Dave's Diary

Yay fo reclaiming belt-holes! I think it´s funny how, when dropping weight and pulling belts tighter, we no longer tolerate the kind of pressure we used to take for granted.
 
Exactly right, if I applied those standards, I would be a notch and a half further on. I tried on my old shorts today, I could stand in them without touching the sides, it was quite funny. Even puffing my belly out as far as it would go, I still couldn't hold them, they would just fall around my ankles :)

The belt holes are not coming as fast as I was expecting. The subcutaneous fat is coming off, but I suspect a lot of visceral fat is being stubborn. I read that the visceral fat is supposed to shift easier than the skin fat. Hopefully when I start exercising it will make a difference, it ALL has to go!

Dave
 
Dave Welch said:
The belt holes are not coming as fast as I was expecting. The subcutaneous fat is coming off, but I suspect a lot of visceral fat is being stubborn. I read that the visceral fat is supposed to shift easier than the skin fat. Hopefully when I start exercising it will make a difference, it ALL has to go!
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All of it? :D That´s a bit much if you want to live... As far as I can tell, belly fat is usually hardest/last. Exercise doesn´t make fat disappear from specific places, but it can help with posture and muscle tone, which definitely helps with how your midsection looks and feels.
 
Well not literally all of it. With a 34" waist I will have around 18% fat which is acceptable for fitness, which is coming soon. I was a 32" waist in college, but I will be very happy with 34". I doesn't matter to me if the sub-fat is the last thing to come off, but I will look silly with a 70Kg body and a 38" waist :)

As you mentioned, I cannot target specific areas for fat reduction, I am sure it will melt away in its own sweet time. Once I get down to 70Kg, the bulk of the fat work will be done, from then on it is all about fitness and toning. I love cycling, so it will be something that I will look forward to every day. Gym is definitely not something that I enjoy, so may be it is not something that I should get into as I am unlikely to sustain it.

I am not striving for perfection here, I am 60 and collecting a pension. I gave up the dating game many years ago and live the life of a hermit. I want mobility, a level of fitness so that I can get out and about and enjoy the country that I am in, maybe get back into photography too.

Dave
 

Day 154 - weigh-in 79.515Kg (174.93Lb) loss 0.166Kg
Tomorrow’s prediction – loss 0.2Kg +/-0.1
Score 1:3

There was a slight loss at this morning’s weigh-in of 0.166Kg. I am grateful for this, although the last week of weigh-ins has been positive in that there were no significant weight gains. I am now in the bottom half of the 175’s which feels good.

Large losses and gains are really nonsense and not a reflection of fat burned, but merely a statement of the water/urine balance, indicating whether the body is retaining fluid or letting it go. If the scales indicated actual body weight, the number would be around 0.1Kg or less per day.

Dave

 
Day 155 weigh-in 79.489Kg (174.88Lb) - loss 0.026Kg

Basically it was another break even at this morning’s weigh-in with a small loss o 0.026Kg (0.06Lb).

Graphs are still erratic so no more predictions from me for now, that was a total failure.

Still waiting for the bicycle. The shop has purchased the bike but still waiting for the motor to arrive from China.

Dave

 

Day 156 - weigh-in 79.440Kg (174.77Lb) loss 0.049Kg

It was yet another break even weigh-in with a minuscule loss of less than 2 ounces; still, it is all good. I have no idea where the graphs are going, still confusion reigns, so no predictions.

I now officially have a bony ass; I just spent an hour waiting in the immigration department waiting to have my photo taken. The hard metal seat really did some damage, for once I miss that layer of fat cushioning – NOT!

I now have to do some serious gulping of water to catch up.

Dave

 




Day 157 - weigh-in 79.867Kg (175.71Lb) gain 0.427Kg
Tomorrow’s prediction – loss 0.0Kg +/-0.1
Score 1:4

This morning’s weigh-in revealed a huge gain in weight of 0.427Kg This was disappointing but inevitable as the end of cycle-G3 was due. The big gain is also actually a relief in that it clearly indicates the end of cycle-G3 and the start of cycle-G4, so for the next 3 or 4 days I can expect bad weigh-ins.

Previously I thought these cyclic variations were due to variations in metabolic rate. I now know that this is not true, it is all down to water retention. Yesterday, my new graph trace of urine colour peaked which is an indication of water retention, also the difference between urine output and water intake was at a low, yet another indication of water retention.

I did a search on the female menstruation cycle and found that there is a lot of water retention in the few days leading up to the start of the period. This was most interesting, and further evidence of the male hormone cycle emulating the female cycle. I am expecting 3 – 4 days of bad results but at least now I know the reason why, and I can finally align my cycle observations with the female menstrual cycle. My cycle-1 is the actual period cycle.

It is pointless for me to do anything to try and prevent the water retention like lowering the water intake. My body wants the water so I should just give it up and look forward to the first day of cycle-H1 which is when the body gets rid of the water. So tomorrow I predict a zero gain/loss +/- 0.1Kg.

Dave

 

Day 158 79.651Kg loss -0.216Kg -0.48Lb
Score 1:5 (why do I bother!)

It was a very good weigh-in this morning with a loss of 0.216Kg, this number is unprecedented in a cycle-4 and is accounted for by a huge release of retained water, I actually peed more than double what I drank. It also means that I did not score any points for my prediction.

Tomorrow’s prediction is uncertain as previous cycle-4’s show a variation in length between 2 and 4 days. With so much water released, my guess would be for a 2-day cycle and a large gain of 0.3Kg tomorrow. Then I can get back to positive results of cycle-H1 and hopefully break some new ground in the coming week.

I bought a new batch of bananas, three different types. I tried the first of them for breakfast and was very disappointed. Usually the small types are very tasty, but these were very bland. I will leave these alone for a week or so to see if they improve, and move on to the second type.

I cooked up some more baked sweet potatoes yesterday. Unfortunately I had the heat on a tad high. I did wrap them in foil and coated the skins in olive oil, this prevented them from drying out and so they should still be edible.

The last of the tuna steaks has been defrosted for today’s dinner. I still have a few salmon steaks left and a piece of dory and another piece of gindara. I may do a mixed soup as the gindara is not such a good meal on its own. I still have a few spare chunks of tuna left that will help with that idea. The gindara skin has a rather gritty texture, so I will remove it this time as it spoils the enjoyment of the meal.

Dave

 
Cycles or no, good to see you dropped some of that water. Was your food higher/lower in sodium than normal?
 
I avoid all salt, but there is likely some to be in the stock powders and probably some in the fish. But I would say that my sodium intake is well down. I haven't tracked it as I figure there is enough in my food for sustenance. I remember the high end limit is like 5 or 6 tsbs and I am obviously well below that.

I am almost sorry that I wrote the prediction above, the water is pouring out of me and urine color is very light. I am 0.4Kg ahead of yesterday's numbers at this time.

Dave
 

Day 159 - weigh-in 79.472Kg (174.84Lb) loss 0.179Kg
Final prediction – loss 0.4Kg +/-0.1
Score - I lose, badly. No more!

There was a modest loss of weight at this morning’s weigh-in of 0.179Kg which is within little more than an ounce of setting new ground, so I have big hopes for tomorrow.

Often it is difficult to determine the transition from one cycle to the next, except of course, with hindsight. The end of cycle-G3 was so unprecedented that I did not recognize the start of cycle-G4 which itself was rather mild. It turns out that I completely missed recognizing cycle-4and I am now 2-days into cycle-H1.

Although this plays havoc with my predictions, it is actually a good thing from a weight loss point of view, as cycle-4 is always a bad cycle with depressing results. In fact all I have proven is that although general trends are visible and can be comforting to know, actual predictions of the next day’s results is not possible. However, I will leave you with a final outlandish prediction for tomorrow of a 0.4Kg loss and then call the predictions closed, until I can come up with a better plan or method.

I am still holding my calorific intake at 1200kcal per day. Yes, I realize that this goes against general opinion that it is too low, but the sizes of the meals, although not filling me to bursting, are really quite large. I had intended to further increase my intake a further 200kcal to 1400kcal per day. I could add 30g of peanuts to my diet or some other high calorific value food, but I am just not hungry and I am satisfied with the protein content of my diet. I could quite happily take the intake back down to 100kcal, but I am not going to do that.

Once I start exercising on the bicycle (still waiting for delivery) I may well feel the need to raise my input, if I feel hunger or overly tired. There will be a period of trial and error with the intake.

Dave

 
Dave Welch said:
I avoid all salt, but there is likely some to be in the stock powders and probably some in the fish. But I would say that my sodium intake is well down. I haven't tracked it as I figure there is enough in my food for sustenance. I remember the high end limit is like 5 or 6 tsbs and I am obviously well below that.
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6 grams, not teaspoons. Also: The amount of calories you should eat don´t just have to do with whether or not you feel full (although that plays a role, especially for people like me who are prone to binging) but also whether you can gather up enough vitamins and trace elements from it. And whether your body gets enough energy to get the rest from fat storage instead of muscle mass (which it prefers to break done for some reason, even though it takes longer to build).

Take care!
 
@LaMaria - I must have remembered the salt numbers wrong, I just remembered it being a lot. I am on top of the salt thing though.

I do think about the vitamins and nutrients. I do take multi vitamin tablets and B-complex tablets. When I introduce a new food item, I check out the labels or look it up on the internet to see what I am getting.

I am 5 months in to this 7 month weight loss program, and the exercise part will be starting very soon. I am sure there has been some muscle erosion, and I will work on that. I have not exercised in 20 years, so it is going to be a long road.

Dave
 
I appreciate that you put a lot of thought into your plan, but general concensus is that vitamin tablets do not make up for eating a balanced, varied diet. Especially US-supplements make it easy to overdose on some of them (like vit C for example). At the same time the human body is quite a complex apparatus, and not everything you put into your body can be absorbed. The iron added to cereal for example? 98% of it gets pooped out.
 
I am finding this site way to negative for my liking, the way I do things is obviously very different to the way y'all do things. I will be continuing with my weight loss program, and I will reach my goals and maintain my weight once my weight loss program is completed, however, I feel that continuing to contribute to this site is fruitless and serves no purpose either to you or more importantly, me.

I wish you all well with your five-year programs, but my personal opinion is that enthusiasm for a program is results driven, and the way you all are doing things here is way too slow to maintain that enthusiasm for me.

Administration, feel free to delete my posts.

Dave
 
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