After 18 weeks of intermittent fasting, had I been on target week after week, my weight right now would have been 80.7 kg (177.91 lbs). I should have lost at least 18 kilograms. I made mistakes along the way, and they made me 6 kilograms behind schedule. Reading my records for the past 4 months and a half, I was angry with myself for letting it slide so far. I will talk further about this in another post.
On May 23, 2022, my result was 87.60 kg (193.33 lbs). These are my results today.
| Item | Measurement, May 31, 2022 | Measurement, January 24, 2022 | Healthy Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight1 | 86.70 kg (191.14 lbs) | 98.7 Kg (217.6 lbs) | 55.3-68.0 kg (121.9-149.9 lbs) |
| BMI2 | 31.8 (Obese) | 36.2 (Obese) | 18.5-24.9 |
| Waist (circumference)3 | 110.5 cm (43.70 in) | 122 cm (48.03 in) | < 102 cm (40 in) |
| Hip (circumference)3 | 113.5 cm (44.68 in) | 120 cm (47.24 in) | |
| Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) | 0.97 | 1.01 | < 0.9 |
| Blood Pressure4 (Systolic/Diastolic) | 122 mmHg/ 84 mmHg | 137mmHg/ 95 mmHg | 110/70 mmHg- 145/90 mmHg |
Here are the additional measurements:
| Item | Measurement, May 31, 2022 | Measurement, February 5, 2022 | Healthy Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Fat | 32.5% | 36% | 17.5%-20.6% (Good)4 |
| Visceral Fat Level | 15 | 17 | <13 |
Partner in the Journey
On a brighter note, my wife began her own weight loss journey. She used to be a petite 54 kg (119.05 lbs) woman when I married her. As years passed she gained some weight but managed to keep it at the lower 60 kg. But in the past two years, she gained even more thanks to the combination of the eating and drinking culture in her new job and my indirectly encouraging her by eating and drinking a lot myself.
At first, she wasn’t paying attention when I suggested repeatedly that she might need to go on some sort of a diet. It was probably because she felt just fine. The quarantine had a role in it as well. There were no parties to attend and there was no need to fit into dresses. After the government lifted the ban and people began throwing wedding parties again, she found herself in a frantic search for appropriate attires. The old ones refused to fit, and new ones were difficult to find.
It might sound vain to some of you that some people choose to lose weight because of wardrobe problems. It doesn’t matter what the initial reason is. In my view, it is wonderful that my wife wanted to be in better shape because she wanted to look great in dresses. It is a better alternative than if she made that decision because of health problems that gave her no choice.
She decided to follow my example in setting eating and fasting windows. On top of that, she reduced her carb intake.
The Low-Carb Trial
Speaking of eating carbohydrates, let me tell you what it’s a big deal for most Indonesians*. We are born, live, and die with rice. The first hard food we have as soon as we developed teeth is rice. It is in our blood, it is in our culture. The taste of our cookings is designed so it goes well with rice. When entertaining at home, as long as you serve a lot of rice with a mere number of dishes, your guests are happy. If you go to a warung** for takeout food, the proprietor will first prepare a heap of rice for you before she asks, “What would you have?” Many of us swear that we won’t be satisfied until we have rice with our meal. And yes, there are some people who actually eat pizza with rice. If carbohydrate is a kingdom then rice is the king.
The bad thing about carbohydrates comes from their main use. They are very handy as a source of immediate energy. When consumed beyond the normal energy requirement, the body will convert the unused energy into fatty acids and store them as fat in adipose tissue.
Imagine yourself as a merchant who trades goods. If you cannot sell the merchandise at least as fast as new ones arrive in your warehouse, you will have excess inventory that you need to put away. Soon they will take over other spaces in your building, and they even pile up in your office. If you are eating more carbs than your body can burn, you will have storage problems. That is why it is a good idea to consume just enough carbs to get you up and running.
I still have rice with the biggest meal in my eating window. I regularly eat between 150-200 grams (5.29-7.05 oz) of rice every day. For breakfast and most dinners, I eat white bread and sometimes pastries and buns. When my wife told me she stops having rice with her meals, I thought, “Why not?” I figured I don’t do many physical activities for most of the day and I don’t need much energy supply. It’s not like I’m spending 8 hours a day working in a paddy field. Besides, my last bloodwork shows that I am now a pre-diabetic. I may progress to full diabetes if I don’t take action to control my glucose level.
So this past week I eased down on rice and bread. I still snack on flour-based food. But I found the reduction of rice from my menu makes it easier to keep my eating from exceeding the calorie budget.
Here’s what my calorie excess record looks like for the past week.
| Date | Calorie Intake | Excess (Deficit)* | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, May 24 | 1,379 | (121) | Cakes, Bread |
| Wed, May 25 | 1,785 | 285 | Beer, Cakes, Fries |
| Thu, May 26 | 1,275 | (225) | Cakes, Potato Wedges, Sushi Roll |
| Fri, May 27 | 1,424 | (76) | Bread, Cakes, Rice |
| Sat, May 28 | 1,320 | (180) | Cakes, Bread |
| Sun, May 29 | 1,173 | (327) | Cookies, Dinner roll, Bread |
| Mon, May 30 | 1,453 | (47) | Cookies, Cake, Low-fat Milk*** |
| Tue, May 31 | 790 | (710) | Cookies, Cakes, Low-fat Milk*** |
| TOTAL | (1,401) |
If you look at my last two or three posts, you will notice that I almost consistently eat over my calorie budget. Now that I ate less rice, I almost consistently eat a lower calorie count. Yesterday I ate two pieces of delicious fried chicken. If I also ate rice, I would have certainly crossed my calorie limit that day.
You’re probably wondering, how come I still eat Cakes, Cookies, Bread, Potato, and Fries? And you are right. I tried to eat less of them. For example, in the past, I would eat 20-30 pieces of small treats easily. Now I only eat 5 pieces, knowing that each piece contains 10 calories.
How do I feel consuming so few carbs? So far I am still fine. It’s the total calories that I must be wary of. Today I ate less than 800 calories. Other than feeling very hungry right now, I feel drowsy. Tomorrow I must be sure to eat at least 1,200 calories while maintaining that most of them do not come from carbs.
I will let you know how it goes in my next post.
Notes:
* Indonesia is a big country, covering some 1,9 million square kilometers (735,358 square miles) and over 17,000 islands. Most of the people who live in the Western and Middle parts eat rice as their staple food. But some of our Eastern brothers and sisters have sago in every meal.
** Warung is a small diner that serves ready-made food. It’s the quintessential fast food of Indonesia and some Southeast Asian countries.
*** Milk is often seen as a source of protein. Guess what? If you check the nutrition information on the carton, you will be surprised to find that milk contains more carbs than protein. It’s only now I understand why my nutritionists never included milk when designing diet programs, and why babies of mammals can live on milk alone. One glass of milk is already complete food.
Life At Slow-Mo 
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