With my weight now back where it was sophomore and senior years of college, I suspect I'm about to hit that weight-loss wall and start plateauing. So far, I've lost weight every single week of the Newcastle Diet, but I can feel that it's getting harder to do so. As I mentioned in previous posts, I'll be ratcheting up my stair work starting tomorrow (up to the 14th floor, then staying at that level for three weeks), so that might help my stubbornly slow metabolism out a bit. Stair work is part cardio, part strength training, after all, so developing my leg muscles and glutes and part of my core will, I hope, continue to increase my metabolism. The intensity of stair-climbing will also produce HIIT-like beneficial effects that last throughout the day for several hours after the stair work is done, taking me past midnight since I don't do my stair work until after I'm home from work.
I've been wondering, though, whether I should really tighten the screws these final four weeks by starting the Fung Paradigm (I'm calling it the "T Diet") now. That would mean eating only 800-ish calories on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday while fasting on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I'm not sure whether to do this because, frankly, I'm unsure of the psychological realities. I think doing the T Diet after Newcastle, as originally planned, will be bearable: I'll be eating bigger meals on the days I do eat, and I've got two cheat days a month to look forward to. But doing the T Diet now would mean eating at near-starvation level and also practicing a rigorous, 24-hour version of intermittent fasting. That could rapidly become depressing and maybe even prompt me to give up the diet. Or not. It might make me grind my teeth in determination and finish out Newcastle in a super-austere way. What to do?
Thinking out loud now... if I'm to start the T Diet this week, then I have to start tomorrow. I'm really not sure I'm ready to do that. I think it may be better to hold off, see how this week goes with the ratcheted-up stair work, then decide from there. So yeah, that's probably what I'll do. No T Diet this week. More later.
I know you're not asking for advice here, but my gut reaction is that going with your original plan might be the smart choice. You may be plateauing, but is that really the worst possible thing that could happen now? I think giving up the diet would be worse, and if you think there is a possibility that it might affect you in such a way, then maybe just stay the course? After all, you're thinking long term here, right? Not hitting a milestone in terms of weight loss doesn't mean that you've failed.
ReplyDeleteI'm just thinking aloud here, too, so take or leave this as you see fit. I will say that your progress so far has been impressive, and you've shown a level of dedication that I often wonder if I could achieve.
I think you're probably right. And it's only four more weeks on this diet, by which time I might not have dropped the full 10 BMI points, but I'll still be down significantly from where I started pre-stroke. Besides, I'm doing this diet on my own, not because any docs suggested it (the Newcastle Diet was simply put forward as a possibility by a friend; I read the article he linked to and decided that that would be the diet for me), so I'm not on any particular schedule. I don't have to be diabetes-free by the time my mid-September appointment rolls around, though I admit it would be nice.
ReplyDeleteYeah, changing course now could be setting you up for failure down the road. The only argument for adding in the T diet now might be that it will make it seem easier once the Newcastle phase is completed.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, have you noticed negative impacts from your austere eating habits of late? When I'm hungry I find it hard to focus and concentrate. Is work going okay?
Negative impacts... aside from constant hunger and constant fantasizing about eating big meals?
ReplyDeleteI am wondering whether the general lack of nutrition might be harming my body's ability to heal itself. Specifically, I think my right shoulder ought to be better than it is; it doesn't seem to have healed at all, despite weeks passing. Could that be because I'm not eating enough? Don't know.
Mentally, I find I'm more alert and a lot sharper, but the trade-off is that my sleep patterns have changed, so I'm tired at an earlier hour now, turning into the pussy I've accused others of becoming.
"... turning into the pussy I've accused others of becoming."
ReplyDeleteHaHa! Welcome to the club!