight) just 'overweight' rather than 'obese'.

* unfortunately the scan also showed that my visceral fat (Android) is 2.086 kg, whereas my goal should be to get this down to <= 1.000 kg. Fortunately losing weight will reduce my total body fat, and will reduce my visceral fat to a more health level.

* the results also estimated my basal metabolic caloric requirement at 1953 kcals/day, which is close to what I had thought.

The consultant advised that my rate of weight loss (to reduce fat without losing excessive amounts of muscle) should not be more than about 1kg per week (I've been averaging around 0.7 kg per week over the past 20 or so weeks).

Going to the gym 2-3x per week while dieting should result in losing equal amounts of fat:muscle, so if I got down to my original 'target' of 75 kg I'd end up with a body fat percentage of around 10% which would be too lean, and I'd lose excessive amounts of muscle. A better goal is apparently to get down to around 80kg over the next 24 weeks, which should result with a very good body fat of around 12.8%. I'll check on how things are progressing in 4-5 months time (when I'm getting close to my new 'target' of 80kg).

One interesting aside is that the scan results quite clearly show that I'm right handed, and have slightly more/better muscle mass in my right arm. Both arms came in at just over 1.0 kg of fat, but my right arm has a lean mass of 4.4 kg whereas my left arm has a lean mass of only 3.9 kg. (Left arm 20.3% fat, Right arm 19.0% fat).
My left and right Rib measurements were symmetrical (23.4% fat) as were my left and right Leg measurements (19.2% fat). I'm carrying most of my fat around my stomach, and some on my arms and thighs. So I should also look a lot more 'athletic' when I get down to 80kg and a body fat of under 13%.

The scan clearly shows that inside my current fat body is a slim person waiting to escape!

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Diet 2019 Wk 48 - week ending 01.12

Last week was another fairly mediocre effort in terms of diet and exercise. I had a uni exam on Monday, so I stayed up until 5am on Sunday night doing some last minute study and had some snacks while studying, so Monday total calorie intake ended up above my 'maintenance' level. I was quite tired Monday night, so I skipped going to the gym after work. And then on Wednesday I had to work a bit late, so I missed that gym session as well. Managed to get in one gym session on Friday after work.

I also didn't have any 'fasting' days last week, only managing to have fairly low calorie days on Thursday and Friday instead. On Saturday I overate a bit, but at least I managed to stick to my diet plan on Sunday. I did do quite a bit of walking on Saturday (14,000 steps) and on Sunday spent a couple of hours bucketing water out of our swimming pool to clean it, so I got a reasonable amount of exercise in on the weekend.

Overall my average daily kcals was a bit too high, but still averaged below my maintenance calorie level, so I continued to maintain a decent rate of weight loss due to getting in some extra exercise despite missing a couple of gym sessions. This week I'll try to get to the gym three times as planned, and also stick to my fast on Tues and Thursday.

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Diet 2019 Wk 46 - week ending 17.11

Last week was going very well up until Thursday - I'd had low-carb meal plan days on Mon and Wed, and stuck to my fast on Tue/Thu, and had good gym sessions on Mon/Wed and walked about 12,000 steps/day.

Then, on Friday, I had a day off work to stay home and do a uni assignment and didn't get to the gym or walk very much, but did at least stick to my standard meal plan. And over the weekend I went on a bit of an eating binge, having way too many snacks and 'extras'. My weight had got down to 97.1kg on Saturday morning, but was back up to 99.0kg by Monday morning!

So this week I have to be strict about sticking to my meal plans, getting in three gym sessions and doing my daily walking and 5BX without fail! Fortunately with intermittent fasting on Tue/Thu even eating 'ad lib' on a couple of days during the week my overall average daily cals last week wasn't too bad.

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