Last updated on April 12th, 2017
Nearly two months have passed since my previous Progress Report on September 5, so it’s time for another update. During September/ October, I’ve continued losing weight despite a stall that lasted a few weeks. My current weight of just under 211 pounds represents a four-and-a-half pound loss since early September.
My total loss since I began eating low-carb in March 2011 is 49 pounds — 18.8% of my starting weight.
My waist-line continues to shrink. The size-40 pants I bought around Labor Day were snug then, but loose now. I’m ready to try on some size-38s. I need new jeans, and few pair of cords for the winter.
So my pace of loss has slowed, but that’s normal, and I’m in this for the long haul, anyway. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
As I argued on in my last progress report, all we really control is our own behavior. Along that line, I set goals for myself of eating between 1,800 – 2,100 calories and 35 – 45 net grams of carbs per day for 95% of the days remaining this year. How have I done in that regard?
The averages look good. Since September 5, I have averaged 1,960 calories and 34 net grams of carbs per day. Yes, my average carb intake has been slightly below the stated target range of 35 – 45 net grams per day. I’ve decided that the upper limits are the ones that matter, so I’m revising my goal to eating 2,100 or fewer calories and 45 or fewer net grams of carbs per day, 95% of days. In the last 54 days, I’ve met the carb goal 51 times, which is 94.4%. Not bad.
However, it’s a different story with calories. I have eaten 2,100 or fewer calories on only 39 out of 54 days, which is 72.2%. To be sure, there were a number of days where I consumed far fewer calories, and thus the average is under the target. My highest calorie day in the period was under 2,400 calories.
What does it mean?
How much do calories matter?
How much does a day even matter? That is, should we look at our consumption in time-units of a day, a week, a month?
I don’t know the answers to those questions. All I know is, I’m eating a lot — enough to feel full and satisfied — but I’m eating low-carb, and it still seems to be working for me.
For the rest of the year, I will continue aiming for 2,100 or fewer calories and 45 or fewer net grams of carbs per day.
And I will shop for some size-38 pants.
Your findings correlate to my own personal experience, and also Taubes’ take on the ‘a calorie is not a calorie’ debate. I never worried about calories – just carb grams. The calories, if they even matter, seemed to just take care of themselves. I started at 258lb a year ago and am now at 198. I’m ‘big-boned’ and my body type is not one where I need to lose much more, if any, weight to look good, so I’m now fully in a ‘maintenance mode’ and I’m still losing weight, albeit I’m not trying. The biggest thing is to just get the habit down of always watching carbs and not letting old bad habits creep back in. It’s a fight that, I hate to say, we will probably always have to fight for the rest of our lives.
mark
http://www.lowcarblearning.com