The New Plan - Day Fifteen

Two days to go, still under goal weight.

With approximately 48 hours before the year is up and I am at 82.8 kgs (slight rise from yesterday as expected with a normal eating day of over 1200 calories approx) but with a day in the office (easier not to overeat when you're busy) and a final fasting day tomorrow of less than 600 calories then I expect to finish in the lower 82's (all things being equal and provided I don't overdo it today).

Busy today - loads to catch up on after a weeks holiday from work.

Thinking about the impending writing deadline and the fear of publishing raw copy every day.

Push the boundaries and commit to it right?

Write.

The New Plan - Day Fourteen

The last few days to go.

This morning I got to my stated goal of anywhere 82.9 (or better) with a drop to 82.4 from yesterday's 83.2 (largely due to a long day painting and running about with and early fruit only dinner).

I still clocked in at 1700 calories out of the 1900 or so I need to maintain my weight.

Having been doing this multi-diet for a couple of weeks now I can see the benefit in doing the sugar-free, no carbs at night, preferably a lite and/or Raw dinner with the Intermittent Fasting restricting caloric intake 2 days a week. No snacks also helps.

Put all these together and you get a very efficient but not punishing diet plan.

I have a new regime that makes it quite hard to eat a lot of heavy food, I had a couple of home-made pies for lunch yesterday and they sat in me quite noticeably until my eventual dinner around 4:30 ish - which was some grapes (a decent bowl full) and 3 plums.

A this was Raw and fibrous and sweet and B this was as much as I could eat as I was still feeling pretty good from lunch 5 hours earlier.

Went out to a BBQ and this time the smell of cooking lamb on the BBQ was very alluring, the smell was fantastic. BUT as I don't actually like lamb it was not that tempting just smelled delicious.

3 days to go and one more fasting day.

Who knows I may even just squeak in on my BMI provided I don;t celebrate my goal weight with too much of the wrong kind of food today.

4 days until I have to start writing daily.

Not sure where to start. I will publish what I write every day on my blog, so the diet book may be an aside project - or I may just start the introduction and a few chapters so I can submit to a few publishers maybe.

Maybe.

We'll see.

The New Plan - Day Thirteen

The last few days.

Still in the low 83's and not fasting again until maybe tomorrow or the very last day Tuesday.

A process that feels slow but certainly is not considering that I have lost approximately 5 Kilos in 12 days (from a high of 88 to a low of 83) and expect to drop by at least 500 or so in the next 4.

Yesterday was a non fasting day and I ate well, exercised a little less but stayed to the basic rules of eating sugar free, no carbs after lunch, zero snacks and all within 8 hours (with a Salad dinner).

I had a steak sandwich for lunch yesterday and that comprised the largest part of my food for the day and sat in me for several hours, I had to eat dinner (a salad) by 4:30 but was still a little full and not that hungry by te time that rolled around.

According to the 8700 app I got from some Aussie health website I should be consuming around 1900 calories per day to maintain weight now and I consumed around 1700 and felt quite full especially after lunch. This bodes well for not putting a large amount of weight back on when this is all over next week.

83.2 Kgs

Going to a BBQ tonight and have to eat by 5 pm to finish within my eight hours, and of course it will be Raw so it'll be the salad, but still thats the rules.

I would not mind a wine or a beer but that amount of calories in the evening so close to the finish line would not be helpful.

Definitely going to have a drink with a dinner out next week I think.

Looking forward to eating occasionally without thought to the larger plan.

The New Plan - Day 12

The last few days to go.

83.0 - crawling towards my goal.

I did not achieve a fasting goal yesterday and instead consumed around twice what I should on a fast day - by inattention more than by intent. However I did eat more than expected but less than enough to gain weight.

I have been looking at the various figures for BMI and surprisingly even though there is a math to it - not guess work, a lot of the weight ranges vary when they should not.

So going back to the drawing board on BMI I find that there are two calculations available - which explains some of the confusion.

The original BMI which would put my target weight at 79 kilos and the Trefathen BMI (AKA New BMI) which is apparently more realistic and would put my target at 81.6 kilos.

Either way there is no real rhyme nor reason that shows causation to accept BMI in my opinion, it is a nice goal and statistically aligns with good health. As i have said before though, thats not math or science but common sense, that you can express it mathematically to a range and approximation still is not evidence that this magic number is in any way magical. (unless you equate magic with fiction - in which case it's just magical enough).

I hvae 1 more official fasting day on Tuesday and I am considering a replacement day for yesterday on Sunday. It's not necessary to do this, but there is some satisfaction in going out on my healthiest weight possible.

I feel no different or slimmer than I did say 20 kilos ago, which is interesting. People notice me getting thinner, but I have not really since last year. Gradual changes creep up on us I guess, and now that I have smaller clothes it seems less of a difference to me.

However 43 kilos, I know people who weight that much or less - and thats more than the combined weight of my children.

In 5 days time I'll start my new project of 1,000 words a day.

The New Plan - Day 11

The countdown continues, day 11 and only six left to go.

Relatively close to get to target weight or better with less than 0.5 of a kilo to go.

Today is the second to last fasting day, with my final day also being a fasting day.

All things being equal I should get to my goal this week, however the trick as always is making it through the weekend without weight gain, which is expected after ending the fasting cycle.

When I do gain weight this weekend I should return to my lower weight on the other side of the final fasting day on tuesday next week.

83.1 kgs today.

The New Plan - Day 10

The last week starts here.

So my final day is rapidly approaching and I have 2 more fasting days between here and there.

Around 0.8 kilos left to lose, it's entirely possible I could get there by Friday if I stay low-cal and low carb today and then have the 4th of 5 fasts tomorrow.

Then it's the weekend and that seems to be the biggest challenge - getting through that without the usual rebalancing that seems to happen in that period.

I had a breakfast out this morning and while it was a couple of hours ago now, I still feel quite full.

As usual with the intermittent fasting, the first day is relatively painless, the day in between easy enough. Tomorrow as always is the key.

1 week to go to what is probably not my BMI - but is my goal none the less.

43 kilos down.

After this is all over my writing blog will start. First project a book about my year of dieting, need to put the pun-making part of my brain into gear for a title.

And recipes, diet books are full of recipes.

The New Plan - Day Nine

The countdown to the end, race to the finish etc... 8 days to go.

This is the 3 of 5 fasting days in the final week (just over a week).

Not much to add today - still in the mid 84's today not gaining or losing and while not eating loads, there are still carbs to keep the loss at bay. If I regressed to totally Raw then I'm sure I would be declining still.

However with all diets this is a long game not a lose every day game and patience is a virtue.

I have lost over 40 kilos to get here and that did not happen in a steady downward daily slope. In fact in many blog entries before today I suspect I had reached the dreaded plateau only to find myself progressing again as time wears on. Often I would gain a few kilos ( which is depressing, though it should not be ) before I started losing again.

A change is as good as a rest and sometime you have to let your body adjust to the new way of doing things, it has a mind of it's own, the metabolism.

However wait it out, just over a week to go.

Eyes on the prize blah blah blah.

Not that there's a prize at the end.