I made it!

This week marks 4 weeks of an anti inflammatory diet program. Please take a look at previous weeks to see meals, benefits noted, challenges, tips, and exercise log:

Intro-Anti Inflammatory Diet

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Let’s Talk About It [Video]

Before and After Comparisons

Photos

Weight

Before: 201.6 lbs

After: 196.2 lbs

Photos and weight taken after a morning run, same conditions for before and after, 4 weeks in between.

Best Run

Before: Around 4.9 miles, around 53 minutes, no walk breaks

After: Around 4.9 miles, 48:12, no walk breaks.

Important to note that I’ve been running the same loop Friday morning since Whole 30, my phone tells me it’s 4.9 miles. I wanted to give that disclaimer in case anyone is a runner and my times seems off (because I have no idea). I will keep running the same loop, so regardless of distance, improvement is improvement.

Best Deadlift

Before: 255x 2,2,2,1 (best 4 sets in a workout), total volume (weight x reps) 1,785 lbs

After: 225 x 5,5,5; 255 x3 (best 4 sets in a workout), total volume (weight x reps) 4,140 lbs

Best Pull up set

Before: 5,5,5,5

After: 6,6,5,5,5

Best Push up set

Before: 10,10,10,10

After: 12,12,11,12,12

Overall Benefits Noted

Feeling leaner and lighter as compared before and after has been a great benefit to note (reflected in photos and on the scale as well). I have also noticed some improvements in sleep while completing this program; I would not necessarily say that sleep improvements are as a result of the diet, since I have been more actively focusing on my sleep and trying new routines and methods.

One benefit I was surprised at was the disappearance of chronic paid in my left shoulder during this anti-inflammatory diet time period. Similar to sleep, I would not say this is 100% attributable to the diet, because I have been incorporating stretching and therapy for the shoulder as well.

An overarching benefit has been adherence to eating real food, and avoiding processed food during this 4 week period. The framework of the diet plan kept real food in the forefront of my mind, and made food and drink choices easier during the program. I also consider not counting calories or macros, while still feeling good and making progress, to be a beneficial aspect of the past month.

Lifestyle Changes to Maintain

One lifestyle/dietary change I will certainly maintain is incorporation of fresh ginger into food and drinks, for health benefits and taste! I will also continue to focus on sleep quality for overall health maintenance and improvement. I will commit to at least another 30 days of no Sugar, Grain, Legumes, or Alcohol as I try out the Keto Diet next.

Favorite Meals and Drinks

Overall Compliance Grade

I give myself a solid 99% total compliance for the Anti-Inflammatory guidelines I set up at the start:

1. Eliminate Foods which tend to be inflammatory/contribute to chronic inflammation.
2. Consume at least 4 servings daily of food and drink shown to be anti inflammatory.

I found the most success incorporating anti inflammatory ingredients by creating food and drinks which stacked 2 or more anti inflammatory ingredients into 1 meal/beverage.

What Now? The Keto Diet

For my next dietary adventure, I will be embarking on a 4 week journey following the Keto Diet. The Ketogenic Diet is high fat, moderate protein and very low carbohydrate as the framework.

The “why” behind the Keto Diet is to condition your body to use fat as the primary fuel source in the form of blood ketones (hence Keto), rather than blood glucose (sugar). Unlike the Whole 30 and Anti Inflammatory diets I have recently blogged about, I will need to do some macro-nutrient counting on Keto, mostly to make sure I am keeping carbohydrate intake very low. Can I do it? Tune in next week to find out, and get some great tips!