An Experiment of One

So Mark of Mark's Daily Apple is having a contest, and while the prizes are a bit, ahem, interesting, I think I want to try an experiment.

You may have noticed my blog has been pretty silent since my last experiment...mostly because I found the last experiment to be impossible in light of my living and working environment (and was too frustrated to talk about it.) However I have been doing a lot of reading lately, and the Leptin reset seems to really be set on a variety of simple ideas. Get enough sleep, eat low carb, and don't snack. So, my "experiment" is really simply an excuse to record the details of what I am doing. I began a strict Ketogenic diet this week, and am following Robb Wolf's workout suggestions. My diet is simple. I must eat 160 grams of protein for the next three weeks, 190 grams of fat (this varies depending on the number of carbs I eat) and about 10-20 grams of carbs. This puts my calories at about 2400 which is high enough so that my metabolism should not slow down and cause problems, and also high enough so that I am not starving all the time.

Here are the details:


Goal: Lose body fat.

Hypothesis: Following a strict low carb paleo diet and exercise regimen will lower my body fat.

Experiment: I will follow a strict ketogenic paleo diet, limiting my carbs to below 20 grams per day, and I will follow Robb Wolf's suggested beginners workout plan (from his book, The Paleo Solution.)

Measurements to Take: Once each week I will measure my waist, hips, and thighs and record them, along with my weight.

Duration of Experiment: 12 weeks.

Variables to Test: After two weeks I will conduct further experiments by increasing my carbs by 5 grams per week to see if I can maintain fat loss while increasing carbohydrates.