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What was your starting BMI? What was your finishing BMI? Did you experience any of the symptoms the guy in the case report got (stomach cramps, blackouts when s

What was your starting BMI? What was your finishing BMI? Did you experience any of the symptoms the guy in the case report got (stomach cramps, blackouts when standing up, belching, etc.)?

RobertRoberts 9y ago
I am pretty healthy to start with (this guy seemed to have quite a few issues implied by his weight history). I didn't measure BMI beyond pinching my belly. I had no negative symptoms at all. I suspect partly because it wasn't a long term complete fast, and also, I've fasted my entire life at least once a year, so I know what to expect. I stay well hydrated, and get plenty of sleep. Sorry for the lack of BMI info, but my pants getting loose was my measure for that. :) Edit: With what I know now, if I had negative symptoms, I'd start with multiple shorter fasts until I could handle longer ones. The minimum would be 24 hours.
- KMag 9y ago
  > I didn't measure BMI beyond pinching my belly. It sounds like you kept track of your starting weight and ending weight. If you know your starting and ending height or can safely assume your starting and ending height are very close to your current height, you can calculate change in BMI. There's no need for a skin caliper measurement, as you seem to be implying.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    I will have to look up BMI calcuations at some point (currently working), and add this data to my spreadsheet. Thanks, I didn't know this was possible.
    - KMag 9y ago
      BMI is body mass in kg divided by the square of height in meters. The typically cited normal range is 18.5 kg/m^2 to 25 kg/m^2. Technically, you can use whatever units you want, but almost every chart uses units of kg/m^2, and if the units aren't explicit, they're quite probably using kg/m^2.
      - RobertRoberts 9y ago
        I used an online conversion tool [0], and got these numbers. Starting BMI: 28.6 Ending BMI: 25.9 It says I am still overweight, even at my lowest weight. lol I am curious what these numbers mean to you? (I know I need to lose more weight, cause I can see it in the mirror...) [0] https://bmicalculator.mes.fm/ https://bmicalculator.mes.fm/
        KMag 9y ago
        A very lean bodybuilder could still have a high BMI. I don't have a reference offhand, but the US Army has a lot of data on military-service-aged men and their cardiovascular health risks. They found BMI isn't a great predictor of cardiovascular health. Some formula involving height and the circumference of the belly was a much better predictor of cardiovascular risks. A thin but tall westerner colleague in Japan told me that doctors in Japan are required to counsel anyone with a waist circumference over a certain limit about weight loss. There's no correction for height (or race), only sex. His doctor realized that my colleague isn't overweight, but still had to lecture him. BMI at least accounts for height, but can be similarly misleading.
- dempseye 9y ago
  That's no problem. So you were on a 1750 calorie deficit on average per day?
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    That's the odd part, one day I ate 6 cupcakes with my dinner, just to test my theories about weight loss. I still lost my average .5 lbs over the next couple days. But one day, I simply ate too much "regular" food at dinner, and I gained weight instead of losing it. (about 2.5 weeks in) I didn't count calories at all, I found that discouraging in the past. I went by how I felt completely, and by forcing myself to take less than I wanted (ie, opposite of "eyes are bigger than my stomach") I was still satisfied. It was a fight with how I felt about eating before I started, versus how I felt after eating. I learned from helping run a kids summer camp, that one counsellor would give the hungry boys 1 taco to start with. Which I thought was odd, and then they could come back and get seconds, etc... He explained that the reason was that if the boys got to take as much as they wanted, they'd take like 4 at first, and eat them all. But if they took 1, and had to wait for a few minutes before the next, they'd only eat 2. I use this knowledge on myself to this day. I eat a little, wait, and then my appetite is dramatically reduced, and I eat less. I don't do this all the time, but I am conscience of the effect when I need it.

What was your starting BMI? What was your finishing BMI? Did you experience any of the symptoms the guy in the case report got (stomach cramps, blackouts when standing up, belching, etc.)?

RobertRoberts 9y ago

I am pretty healthy to start with (this guy seemed to have quite a few issues implied by his weight history). I didn't measure BMI beyond pinching my belly. I had no negative symptoms at all. I suspect partly because it wasn't a long term complete fast, and also, I've fasted my entire life at least once a year, so I know what to expect. I stay well hydrated, and get plenty of sleep. Sorry for the lack of BMI info, but my pants getting loose was my measure for that. :) Edit: With what I know now, if I had negative symptoms, I'd start with multiple shorter fasts until I could handle longer ones. The minimum would be 24 hours.

KMag 9y ago
> I didn't measure BMI beyond pinching my belly. It sounds like you kept track of your starting weight and ending weight. If you know your starting and ending height or can safely assume your starting and ending height are very close to your current height, you can calculate change in BMI. There's no need for a skin caliper measurement, as you seem to be implying.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  I will have to look up BMI calcuations at some point (currently working), and add this data to my spreadsheet. Thanks, I didn't know this was possible.
  - KMag 9y ago
    BMI is body mass in kg divided by the square of height in meters. The typically cited normal range is 18.5 kg/m^2 to 25 kg/m^2. Technically, you can use whatever units you want, but almost every chart uses units of kg/m^2, and if the units aren't explicit, they're quite probably using kg/m^2.
    - RobertRoberts 9y ago
      I used an online conversion tool [0], and got these numbers. Starting BMI: 28.6 Ending BMI: 25.9 It says I am still overweight, even at my lowest weight. lol I am curious what these numbers mean to you? (I know I need to lose more weight, cause I can see it in the mirror...) [0] https://bmicalculator.mes.fm/ https://bmicalculator.mes.fm/
      - KMag 9y ago
        A very lean bodybuilder could still have a high BMI. I don't have a reference offhand, but the US Army has a lot of data on military-service-aged men and their cardiovascular health risks. They found BMI isn't a great predictor of cardiovascular health. Some formula involving height and the circumference of the belly was a much better predictor of cardiovascular risks. A thin but tall westerner colleague in Japan told me that doctors in Japan are required to counsel anyone with a waist circumference over a certain limit about weight loss. There's no correction for height (or race), only sex. His doctor realized that my colleague isn't overweight, but still had to lecture him. BMI at least accounts for height, but can be similarly misleading.
dempseye 9y ago
That's no problem. So you were on a 1750 calorie deficit on average per day?
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  That's the odd part, one day I ate 6 cupcakes with my dinner, just to test my theories about weight loss. I still lost my average .5 lbs over the next couple days. But one day, I simply ate too much "regular" food at dinner, and I gained weight instead of losing it. (about 2.5 weeks in) I didn't count calories at all, I found that discouraging in the past. I went by how I felt completely, and by forcing myself to take less than I wanted (ie, opposite of "eyes are bigger than my stomach") I was still satisfied. It was a fight with how I felt about eating before I started, versus how I felt after eating. I learned from helping run a kids summer camp, that one counsellor would give the hungry boys 1 taco to start with. Which I thought was odd, and then they could come back and get seconds, etc... He explained that the reason was that if the boys got to take as much as they wanted, they'd take like 4 at first, and eat them all. But if they took 1, and had to wait for a few minutes before the next, they'd only eat 2. I use this knowledge on myself to this day. I eat a little, wait, and then my appetite is dramatically reduced, and I eat less. I don't do this all the time, but I am conscience of the effect when I need it.