20 Pound Bet: Week 5 Weigh In

For a background to this post see How I Plan to Lose 20 Pounds and Win the Bet.

Week #5 Weigh-In: -2. Total Loss: –7.

After I posted the ant-Quantified Self post, I decided I didn’t want to continue creating food journals. The purpose of the journals were to keep me away from the foods I overconsume, which were dairy kefir and ice cream. Since starting the journals, that strategy has worked. Now I’ve created a habit. I think I can continue eating in the same manner I have been for the past 5 weeks without the journal. If I stall or begin to gain weight, I can always resume the food journals.

kimbap

Kimbap by Amanda Wong. Whenever I visit the Korean grocery stores, I usually pick up some kimbap to eat on the ride home. 

Notes:

  1. I am down 7 pounds in 5 weeks without restricting carbs. I eat a few pieces of fruit a day. Plus I eat potatoes, rice and rice noodles. I am also still eating dairy in the form of cheese and butter. Post-Paleo indeed.
  2. My focus has been to reset my appetite to a lower level via higher protein intake and certain key foods such as raw carrots.
  3. I believe I would lose weight faster if I consumed soaked or roasted almonds (not almond butter) in place of cheese, but it might be short lived as I suspect the high levels of PUFA in nuts lower metabolism. Although cheese is calorie dense, it also is metabolically stimulating (according to Matt Stone). Since giving up nuts in late May and increasing my cheese intake, my body temperature is up a full degree.
  4. I am still unsure of the role fructose has on appetite. There is so much mixed information out there. I suspect eating apples and pears has helped, but I don’t know.
  5. In my bet, I’ve heard one of my competitors is down 4 pounds and another is down 5 pounds. No word from the 4th member.

** UPDATE: the 4th member is down 5 pounds.

9 Comments

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  1. What you want to do is soak the the almonds in a warm cheese dip that way you get the best of both worlds. It’s like an almond fondue.

  2. @rob – funny.

  3. MAS – at week 5 this comment may be late. I apologize. Is this a weight loss bet or a fat loss bet? I know you want to lose weight for your knee and feel sure that you want that loss to be fat and not lean tissue, but in the context of the bet does the quality of mass lost matter? Has your performance in the gym been holding steady as the weight has dropped?

  4. @Geoff – Technically it is a weight loss bet as no bodyfat tests are being done.

    My training at the gym is different. Since I am doing knee rehab I am in the gym 5x a week instead of the normal 1-2x. This means my volume is up and intensity down. I have to hold back from lifting more. Still lifting slow and with machines. I measure nothing.

  5. Stephan Raczak

    Mar 31, 2014 — 2:09 am

    Did you take a picture before you started your weight loss?

    Pre & Post pictures can say so much more than numbers.

  6. @Stephan – Nope.
    #1 I need to replace my camera (bad sensor).
    #2 The purpose of this 20# loss is not body-comp, but to accelerate the healing of my knee.

  7. I am in search of a diet that lets me consume my favorite IPA at will….like up the protein and green plants and use the IPA as my carbs…

  8. Hi MAS, how are the raw carrots helping reset your appetite?

  9. @Rachel – I am finding that carrots quickly suppress hunger and they don’t have many calories. Maybe it is the chewing and crunching? Kind of like how raw almonds suppress appetite more than almond butter. This is all speculation.

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