fat

May was a funny month and I do not mean it had me in stitches.

Wait, it literally had me in stitches, because on May 22 I had surgery (a VATS Thymectomy) that left me with sutures holding together two small incisions on the left side of my chest, along with another to close up the place where a chest tube was inserted.

This surgery drastically altered my course for the rest of the month, for a couple of reasons:

• A few days of very little activity at all, due to the surgery and immediate post-recovery
• Generally lower levels of activity after that for the remainder of the month
• No running at all post-surgery (I have missed five runs so far), with resumption not expected for at least 2–3 weeks

I have eaten regularly and normally, though–and healthier, too!

The overall effects have been:

• Slightly lower muscle mass, though the dropoff has been small enough to be insignificant statistically
• Dramatic weight loss. I went from a high of 172.1 pounds to a low of 166.1 pounds in about a week before having my first increase in weight of o.9 pounds to end the month
• Body fat percentage has jumped, going from a low of 25.1% to the current 26.8%. I am simply not burning fat.

Still, my weight is down, my diet is decent and running will resume in time, so hopefully I keep things on track.

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 167.0 pounds
Year to date: Down 2.4 pounds

May 1: 168.7 pounds
May 31: 167.0 pounds (down 1.7 pounds)

Body fat: 
May 1: 25.6%
May 31: 26.8% (up 1.2%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
May 1:  29.8 kg
May 31: 29.6 kg (down 0.2 kg)

BMI:
May 1: 24.2
May 31: 23.9 (down 0.3)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

All stats are trending in the right direction, woo.

April is the first full month I did not track my calories at all. I just tried to eat sensibly.

I focused on the following:

• Eating more fruit and vegetables
• Getting more protein via:
  • Non-fat yogurt
  • Nuts (mostly walnuts, some pistachios and cashews)
  • Chocolate milk protein drink (after runs, 18 grams of protein per cup)
  • High protein cereal mixed in with other low sugar cereals
• Restricting snacks to things like the occasional Pocky (when on sale)
• Otherwise eating my usual breakfast, lunch and dinner

There were some cookies, pizza and the like, but I ran regularly throughout the month, which probably helped, since each run is an 18 km round trip (5 to 10K of that is running).

In all, going the right way. Onward through May.

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 169.2 pounds
Year to date: Down 0.2 pounds

April 1: 169.8 pounds
April 30: 169.2 pounds (down 0.7 pounds)

Body fat: 
April 1: 26.3%
April 30: 25.6% (down 0.7%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
April 1: 29.9 kg
April 30: 29.8 kg (down 0.1 kg)

BMI:
April 1: 24.3
April 30: 24.2 (down 0.1)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Whoops, I’m a day late because of strata shenanigans and a very late night last night.

Good news: I was up a mere 0.2 pounds. If I’d gone to the loo before weighing, I would have been down (apologies if that’s TMI). That means the month was basically neutral. And I am down today (April 1) as I type this.

The flip side is I didn’t lose weight. All of my stats basically didn’t budge.

But the other flip side (so many sides) is that March was the first time in years when I did not count my calories, I just ate what I wanted, focusing on having more fruit and vegetables and trying to boost both my fibre and protein intake.

I think I was at least partly successful.

I’ll probably start tracking again this month, I just need to find an app, and the main reason will be to verify I’m getting enough protein. Once I get things locked in, I probably won’t keep tracking. But we’ll see.

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 169.8 pounds
Year to date: Up 0.4 pounds

March 1: 170.2 pounds
March 31: 170.4 pounds (up 0.2 pounds)

Body fat: 
March 1: 26.3%
March 31: 26.2% (down 0.1%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
March 1: 30.0 kg
March 31: 30.0 kg (unchanged)

BMI:
March 1: 24.4
March 31: 24.4 (unchanged)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

I am posting this a month late because I completely forgot to post this on March 31 (though the publication date will show as March 31, because I’m sneaky like that).

Since this is from a month ago, I can’t recall specific details, but it looks like not much changed. The weight gain is now a rounding error, so that’s good!

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 170.4 pounds
Year to date: Up one pound

March 1: 170.2 pounds
March 31: 170.4 pounds (up 0.2 pounds)

Body fat: 
March 1: 26.3%
March 31: 26.2% (down 0.1%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
March 1: 30.0 kg
March 31: 30.0 kg (unchanged)

BMI:
March 1: 24.4
March 31: 24.4 (unchanged)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Yesterday, I was down one pound for the month, then overnight I miraculously gained 1.4 pounds, putting me 0.4 pounds over. Such are the vagaries of the body.

But despite a not-great month, my weight and related stats were basically unchanged.

Toward the end of the month I stopped logging my food in MyFitnessPal, ending a 4,767-day streak. I switched to Cronometer but only kept with it for four days.

I am currently not tracking my food at all, except in my head. I may go back to formally tracking it, in particular to see if I’m hitting some key goals–not weight loss specifically. One of the things Cronometer does is it clearly lists the nutrients from your food against your daily goal for each right by what you’ve had to eat for the day and this revealed a significant protein deficit. I was only getting about half of the protein I needed.

Since seeing this, I’ve begun to place priority on getting more protein, because right now there’s a good chance that when I’m losing weight, it’s probably pretty evenly split between fat and muscle.

After a few weeks I’ll probably track my food again part-time and see how things look.

And I promise, no donuts!

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 170.4 pounds
Year to date: Up one pound

February 1: 170.4 pounds
February 28: 170.8 pounds (up 0.4 pounds)

Body fat: 
February 1: 26%
February 28: 26% (up 0.3%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
February 1: 31.0 kg
February 28: 30.0 kg (down 0.1 kg)

BMI:
February 1: 24.4
February 28: 24.5 (up 0.1)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

I see you down there
Inflating like a balloon
I'll eat celery

I’m not eating celery.

But I will refrain from eating:

• Cookies
• Candy
• Pop Tarts
• Donuts
• Chocolate
• Heavily salted snacks

Because I’m not writing haikus about all of the above.

I was one pound under for the month yesterday, then I found a Pop Tart. Or two. Today, those Pop Tarts sit heavy in my belly.

Still, after what was a pretty bad month, I managed to actually tread the proverbial water, starting at 169.4 pounds and ending the same. Most of the other stats either remained the same or saw slight increases. This is not terrible, but also not good. I shall call it non-good.

I am expecting better for February, as temperatures continue to warm, and I get access to my treadmill for any possible snow days. Maybe I’ll even start using the dusty dumbbells again.

And no more Pop Tarts, I swear.

Stats:

January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds

Current: 169.4 pounds
Year to date: Unchanged

January 1: 169.4 pounds
January 31: 169.4 pounds (unchanged)

Body fat: 
January 1: 25.5%
January 31: 25.8% (up 0.3%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
January 1: 30.0 kg
January 31: 30.0 kg (unchanged)

BMI:
January 1: 24.2
January 31: 24.3 (up 0.1)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

The good news is I gained some muscle!

The bad news is everything else.

I started the year at 166.8 pounds. It should have been trivially easy to lose weight by year’s end, even just a little. Instead, I gained 2.1 pounds over the past 12 months and 1.8 of them in the past seven days.

BMI is up, body fat is up. These are not good things.

It all came crashing down in the final week of this month, when I began experiencing abdominal aches that made me think my kidney infection had returned (all clear there, fortunately). I sought comfort in food of all sorts, and suddenly my weight began taking great leaps upward and onward.

It’s disappointing. I resolve to do better, but temper my expectations with what I have failed to achieve.

On the plus side, gaining 2.1 pounds over the course of a year is not exactly a ton and if I behave I could shed it and get going on real, actual weight loss soon™. I gotta believe!

Stats:

January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds

Current: 168.7 pounds
Year to date: Up 2.1 pounds

December 1: 166.9 pounds
December 31: 168.7 pounds (up 1.8 pounds)

Body fat: 
December 1: 24.5%
December 31: 25.7 (up 1.2%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
December 1: 29.7 kg
December 31: 29.9 kg (up 0.2 kg)

BMI:
December 1: 23.9
December 31: 24.2 (up 0.3)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

The good news, such as it is, is that my weight didn’t budge from the beginning of the month to the end.

The bad news, of course, is that I was up over 3 pounds the previous month, which means I am still effectively up. I was trending back down for the first half of November, but I sought retreat in the comfort of food (mmm, food) in the second half, as stress took its toll on me, and a kind of ennui crept in. I think I’ve shaken most of it off now, but looking ahead, December is not historically known as a slimming month.

And I really want some shortbread cookies.

Still, despite standing still, some encouraging signs:

• Body fat actually declined
• BMI (a stat some view as a bit dubious, admittedly) did not change
• Muscle mass climbed a tiny bit, which is fine, because I don’t expect it to ever move much, but up is always better than down

For December, I vow to remain donut-free, but my (lofty?) goal of hitting 150 pounds this year is not going to happen unless I spontaneously have liposuction and plenty of it. But if I can at least be down in weight for the year, I will build on that in 2026, The Year That Has To Be Better Than 2025.

Stats:

January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds

Current: 166.2 pounds
Year to date: Down 0.6 pounds

November 1: 166.2 pounds
November 30: 166.2 pounds (unchanged)

Body fat: 
November 1: 24.7%
November 30: 23.4 (down 1.3%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
November 1: 29.6 kg
November 30: 29.6 kg (up 0.3 kg)

BMI:
November 1: 23.8
November 30: 23.8 (unchanged)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Yes, it looks bad, like I’ve been secretly eating donuts. But I have remained donut-free.

What happened is: Bodies are weird, and I gained two pounds in the last two days. Has my diet (as in eating regime, not a fad diet) gone off the rails? No, but these things happen, anyway.

Bad: Body fat is over 25% again (I have not remained 100% snack-free)

Good: Muscle mass is up! Probably entirely in my calves, my very sexy calves.

I think I can still get below 160 pounds before the end of the year. I won’t have long to find out!

January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds

Current: 165.8 pounds
Year to date: Down 1.0 pounds

October 1: 162.7 pounds
October 31: 165.8 pounds (up 3.1 pounds)

Body fat: 
October 1: 24.5%
October 31: 25.3% (up 0.8%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
October 1: 29.2 kg
October 31: 29.5 kg (up 0.3 kg)

BMI:
October 1: 23.3
October 31: 23.7 (up 0.4)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Except for muscle mass, which has dipped slightly, all the stats are improved this month, yay, with my weight dropping a nice 2.1 pounds. I was down to as low as 162.9 at one point, but alas, ran out of days before I could get back there.

September was easily one of my most active months of the year, with only a few runs missed, and plenty of walking. I think the exercise helped, if not in terms of actually losing weight, then perhaps in terms of keeping from gaining. I did snack a bit (including cursed Pop Tarts) but never strayed far off the track when it came to the occasional indulgence.

I feel like I am in a good position to finally get below 160 pounds in October, and officially be less than 10 pounds from my intended goal of 150. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, no donuts!

(I did have one donut this year.)

Stats:

January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds

Current: 163.4 pounds
Year to date: Down 3.4 pounds

September 1: 165.5 pounds
September 30: 163.4 pounds (down 2.1 pounds)

Body fat: 
September 1: 24.9%
September 30: 24.6% (down 0.3%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
September 1: 29.5 kg
September 30: 29.3 kg (down 0.2 kg)

BMI:
September 1: 23.7
September 30: 23.4 (down 0.3)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds