Yesterday I gained 22 lbs!

(Todd Allen) #1

I lost ~35 lbs during my first 6 months of low carb and then keto. For the past 5 months I’ve been stalled weight wise though I believe I’ve continued to slowly replace about 1 lb of fat with muscle per month. Coming up on my 1 year anniversary I’ve got renewed motivation to get back into a phase of more rapid fat loss. I’ve still got about 15 lbs of excess fat I’d like to see go and I’d rather it not take another year and a half which is what it will take at my current pace.

One factor is that as my weight dropped from 175 to 140 lbs my bmr has declined. A portion might be due to slowing/more efficient metabolism but I suspect some of it is merely doing less work hauling less weight around. I’ve read how people who stay on the space staion for a few months really struggle to maintain body composition. Weightlessness is hard on the body.

So I ordered a 12 lb weighted vest, 3 lb weights for each ankle and 2 lb weights for each wrist. Only 2/3rds of what I’ve already lost and OMG is it heavy. With it on simple chores like sweeping the floors become a major workout. I intend to wear it as much as practical and if I get too a point where it doesn’t seem particularly burdensome to wear it all day I may get heavier weights. It’s too early to say how this crazy scheme will work out but already it is a major psychological reinforcer of the desire to lose my excess pounds.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #2

The numbers don’t quite work out any more, as he has since gotten a little bigger and heavier, but it’s still close. My youngest, who is 10, weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 pounds. That’s +/- 10lbs of what I’ve lost from my peak. So to have an idea of what it was like when I was at my heaviest, I just need to put him on my shoulders and carry him around for a bit.

No wonder my knees used to hurt a lot. Sadly, I suspect I may have done some permanent damage, as I still get joint pain at times, but nothing like what it used to be.

(betsy.rome) #3

I’d try doing this – but part of why I’m trying to lose weight on keto is for knee pain, so it would be counter-productive I think.

#4

I actually tried this a few years ago using an extra 50 lbs of weights while going for walks, but living in Florida, most of the time the extra gear made me sweat so profusely, I couldn’t stand it! It never occurred to me to just wear the equipment around the house doing regular activities.

I like this idea and I’m going to have to revisit some version of this since I love walking and it is my main form of exercise.

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #5

How did you measure that, as a matter of interest?

#6

It sounds worth a try and likely will be good fitness training and may teach you something about yourself. However, I think that trying to increase your bmr by eating more is likely better.

I know that for me, on keto or not, I like to lose a bunch of weight (plenty of water) initially then stabilize at a weight for a while while I increase my energy intake and my weight stays set. Usually, I stay at the set weight for three weeks increasing my intake throughout that time until I start to gain weight. Then I cut my energy intake a lot (like in half or a little more cut out) for a few days and lose 5 pounds. Then I repeat the process by eating increasingly greater amounts over 3 weeks until I start to gain.

My bmr at a new weight can usually be doubled before I need to cut back to lose more weight (or even to stay at a set weight for a while). For most people, I think that that type of metabolism manipulation is the key to increasing bmr (like of you want to grow hair fast, never be cold, have a strong immune system and have tons of energy).

#7

How tall are you?

(Todd Allen) #8

Mike, I use the web app https://cronometer.com/ to track what I eat, how much I exercise, my weight and body fat %. There is undoubtedly a fair amount of error in the data but still over time it lets one see trends.

(Todd Allen) #9

5’ 10"

(Todd Allen) #10

Yes, I agree and have been trying to maximize metabolism via every possibility I’ve stumbled across, a keto diet and variations of feasting and fasting, HIIT exercise, supplements and thermal stress and it has helped. Wearing weights all day is just the newest addition I’m trying stacked on top of everything else. Still looking for additional possibilities.

#11

Increased muscle mass will help raise your BMR as well. I think that for your height 125 is too low of a goal weight.

(Todd Allen) #12

I have a genetic “untreatable” neuro-muscular wasting disease. With obsessive effort I’ve gained approximately 15 lbs of lean body mass in the last year as measured using skin fold calipers to estimate body fat percentage and subtracting that from total body weight to estimate lean mass. I’d love to have a higher goal weight than 125 lbs although it is much better then when I started with a goal of roughly 110 lbs.