6 ms·

30 Days Without Sugar

44 points by jdbentley 14y ago

rdegges 14y ago
Awesome job! I did this last year and lost almost exactly ~100lbs (along with exercise). Would you mind editing your post and adding in some resources for other people interested in the scientific information? I'm assuming that others will be really interested in your sources (I know I found r/keto very helpful) so they can have background information. Anyhow, congrats on the awesome loss!
- jdbentley 14y ago
  That's a great idea. I visit r/keto all the time. I'll list out some resources now and tack them onto the bottom of the post.
peteretep 14y ago
I've been doing this since 30th March, as I worried I was potentially becoming pre-diabetic. Biggest learning point was: yep, sugar is addictive. I've lost quite a lot of weight in that time, and feel like I have a lot more control over my eating in general. I've not been being too precious about fruit, I just don't eat much. This NYTimes article as probably the other big motivator: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.htm...
beloch 14y ago
According to his graph, he lost almost a pound a day for a full month. He didn't just cut out the sweets. He effectively went on a starvation diet! That is not safe. He is not to be congratulated, he is to be ushered into a doctor's office so some sense can be talked into him before he does himself permanent damage. When you go on a starvation diet your body breaks down muscle as well as fat, and some of that muscle is rather important not to lose. Heart damage is just one major risk of starvation diets. Additionally, when you throw the yo-yo that hard it is going to be exceedingly difficult to keep it from coming right back up. My money's on him being back at 230 or higher within a year.
- jdbentley 14y ago
  This most certainly wasn't a starvation diet. I didn't starve myself at any point. I'm not at all convinced my body has broken down any muscle. I'm not in any danger whatsoever.
  - rprasad 14y ago
    It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle. You haven't noticed the muscle loss yet b/c the body prioritizes the breakdown of unused/minimally used muscles. But if you keep this up much longer it will start to effect your ability to perform basic feats of strength. That rate of weight loss you appear to be achieving also causes massive stress on the cardiovascular system. You need to talk to a doctor, b/c you may be causing long-lasting, serious damage to your body.
    - jacques_chester 14y ago
      > It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle. Yes. Yes you can. Gluconeogenesis is difficult and wasteful. Lipolysis is by comparison a doddle. The body will gleefully favour liberating energy from fat stores for a long time before turning to lean tissue. The idea of "starvation mode" comes from the Minnesota Starvation Study, where subjects had their intake reduced by 25-50% for six months. They were so completely starved that they exhausted their fat stores and broke down lean tissue for energy.
  - beloch 14y ago
    Don't take my word for it. Certainly don't take the internet's word for it. Just go see your doctor.
    - jacques_chester 14y ago
      If we're seeing medical professionals, a registered dietitian would be the right person to see. That said, I'll bet folding money that his blood panel has improved.
rprasad 14y ago
He's not in ketosis; he's in starvation mode. He's losing massive amounts of muscle as a result of this diet, which is why he is losing so much weight. He's also losing fat, but not as efficiently as he would in a normal diet. If he keeps this up, he'll be lucky if he has the strength to pick up a coffee mug.
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  > He's losing massive amounts of muscle as a result of this diet, which is why he is losing so much weight. You're conflating two different things. The first is gluconeogensis, the breakdown of amino acids to create blood sugar. This is the main mechanism whereby energy is liberated from lean tissue. But it doesn't happen easily -- the body will go to fat stores first because they are highly accessible and very dense sources of energy. The second is catabolism or protein degradation, which is a constant cellular process. Catabolism is affected by cortisol, a hormone which amongst other things increases under conditions of metabolic stress. But here's the kicker: if you do weight bearing exercises and consume enough protein, you create offsetting pressure for anabolism that the "protein balance" will come out neutral or even positive.
- mistermann 14y ago
  Who put this idea into so many heads? I'm really very curious to know, where did you learn of this starvation mode idea?
  - robbiep 14y ago
    It's a biochemistry term. Any first year biochem textbook will contain the information you want, would be happy to post Dropbox to my notes if you are interested
  - Shorel 14y ago
    It's the same as 'lactic acid is poison', some day the good science will win and the textbooks will be updated.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
chris_wot 14y ago
Getting a database connection error :-(
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  Wordpress strikes again, by the looks of things. OP, if you haven't already, install WP-Supercache or W3 Total Cache ASAP.
  - jdbentley 14y ago
    Will do.
    - chris_wot 14y ago
      We're back - thanks!
- julesallen 14y ago
  Add '.nyud.net' on the end of the URL. So, like this: http://joelrunyon.com.nyud.net/two3/an-unexpected-ass-kicking http://joelrunyon.com.nyud.net/two3/an-unexpected-ass-kickin... It's the wickedly useful Coral CDN in action: http://coralcdn.org/ http://coralcdn.org/ Great for reading sites that are slashdott..., um, fireball..., erm, 'News'd. Doesn't always work, doesn't work for POSTing anything, but this time we got lucky.
ninetax 14y ago
You would be surprised how much better you can feel by just staying away from conventional sweets and sugars. It's a pretty low hanging fruit (sorry) in making your self healthier. Just don't eat ice cream, candy, desserts, or soda. You will look and feel excellent without putting yourself through some crazy diet that may end up killing you.
damncabbage 14y ago
To clarify, were you on a Paleo and no-sugar diet at the same time, or am I misinterpreting something?
- jdbentley 14y ago
  Yes. I've been eating paleo for about a year. I cut back on sweets to beat the sugar addiction and further along my weight loss.
jerrya 14y ago
For the past month, I've done something similar, just following Atkins. I've monitored my calories using myfitness.com so I know my daily caloric intake has varied between 900 and 1400 calories. I've monitored whether I am in ketogenesis with some nice pee strips. Following Atkins first phase, I am maintaining about 20 carbs per day, mostly from interesting salad elements and some yummy cheeses. I've been drinking 0 calorie flavored seltzer water and regular water and coffee (with cream.) And mostly cooking/reheating Costco and Trader Joe like foods that are about 50/50 fat/protein with zero or few carbohydrates. (Burgers, steak, pot roast, shredded beef, chicken with skin.) There are definitely some days I am hungrier than others, no big deal, I eat what I want. But many days after 15 - 18 hours I am pretty full at 1200 calories. I have noticed that on days when I eat very little, even though I was not hungry that day, I get a pretty nasty headache the next day -- so I try to ensure I get at least 1000 - 1200 calories each day. Saw my MD last week, and got my blood tests back today, and I'm doing just fine. Before doing any diet, or shortly into that diet, you probably should see your doctor. So I'm 5'8" and lost 14 pounds in 30 days -- would like to lose another 20 -- that would be great.
- vl 14y ago
  What are the goals of you ketogenesis monitoring? Staying in the specific zone? Does the strip tell you if you are going too much into it?
  - jerrya 14y ago
    Yes. The first phase of Atkins is this "induction" ketogenesis phase. My guess is if you follow the diet rigorously, you don't need the strips at all, but for me at least, it is nice to have a external confirmation that I am in the ketogenesis zone. They turn a shade of colors and the side of the vial has a scale. The strips (Ketone Care) are really targeted towards diabetics and so which color on the scale they are may be more important to diabetics. I've been hitting "moderate" to "large" and I am happy with that place and level of precision. Also, they make great little bookmarks even after they've been used.
- nookie 14y ago
  "I have noticed that on days when I eat very little, even though I was not hungry that day, I get a pretty nasty headache the next day" Well, the most common reason is lack of water. Practically every food contains a lot of water and burning fat is a more inefficient process. So if you don't consume enough calories then you must drink more water/salt than usual.
terhechte 14y ago
Does anyone know whether it's OK to use Stevia as an alternative during such a sugar-free diet?
- jdbentley 14y ago
  As far as I know, it is. I'd look to this article for more in-depth info: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/
- risratorn 14y ago
  It probably is but to be honest, stevia is the grossest thing i've ever tasted in my coffee ... I used to put one sugar in my coffee, dropped added sugar all together 2 months ago and tried stevia one single time. I can't exactly pin the taste but it's way too sweet and tastes chemical even though it's a natural product. That being said, if you HAVE to add sweetener stevia is probably your best choice.
  - jdbentley 14y ago
    When I tried stevia it had an okay taste, but the aftertaste was awful. I could never use it.
  - terhechte 14y ago
    Yeah, I don't like it in coffee either, but it tastes pretty good in tea. There's also Stevia-Coke here that tastes pretty good. Thanks.
  - lobster_johnson 14y ago
    Stevia alone is pretty awful, very bitter aftertaste. But there are some new stevia derivates that aim to remove the bitterness and turn it into an acceptable sugar substitute. Pepsi has developed one, and the Coca-Cola Company, with Cargill, have recently developed Truvia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truvia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truvia), which is already being used in some of Coca-Cola's beverages. You can buy it in packets for home use. So far, TruVia is the best-tasting artificial sweetener I have come across. Much better than aspartame, sucralose etc. No bitterness to speak of. Another natural sweetener called erythritol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol) is also very good. Unlike stevia, I believe it works on its own, with no modifications required to remove bitterness etc.
espeed 14y ago
Cutting out Diet Coke (and artificial sweeteners) has been key for me. I feel much healthier, and my head is clearer. Sugar is next. One other body hack: my knuckles were starting to ache like I had arthritis. At first I thought it was from programming too much, but then I discovered that peanuts can cause inflammation -- I was eating peanuts all the time as my go-to snack -- I eliminated those and my arthritis symptoms went away within a few days.
- fuzionmonkey 14y ago
  Aspartame has been proven to be safe. The worst thing about Diet Coke is probably effect of the acid on your enamel.
  - espeed 14y ago
    What study are you referring to? There are studies that show diet soda and/or Aspartame are linked to metabolic syndrome (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/nutrition/05symp.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/nutrition/05symp.ht...) and other studies regarding its excitotoxicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity).
matthew-wegner 14y ago
If you'd like to try a 30-day challenge with your diet, I heartily recommend Whole30: http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ In short, you remove: * Grains/legumes * Dairy * Sugar * Alcohol * Weird additives (sulfates/MSG/etc) If you eat the standard American diet, this is probably a lot of your food! Which begs the question--what can you eat? The guy who runs my gym also runs The Foodee Project, a recipe collection site. Here's the Whole30 tag: http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/ http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/ P.S. And if you're too busy/lazy to do a Whole30, the best thing you can possibly do with your diet is cut sugar. Not reduce; cut. Remove it, 100%, no fucking around. Sugar is a really easy-to-use energy source for your body, which actually screws you up if you constantly intake it. More info here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-adapted/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-a...
travisglines 14y ago
After noticing the percentage differences and the weight drop, I wanted to do the math to figure out how much muscle vs. fat he lost. He went from 219.2 at 35% body fat to 195.8 at 28.1%. If you do the back of the napkin math real quick that works out as follows: 219.2 * .35 = 76.72 lbs of initial fat 219.2 - 76.72 = 142.48 lbs of lean mass 195.8 * .281 = 55.02 lbs of final fat 195.8 - 55.02 = 140.78 lbs of lean mass That means he lost ... 1.7 lbs of muscle 21.7 lbs of fat Normally I say that these diets are often bad, and end up putting you back further where you started because you lose so much muscle and therefore regain it all much quicker. However in this case 92% of his weight loss was fat, which is awesome.
- jdbentley 14y ago
  Math! What can't it do? Thanks for these numbers. It's interesting to see how it really breaks down.
  - tsahyt 14y ago
    > Math! What can't it do? Real randomness, or actually explain what it is. And some other things. But it's pretty powerful :)
- cfn 14y ago
  I am not at all up to speed on these things but I guess there's more to the human body than fat and muscle. Those 1.7 lbs will certainly also include water, for example.
  - travisglines 14y ago
    Typically how these things are measured is body fat and lean mass. Lean mass is all the stuff other than fat (muscle, water, organs etc). You're right, I did assume that the lean mass lost came out of muscle in retrospect. Given his weight loss ratios I'd guess that it has to be, but it may be all water. One interesting point here is if he lost significant water weight then he could have actually gained muscle as he lost fat. (that one's hard to tell though)

44 points by jdbentley 14y ago

Awesome job! I did this last year and lost almost exactly ~100lbs (along with exercise). Would you mind editing your post and adding in some resources for other people interested in the scientific information? I'm assuming that others will be really interested in your sources (I know I found r/keto very helpful) so they can have background information. Anyhow, congrats on the awesome loss!

jdbentley 14y ago
That's a great idea. I visit r/keto all the time. I'll list out some resources now and tack them onto the bottom of the post.

peteretep 14y ago

I've been doing this since 30th March, as I worried I was potentially becoming pre-diabetic. Biggest learning point was: yep, sugar is addictive. I've lost quite a lot of weight in that time, and feel like I have a lot more control over my eating in general. I've not been being too precious about fruit, I just don't eat much. This NYTimes article as probably the other big motivator: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.htm...

beloch 14y ago

According to his graph, he lost almost a pound a day for a full month. He didn't just cut out the sweets. He effectively went on a starvation diet! That is not safe. He is not to be congratulated, he is to be ushered into a doctor's office so some sense can be talked into him before he does himself permanent damage. When you go on a starvation diet your body breaks down muscle as well as fat, and some of that muscle is rather important not to lose. Heart damage is just one major risk of starvation diets. Additionally, when you throw the yo-yo that hard it is going to be exceedingly difficult to keep it from coming right back up. My money's on him being back at 230 or higher within a year.

jdbentley 14y ago
This most certainly wasn't a starvation diet. I didn't starve myself at any point. I'm not at all convinced my body has broken down any muscle. I'm not in any danger whatsoever.
- rprasad 14y ago
  It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle. You haven't noticed the muscle loss yet b/c the body prioritizes the breakdown of unused/minimally used muscles. But if you keep this up much longer it will start to effect your ability to perform basic feats of strength. That rate of weight loss you appear to be achieving also causes massive stress on the cardiovascular system. You need to talk to a doctor, b/c you may be causing long-lasting, serious damage to your body.
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    > It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle. Yes. Yes you can. Gluconeogenesis is difficult and wasteful. Lipolysis is by comparison a doddle. The body will gleefully favour liberating energy from fat stores for a long time before turning to lean tissue. The idea of "starvation mode" comes from the Minnesota Starvation Study, where subjects had their intake reduced by 25-50% for six months. They were so completely starved that they exhausted their fat stores and broke down lean tissue for energy.
- beloch 14y ago
  Don't take my word for it. Certainly don't take the internet's word for it. Just go see your doctor.
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    If we're seeing medical professionals, a registered dietitian would be the right person to see. That said, I'll bet folding money that his blood panel has improved.

rprasad 14y ago

He's not in ketosis; he's in starvation mode. He's losing massive amounts of muscle as a result of this diet, which is why he is losing so much weight. He's also losing fat, but not as efficiently as he would in a normal diet. If he keeps this up, he'll be lucky if he has the strength to pick up a coffee mug.

jacques_chester 14y ago
> He's losing massive amounts of muscle as a result of this diet, which is why he is losing so much weight. You're conflating two different things. The first is gluconeogensis, the breakdown of amino acids to create blood sugar. This is the main mechanism whereby energy is liberated from lean tissue. But it doesn't happen easily -- the body will go to fat stores first because they are highly accessible and very dense sources of energy. The second is catabolism or protein degradation, which is a constant cellular process. Catabolism is affected by cortisol, a hormone which amongst other things increases under conditions of metabolic stress. But here's the kicker: if you do weight bearing exercises and consume enough protein, you create offsetting pressure for anabolism that the "protein balance" will come out neutral or even positive.
mistermann 14y ago
Who put this idea into so many heads? I'm really very curious to know, where did you learn of this starvation mode idea?
- robbiep 14y ago
  It's a biochemistry term. Any first year biochem textbook will contain the information you want, would be happy to post Dropbox to my notes if you are interested
- Shorel 14y ago
  It's the same as 'lactic acid is poison', some day the good science will win and the textbooks will be updated.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

chris_wot 14y ago

Getting a database connection error :-(

jacques_chester 14y ago
Wordpress strikes again, by the looks of things. OP, if you haven't already, install WP-Supercache or W3 Total Cache ASAP.
- jdbentley 14y ago
  Will do.
  - chris_wot 14y ago
    We're back - thanks!
julesallen 14y ago
Add '.nyud.net' on the end of the URL. So, like this: http://joelrunyon.com.nyud.net/two3/an-unexpected-ass-kicking http://joelrunyon.com.nyud.net/two3/an-unexpected-ass-kickin... It's the wickedly useful Coral CDN in action: http://coralcdn.org/ http://coralcdn.org/ Great for reading sites that are slashdott..., um, fireball..., erm, 'News'd. Doesn't always work, doesn't work for POSTing anything, but this time we got lucky.

ninetax 14y ago

You would be surprised how much better you can feel by just staying away from conventional sweets and sugars. It's a pretty low hanging fruit (sorry) in making your self healthier. Just don't eat ice cream, candy, desserts, or soda. You will look and feel excellent without putting yourself through some crazy diet that may end up killing you.

damncabbage 14y ago

To clarify, were you on a Paleo and no-sugar diet at the same time, or am I misinterpreting something?

jdbentley 14y ago
Yes. I've been eating paleo for about a year. I cut back on sweets to beat the sugar addiction and further along my weight loss.

jerrya 14y ago

For the past month, I've done something similar, just following Atkins. I've monitored my calories using myfitness.com so I know my daily caloric intake has varied between 900 and 1400 calories. I've monitored whether I am in ketogenesis with some nice pee strips. Following Atkins first phase, I am maintaining about 20 carbs per day, mostly from interesting salad elements and some yummy cheeses. I've been drinking 0 calorie flavored seltzer water and regular water and coffee (with cream.) And mostly cooking/reheating Costco and Trader Joe like foods that are about 50/50 fat/protein with zero or few carbohydrates. (Burgers, steak, pot roast, shredded beef, chicken with skin.) There are definitely some days I am hungrier than others, no big deal, I eat what I want. But many days after 15 - 18 hours I am pretty full at 1200 calories. I have noticed that on days when I eat very little, even though I was not hungry that day, I get a pretty nasty headache the next day -- so I try to ensure I get at least 1000 - 1200 calories each day. Saw my MD last week, and got my blood tests back today, and I'm doing just fine. Before doing any diet, or shortly into that diet, you probably should see your doctor. So I'm 5'8" and lost 14 pounds in 30 days -- would like to lose another 20 -- that would be great.

vl 14y ago
What are the goals of you ketogenesis monitoring? Staying in the specific zone? Does the strip tell you if you are going too much into it?
- jerrya 14y ago
  Yes. The first phase of Atkins is this "induction" ketogenesis phase. My guess is if you follow the diet rigorously, you don't need the strips at all, but for me at least, it is nice to have a external confirmation that I am in the ketogenesis zone. They turn a shade of colors and the side of the vial has a scale. The strips (Ketone Care) are really targeted towards diabetics and so which color on the scale they are may be more important to diabetics. I've been hitting "moderate" to "large" and I am happy with that place and level of precision. Also, they make great little bookmarks even after they've been used.
nookie 14y ago
"I have noticed that on days when I eat very little, even though I was not hungry that day, I get a pretty nasty headache the next day" Well, the most common reason is lack of water. Practically every food contains a lot of water and burning fat is a more inefficient process. So if you don't consume enough calories then you must drink more water/salt than usual.

terhechte 14y ago

Does anyone know whether it's OK to use Stevia as an alternative during such a sugar-free diet?

jdbentley 14y ago
As far as I know, it is. I'd look to this article for more in-depth info: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/
risratorn 14y ago
It probably is but to be honest, stevia is the grossest thing i've ever tasted in my coffee ... I used to put one sugar in my coffee, dropped added sugar all together 2 months ago and tried stevia one single time. I can't exactly pin the taste but it's way too sweet and tastes chemical even though it's a natural product. That being said, if you HAVE to add sweetener stevia is probably your best choice.
- jdbentley 14y ago
  When I tried stevia it had an okay taste, but the aftertaste was awful. I could never use it.
- terhechte 14y ago
  Yeah, I don't like it in coffee either, but it tastes pretty good in tea. There's also Stevia-Coke here that tastes pretty good. Thanks.
- lobster_johnson 14y ago
  Stevia alone is pretty awful, very bitter aftertaste. But there are some new stevia derivates that aim to remove the bitterness and turn it into an acceptable sugar substitute. Pepsi has developed one, and the Coca-Cola Company, with Cargill, have recently developed Truvia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truvia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truvia), which is already being used in some of Coca-Cola's beverages. You can buy it in packets for home use. So far, TruVia is the best-tasting artificial sweetener I have come across. Much better than aspartame, sucralose etc. No bitterness to speak of. Another natural sweetener called erythritol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol) is also very good. Unlike stevia, I believe it works on its own, with no modifications required to remove bitterness etc.

espeed 14y ago

Cutting out Diet Coke (and artificial sweeteners) has been key for me. I feel much healthier, and my head is clearer. Sugar is next. One other body hack: my knuckles were starting to ache like I had arthritis. At first I thought it was from programming too much, but then I discovered that peanuts can cause inflammation -- I was eating peanuts all the time as my go-to snack -- I eliminated those and my arthritis symptoms went away within a few days.

fuzionmonkey 14y ago
Aspartame has been proven to be safe. The worst thing about Diet Coke is probably effect of the acid on your enamel.
- espeed 14y ago
  What study are you referring to? There are studies that show diet soda and/or Aspartame are linked to metabolic syndrome (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/nutrition/05symp.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/nutrition/05symp.ht...) and other studies regarding its excitotoxicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity).

matthew-wegner 14y ago

If you'd like to try a 30-day challenge with your diet, I heartily recommend Whole30: http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ In short, you remove: * Grains/legumes * Dairy * Sugar * Alcohol * Weird additives (sulfates/MSG/etc) If you eat the standard American diet, this is probably a lot of your food! Which begs the question--what can you eat? The guy who runs my gym also runs The Foodee Project, a recipe collection site. Here's the Whole30 tag: http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/ http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/ P.S. And if you're too busy/lazy to do a Whole30, the best thing you can possibly do with your diet is cut sugar. Not reduce; cut. Remove it, 100%, no fucking around. Sugar is a really easy-to-use energy source for your body, which actually screws you up if you constantly intake it. More info here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-adapted/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-a...

travisglines 14y ago

After noticing the percentage differences and the weight drop, I wanted to do the math to figure out how much muscle vs. fat he lost. He went from 219.2 at 35% body fat to 195.8 at 28.1%. If you do the back of the napkin math real quick that works out as follows: 219.2 * .35 = 76.72 lbs of initial fat 219.2 - 76.72 = 142.48 lbs of lean mass 195.8 * .281 = 55.02 lbs of final fat 195.8 - 55.02 = 140.78 lbs of lean mass That means he lost ... 1.7 lbs of muscle 21.7 lbs of fat Normally I say that these diets are often bad, and end up putting you back further where you started because you lose so much muscle and therefore regain it all much quicker. However in this case 92% of his weight loss was fat, which is awesome.

jdbentley 14y ago
Math! What can't it do? Thanks for these numbers. It's interesting to see how it really breaks down.
- tsahyt 14y ago
  > Math! What can't it do? Real randomness, or actually explain what it is. And some other things. But it's pretty powerful :)
cfn 14y ago
I am not at all up to speed on these things but I guess there's more to the human body than fat and muscle. Those 1.7 lbs will certainly also include water, for example.
- travisglines 14y ago
  Typically how these things are measured is body fat and lean mass. Lean mass is all the stuff other than fat (muscle, water, organs etc). You're right, I did assume that the lean mass lost came out of muscle in retrospect. Given his weight loss ratios I'd guess that it has to be, but it may be all water. One interesting point here is if he lost significant water weight then he could have actually gained muscle as he lost fat. (that one's hard to tell though)