BSD Update – initial phase done, time to tinker

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last updated you on my Blood Sugar Diet reload, so here it is.

I finished my initial three weeks of limited calories and carbs – and I was really pleased with how it went.

By the end of these three weeks I had managed to bring my daily blood glucose levels to between 5 and 6.5 mmol/L, (well within the normal range), I had dropped body fat, gained muscle and most importantly of all I had dropped my visceral fat by 3% – something that is essential when maintaining good diabetes control.

But that wasn’t enough. I knew that I could get to this place through the Blood Sugar Diet, but how could I more easily sustain these levels?

As I said previously, one of the biggest differences this time was not only was I better prepared mentally for the challenge, (knowing what food to eat, the best balance of protein, fat and carbs), but I also maintained, as best I could, my normal training regime.

This, along with ensuring I was hydrated with at least 3 litres of water plus teas and coffees a day, meant that I was able to achieve my goals in the short term, but what was going to be the balance going forward? How was I going to maintain my levels once I started to reintroduce things like carbs and alcohol?

At the end of my regime last year I threw myself headlong back into all of these, which in hindsight was a mistake.

My body wasn’t ready.

My head wasn’t ready

Most important of all, my diabetes wasn’t ready, so this time I was going to be more calculated.

Whilst I have been on a couple of nights out and have had alcohol for the first time in weeks, on the days before and after I have continued restricting my calorie and carb intake, trying to keep somewhere between 1000 and 1500 calories a day.

This week’s figures;

Weight: 78.5kgs (down 6.8kgs)

Body fat %: 19.3 (down 4.1%)

Muscle %: 39.2 (up 2.3%)

Visceral fat %: 9 (down 3%)

N.B

My body fat and muscle can fluctuate a couple of %, especially after exercise, but my visceral fat measurement is consistent, so I’m really happy with that going in the right direction.

At the minute my blood glucose levels are mostly stable, but I still seem to have little spikes that come from out of nowhere. This could be my liver dumping glycated blood if it thinks my reserves are getting depleted, especially if I’ve been fasting and training or is it something else that I haven’t yet considered?

I’m still in the tinkering zone and haven’t quite found the right balance, but I’ll get there – hopefully.

As always I’ll look to keep you updated on how I’m getting on and if nothing else help to show that low cal and low carb doesn’t have to mean boring or tasteless.

Thanks for all your ongoing support, without it I would have fallen at the first hurdle.

Si

Week two – Getting there.

This week on the Blood Sugar Diet has been tough.

Whilst all of my figures have been going in the right direction I have felt somewhat weak.

As I said in my last post, I have maintained my previous training regime whilst working on my diabetes and calorific intake, and I’ve really been feeling it in my legs.

I think I’ve maintained my effort levels, but I have certainly been left feeling particularly empty afterwards.

I’ve also struggled with food motivation this week. I’ve made a few tasty dishes, cauliflower has been a favourite of mine this week, but I’ve also taken a few shortcuts with pre made soups and packets of chicken slices – not ideal, but acceptable.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Roasted sprouts, butternut squash, cauliflower and fried, smoked tofu

Chicken broth with fried bacon.

I’ve managed to maintain my 8-900 calories, but it’s been a challenge.

Saturday night was a slight blip.

A friend of mine made a delicious fish soup with salmon, squid, cod cheeks and prawns. It was truly delicious and under normal circumstances a perfectly healthy meal, but I ate far too much of it and blew my 800 calorie allowance out of the water by a huge 400 or so calories.

BUT, whilst last year this would have sent me into a complete spin, this time around I enjoyed the healthy meal and just kept to a strict 800 calories on Sunday, (and included some running, walking and a core circuit).

I have learned to give myself a break, to reset and start again the following day, at the end of the day this is about a healthy balance not an inflexible regime.

On that note I would like to reiterate why I’m doing this.

This is not a January detox, nor is this some sort of fad diet to lose weight quickly.

The Blood Sugar Diet by doctor Michael Mosley is about resetting your body and is aimed at those who are pre diabetic or who have type two diabetes.

By restricting your calories and the type of foods you eat (low carb) for a set period, you will drop dangerous visceral fat and your organs can start communicating again, and for me, someone with type 2 Diabetes, this is the key to efficiently use the sugars that your body naturally creates from processing food.

Before I started this journey a year ago I was a happy and fairly fit fat lad, now I’m fitter and more importantly healthier and it was the healthier part that I needed to work on.

My revisiting this diet was to get blood sugar levels back in check after a period of excess that had done me no good and to keep learning about my relationship with food and how I can sustain a healthy balance going forward.

This week’s figures:

WeIght – 80.1 kgs

Body Fat % – 22.2

Muscle % – 37.6

Visceral Fat % – 10

Morning blood glucose level –

6.0 mmol/L

Everything is going down, with the two significant figures being the visceral fat and my morning BG levels.

As I move into the final week of this phase I have to tackle days out of the office and a road trip, but, I’ll use what I’ve already learned to keep on track and push through to Friday maintaining my 8-900 calories a day and 3-4 litres of water.

Wish me luck

Si

End of week one – BSD Reload

Here I am at the end of my first week revisiting the blood sugar diet and I’m really happy with how it’s gone.

My blood glucose levels have gone down, my vision is clearer, I’m sleeping much better and I managed to drop a couple of kilos.

But it’s not all been plain sailing.

I made the mistake of not taking my own lunch to a work conference on Friday and ended up having to plump for the lesser of two evils when it came to the lunch options and ate the vegetarian wraps.

Previously this would have sent me into a little bit of a melt down, but at the end of the day I needed to eat.

This was the only real deviation from my plan; I have been craving cheese and fried chicken – but this is to do with me being a cheese addict and my instagram feed being full of succulent fried chook all week

Over all I’m really pleased with the way things have gone, but I still need to find that balance between what I eat, when I eat and how much water I drink to keep my blood glucose levels in check.

I said last week that I was convinced that the thing that would make the biggest difference would be the amount of water I drank.

This week when I have drunk a minimum of 3 litres of water, (plus my daily coffees and teas), my figures have dropped to normal levels.

On Saturday when I checked my blood glucose they were slightly elevated, but I realised I hadn’t had anything other than a couple of coffees. I mainlined about 1.5 litres of water and after and hour rechecked myself. My readings were now within the normal range.

With this in mind my aim this coming week will be to do a minimum of 1 litre of water before my first check and try to get through a total of 3 -4 litres of water a day and see how this effects my results.

Unlike the first week of my challenge last year, this week I have trained every day, doing a mixture of core and hiit circuits.

These exercises are all completed in a set amount of time, controlling the periods of exertion and rest.

As promised here are the routines that I did, take a look, and if you fancy having a go let me know how you get on.

HIIT Cardio Circuit:

Drop squats

Superman (or any) Press ups

Mountain climbers / plyo jumps

Planche hold

Dumb bell snatch

V sit ups / cross over crunches

Standing sprints

20 seconds on / 10 seconds rest

6 rounds

Core Circuit:

Flutter kicks

Boat pose

Superman’s – left side

Superman’s – right side

Walk outs with press ups

V sit ups

30 seconds on / 10 seconds rest

4 rounds

And so to the figures

Weight – 81.7kgs

Body Fat % – 23.1

Muscle % – 37.1

Visceral fat % – 11

Whilst my weight has gone down, my trousers already feel a little looser, my body fat and muscle have fluctuated a little, (both seem to deviate by about 2% every few days and I wonder if this is also down to hydration?) The biggest achievement is the reduction in the visceral fat.

This is the fat that surrounds your organs and stops them effectively communicating, which for a diabetic, is essential, so to already see that drop is brilliant.

Now on to week two and to see if I can stabilise all my figures, stay hydrated and most of all, eat some tasty, low calorie, low carb food.

Wish me luck

Back to the drawing board.., ish

This week marks a year since I started the Blood Sugar Diet.

For those who are unaware of this particular diet it is a low calorie, low carb diet aimed at assisting diabetics and pre diabetics in gaining control over their condition.

( check here for more information https://thebloodsugardiet.com/how-it-works/ )

This is not a fad diet from some celebrity aimed at losing weight fast, but is in fact a diet about healing yourself in a sustainable way, through fasting, reducing your carb in take and exercise, allowing your organs to work efficiently and effectively.

When I started my journey a year ago I was on 10 pills a day, weighed 96 kilos, had an HbA1c of over 7 mmol/L (53 in new units), and was on a one-way ticket to insulin dependency and probably an early grave.

After two months on the blood sugar diet I had managed to lose 15 kilos, reduced my medication to 5 tablets a day and when I went for my 6 monthly check up had reduced my blood glucose to normal levels (5.3 mmol/L – 35).

This was amazing. I felt healthier than ever, fitter, and my goal of hopefully living a little longer could become a reality.

Slowly I reintroduced some carbs, things like sourdough bread, some potatoes, but mostly I stuck to the maintenance ethos of the low carb, Mediterranean style diet .

I had managed to keep off most of the weight, but I had noticed my blood glucose levels starting to creep back up.

Also December happened.

I had been stupidly reckless.

Eating and drinking what I wanted and slowly the weight had started creeping up along with my blood sugars and I was starting to feel it.

I was irritable, wasn’t sleeping properly and the extra weight was being felt in my joints, knees and hips which were aching post exercise.

I needed to redress the balance and soon

So here I am, a year on, and I will be revisiting the regime for one month as a minimum.

I will be avoiding simple carbs, (no bread, potatoes or white rice), I will be sticking to the 800 – 1000 calorie a day target AND I will be avoiding alcohol.

Here I want to mention the two things that I believe have the biggest impact on me, Alcohol and Water.

Whilst I try to stick to low calorie drinks, (gin and slimline tonic), I found myself not drinking enough water.

At the peak of the BSD I was drinking 4 litres of water a day, and whilst what goes in must come out, it helped me not only maintain my blood glucose levels, it also helped keep my hunger at bay.

Today I stand before you weighing in at 85.3 kilos, with an HbA1c of 42, (6 mmol/L in old money and still good).

Visceral fat – 12%

Fat – 23.4%

Muscle – 36.9%

These are not good figures, not good for me as a diabetic at all.

My aim is to bring that HbA1c back down to about 35, to reduce my weight by around 5 kilos and to maintain that through the rest of the year and beyond.

As before I will update you weekly with my weigh in and progress on my blog and instagram – including the before and after photos, and the inevitable bumps in the road.

N.B

This is not being done because I want to lose weight. This is not being done just because it’s January.

I am doing this because I need to keep my diabetes in check and I want to live longer.

This is a constant struggle for me, I love to eat, I love to drink, I thought I could balance it easily, clearly I can’t, so I need to work a little harder to find the happy meeting point of the diabetic and the glutton.

Wish me luck

Si

My names Simon, and I’m a cheese addict

So, to recap.I did 8 weeks on the Blood Sugar Diet to help reset my body so that I could more effectively deal with my type 2 diabetes.

This was a low calorie, low carb regime that helped me lose weight, more importantly lose visceral fat and even more importantly, enabled me to reduce the medications I take for my diabetes.

I finished this phase nearly two months ago and have tried to maintain my physical and chemical state through a variation of the Fast Diet.

The Fast Diet, or the 5:2 as it is more commonly referred to, consists of a restricted calorific intake of only 600 hundred calories, (this is for men and 400 for women), for two days a week, whilst, (technically), being able to eat what you want for the remaining five days.

After a couple of weeks on this regime I found that whilst my weight was ok, fluctuating up and down by about 1 kilo, my blood sugars became more erratic.

I upped my training and felt physically fitter and stronger, but my blood sugars were still not responding and this was beginning to concern me.

As the weeks progressed I tried to mix up the regime. I fasted for consecutive days, I fasted for more days and then I tried to restrict my daily calories to between 800 and 1200 a day for five out of seven days, but still my blood sugars were not responding.

What the f#*k was going on?

I was starting to become frustrated and disappointed in myself. All my hard work was starting to unravel.

I hadn’t completely embraced carbs, although the odd slice of toast had snuck in with my breakfasts, but it wasn’t until I analysed what I had been eating that I realised that I had become a total cheese monster.

Blue cheese, goats cheese, pecorino, manchego and copious amounts of fabulously strong Cheddar.

I had gone cheese crazy and to make things worse my visceral fat had started to sneak up.

When I looked at what I had reintroduced into my diet this was the one thing that I had eaten to excess – and now the thing I probably needed to cut out entirely.

I needed to do something, and do that something FAST.

So here I am, being honest with myself, being honest with you.

My name is Simon and I am a cheese addict.

Cheese – my nemesis

Whilst cheese can contribute to the ‘good’ fats within your diet, it’s all a matter of volume.

100g of Cheddar cheese is made up of 75% fat, 24% protein and only 1% carbs.

Definitely low carb, but when you reflect that this is also over 400 calories you start to see where my problem is.

Even if you decline the accompanying biscuits, pickles or jellies and plump for the delicious walnuts and grapes the whole thing starts to spiral out of control, well, for this diabetic it does anyway.

So back onto the wagon I go.

I have some short-term obstacles to deal with, most notably a four day trip to Lisbon, but I hereby declare my intention to restrict my calories for five days a week and to share my results with you here and across my other social media accounts so that I can hopefully get my diabetes control back on track.

Wish me luck

Si

Week 8 – The End?

They say nothing that is worthwhile having comes easy. I can attest to that. Two months, or if you you look at it another way, eight weeks or 56 days or 1,344 hours or (give or take), 44,800 calories, whichever way I calculate the time, it has been one hell of a journey.

Just in case there is someone stumbling across my blog and wondering what the hell I’m doing here is a little recap.
8 weeks ago I started the Blood Sugar Diet, created by Dr Michael Mosley. This is a low calorie, low carb diet aimed at losing losing, (most importantly visceral fat), with a goal of reprogramming the body of those who are pre-diabetic in danger of becoming type 2 diabetic and those who are already a type 2 diabetic.
I’ve over simplified somewhat, but this link will take you to more information –

https://thebloodsugardiet.com/

Those who know me know how much I love my food. Hell, I’m one of those bloody food bloggers after all, but what many didn’t know was that I was also a T2 diabetic.
Whilst I wasn’t unfit, I wasn’t healthy, (and this will be explored in my supplementary post).

I am 5’08”, I was 96kgs – that was 15 st 2 lbs in old money, and it was killing me.

I am a T2 diabetic who was being told by my diabeticians that I would eventually need to be on insulin to manage my diabetes, taking 11 pills a day, at risk of heart and liver disease and to cap it all my Dad had died of a massive heart attack.
Things weren’t looking great.

So after being sent a piece on the Blood Sugar Diet by my friend I decided to take the plunge.
For those who have kept an eye on my journey you will have seen the highs and lows of the last 8 weeks. My melt down at not knowing how to choose something in a restaurant or the discovery of how good and satisfying a teaspoon of peanut butter can be.
I won’t sugar coat it. It’s been tough. An emotional roller coaster at times and I have most certainly wanted to give up at many stages and have a burger – but I didn’t.

What kept me going was a number of factors.

Reducing my meds – I’m now taking 5 a day rather than 11.

Seeing my visceral fat go down – I’ve reduced this by over 25% in 8 weeks.

The desire to live longer – diabetics generally die 10 years younger than non diabetics

And YOU LOT.

I’ve spoken of the support I’ve had during my journey, but without it I couldn’t have achieved what I have so far.
Friends, family, food heroes and strangers alike have all been there for me, encouraging, willing me on. For that unwavering support I thank you from the bottom of my, (healthier), heart.

There are too many to name individually, but you know who you are.

It’s been a, (wanky term alert), a journey of self discovery too.
Finding out more about my strengths, and even more about my weaknesses.

Learning how my emotions are inextricably linked to my eating habits – good and bad.

I have been happy, I have been sad, I have been depressed, I have been euphoric. I have laid myself bare, and when I’ve been a total arse you’ve forgiven me.

Thank you again for that.

So to the figures.
When I started this I weighed 96kgs, my body fat was at 28.1% with my visceral fat 15%, my muscle mass was 34.2% and I was taking 11 pills of prescription meds daily.

Today I am 81.7 kgs, my body fat is 22.4%, my visceral fat is 11%, my muscle mass is 37.5% and I am taking less than half the meds I was at the beginning.



This is life changing, but it’s also only the beginning.

The next phase is the 5:2 – “Fast Diet”, also advocated by Dr Mosley, where I will be fasting for two days a week, restricting my calorific intake to about 600 calories on those days, whilst still watching. What I eat for the remaining 5 days of the week.

I’ll continue to write about my journey and let you all know how I get on when I go back to see my Doctor at the end of April.

So thank you once again for reading, commenting and supporting me.

Simon

Week 7 – Nearly there

I have just completed the penultimate week of my 8 week Blood Sugar Diet programme and I will admit to feeling somewhat nervous about this phase coming to an end. This might sound crazy, but, when you consider how structured my eating has had to be for the last couple of months you may be able to see where I’m coming from.

This whole phase has been about me losing fat and hoping to reprogram my body to assist in controlling my type 2 diabetes and I’m feeling a little daunted by the fact that technically for 5 out of 7 days on the next bit I’ll be able to eat what I want.

Going forward I will be doing the Fast Diet, also known internationally as the 5:2 Diet, with a view to restricting my eating to 600 calories twice a week. 
Now, the 5:2 suggests that, within reason, you can eat what you want on the other 5 days, BUT, my intention will be to still limit my calories, (probably to about 15-1600 calories), which is still about a thousand less than the suggested daily amount for a man.

By continuing to restrict my calories I’m hoping that I can continue to work on my T2 diabetes and maintain a healthy weight, (whilst still working on my physical composition – muscle and both my subcutaneous and visceral fats).

You have to remember that this will still mean that I am doubling my calorific intake from the initial phase – something I may well struggle to do, (until my first burger that is), it also means that I’m allowed the odd night off and can start accepting those foodie invites out rather than politely declining.

To the figures.
This week I have managed to lose another 1.5kgs and most importantly for me brought down my visceral fat by another percent, meaning that I have lost 25% of my starting visceral fat in seven weeks, something I am immensely proud of.

A little tip for anyone thinking about this diet or any new restrictive regime – Peanut Butter. If you select the right one it is full of good fats, satiating proteins, and is a great snack for when those afternoon biscuit cravings strike. My go to peanut butter of choice is Pic’s Peanut Butter – an Australian / New Zealand combo that is just nuts – by that I mean all they have in it is peanuts, with the exception of the smooth which has a little salt added – you can check them out here http://picspeanutbutter.com/ (purely a personal choice).

Onward in to the final week of this phase, still trying to not fall off the wagon.
Si

Week 6 – Three quarters of the way through.

I stand on the cusp of completing the first phase of my eating regime and I am truly amazed by how far I have already come.But the last week, (and the two ahead), has not, and will not, be easy. 

I take nothing for granted, especially the fact at some point I won’t fall completely off the wagon, but what I am able to say is that I’m determined to not fail.

In the last few days I have faced a couple of personal challenges and I have had to keep a vigilant eye on my relationship between food and my emotions.

I know I’m an emotional eater, happy or sad, food plays a massive part of my life and when you are on that rollercoaster of negative feelings all you want to do is comfort eat, however, I managed to hold it together and not fall, but it was close.

Last week I managed to vary my food a little more, utilising spices and herbs to a greater degree to make my meals more interesting.

I also ventured out somewhere different for dinner, exploring the new Timmy Green restaurant in Victoria.

What I have had to learn is to not give myself such a hard time if I go over my 800 calories, especially in the scenario of eating out.

Luckily for me Timmy Green has a number of what they call “Clean” dishes on their menu and it was one of these I chose for my dinner.

I plumped for the Palliard of Chicken and enjoyed every slowly eaten mouthful.

The figures this week are steady rather than remarkable, but pleasing none the less.

Weight: 85.1kgs

Body fat %: 25.4

Muscle %: 35.8

Visceral fat %: 12

One of the interesting and very pleasing things is that I have also noticed is the reduction in my resting heart rate and my blood pressure.

Whilst I’m not using anything medically calibrated for my heart rate, (I use a Jawbone Up 3), it is accurate enough to show that it has come down at least 10 beats per minute. This coupled with a signifícate decrease in my blood pressure, from a low of 130/80, (and often much higher), to an average of 120/60, shows that my body is beginning to work much more efficiently – brilliant news, bearing in mind that I am doing this to hopefully live a little longer.

I have two weeks left on this phase and my immediate aims are to try and get down to 84kgs and if possible to shave another percentage off of my visceral fat.
But even if I fall short of these goals I will still be over the moon with what I’ve achieved.

So, into my final two weeks, wish me luck
Si

Week 5 – A Breakthrough

Here I am at the end of week five and I have finally made the next breakthrough on this journey. After a few weeks of my visceral fat being static I’ve finally managed to knock another 1% off of this pesky total.You may not think that this is something to shout about, but look at it this way, with a starting visceral fat percentage of 15%, I have, in five weeks, managed to lose 20% of the fat that clogs up and surrounds my internal organs, something that I feel deserves to be truly celebrated. 

Whilst I still have some way to go with this killer substance I am really pleased with how my body has reacted to the Blood Sugar Diet, and I’m hopeful that given time I may even be able to get it into single figures.

This week I thought I would try something a little risky and I had a piece of toast along with my Sunday brunch. I chose a low GI option of one piece of sour dough to go with my avocado and mushrooms – but what I wasn’t ready for was my bodies reaction to this little piece of supposedly bready goodness.
Within minutes of eating the single, small slice of toast I was in absolute agony. I had severe stomach cramps and needed to find some facilities PDQ!

My guts were in turmoil for the rest of the day and it seems that my body is now not a fan of bread, so a lesson learned the hardest of ways.

On to this weeks figures.
Weight: 95.9kgs

Body fat %: 25.9

Muscle %: 35.5

Visceral fat %: 12

Overall I’m happy with the weight loss, (my total weigh loss is now 10kgs in 5 weeks), body fat and muscle percentages, but as I’ve already said, losing that 1% off my visceral fat is a real achievement.

Food wise this week I intend to raise my game a little. Last week there were a few dishes that were just too bland, and it’s dishes like this that can lead you to reach for the biscuits, (if I had any in the house that is), so I have to use my spices, herbs and imagination far more this week.
That said it wasn’t all bad and when a cafe in Whitstable helped me keep within my calorie total for breakfast I was more than grateful.

I’m well and truly into the final stretch of this phase, five weeks down and three to go, but for me these final weeks are as important as the first three.

Wish me luck

Si 

End of Week 4 – Half Way There

It’s the end of week four and things are are going ok. 
I seem to be managing my food better, drinking enough water and have even managed to go out for food a few times.

But now is not the time to get complacent. 

Nor is it all good news.

When I started this journey I was 96kgs, taking 11 pills, (prescription medication) daily, and was probably on a very slippery slope to complicated Type 2 Diabetes and insulin use. 

After a week on the Blood Sugar Diet I had to halve the medication I took to stimulate my pancreas, (as it was driving me towards hypos), and all was seemingly good.

By the end of week three I had stopped taking this drug altogether and had also halved my Metformin. My blood glucose figures were normal and I just thought, “well done Si you’ve got this cracked”. 

And then along came week four. My morning bloods were starting to spike, (only 2 or three points, but enough to start alarm bells ringing), and I couldn’t work out why. I wasn’t cheating, no sugary foods or drinks and no simple carbs.

One of the possibilities was that my liver was producing too much through the night so I tried a late evening snack to try and balance this, but it didn’t work.

Glumly I returned to using my gliclazide once a day, but I soon found out that this again was too much, and my bloods started to drop too low.

Where was the balance? 

What was I doing wrong?

For now what I have started to do to is take one gliclazide every other day at night and for now that seems to be helping me keep things in check. I am due back to the doctors for a full review in eight weeks where I will discuss my options regarding this medication going forward. 

In some ways this is a retrograde step, but I’d rather just look at it as getting to know my body better and see the positive in now only taking a maximum of 6 pills daily rather than 11. 

This week I wanted to add a little recipe into the mix, just to show that it’s not all about eating lettuce and radishes.
One of my favourite meals to date was turkey, courgette and broccoli with a peanut sauce.
So I thought id share this very easy, but tasty dish.

I took 100g of turkey breast and put it in a sandwich bag with ginger and garlic and left it in the fridge for an hour or so.
Then I prepped the veg.

I took the veg peeler to a courgette, (about 160 calories) and made ribbons with it.

I then chopped up a small red onion and cut about 130g of broccoli into floretes. 

Now for the peanut sauce.

This is very simple with 98% of the calories just coming from the peanut butter.

Take a tablespoon of peanut butter, (preferably one that is only nuts and nothing else) and add about a cup of water. To this add a dash of light soy sauce, a teaspoon of white wine vinegar and a healthy glug or three of tabasco sauce. 

Stir over a moderate heat until you have the consistency you require, adding more water to thin if necessary. A very simple sauce and at about 60 calories for two table spoons a great way to liven up a meal.

I put the chopped up turkey into a hot pan and browned it off and then added the onions.

Whilst this was all cooking down I steamed the broccoli.

To finish I added the courgette ribbons to the hot pan for a minute or so and I was then ready to plate up.

I topped this delicious dinner with the peanut sauce and a chopped red chilli and I was set.

Tasty, satisfying and above all for me less than 400 calories.

And so to this weeks figures.
Weight. 86.9kg

Fat %. 27.6

Muscle %. 34.6

Visceral fat %. 13

To get to these figures I weigh myself three times, add the figures and divide by three to get the average. Whilst my visceral fat has stayed static it is dropping to 12% now and then, so I’m hoping with a bit of work that will drop this coming week.

To date I have lost 9.1kg. Reduced my body fat percentage by 2.5%, increased my muscle density by 2.4% and most importantly dropped 2% of my visceral fat – and all this in a mere four weeks

In the main a successful month. But I can’t rest on my laurels. This programme for me is eight weeks, so still a long way to go.

So onward and upward into week five.
Si