It's been exactly 3 months weeks since I started my own body transformation diary and today is definitely an important milestone for me. I started with the weight of 101.1 kg or 222.8 lb and 31.4% body fat and I was planning to significantly change my appearance. So let's go over these 3 months - what I have achieved and I struggled with.
What did I do?
I followed a strict diet - low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, one meal a day for the most of the days. I had a good progress in the first 2-3 weeks and started counting calories around that time, which gave me a better understanding of my dietary intake and resulted in more conscious weight loss. After following my nutritional approach for 2 months or so I realized that I was my progress slowed down and decided to try refeed days. The very first one was a great success as I lost a couple of pounds literally overnight, but, inspired by this, very first attempt, I had several more refeed days, which were not as well planned or influenced by external factors and instead of losing weight I started regaining it - you can see the fluke on the chart. So, as I was approaching the 3-months milestone I decided to go a super strict diet (500 kCal/day) for the rest of the period to catch up. And I did - it was a hell of a time, but results were worth it.
What are my results?
Overall, I lost 42.9 lb (19.5 kg) during this 3-month period, or 20% of my baseline body weight. This is quite an achievement for me and I'm very happy to have done this transformation in such a short period of time. I'd like to note that I haven't done anything extreme - this transformation is totally possible for anyone with average genetics. All you have to do is just setting realistic goals, designing a good program and binge consistent and patient.
Now, let's talk about body fat percentage. I started with 31.4% and I planned to achieve a significant reduction of body fat percentage in 3 months. It turned out to be more problematic than I though, mostly due to the measurement problems. I used two consumer grade scales to track my BF% originally and then realized that they are not particularly accurate - according to these scales my body fat percentage went down to 22.6%, which was a bit hard to believe given such a massive weight loss and changes in my body measurements. According to the formula based on these measurements, my body fat percentage went down to 17.3%. I also tested myself using more advanced equipment and it showed the number of 13.7%, which I obviously loved as it was the lowest one. Finally, I booked a DEXA scan and I was surprized to learn that my body fat percentage was 25.2%, which seemed to be unbelievably high. An interesting detail that only DEXA scan could reveal was the distribution of fat - I lost a lot of adipose tissue around my stomach, but I still had more in the hip area. That might explain the discrepancy between the appearance and higher body fat percentage.
What's the plan and what are the expectations?
I will rely on the most pessimistic data, which also happen to be the most objective, the DEXA scan. If these data are wrong, I will simply achieve my target physique faster. In any case, in the next 3 months I plan to continue my weight loss program, but this time I will shift my focus from losing as much weight as possible to (re)gaining some muscle. The diet will still be low-carbohydrate and I will still have one meal a day, but I will increase the intensity of exercise and my caloric intake with a caloric deficit being significantly less than it was in the past 2-3 weeks. I will keep you posted as I proceed, but I'll make my reports every 3-4 weeks, not every 2 weeks as before - I don't expect any drastic changes as the transformation will be more subtle from now on.
As always, you're welcome to leave comments and ask questions - I'm always happy to answer them and to share my experiences. Check out my YouTube channel and feel free to leave comments there too. I hope that you find the information I share useful and it helps you achieve your goals!
Sincerely Yours,
Dr.Sam
Video: Losing 43 pounds in 3 months (My Transformation Diary - Day 92)