From 20% to 10% body fat: week 16 report

The last week of my 16-week challenge to drop from ~20% to 10% body fat has been one of slower progress.

My plan was to follow Matt Marshall’s Underground Fat Loss Program. The only differences between the program and what I set out to do are 1) keep on my workout routine, which is significantly more intense than what the program requires; and 2) allow myself 2500kcal (rather than the daily 1500kcal) on Friday, since that day I always go for a long run.

On this particular week, the plan asked for a full fast on Monday, which I successfully did. Apart from that, I overate the rest of the days! I went over 500kcal on Tuesday and Wednesday, by 1000kcal on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and by 1500kcal on Saturday! In the previous two weeks I went over by 2000kcal and 2500kcal, but on this one the total was a whopping 6500kcal! Still, I made progress, since the estimated burn for the week had I sticked to the program would have been at least 9500kcal.

I don’t really know why I did this. It was a busy week and my focus was elsewhere, but I knew this was the last week, and I mostly blew it. It feels like a combination of lack of focus, rebellion and also being quite content at my current level of leanness. So the picture is quite mixed.

I am slightly above the weight I thought I would need to have to hit the goal (70.8kg this morning, compared to the 70-70.5kg I estimate to be the upper limit weight for my target). Fortunately, I booked a DEXA scan for next Thursday, so I will know how I really did.

The Monday fast was a success not just for weight loss, but as a reboot for my body after the weekend. My intention is now to do them every Monday.

I also believe that given my level of physical output, I should modify Matt’s program to eat 2000kcal (rather than 1500kcal), otherwise compliance is really hard. In any case, that’s for the future, since now I’m going on vacation.

Ongoing summary:

I will do a full writeup after my DEXA scan on Thursday.