My #LeanerAugust Four Week Fat and Weight Loss Attack is Over….thank fully:)
Four weeks ago today I weighed 96.1kg and was on the first day of my calorie counting weight/fat loss diet.
My goal was simply to lose as much weight as possible in 4 weeks whilst losing as little muscle mass as possible (to help maintain metabolic rate) all the while continually eating the foods I love:
Ben and Jerry’s/Haagen-Dazs ice cream
Beer
Butter
Gold top milk
Buttery toast
Ribs
Burgers with cheese and bacon
the list goes on.
The point was to show how weight loss doesn’t have to be all salads and dry chicken. It CAN be exactly what you want it to be so long as you control the AMOUNT of energy you consume versus how much you use.
I had a few rules:
1) Get a minimum of 100g of protein per day which is already way over RDA. Cutting is not the same as bulking people (The more I learn, the less I agree with low carb dieting. It may have a place but a distance second).
2) No more than 2100 calories per day. This worked too well as I lost 4.8kg in the first week alone, and before someone cries water weight I’l point out just how many carbohydrates I continued to eat (this was so far from low carb as you can go with entire tubs of ice cream). After week one, I upped my calorie limit to 2500 per day to keep the weight loss less dramatic.
3) Do NOT remove any one food group. This had to be done with everyday, realistic foods. No low carb, no low fat. Plenty of both as can be found from day one of the Food Diary on MyFitnesspal…..here
4) Daily structured exercise was prohibited as this is also not realistic for most people I train. I worked out 2 days per week and some weeks 3 days. Mostly weight training with some strongman style cardio thrown in (with meman weights not strongman weights as I am a small child compared to those guys and gals).
The rules were simple, easy to stick to and most importantly, reflect the average person’s life structure, time constraints and were realistic to comply with. Changing how much you eat and totally overhauling your diet can work but often leads to serious wagon derailing as it is too much to take on in one go. This was a diet whereby we can still eat the foods we already do, but in smaller doses.
This is the second time I have performed an intense weight and fat loss diet as a demonstration for people to follow and here are my results from the last 4 weeks (my previous weight loss diet was 2 or 3 months long after a much longer period of trying to get fat and resulted in around 15kg weight from a fatter starting point too).
The results from this time round are as follows:
Day 1
Weight = 96.1 kgBody Fat = 24.4% by electronic cheap scales but so long as a downward trend is noted the absolute accuracy is not of importance for this exerciseHydration = 50.5%Waist around belly button = 94.5cmVertical belly button skin fold = 17.5mm
Day 28
Weight = 87.5 kgBody Fat = 20.3% by electronic cheap scales but so long as a downward trend is noted the absolute accuracy is not of importance for this exerciseHydration = 52.7%Waist around belly button = 86 cmVertical belly button skin fold = 12mm
That’s a weight loss of 8.6kg in 28 days, 18.9lbs in four weeks or 1st 4.9lbs in one month from eating all my favourite foods, plenty of ice cream, beer, burgers etc.
Calorie counting works and is the single most important element of weight loss. Without calorie deficits, weight loss cannot happen. Simply cannot, a fact that seems to be ignored by so many in the weight and fat loss game. I am not sure why, as it is scientific fact and has been for generations, but still, some seem destined to repeat the bamboozle and push the snake oil of fad diets.
Some diets allow some people to lose weight without counting calories, which is genuinely very cool, especially if it becomes a long term change but many people fall flat on their face (into cream cakes) with this approach. These diets can work but only because somewhere along the line a calorie deficit is created. And that is 99% of weight and fat loss. Calories. Some people ignore this 99% and search for the other 1%.
Enough talk, here are the pictures:
Before at 96.1kg
After 87.5kg
Before
After
Before
After
What have I learnt from the last 4 weeks?
- Hunger is a habit and after the first week becomes a constant passenger with a quiet voice that can easily be muted with a little movement, gum, diet drink, tea, coffee or the like.
- Hydration has been the single most helpful element of my dieting. My fluid intake was at a minimum of 3 litres per day. Days where it was lower were the days I suffered with hunger pangs.
- Hunger pangs will not kill you. Handle them and you will be rewarded. Yes, some light headed moments and hot flushes may occur. Relax, sit down and have a cup of tea, not a bar of chocolate.
- MyFitnessPal app on my phone has been a wonder to help track calories and with its bar code scanner it really is a no brainer. Use it as you eat.
- Track your calories as you eat them, not after. Not in five minutes or later that day. You’ll forget. Track as you go.
I hope you joined in the #LeanerAugust and found it a success and these posts helpful and motivational.
If you have any questions then feel free to ask your Expert Epsom & Surrey Personal Trainer, R Ham Williams and if you want help on your own journey then get in contact
The intro to #LeanerAugust can be found here and the Q&A here if you have forgotten how it all started off and what I looked like back then :)