Day 5 and another rest day. Progress has been going well so far but the scales gave me a dose of early disappointment.

Day: 5
Date: 16/05/2013
Workout Day: Rest
Weight (lb): 168.0 (3.8 lb loss)
Body Fat %: 15.8 (0.8% loss)
Health: Fine

My morning weigh-in brought some bad news, with no weight or fat lost from yesterday. When you start a diet it’s always encouraging to see a tangible number confirming that you’re making progress. In the case of a low-carb diet, weight loss is always significant at the start due to the depletion of the body’s glycogen stores. (This weight loss is almost all water which attaches to glycogen in the body. Less glycogen => less water => less weight) In turn, the majority of weight lost in the first week of a low-carb diet is not fat.

But this doesn’t matter. This water loss is just part of the process, and fat loss will have already begun but will now start to ramp up. So on a low carb diet, expect a brief period of accelerated weight loss, followed by continued loss at a much lower rate. If you are experienced in low carb diets then you should start to learn how long the glycogen depletion phase will last and what water weight you will lose. For me, I usually lose 7 pounds of weight in the first 8-10 days, but this rate is very much dependent on the type of training. Anything glycogen depleting like HIIT will accelerate the process.

For me not to lose any weight since yesterday is slightly surprising as I know there’s still water left to lose, but comparing day-to-day weight isn’t really that valuable when you consider variables such as hydration levels, gut contents and potential increases in bone density and muscle mass from the resistance training. So I do know that the weight loss will indeed continue in the next few days, but more importantly I know that I’m sticking to the diet and the training plan, so even if my numbers plateau for a week, I know that they will get back on track. This programme is about compliance. Stick to the programme and the results will come. Simple.

As prescribed I stayed away from the weights today, but I thought it would be useful to stay agile and burn a couple more calories. So I headed to the golf driving range, which loosened up the back nicely, and followed that with 5 minutes of moderate rowing. Sitting behind a desk does nothing for one’s fitness, posture and flexibility, so I’m trying to stay fairly active which in my head will help my recovery.

Food was enjoyable today, having eggs, brazil nuts, ham salad and a rack of ribs. Making food appetising is crucial in making a low-carb & low-calorie diet successful and today was indeed a success in that department.
The food amounted to:

• 1400 calories
• 3g carbs
• 89g fat
• 155g protein

In summary, another good day and for some reason I’m looking forward to getting back in the squat rack.