Dieting: A Science Question.

Breaking my regular blog-fare with a food science/diet question.

On this post I gave the reasons for the current diet.

Much of this blog is against wowserism: I can’t stand it, especially when forced on me by the state, and so a philosophical issue. But the freedom ethic is not possible without self-reliance and self-responsibility, so I’ve never advocated slobbishness either: to enjoy my life fully I have to have health, (if nothing else because I love walking, which I do twice a day, and I love kayaking, and would not want a life where I could not do either of these activities.)

But there's an anomaly thrown up by our current dietary regime. I’m doing well on it, having gone from 104.9 kgs down to 98.3 kgs over roughly five weeks. Better, the diet is not an unpleasant experience, consisting of simply eating smaller portions of healthy food confined to three meals, nothing sugary – luckily I’ve never been a sugar feign, my main likes are veges and meat – and not picking between meals – a biggy with a desk job – plus, the only hard part, a single glass of red wine with tea Sunday through Thursday, not my normal bottle of white, but with a reward of wine night Friday (a bottle of Sauv.) and martini night Saturday. We’ve always eaten healthy meals, so the major change in the meal diet has been more fish: previously we’d had fish barely once a fortnight, because you have to take longer with fish for it to be enjoyable (sauces), and it’s expensive. With the money we’re saving on alcohol it’s now fish two (at least) nights per week, often three, with the balance of days evenly spread between red meat and (free range) chicken. Indeed, because life is still enjoyable, this is becoming eating and drinking habits we may try to stick to for the longer term.

All that aside, however, there is an interesting pattern occurring I don’t understand the science of; exaggerated in me, to a much smaller extent with Mrs H (to her chargrin.) That is, I’m getting almost all my weekly weight losses on Saturday morning (after my bottle of wine Friday), and Sunday morning (after martinis), then plateauing on the new low through the next week. For example, Friday morning of November 21 I was – always weigh before breakfast – 100.6 kgs, about where I had been most of that week, but Saturday 22 November’s weight was 99.9 kgs (first time in double digits probably for years). Then again this Friday I woke up at 99.3 kgs (so a good wee drop over the week, though it had been oscillating) and this Saturday morning after my bottle of Sauv (Highfield Estate, lovely) last night, down to a startling 98.3 kgs.

Question: what is going on here?

I’m not for a minute saying it’s the Friday/Saturday night wine/martinis losing the weight, because my weight gain over the years has mainly been down to too much alcohol, only kept at bay by reasonably healthy eating and lots of (enjoyable – ie, not a gym) exercise out in the fresh air. But there will be a science-based reason for this phenomenon.

I think I have a part answer. My job is sitting behind a computer. Over my professional life I’ve always ensured I travel to my farming client base for their end of year interview – a) to get me out of the office and moving, and b) business sense as farmers’ like you to make an effort to get to their farms (and I love the driving) – plus my twice daily walks with Daisy dog. But despite that I’m still sitting an awful lot, particularly at this time of year when I am putting in eleven hour days (so I can take two weeks over Christmas off, plus at least April, May, June, and most of September :) ). While at my desk latterly I’ve had almost a bottomless cup of tea on the go (three or four double shot espressos for breakfast (not so good)), and then once I can’t face another cup of tea, continual glasses of water. Thus I suspect some of my weight readings over the week are of a water-logged body. So does the Friday night wine have a dehydrating effect that radically crystallises the last week's weight loss? Though the drop off would appear too sharp.

I’m at a loss.

Anyway, tonight’s martini night, best night of the week, which we’ve taken to having around Annabel Langbein on the telly, while eating (uncooked) salmon – neither of us wants to cook on martini night –cured in lemon juice, gin and chives with a dash and a splash of aioli since Friday night.