How much fatter after 4 days off? | 8 Week fat loss update 

I'm a recovering alcoholic and there's definitely a comparison. When I was at my heaviest, I ate similarly to how I drank, once I started I couldn't stop. I think coming on here and talking openly about it is the best thing you can do. Hiding habits is what causes real problems.

Another great honest video. My take on it is that you pushed too hard on the deficit after week 4 and then the binge ensued. Good to hear that you are not perfect, you are however an inspiration 👍🏻

I really appreciate your willingness to talk about your disordered eating. It makes a difference. Keep putting out great content Mark.

I'd say your deficit was too extreme from day one. I've always found the most effective method for a cut is high volume low intensity exercise where the recovery needs are low but the calorie burn is really high and then aim for 500-600 calorie deficit. I just reassess each week and as long as I'm losing about a 0.5-1kg per week I keep going or if not, adjust as required. Big difference I've found with this is that you get to eat 3000-3500 calories a day while still losing weight so you never feel like you need the binge or the break. Just what works for me, might be helpful or might not. Keep up the hard work!

I definitely have a similar relationship to food that you do. Similar to other comments, one important part of any addiction is understanding and managing your triggers. One of yours would appear to be excessive calorie deficit combined with a high intensity workloads. This may lead to “I’ve earned it” thinking. Or perhaps, it is the cocktail mix of hormones that gets kicked off when the starvation line gets crossed. Your brain becomes impossible to overcome when it switches to life preservation mode. Two strategies that I have used successfully are first, as workload increases, the calorie deficit decreases. At your full intensity workout levels, I’m shooting for a very narrow 150-250 calorie deficit which translates into .75 to 1 lb of fat loss in a week. The second strategy that I use is to have 1 or 2 go to foods that I don’t normally eat that I use as an early intervention. When the early stages of the binge get triggered, I eat one of my favorite foods and that usually satisfies me without having to go full in on the binge. Note, this only works at the very early binge thoughts. Once you’ve switched to binge, the only thing that has worked for me is to substitute the binge with something else I really enjoy like jet skis or whatever your other indulgent activity happens to be. Thank you for the open discussion forum. Keep it up.

Thank you for being so honest. It was really interesting to hear the challanges you face that most of us face, and how you process it and try and learn from it.

Awesome video, I don't think I have watch any of your videos without thinking or agreeing 100%. You seem to hit the nail on the head {as we say over here} every time. I have faced or am facing the same issues I've heard you discuss in your videos and it's great to listen to someone who has been through the ups and downs and gives it straight. Again awesome job, love the humor and the videos. A follower for good

Food compulsion or addiction (I know that's a continuous word in this context). Is something I have faced my whole life.. Being honest and open about this on your channel is so refreshing and I think, useful. After decades of struggle, the main thing that made a difference for me was chemistry. I mean realising (or convincing my self), that the compulsive dehaviour was largely down to chemical/hormonal reactions in my body. Not will power etc.. Dr Jason Fung's book the obisety code was a game changer in this regard. Anyway thanks for doing these. There is so much surface talk about the importance of talking about mental health, but so few real examples by real people.. Bloody well done..

As some one who previously struggled with Bulimia and still deals with binge eating episodes on occasion, your content is super relatable and uplifting. I used to believe that no other human could possibly understand my experiences and the emotions associated with them, but you are a welcome reminder that I’m not alone. I also train hard and am usually very diligent about my nutrition, but when I feel a binge eating episode coming on, I can’t stop it. I find that a small treat daily works well for me, and I plan the rest of my day’s calories around them.

Great video and great attitude on the stumble. We all have those stumbles

Really nice to see a really straightforward guy who is athletic talk about binge eating in such a matter of fact way. I'm in no way as athletic as you, but I typically ride over 150 miles/wk on my road bike. For me it's not like X X says below in that I go into starvation mode. For me I'm rarely starving myself, but I still have a major problem with binge eating. And to hear the way you describe how it happens is really refreshing because that's exactly how it happens for me. So I feel your pain, as I'm sure many others do as well. It's important to have healthy conversations like this in very objective ways so that we can start to think about how it happens and perhaps how we can reprogram our brains to not do this thing, or at least not do it very often (in my case at least). Loving your channel, loving all the honest conversation, thanks for putting out the content.

I love the fact that you share your struggles with us. I watched some of the Athlean-X videos and he never seems to have a day where he wants to eat a tonne of chocolate, which is weird to me! I definitely have two mindsets - I'm either on it or I'm not. And if I'm not, things go downhill pretty fast. I also find that Christmas derails me every year because we have food left over until half way through January, and it feels like there are a million reasons (birthdays) to eat badly up until Easter. It's usually May before I get back on track, if at all. Any tips on getting through the festive season and staying vaguely on track would be much appreciated.

Great video thanks. I have lost two stone on my four stone journey since February utilizing kicker bike and diet, but wow I have had some ‘storms’ along the way. Recently put in a lot of effort with good results but could sense clouds on the horizon, I feel your storm has probably dissipated my upcoming one ! If the above average guy has storms I am not so bad after all ! Just purchased an outside bike and loving it. Once again thanks for your inspirational videos warts and all, they really have helped me.

Love the build up to the carnage… the hotel room eating was literally insane… “and then it went downhill from there “ 🤣👌💯. Literally you made the Rock’s refeed days look like afternoon tea at the Ritz. But seriously kudos for getting back in the game - and I agree you had been overreaching in the training and events and on a calorie deficit for a long time, so you were very depleted, and your body would have sucked up a decent chunk of the nutrients, and a lot would have passed through. Very best of luck for the next 3-4 weeks - and not to mention the wedding pics. 🍀

A great video to watch after my Christmas melt down. I had planned to give myself a couple of days off, both exercising and dieting, over Christmas. This turned into a full week where I appeared to challenge myself to outdo the calorie intake of the previous day. To be fair, this was very successful. I set myself, today, as the day that I start to behave sensibly again, and unlike previous attempts, I was out running at 6am and feel confident that the "episode" is behind me. I would like to avoid periods of excess, but am realistic enough to know that the best I will ever do is to be in a better position to manage them.

I used to weigh 400 pounds. Lost 200. Put it back on. Lost it again. I'm not nearly as fit and in shape as you, but like you, I follow the goal of being a good "average" athlete that might still be able to get an age group award here and there. I tell you this because I understand what you went through with the binge and I understand your journey to fitness. I'm not just an arm chair RU-vid subscriber. :-) As others have said, your caloric deficit was too high for too long, but I don't really think that's what lead to your spiral. Look into something called "addiction transference". (Not saying there's an addiction going on....it's just the name that's easiest to search.) From the view here in the cheap seats, that could be what was going on. You took all that ability you have to consume calories and turned it into an ability to burn calories. By cutting back on the intake as much as you are, and doing activities that have such a high output your body is happy. (Relatively. We can get into fueling to lose weight vs fueling to achieve maximum performance another day.) When you went on holiday, the body didn't have the burn so it went back to the other thing it does well. Consume. The fight I have every day is BALANCING the consumption with the output. Too far one way or the other and the addition just transfers back and forth until the body can't keep up. When that happens, it's like trying to drive a car with no gas. It won't move until you fill it up. The problem is, I don't just fill up the tank, I pack extra snacks for later...ya know, just in case! :-) I know you'll transition into a sustainability mode after the wedding, but in the meantime watch the BOTH sides of the fitness equation for those addictive traits. The warning signs of over doing activity could help stave off another binge.

Loving your honesty. 👍 Personally I find cans of Coke Zero invaluable for when I’m peckish, they have almost no calories and help fill the stomach. Prob not the healthiest option but way better than the biscuits, etc. I used to grab.

"You put it on very slowly, it comes off very slowly" those are true words! I am slowly purging the weight I gained since college. It is slow, frustrating at times, but I am in no hurry(ish)

At least your binge was in keeping with the theme of your channel, that was definitely an above average binge session 😂! I think most, if not all of us can relate. The insatiable feeling before and during a binge eating session is utterly overwhelming, overriding the common sense we had in abundance on day one of our new fitness regime. I suffer from this almost exclusively when I’ve gone too hard on a deficit, and that’s the fine line we tread between success and temporarily going off the rails. Losing body fat is bloody hard work. The feelings of compulsion for food in this scenario, being compared to the feelings an addict would get for alcohol, for example, is an interesting one. I wonder if it’s the same thing. Good to see you’ve come through the other side. I had night out on Saturday too after a walk in the hills around Brecon. It was a long awaited catchup with the lads and resulted in a full works curry and a hangover from hell yesterday. 2lbs gain from Sat morning. Back on it today!

You should make a video for your Namibia trip...advises, travel...everything. !

I competed for years in combat sports including pro MMA, I walk round at over 200 ( about 15 st) lbs but competed at 170 ( 12 at and a bit) I had to diet HARD for 8 weeks and cut the last 10 lbs in water, I'd binge eat for 4 weeks after and repeat the process honestly after 7 years of doing this every few months think it left me with a boarder line eating disorder, I can now quite literally eat till I want to throw up... And keep eating. It's a strange situation but as I've got older I'm realising at 44 I can no longer negate this with my old twice a day 5 days a week training regime! Love watching these videos and realising I'm not alone! 😬

What's the app called? Sounds awesome. I always find these weekends can absolutely derail a diet, just from the loss of motivation afterwards, glad you got back on it from the monday!

Absolutely brilliant mate that’s me I have actually admitted I probably have binge eating disorder so this hit home but superb as usual mark

So important to not let a couple of bad days ruin everything with an all or nothing attitude. Great advice

Is this what’s known as carb reloading? In any case, I think binging might have some beneficial effects. At least, I imagine it’s possible, and I feel like my experience has shown that it can give your body a jolt which may inspire progress. I think your August 7 photo might even confirm it. You are starting to get some good visible ab definition in spite of the binging. Looking good!

Firstly, glad you moved the toilet roll to your left. It was quite distracting and if not for the garage background, would seem odd 😆 The addiction is real, I've read up so much about why I eat a load of chocolate or biscuits, don't enjoy it and feel disgusted afterwards. Thankfully I have a defult "exercise" mode/value so that even when off the rails I still do bits and pieces to limit the damage to maybe 10-15kg over months. In my 40s it is ever more challenging to train it off again. When you are fit, or fit to train a binge can be a blip as you get back on the saddle pronto. With no goal or motivation the default exercise mode might burn an extra 300-500 kcal a day but if I am consuming 500-800kcal extra a day it sneaks up on you! Still working on it! Love how upfront and real you are about issues we all face. You are quite the inspiring above average guy!

Great video Mark. That's some serious binging there. You are deff an "all in" guy. At the end of the day you acknowledge it , then crack on with your training. Over a year they are mere blips amongst all that great training and racing. I think we can over think things sometimes. I've completed ironmans and always binged massively after. As long as the binging subsides at some point, just crack on.

Lol……one of your best videos. Well, above average 😎

Gah, can completely relate to this! Do you think going so hard on training the previous day's contributed to the back of the brain switch into gorge mode?

This is really interesting. I used to have binge eating issues when I was severely depressed as a kid but not for decades since. In any case, it's just a wedding, not the body building world championships :),: you still look well above average :). I simply cannot imagine riding L'Alpe de Zwift after running 42 km, especially with all of that muscle mass.

I've been reading the book "Fast After 50" a really good informative read I would highly recommend.

I thought I did bad by eating 5 chocolates after loosing weight and fasting every evening from 7pm till 9am. You made me feel great. Thank you

Maybe it is like a training block, after 4 weeks or so you need a week off for your body to adapt. Weather it is training or achieving a different goal sometimes you need a break from it. Anyway, take a good look at your first and last... it is significant especially in the time frame.. plus I don't think the challenge was starve yourself for x weeks, it was for defined abs for your wedding day.. you can probably tick that off now and definitely above average.

For me the carb/sugar door opens it is hard to close. If you are foraging in the fridge and you don't want protein or saturated fat. Close it you are not truly hungry. That is what i tell my self and it mostly works. The binge needs to have saturated fat and protein to slow me down if i want to keep going. it'll slow down eventually. or jam it full of fiber too. For me if you are in an excess of calories it can help calm the body down if you've been in a surplus. And then metabolism shoots up for a bit too.

I don’t feel too bad now for the extra 600 calories I had yesterday post London Triathlon (haloumi melt bagel and almond cake slice) great video and the perspective….would swap Burger King for burritos though! Good luck on the ultra👍

I wonder if the counting calories, and not including some "mind" foods isn't the issue? I love chocolate and ice cream to the point where my only solution was to not buy them. However, I will shrink a portion of healthy stuff to allow a little treat of something I know isn't as good, but my mind craves. I'm able to moderate the craving by the little and not very often, but just often enough timing. Whenever I do a more radical diet I always come off it with a bit of a binge because I crave certain foods. Not sure I ever managed 10,000 calories though...well, not 4 days in a row. Well done, that was definitely above average.

Thank God that you are as normal as the rest of us! :) My pint of ice cream (sadly not B&J) suddenly feels like eating a pint of air ;)

I know exactly what you mean. People say I have all the willpower in the world. I lost 75kg and am fit as hell. But put a bag of M&m in front of me and I just lose it. I did not yet discover how to avoid this, but I know what to do afterwards : compensate with activity. Looking at it from this angle I now know the bag of M&m costs me 2 hours of running. Hence, I approach it with a “is it worth it “ attitude. And sometimes the answer is just hell yeah

Just to let you know, Bourneville isn’t Vegan anymore🙄👍 Great video Mark. Shit happens😃

For me I have worked out that if I start to fall of the wagon then make sure I switch to eating just keto food as soon as can, and only eating keto food, and of course completely over eating keto food, I have found that because the keto food is all slow to digest when I wake up the next day I'm not the hungry and if I am I just go ham on the keto food until I'm not, and I can snap out of it with out to much damage. But if I eat anything with carbs it just makes me hungry and I'll go for days (even weeks) of eating anything and everything if I don't snap out of it.

"today's the day, ive got this, oreos for breakfast" amazing🤣

i from time to time binge eat too, and its real. i believe its about dopamine receptors becoming insensitive, to the point where it takes more and more sugar to get the hit. when the hit drops off the only thing to do is another chocolate bar. just like alcohol, which is processed very much like fructose from processed sugars in the liver.

My best guess on the binge is that you pushed your body too hard with the calorie burn during the week. It had got used to a slow and steady reduction of calories and the sudden onslaught sent it into panic mode and forced you to refeed to make it up. It kind of makes a case for the tortoise is this race rather than the hare.

I have found that if I am consistently running in a big calorie deficit i feel the need to binge, so I have increased the base calories and am only a little in deficit and do not need to binge. I do consume a lot of protein and fats so I get full quickly but that’s just my experience.

Schedule a regular burger king once per week. after 2 months take it out to once per two weeks etc .......

The simplest way is just to ignore what happened yesterday. Just ignore it. Pick up where you left off and smile when you think of your weekend of binge eating. It was fun right? Then enjoy it and carry on.

love your videos. do you know the expression: where attention goes, energy flows? if you try witness meditation, you can easily learn to shift your attention from the content in your mind to the one who thinks. then the energy will flow to there instead being on the content. because the mind can't solve its problems by thinking, it just "enhance" what's in the mind. hope its understandable,im Danish, English is a second language

Lets be honest. Stepbrothers is a pretty good film. :-) Goes to show how hard it is to stick to a healthy diet in todays environment. Well done anyway 👏

Can i say I impressed by your weekend off, over the last 9 months have dropped 40kg (2k in 3k out everyday = 1kg lost per week) I know find it hard to eat lot's, probably a good skill to lose and very embarrassed if I tried to eat lot's in public, how did your body react or did muscles just pop up like a bodybuilder

I normally find it takes two weeks for what you eat to appear on the body

We train hard so we can eat hard, I bet you enjoyed the weekend though 😁

Great post @Mark Lewis. My balance is about 2400 cal/day. If I eat 3400 cal/day for a month I may increase my weight by 1 kg and if I ate 1400 cal/day for a month I may loose 1 kg. The difference is that 1 kg is in the belly😅😂

The problem is simply that you were in too much of a deficit and it triggered your body’s “starvation” mode where it thinks essentially that you’re going to die and does everything possible to force you to redress the balance, you were fighting strong hormonal reactions and no amount of willpower or anything else is going to help you at that point! It’s why “crash diets” rarely if ever work and inevitably end up in yo-yo-ing. Long term there is simply no alternative to gradually adjusting your diet so so gradually into one that you can sustain forever as your “new normal”, not be constrained by or feel that you are “missing out”. If you feel that you are on a “diet” it’s necessarily a short-term thing that you can lapse from, whereas a new dietary pattern is simply “how you eat”.

So just what does feeling like shit feel like? Maybe I was tired instead? Great videos better language 🤙

I’m just finding your channel and it’s great! You’re vegan correct?

Hi Mark, I hear you; 76Kg is my ideal weight; 4x I got there in the last 25 years only for my weight to bounce a little higher than before: 79…81…83 …85…. a month ago on my 60th birthday I was 88Kg and my health metrics have deteriorated accordingly. I run 2 x week, play indoor soccer for 90 minutes 1x week and train with a skipping rope 2 x week but I eat more calories than I burn (like you I love food and desserts). So inspired by your videos I also set off on 16:8 diet and have lost 4 Kg so far but give myself a controlled break on week ends. I think you have watched too many David Goggins videos; 16:8 every day for 8 weeks is mentally taxing IMHO. You may like to consider giving yourself a controlled mental break from 16:8 that you plan ahead. BTW I was promised a Wahoo Kickr as a birthday gift with a suggestion I add Zwift to my training so I found your videos on Zwift and loved your other content; so tell your kids that your subscribers confirm that you are an influencer! Today was my first proper Zwift ride … 40 Km and I am stuffed but hooked!

I am being serious here, Dead-pool is going to really worry he isn’t as super as you are;-). Did you get your hands on some super soldier serum;:-)

We’re getting married on the same day!! 👍👍

Wasn't Monday your rest day?

Are you vegan?? I would love some of your vegan food ideas

Clearly your mindset is still seeing those products as ‘food’ and ‘edible’, which I found the most shocking. I was never that bad, but the solution for me was not to allow myself access, or even consider such products as real food. I’m not stopping myself by willpower, but it’s been maybe two years since I had any fast food, just from changing my world view. Ill have !snacks at a party though…..lol, yeah, delicious!

Interesting that you mention that you didn’t put 8lbs on even though mathematically you should have. Have you read 'Why we eat(too much)'. If you haven’t it’d be a great read for you. All about how we have a weight set point.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Ps hate you slow run is 6/7 mins per km I was chuffed to make that pace, always been better on the bike

Sounds like you had some huge shits! On a more serious note, even though you have the habit of exercise and the habit of healthy eating, they're all slowly draining your willpower, and then when an option is suggested you don't have that willpower available and so are easily won over. Then you've opened the floodgates and that dam takes a shit load to close again

I think that’s called greed!

do you ever feel bad for the farm animals that are never born because your vegan? ok i admit that’s a little bit of a backward argument.