My quarterly blood test results are in, and the results were quite good.

To sum up, blood sugar remains normal, cholesterol is fantastic, blood pressure is great, and I continue to (slowly) lose weight.

The rest of this post are details, if people are interested in numbers and more!

What I eat and don’t eat

I follow WFPB (whole food plant based) eating: mostly vegan, no oil, very limited nuts, and limited sugar and salt. No intermittent fasting, no keto, lots of carbs including potatoes and fruits. I stick to low calorie density foods to help with weight loss. For example potatoes are surprisingly low calorie (eat) and bread is very high calorie (mostly avoid).

For lots more details on the things I eat and the people in the field I follow take a look at my November post: https://lerner.net/november-28-2019-quarterly-test-results/

Basically I eat lots of veggies, including starches, and have fruits every day. In other words, I eat lots of carbs. Carbs do not impact negatively on blood sugar or weight.

Logging with MyFitnessPal

I log my food and exercise calories in MyFitnessPal, and keep within 1540 net calories per day (food calories minus exercise calories).

Today is my MyFitnessPal Streak Day 2,842. Daily logging in MFP has been a great sanity check and prevented me from having a complete rebound when I fell off the wagon in the past.

I’ve lost a total of 49.2 kg = 108.5 lb so far, and am just 4.4 kg = 9.7 lb from a normal BMI. Getting closer and closer! I’m at the lowest weight I’ve been in my entire adult life.

At about 175 lb I actually weigh 20 lb less than the average American male these days.

But I’m surprised that my stomach still sticks out, and also how hard it is to find normal sized clothes that fit. That’s probably because everybody is crazy slim here in Japan. I’m sure I wouldn’t have that problem in the US. But all my current clothes are way too large on me now.

Blood test results

Here are the latest and previous results. Normal ranges are in parentheses.

Total cholesterol (120-219)

• Feb 20, 2020- 120
• Nov 28, 2019 – 118
• Aug 29, 2019 – 116
• Mar 19, 2019 – 133
• Dec 20 , 2018- 124

This remains low, which I think is fine.

HDL good cholesterol (35-80)

• Feb 20, 2020- 40
• Nov 28, 2019 – 46
• Aug 29, 2019 – 40
• Jun 8, 2019 – 34
• Mar 19, 2019 – 38
• Dec 20, 2018 – 36

LDL bad cholesterol (70-139)

• Feb 20, 2020 – 54
• Nov 28, 2019 – 55
• Aug 29, 2019 – 56
• Jun 8, 2019 – 73
• Mar 19, 2019 – 72
• Dec 20, 2018 – 67

Quite low! But that’s supposed to be great for your heart.

Triglycerides (30-150)

• Feb 20, 2020 – 107
• Nov 28, 2019 – 62
• Aug 29, 2019 – 79
• Jun 8, 2019 – 129
• Mar 19, 2019 – 114
• Dec 20, 2018 – 100

A jump for some reason. But still well within normal range.

HbA1c (4.7-6.2)

• Feb 20, 2020 – 6.1
• Nov 28, 2019 – 5.9
• Aug 29, 2019 – 6.1
• Jun 8, 2019 – 5.5
• Mar 19, 2019 – 5.9
• Dec 20, 2018 – 6.5

This was after my doctor finally decided to drop all blood sugar medication in November. So the slight rise (still within normal range) seems fine to him, and I will continue with no blood sugar meds.

This value does not fluctuate much over the short term. It’s a 2-3 month average. Prior HbA1c quarterly values were 8.2, and 10.8. So it’s a great improvement over time, and has been in the normal range since March, 2019.

My blood pressure was a very good 115/77.

Both the doctor and nutritionist were very pleased.

The “E” Word

Exercise…

Last quarter I said I was going to start some upper body resistance training to build up some arm strength and maybe add some muscles, for my health. And I also want to increase my metabolism to help lose these last stubborn pounds. I haven’t started that yet though.

Starting in March I’ll be able to take my new puppy, Pao, for walks, so I expect I’ll be getting more walking exercise also.

Anyway, onward…

As of this morning, I broke the 80 kg barrier, and my weight is 79.8 kg = 176 lb.

I’ve looked through old records and blog posts going back years and this apparently matches the lowest weight I’ve ever been at in my entire adult life, which was in January, 2007, briefly, before I started a long stall and eventual rebound.

My total weight loss is now 49.2 kg = 108.5 lb.

It also marks a 70 lb loss since recommitting to WFPB a year ago September after reading Dr. Greger’s, “How Not to Die.”

And it’s MyFitnessPal streak day 2,804.

To get to a normal BMI I need to lose just another 4.4 kg = 9.7 lb.

You might recall I was frustrated about a long stall in the 82 kg range. Eventually things just started moving again. I’m not sure exactly why. It could be partly due to eating more calorie dense foods like potatoes for breakfast, and having lighter calorie meals for dinner (though still lots of volume). I haven’t really increased exercise at all. It might also have to do with getting a new puppy. Thanks, Pao!

Anyway, after the stall I moved swiftly through the 81s and 80s, and broke into the 79s this morning.

Since I’m not feeling deprived at all, and not really worried anymore about how long it takes, I’m thinking I finally found a sustainable way of keeping weight off. Time passes whether you’re eating healthily or not, so you might as well continue to eat a healthy diet and not worry about the speed of weight loss.

For me, I’m sticking with healthy WFPB (whole food plant based) eating, which means mostly vegan foods, no oils, extremely limited nuts, tracking calories in MyFitnessPal (I really do need to do that, some people don’t), no intermittent fasting, limited added sugar and salt, lots of healthy vegetables, including potatoes and salads and other satisfying things, keeping to the low end of the calorie density chart, and moderate exercise.

I’m still thinking of taking up resistance training to build upper torso strength and some muscles, more for increased metabolism and arm strength than anything else. It might help in getting these last pounds off, which are in my stomach.

And onward!