Day 147 - 21 Weeks

I think I got off on my day count. It's actually day 147 which is 21 weeks since I started my zero carb way of eating. Since that is roughly five months, I figured it was time for an update.

My weight this morning was 179.0. That is a total loss of 20.6 pounds. That isn't a huge weight loss over 21 weeks, but I am at the weight where it doesn't come off fast. I have also had some set backs about halfway through that delayed my weight loss. Those couple of carb days really weren't worth it.

Here are my measurement stats from when I started and today. The numbers are odd because I measure in centimeters and the spreadsheet converts the numbers to inches. I don't bother rounding them down.

	4/11/09	9/8/09	Difference
Neck	16.73"	16.34"	-0.59
Chest	41.63"	40.35"	-1.97
Waist	37.01"	35.43"	-2.36
Stomach In	37.8"	35.83"	-1.18
Stomach out	39.76"	37.99"	-2.76
Hips	41.44"	39.17"	-1.38
Right Bicep	13.39"	12.6"	-0.49
Right Thigh	19.59"	19.09"	-0.39

When I started putting this all together, I was unimpressed with the numbers. I know I am smaller but it didn't seem like all that much smaller and the numbers kind of bore that out. However, I think the pictures paint a different story.













The "flex" pictures are a little embarrassing because I have no muscles but I think they show the differences in weight. I can work on the muscle thing later.

According to the on-line bodyfat calculator, I am at 17.3% body fat. I remember reading on Lyle McDonald's site that, for men, you should just start to see abs at 15% bodyfat, so around 17% is probably right. That means I am still carrying around 30 pounds of fat, so another 10 pounds or so would be a good loss. However, I don't really have a "goal weight", so I will just let the chips fall where they may.

The calculator site gives my BMI at 25.2 and says I am still 2.2 lbs overweight.

I also checked my fasting blood sugar this morning and it was 85. My strips are old, though, so I don't know how accurate that is.

It is hard to convey to people that are still eating carbs how easy it is to eat this way. People simply can't fathom not eating all of their favorites. Sure, I still get tempted by old favorites, but it is easy at this point to forego them. I haven't been overwhelmed by cravings in a while and food has just become something I have to do because I am hungry. The temptations are different from cravings and it is much easier to intellectually choose not to have those tempting foods. Cravings are driving one physiologically, which makes it much harder to gain control. Hopefully that makes sense.