Goal Achieved for Week 1

Half Way Through My 2 Week Plan

As outlined in my previous post Keto Diet + Intermittent Fasting my aim was to reduce my body fat percentage by 2% over a two week period, while maintaining muscle mass with minimal weight loss.

At close to my 77th birthday, I also wanted to put to bed these four Internet-based "facts":

1. You naturally put on weight as you age.
2. Your body fat percentage always goes up with your age, especially for women.
3. Older people should avoid weight training because of the danger to their joints and muscles.
4. It's difficult to get a six-pack after 40 and impossible after 50.

The planned methodology was the Keto Diet, intermittent fasting between breakfast and dinner, weights work on alternate days, stretches, abs and aerobics comprising walk, bike and HIIT. And no alcohol!

Starting Statistics

My starting statistics were a weight of 67.05 kg, a body fat percentage of 16.5% giving me a fat component of 11.06 kg and a BMI of 22.1

How Did I Go One Week In?

Following the Plan

I followed the plan as outlined except I didn't manage to fit in any HIIT.

After weights work or a 40 km bike ride, I found myself very tired and at no time had the enthusiasm for HIIT.

I put this down to the intermittent fasting. My body was out of fuel for several hours in the middle of the day. Although it undoubtedly contributed to the fat loss (see below) I'm going to eliminate it from the plan this coming week and incorporate a high protein lunch instead.

New Statistics

I took the new measurements this (Sunday) morning, with these results:

Weight 65.5 kg, body fat percentage 15.3% giving me a fat component of 10.02 kg and a BMI of 21.6.

What Does This Mean?

For starters, a healthy BMI is in the range 18.5 to 24.9 (a mid-point of 21.7) so at 21.6 I'm pretty much spot-on.

I lost just over one and a half kilos, a little more than I would have preferred, but more than a kilo of that was pure body fat, so all in all not a bad result.

From the photo above, you can see that I've maintained muscle mass.

And maybe it's my imagination, but I believe I can see the outline of a six-pack. Not confident enough to photograph it yet. Maybe next week. We'll see.

Goal Achieved

My goal was to reduce my body fat percentage by 1% this week and another 1% this coming week.

So by reducing it from 16.5% to 15.3%, I've slightly bettered that goal.

I suspect getting down to 14.5% will be harder though.

Rest and Reward

As I've mentioned before, I'm a great believer in reward. In fact, I'm starting a dog training website soon and reward will be a big part of it.

Today, Sunday, is my day of rest and reward.

Except for my daily stretches and maybe a pleasant walk later, no exercises and no dietary restraints.

My usual Sunday morning breakfast at my local cafe Mr Jones and Me comprised smoky bacon, poached eggs, hash brown, wilted spinach and a tomato and onion relish, served with two half slices of sourdough toast and two mugs of extra hot cappuccino, one before and one after. A relaxing, enjoyable hour while I read the Sunday paper cover to cover.

Then I came home and a little later, made myself a giant mango and banana smoothie. Ingredients were frozen mango, frozen banana, plain Greek yogurt, honey and whole fresh milk.

Feeling totally full at the moment.

Incidentally, I make my smoothies from my own fresh fruit, which I then freeze.

So in the freezer, I always have a supply of frozen mango cheeks, banana pieces, strawberries and blueberries. The flavor is much more intense than the pre-frozen packaged fruit from the supermarket.

Next Week

I'll report back next Sunday.