I have completed my two week experiment where I upped my daily calories to 2500. If you haven’t read the first entry in this journal then I will give you a quick recap.

Six weeks ago I started a cut. I am actively trying to lose weight while simultaneously retaining as much muscle mass as possible. For the first four weeks of the cut I operated on a 2300 daily calorie budget. I was happy with the results but admitted that my progress had actually been too fast. Sustainability is key and oftentimes very quick weight loss results in a rebound when you eventually increase your calories. For the last two weeks I decided I was going to increase my daily calorie budget to 2500. I believed that the extra calories would be beneficial for my training and just slightly slow down the rate of weight loss. The chart below represents my progress over the last six weeks. The two highlighted weeks on the bottom are the results from me increasing my calories.

The increase in calories led to a slight spike for the first week. Overall I felt good and noticed that my energy and mood levels were fairly even throughout the day. In week two the downward trend continued as I lost another 1.6 pounds. As you can tell I was not perfect in meeting my daily goals for calories and my macros. Thats okay. The increase in these numbers was to move the goal posts. Overall I knew that even if I didn’t meet my daily goals that the averages would still increase. For example, during the first four weeks of the cut my daily average calories were 2215. For the last two weeks my calories averaged out to 2423, an increase of 208 calories. Remember, my goal all along was to increase my daily calories by 200.

I should also mention that I follow an intermittent fasting program. I follow the 16:8 plan which calls for 16 hours of fasting and an 8 hour feeding window. Many days I end up fasting for 17-18 hours depending on what my schedule for the day looks like. I am going to address intermittent fasting in a future blog post but I will tell you now that my primary reason for implementing this program has been to reap the potential benefits of autophagy and its impact on longevity.

Overall I am very pleased with my results over the last six weeks. I have decided to continue with a 2500 daily calorie budget for at least two more weeks where I will then again reevaluate my progress.

As always, remember that the scale provides you with data points and nothing more. The scale may serve as a source of continued motivation but you must remember that it is only providing data that you can then use as a tool to guide your future decision making. Do not live and die by the numbers.