I’ve been busy and have failed to post something about Lent. This year I’m doing what I’ve done before, with one small difference on workout days.

Here are the rules of Lent 2026, repeated from a previous post. From Ash Wednesday and until Maundy Thursday (2nd April):

  • One meal a day (OMAD), usually taken late afternoon or in the evening.
  • On most days, the meal will be low carb.
  • On one day (usually Saturday) I will have a cheat meal.
  • The following exceptions are allowed:
    • A bulletproof coffee (coffee, butter, MCT oil) in the morning.
    • Porridge 1-2 hours before working out with my personal trainer.
  • I will go to the gym 3 times a week and get on the exercise bike 4 times a week. At the gym:
    • Tuesday: Legs with trainer.
    • Thursday: Upper body with trainer.
    • Saturday: Cardio, shoulders, abs solo.
    • No alcohol whatsoever, even on the cheat day.

I write this on Saturday morning (21st February) and I’ve adhered to the rules so far. I’m in ketosis this morning. This evening, I will have fish and chips, and a pudding. Tomorrow I will be back on low-carb regime.

On Ash Wednesday, I began to get hungry around 1500, but I can cope with it because I’ve done OMAD diets before. It’s easy once you get started. I felt a bit under par on Friday morning until I got up and got going.

I had porridge before the workout on Thursday, but I have not had any bulletproof coffees yet. It’s not a rule, but I’ve cut back on coffee, limiting myself to 3-4 mugs a day. I was drinking 6 and I suspect this was disturbing my sleep. I trained upper body despite an injury from two weeks ago. This week, we were deloading. Next week, we get back to normal.

Today, I feel more energised and awake. The benefits of less are often more.

Anyway, so that we have some sort of measurement, here are my statistics from Ash Wednesday. Let’s see what happens. The body measurements are approximate.

  • Weight: 85.9kg, 19.7% Fat (16.9kg), 76.3% Muscle (65.5kg).
  • Biceps: Left 33.5cm; Right 33.8cm.
  • Thighs: Left 54.8cm; Right 56cm.
  • Waist: Upper 101cm; 96.5cm.

These measurements are somewhat inflated because I had bloat from my holiday. The waist measurement concerned me (38”) quite a lot! My weight dropped to around 83.7kg by Thursday this week. Anyway, let’s see how we do.