They think it's all over...

This morning as I gasped my way through my 15C bath, I reassured myself that it would be my last.  It's Day 42!  Six weeks have passed (I added a few days to the end to make up for my gluttonous trip to France).  I can relax - or can I?

Actually, I quickly realised that it just can't end here.  I've been through six weeks of privation, chills, and annoyance - but rather than stop it all, I'd rather make sure I keep the gains that all this has brought me.  I've lost over a stone in weight (about 7 kilos), and I'm fitting my clothes better and looking much trimmer too.

Moreover, I haven't actually reached my targets.  I'd rather carry on while I've got some momentum, than leave it all for another year.  However, it does feel like a good time for a rethink.

What to keep?

The main components of the programme are:

1. max 60g carbs per day
2. cold bath - 15C for 15 minutes each morning
3. delaying food - waiting between exercise and your next meal - which in effect means skipping breakfast
4. three periods of movement each day (45, 30, and 15 minutes)

I'm sure the carbohydrate restriction is a good idea - there is a tremendous amount of research evidence for this, and it also fits with my intention to improve my brain health by restricting carbohydrates, hoping to prevent it becoming insulin-resistant.  It also just feels right - I feel physically better if I restrict carbs.

The cold bath is surprisingly bearable, and I know I am burning fat because the water temperature now typically rises by about 1.4C while I'm in there - and at that point in the morning I haven't eaten yet.  I am tempted to change my regimen rather than dump it.  For example, 15C is extremely hard going, and it also takes a long time - making my morning pretty rushed.  If I were to get up earlier, I could have a more relaxed morning, and have time to do some exercise right after the bath, to warm myself up a bit.

Delaying food turns out to be a lot easier than I expected.  Unfortunately, I'm noticing myself becoming increasingly hungry at my two main meals - the effect of skipping breakfast, I imagine.  Here again, my thought is to stick with the delay, but start managing my other meals more closely in terms of calories, not just carbs.  I'm generally having a healthy mix of protein, fat, fibre (from vegetables) and carbs at each of these meals, but afterwards I feel I've eaten too much.  If I can work out sensible quantities that will give me the energy and nutrients I need, I may feel better and lose more weight.

The exercise has been very hard to fit around my busy schedule.  Once again, an earlier start to the day may help.  It doesn't suit me to exercise in the evenings anyway, so pushing the first session early into the morning might well help.  If I do it after the bath, it could help me recover from the chilling as well.  The second and third sessions similarly need to be more carefully thought out - for example using every break and lunch to go for a short walk or run, and to time this so that I can eat my second and third meals after the designated delay.  It just needs more advance planning, so I don't reach the end of the day and find I haven't moved around enough.

To get my weight properly settled into my target zone, I have more work to do, which means continued work with the programme.  Moreover, I need to genuinely get used to these things in order to maintain that weight.  As you can see from the chart on the right, my weight has hit a plateau.  This is not just about gluttony in France - it's about metabolism.

Now, there is one small wrinkle in the past couple of weeks' programme: I take thyroid hormone because I have no thyroid gland at all, and this hormone regulates energy in the body.  I started running out of my medication a couple of weeks ago, and I was completely out by last Sunday.  Owing to mistakes and poor decisions made by the people at my GP surgery, I only managed to get hold of my medication today (by saying some very forceful things to their receptionist, in person, with other patients able to hear my concerns).  It probably helped that when your thyroid hormone is low, you tend to feel pretty grumpy anyway.

However, the low thyroid hormone levels will have also meant that my metabolism was a little slower than usual.  Not so much that I couldn't run, of course.  However, it may well be that my body just wasn't long maintaining the levels of energy that the cold bath is meant to kick into action each morning.  I should see my weight leave the plateau and start dropping again if I carry on with the programme, now that I have caught up on my medication.

In short, it's not over yet.  They say in the US, "it's not over til the fat lady sings" (a phrase originally coined with respect to opera).  In my case, it's not over til the fat lady is gone.

Days 24-25: on the run

On day 24 of this diet, a letter turned up fromVirgin London Marathon, saying I'd won a place in the ballot.  That means I get a place on the London Marathon in 2013, and I don't have to beg it from a charity.  In fact, if I do fundraise, I get to do it for any charity I like, and they don't have to pay Virgin for the privilege of getting the money I raise.

But the main thing is - I'm going to be running a marathon in less than 7 months!  I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or terrified.  I'd signed up in the euphoria of seeing my husband finish it last April.  I never really aspired to do such a thing, but you sort of get caught up.  At any rate, I'm very glad I started my diet before this, because people say that trying to lose weight and train for a marathon at the same time is not a good idea.

I plan to finish the diet anyway while I start my training, and to try to make the two fit with each other for the next 2 1/2 weeks.  Exercise is a part of the OMG programme (if not a big one), and sensible eating is part of the training for the marathon.  It must be possible.

On the other hand, carb counting is not part of the marathon training ideal.  I think I will have to deal with this by making sure I get my full complement of 60g of carbs per day in ways that deliver useful content for muscles - perhaps not grains, or sugary foods, but rather lots of vegetables, and a bit more fruit than I've been having.

And I suppose I'll have to play it by ear.  The good news is that I am able to train despite all the weight loss - I'm not weaker, but rather stronger!  I went for a run today for the first time since week 1 of the programme.  I found it much, much easier than on any run in the past year, and in fact genuinely enjoyable.

I'd gone out a few times before in the pleasant summer weather, but I found the running exhausting and hard to keep up.  At that time I was about 15 pounds heavier.  Perhaps the fact that I don't have to haul all that weight around is making the running easier.  They say that exercise doesn't really help you lose weight.  But maybe losing weight helps you exercise....

Day 3 Week 1 - not easy, but easier

Was I more organised this morning?  No.  I tried, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to get up half an hour earlier - as if the OMG routine weren't a big enough ask.

The hardest part is the bath.  It's painful, yes, but the point is that you've got to stick with it for 15 minutes.  That's a quarter of the hour I usually give myself for getting ready in the morning, and the routine didn't have me sitting and wondering what to do for 15 minutes - it's got to come from somewhere, and clearly my morning ablutions must have been quicker than 15 minutes.  Maybe 5.

At any rate, skipping breakfast today was remarkably easy, and my work day was unusually productive.  I even had an odd sense that I was living off my own fat - very pleasant, but I wonder whether it's that, or just that it was a sunny day.

Unfortunately, my thighs have still not recovered from yesterday's morning run.  I stuck with housework and walking for my movement today, but my legs feel like I have only just finished a 200m sprint.  I think I should avoid taking the cold bath right after a hot run.

Getting through the day with the low carb diet and exercise was easy, though not always easy to remember.  That is the hardest thing about this diet - every day I forget something important.