Muscle vs. Fat
Today I finished the first week of the Slow Carb Diet from the 4-Hour Body. I’ve been eating meat, beans and veggies everyday for seven days. I’ve been doing my best to follow it to the letter, but my social calendar has made scheduling a binge day difficult.
Instead of one whole gluttonous binge day, I have had two binge meals. Thursday I met with some friends and shared some amazing beers (Pliny the Elder, Duet, Stone IPA, and a few other beers that rarely find their way to the Midwest). I went a little crazy on that binge meal, eating copious amounts of mac and cheese, crackers with dip, and cake – lots of cake. The next binge day was originally scheduled for the next Sunday, but tonight was the Superbowl, so I had another small cheat meal (2 pot-stickers, an egg roll, a handful of potato chips, a cup of gumbo, a slice of apple cake, 2 lemon bars and half a beer.) Not crazy, but outside the bounds of the diet. Next Sunday is the next cheat day, and there will be no cheating in between.
I was a little disheartened on Saturday when I stood on the scale and saw I only lost a little over a pound. This didn’t seem totally accurate since I lost a few more pounds earlier in the week. I started to panic a bit – if I’m going to restrict my diet and take cold showers everyday, I want to see some results! But that was yesterday. Today was my official weigh in for the week and came in at 186.8 – I lost 5 pounds. Not only that, but I took all of my measurements, I found that I lost almost 3% body fat. This means I actually lost six pounds of fat and gained one pound of muscle. Not bad.
Take a look at the photo above. It illustrates a pound of fat versus a pound of muscle. I lost six yellow guys and gained one red guy. I’m pretty ecstatic. Last year I followed the P90X diet plan and did P90X+ religiously for two months. My lowest weigh in was 186.8 – it took me two months to get there. With the slow carb diet, I got there in a week. I might not have the same amount of strength I did at that weight last year but I’m quickly getting there.
All I know is it’s paying off. I’ve been weighing myself and taking body fat measurements for almost two years. The lowest I’ve ever weighed in was 185. In fact, 185 is the lowest I can remember weighing in the past 10 years. And I almost got there in one week. We’ll see if next week will include such a huge loss but as long as I’m losing fat, gaining muscle and gaining strength, I don’t really care what the scale says.
Speaking of not caring what the scale says, according to “science” my bmi is 25.3 – meaning I’m “overweight” by 0.3… whatever that means. Drives me crazy. Apparently if I weight between 137 and 183 pounds I’m “normal weight” – at least according the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 137?!?! at 6 feet? that’s absurd.
Blood, Sweat & Beer 