Stalled ! What Stall ?

And if so then how much of one and why ?

Just as we went on holiday I was delighted to see that my weight had gone below 94 Kg on our bathroom scales : this morning though, some 2 months later my weight is bouncing around anywhere between 94 and 95.5 Kg so that seems like totally stalled weight loss to me. Now, i’m well aware of the strong possibility of weight gain due to water retention in the conditions that we’ve had for the last two months but here is a little breakdown of that :

I know that my starting weight for this period could be as low as 93.8 Kg but that could have been a quick glance at an already optimistic bathroom scale – lets say that my actual weight was 94 or 94.5 Kg as a best guess. I know that I was losing weight at a fairly consistent rate of around 2 Kg per month. I can make an educated guess from my former sailing experience that I could be retaining about 2 litres or 2 Kg of water. That would suggest that at 2 months after our holiday I could expect to see actual weight + 2 Kg at maximum. This morning then, what I saw on the bathroom scales was 94.5 and that could be 92.5 but only if allowing for a 2 Kg water retention or it could be my actual weight in which case I may have unknowingly gained some weight. The problem at the moment is that water retention is likely although I suspect that 2 Kg is it’s upper limit so I would expect to see some underlying drop at my next weigh in.

I find it best to deal with reality as seen on our bathroom scale rather than as what I call maybe weight or hopeful weight, and in that case either my weight loss has come to a sudden and abrupt halt or i’m putting weight back on for some reason. Weight plus or minus water retention, or in the clinical setting, dry body weight plus/minus fluid balance was always a major consideration when I used to be called to see poorly patients during my time as a specialist nurse. What I find odd if it’s genuine is that I will have gone from a consistent 2 Kg loss every month to zero loss in the space of hitting a wall or at least some kind of plateau.

If my ology, physiology or biology, is working anything like normal then what I have is fluid retention and that will dissipate quickly when this warm summer weather breaks – as I truly hope it does. If in another month my weight is still sticking around 94 or 95 Kg then I definitely have a stall and i’m not sure why. Maybe it’s best to carry on regardless and wait for the eventual break in this heat but equally it might be telling me that i’m getting a bit lazy or slack on the dietary front and I have to do something about it.

In my opinion and that of others what has been most effective is that iv’e controlled my one time huge insulin spikes from eating lots of sugar (in the form of biscuits and cakes) and on top of that giving my body a fasting break every day for something in the order of 15 – 16 hours – essentially daily intermittent fasting. Iv’e been thinking about changing up my usual routine or pattern from the commonly used 16/8, that’s an 8 hour eating window, to more like 18/6 or close to 20/4 which works out more like a Twomad or two meals a day pattern eaten within that 4 or 6 hour window. I might find it a bit strange to deliberately eat two normal meals within a four hour window, in fact my scant knowledge of gut physiology tells me that stomach emptying only happens at 4-6 hours after eating so I might just try an 18/6 pattern which would still give me a daily fast of 18 hours but only as long as I don’t sneak in any snacks in that time.

As I write i’m embarking on a full rethink about my dietary habits and exercise regime. At the same time i’m experimenting different eating/fasting windows ; today, for example, is the start of a new week so i’m starting my day with a walk and then going straight into a fast. Today, I intend to do a short walk every few hours and a short session pressing some weights. I think that I have hit a plateau, may have acquired a few bad food habits, which I intend to correct, and i’m certain that I need to knock myself, or lift myself off that weight plateau.

Best Wishes Y’awl.