I’ve finished my Lent fast. The TL;DR is: there’s less of me than there was at the beginning of Lent. Here are the statistics and facts. On 18th Feb, I was 85.9kg of which 19.7% (16.9kg) was fat and 76.3% (65.6kg) was muscle. Today I’m 78.2kg with 17% (13.3kg) fat and 78.9% (61.7kg) muscle.

So, I’ve lost 7.7kg, over a stone in weight in 46 days. More importantly, I’ve lost 3.6kg of fat.

For me, this is amazing. My clothes fit better, I feel better. My body measurements are smaller too generally:

During Lent, I set myself targets. Here is an honest summary:

  • One meal a day, usually taken late afternoon. Completely compliant.
  • On most days, the meal will be low carb. Six days a week they were.
  • On one day, I will have a cheat meal. Usually Saturday but sometimes Sunday, I exercised the right to one cheat meal a week.
  • Bulletproof coffee in the morning. I didn’t bother most of the time.
  • Porridge 1-2 hours before working out. I had this with a banana or apple, and golden syrup. It was absolutely essential for a good workout. I tried without and had little energy.
  • I will go to the gym 3 times a week and get on the exercise bike 4 times a week. I managed this most weeks, except this week where I’ve been travelling. So not compliant here fully.
  • No alcohol whatsoever, even on cheat day. On Mothering Sunday I had some sherry that was in a trifle. Other than that, I have not had a drink for 46 days…

Now the trick is not to mess it up. I started this morning with a bowl of cornflakes. I’m going to the gym in an hour or so for an upper body session. Then I will go for a full English in a café with someone special. This evening I will have soup and bread. And a bottle of wine that’s been chilling in the fridge.

Tomorrow, I will have a big Easter dinner with wine. Then on Monday, I’m starting on a day-to-day two meal a day diet. I intend to be stricter than usual and keep alcohol to a minimum.