So I'm just starting the fourth week of my diet. First week I lost 2.3 pounds, second week 2.1 and last week just 0.6. I'm a little bit disappointed that I didn't lose more weight last week, but I'm also not all that concerned about if for a few reasons. I understand that it's fairly normal to lose a lot of water weight (and some glycogen weight) the first two weeks, so I'm sure that was part of the reason for the greater loss at the beginning. This last week I increased my intake of potassium and sodium (two things which aid in water retention) after learning how important they are to athletic performance (especially while low-carbing). And I can tell that it's definitely been working, so I probably just gained back some of the water weight, which I'm fine with. Also, the increased protein intake (as well as just better nutrition all around) may have stimulated some new muscle growth (well... and the weightlifting, of course) and I'm more than okay with that. So, even though the number on the scale didn't move down a whole lot this last week, I'm still pretty pleased with the results I'm getting. My weight last Monday is +1.8 from what it is this Monday, so I should be able to bring my low for the week even lower than last week's. My wife says my stomach and chest are looking more trim and defined, so this confirmed for me what I'd been noticing myself (dips and pushups also help!).

As far as the diet goes, the only major change I've made is that I'm shooting for 100 carbs or less each day now. Last week I had a few days that were in the 70-80 range, but also a few days where I wasn't sure on the total (because of eating out), but I'm still reasonably sure I was under 100. Friday I think I was even under 60. I also changed up the ratios of my seed drink (less sesame) and brought down the total weight by about 17% (150 calories). I also decided to drink 60% of it in the morning and 40% of it at night, instead of 50/50. I also doubled my intake of nutritional yeast to help make up for some of the zinc I was losing by decreasing my sesame intake.

I also did more experimenting with exercise last week. I ran two 5Ks (Wednesday and Friday) and brought my time down by a minute each time, so that's good. It seems the low-carbing thing is not affecting that too much (the increased potassium and salt also seem to help). I decided to split up my weightlifting routines. I was previously doing lifting M, W, F and running Tu, Th, but I moved a lot of my smaller strength exercises to Tu, Th (pushups, dips, curls, raises) before my run. I think this was a good move because I can put more energy into my heavy stuff without being dog tired by the time I get to the smaller stuff. And when I do the smaller stuff, I'm going into it fresh. I also went bike camping this weekend, riding 30 miles each way (with c. 40 lbs. of gear). I was somewhat concerned that I'd have to increase my carb intake a lot to get through the rides, but I kept it pretty low-carb. I just ate a lot of cashews (pretty carby for nuts) and a few handfuls of raisins is all. I think I might have actually been under 100 both days. Biking is not all that demanding if you take it fairly slow and take breaks often. I also drank lots of water, ate enough fat and salt, supplemented potassium, and had some caffeine. The experience was encouraging because now I know I can still do the active things I like to do while eating (pretty) low-carb.

I also started analyzing my weight in a slightly new way. Up until now what I've been doing is weighing myself (almost) every morning and logging it. I have Excel formulas set up to spit out my low, average, and high weights for the week. I find that this is WAY more accurate than just paying attention to how low you can get your weight every morning or weighing in on Sundays or whatever. Fluctuations of 1-2 pounds is normal. Average weight is really more important, and if your average weight is showing a consistent trend downward, it's pretty much guaranteed that your high weight and low weight will do the same thing if given enough time. What I added this last week is what I call the "modified average" which is just my average weight of all days excluding my highest weight for the week (which so far has always been on Monday or Tuesday). I just think this provides a more accurate picture of what's happening because I tend to drop down as the week goes on, so it didn't seem "fair" to have that high weight on Monday or Tuesday inflating my raw average. In any case, I believe having more than one way to assess progress is good. I think people can make themselves crazy when all they pay attention to is the number on the scale every day (or once a week). Not to mention they can do stupid, counter-productive things like skimp on water before a weigh-in (as if this will ever keep weight down long-term).

So my average weight loss per week right now is 1.7 pounds. I suspect that average will get smaller as I go on, but I'm okay with that. But assuming it stays the same, I should be to my goal weight around May 20th, which would be fantastic. If my average loss drops down quite a bit, say down to just one pound a week, I will still hit my goal weight by 6/17 (which coincides with some major weightlifting and exercise goals). Now, if I'm losing less than a pound a week, I may need to rethink some things. I'll definitely need to consider what kind of gains I'm making with weightlifting to see if maybe I'm "shifting" weight (i.e. losing fat, gaining muscle), in which case losing less than a pound a week could be perfectly acceptable.