90 days of clean entovegan eating and working out – the body composition results

Well, it’s finally done! 90 days after I started on this journey, I’ve made it to the finish line feeling pretty good overall, but as you’ll see in a moment, somewhat mad about the results of my body composition test!

I went to the best gym in the city, probably the whole country, to get my body measured and tested. They have some fancy machine that sends electrodes through the hands and feet and can supposedly measure all this stuff accurately. I’m currently not sure whether to laugh, cry, or become bulimic, but let’s just say the results didn’t make my day.

Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first:

• Eating super clean with no cheat meals even, for 3 months, was psychologically miserable. There were some actually depressing days as I stuffed my mouth full of raw spinach and broccoli and crunchy insects. That’s on me, I could have gone to Vibe Cafe or something, but food is fuel and time is money, so it was faster and just as effective to simply eat at home. But often less tasty.
• I like crickets, I really do. But after 90 days of eating them every day, I really wouldn’t mind NOT eating them for a while (though as protein in my shakes, I don’t really even notice it)
• Despite working out harder than I have in years, it feels like my metabolism has slowed down. I probably need to be supplementing with additional things, I’ll have to figure that out.
• My body composition test says I’m fat and overweight. Talk about a downer! I thought the pics looked decent this morning, then I go get that news…

So what were my results?

• Weight: 90kg (4.4kg overweight)
• Muscle Mass: 42.9kg (3kg over)
• Body Fat Mass: 15.5kg (normal range)
• BMI: 26.6 (overweight)
• Bodyfat Percentage: 17.7% (WTF! Seriously? How?)
• Segmental Fat: Everything in normal range except my fat ass, which is 8.3kg over. Good lord.
• Total Body Water: 54.8kg (high by 3.6kg)
• Fat Free Mass: 74.5kg (high by 7.3kg – that would seem like a good thing though, yeah?)

And then there’s this gem, my recommended calorie intake per day: 2600kcal I’ve been eating less than 2000 for the past month I’m 99% sure…so this also makes no sense if I’m practically obese. I haven’t lost kg’s or changed dramatically over that period of caloric restriction.

So, that stupid test aside, what about the rest of the 90 days, and my thoughts on it.

Well, I’ve been “entovegan” fully since April, but the main difference the past 3 months is that I wasn’t traveling so I ate and worked out consistently every day, every week, every month – and now I’m here.

I did change somewhat – the before and after pics are pretty clear that I went from out of shape after coming back from Mexico and my tortillas beans and nopal cactus diet, to looking like I might actually be somewhat athletic.

But I didn’t get shredded or really bulked up, though I feel stronger and certainly feel a lot healthier. I was actually hoping to build more muscle, but I gained quite a bit of weight the first two months, then despite being on a calorie restriction (doing the 16/8 eating method, as I mentioned here) I didn’t lose any weight at all during the final month. Which I thought was kind of weird. And the test says is because I have a fat ass. Maybe that’s why I’m good at boxing out and getting rebounds in basketball. 😐

To be honest – since I’m not a doctor – all I can go by is how I feel in terms of energy, mental clarity, how I’m sleeping, etc. And in those areas I feel good. Do I feel better than I did when I was eating a lot of chicken and fish and dairy? Yes, actually – and that’s one thing that I noticed right away in April / May / June and why I decided to keep it going through the end of the year. I certainly feel better.

I will get some blood tests done soon because I think that will be more telling than a body composition test. But as far as I can tell, I’m healthier and in better shape than I was as a meat-eater. I’m stronger, more muscular, my joints feel better, and I can workout harder for longer than when I was a meat eater.

And in combination with that, I’m eating cleaner (which is healthier long-term), and in a much more eco-friendly, sustainable way that benefits local insect and veggie farmers. So it’s a win all the way around.

Insect protein is a definite net positive in my diet and my life, so I’m going to stick with it as my primary source, along with all the great fruits and veggies I consume. Apparently I need to work on burning some fat off my tush though, so I’m going to get to work on that the next couple of months haha.

I am also planning to do a parasite cleanse and a candida cleanse – the latter is something which has always caused a dramatic loss of bodyfat in the past. Candida is horrible when there is an overgrowth in the body – but it’s difficult to get rid of.

If you haven’t tried insect protein I highly recommend it. Eating huge platefuls of crickets every day might not be your thing, but you can use cricket protein for baking, in smoothies, in homemade pasta noodles, many different ways! Any negativity I might have spoken about eating too many crickets is simply because I’m not someone who enjoys the kitchen, so I didn’t use crickets / cricket protein in any of those delicious manners.

I just used powder in my smoothies, and ate garlic fried crickets. So if you’re more adventurous with cooking, you can definitely make some great-tasting dishes.

Now I’m going to go eat an entire vegan chocolate cake as my reward for zero cheat meals for 3 months! 😀 More good stuff to come here though as I seek to improve my diet and overall well-being, as an Entovegan.