Technically that is tomorrow, but still, I’m at the half-way point in the first phase of the program and finally managed to crack the 40 lb mark. Today I’m at 269 which is more than 40 lbs less than when I started on September 19th. Also on the plus side my visceral fat number (a measure of the amount of fat you have around your liver) has dropped from 27 to 22. 

In speaking with the doctor last week she was indicating that, for me, 245 would be an ideal goal weight to be aiming for as being the top of the healthy range.

If I continue to lose about 5 lbs per week, which is just shy of what I’m what I’d doing so far, then that should be more than doable.

Myself, however, I’m considering my ultimate goal is to get my body weight down to where I think it should be. Right now based on body composition that is between 202 and 212. Also, I want to try to get that visceral fat number down to under 12. Apparently under 10 is healthy but anything close to that is going to be good as far as I’m concerned.

The other challenge I’m going to have is that part of this weight loss isn’t sustainable once I transition back to solid food. They haven’t said as much at the clinic but I know from doing previous fasts that there will be some weight gain as soon as I come out of ketosis. There are three reasons for that.

Part of that is just simply food in your digestive track. When you start putting solid food in, things accumulate which is part of the reason so many people see massive weight loss in the first 3-5 days of starting a diet. Most of it is just flushing out your insides, its not real weight loss. So roughly 3-5 lbs depending on what you are eating across 3 days.

The second part of is glycogen storage. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and liver. It is used for fuel by being converted into glucose when needed. Studies show most people can store a maximum of 15 grams of glycogen per kilogram of body mass {1}. Further, every gram of glycogen carries with it 3 grams of water.

So in coming off ketosis, where glycogen is being replentished, adding back 1000g of glycogen will include 3000g of water. Converted to pounds that is roughly 9 lbs of weight.

The third part is more variable, which is water storage in fat cells. We don’t really lose fat cells, although with the prolonged application of cold, some white fat cells can transform into brown fat cells. Brown fat cells are mitochondria rich and therefore burn glucose similar to muscle tissue. White fat cells however don’t die off when not used, they simply replace the fat with water and shrink when not needed. 

Regardless – I’m expecting to put back on about 12 lbs once this is done and that will likely be the weight I will want to try to maintain at for at least 3-4 months before trying another fast to bring my weight down further. 

There is a risk that fasting or using low-calorie diets too often can result in lowering of your metabolic rate overall. In fact I’m a bit worried that this is going to happen here wherein it hasn’t happened on the fasts that I’ve been doing previously. 

The clinic seems to feel that 12 weeks is the maximum you should go so as not to impact metabolism however I’ve been recently finding new research that is suggesting the 3500 cal/lb rule of thumb is not as reliable as 90% of the diet programs out there would lend you to believe. That is a topic for another day however.

— Kevin