I just finished eating a huge lunch, including carbs, because my sister came down to visit. Whenever she visits, my mom wants to have a feast, from the local Japanese store, Tozai. So I eat.

I know, I know: I could resist. But I can’t.

The end result – 222 mg/dl blood glucose. This is sky high.

The reason why my weight went up so much: water.

Food is mostly water, and I drank around a half gallon of water with the meal.

Water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon.

Not only that, but bodies keep around 1.5 pounds of glycogen.

Glycogen binds around 3 to 4 times its weight in water, as well. If it didn’t do this, you’d just have this dry molecule in you.

So 1.5 pounds of glycogen holds 5.5 pounds of water.

Let’s assume I’m full up with glycogen and food water. I could be loaded up with over 10 pounds of water.

If I switch out to a low carb diet, in a few days, I should lose all the glycogen, a lot of the solid food, and some of the water.

I lose the water overnight, and I’ll see that “weight loss” if I weigh myself in the morning, before I drink water. (If I weigh myself after eating, I’ve already drunk a lot of water.)

We’re looking at maybe 5 to 10 pounds lost over a week or two.

This initial weight loss (and rebound gains), mainly from depleting glycogen, happens before fat loss begins.

Mood Swings

I’ve been having mild mood swings, and it’s hard to pinpoint why: women, diet, drugs, weather, activist stuff, not coding enough, the ex, etc. I’m just putting this here to memorialize this fact.

I’ve been failing to do the three key things: metering, food diary, and carb counting.