See last year’s comparison photo. This year’s photo is coming soon.
Over the last three years I have adopted different eating styles to test the effectiveness of weight loss/satiety and to fuel my body for the rigors of weight lifting and cycling. Needless to say it’s been challenging; not so much in the way of eating, but balancing the intake of food to accommodate weight loss / maintenance, muscle growth and energy needs. Through this journey I have read and learnt a lot on nutrition (both conventional and unconventional) and have learnt what works best for me. With that knowledge, I have been successful in loosing or maintaining my weight without extreme caloric reductions while building muscle and fuelling my body for cycling.One of the biggest revelations I’ve had is the fluctuations in weight experienced on a daily or weekly basis. These fluctuations are primarily water based and can sway in the range of 3 to 5 pounds. Deplete your glycogen through reduced carbohydrate intake or exercise and you can easily drop 3 to 5 pounds in less than a week and appear and feel thinner. Replenish your glycogen and watch those same pounds return. The reason for this is the glycogen/water relationship. For every gram of glycogen stored in your liver and muscles, your body will store approximately 3 to 4 grams of water. So say for instance your liver stores 100g of glycogen and your muscles store 400g, your body will store approximately 2000g of water resulting in 5.5lbs of weight (1g = 0.00220462lbs ). With this knowledge, I became less concerned with these daily fluctuations and relied more on body fat percentage rather than weight.
As an example of this, last winter in my attempt to shed body fat for the forthcoming cycling season, I changed up my macro nutrient intake consuming approximately 160g of protein (1g per pound of body weight to maintain lean muscle mass), no more than 100g of carbohydrates and the remainder of my caloric requirements (approximately 2400cal) in healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avacados, nuts etc.). Within the week I dropped approximately 4lbs (glycogen depletion + accompanying water) bringing me from 164lb to 160lb. From there until the 1st of April, I lost an additional 8.4lbs for a total of approximately 12.4lbs and 3% body fat according to my scale. Approximately 7lbs were lost in fat and the remainder (5.4lb) in glycogen/water and likely some lean tissue. During this time I had periods (weekends) of carbohydrate loading where I would consume approximately 350 to 400 grams of carbohydrates, 160g of protein and the remainder of my caloric requirements in healthy fats (approximately 40g). After this period, my weight would increase by 3 to 4 pounds but then drop when glycogen was again depleted. It was interesting to observe and gave me a better understanding of the cause/effect of food.So into a new year I will again challenge myself but with a new way of eating. One drawback of my previous way of eating was the financial requirement due to the increase in meat proteins I was consuming. I’m about to try a lacto-ovo-vegetarian/pescatarian approach but model it similarly to the above (primarily health fats, 1g of protein per pound of body weight and minimal carbohydrates to keep my glycogen depleted). I have yet to work out the details but suspect I will rely on eggs, dairy, fish (pescatarian) and powder sources for protein. In time, I may reduce if not eliminate eggs and dairy just because as I have no ethical issues with eating these nor meats. Fish I will continue due to the health benefits. I find it’s good to change your way of eating up as it keeps things fresh and keeps me motivated.
