Hey all, have tracked many metrics and executed numerous of hours of analysis, so wished to share what has labored for me and key issues I’ve discovered to this point.
1. PRIOR TO CHANGES
– I am 6’2″. 2010–2019, fluctuated btwn 195 and 210lbs. Began creeping above that in 2019.
– In 2022, eating regimen went from not nice to pure rubbish: 3.5k – 5k energy every day, incl. soda, quick meals, sweet, and different processed junk. Gained 15–20lbs in underneath a yr.
– Hit 238lbs in November 2022 and realized that was… not OK. Louis CK echoed in my head:
“I weigh 240 kilos, which not okay, as a result of there is not any method, like, you already know, if you go to a health care provider, they offer you want a system for the way a lot your weight– like a rule of thumb? I am fairly positive it isn’t your age + 200 kilos. Like, I used to be watching a boxing match immediately and each guys, they weighed 110 kilos every. So each of these guys nonetheless want a fats child and a lifeless canine to make me.”
Determined to make some modifications, with a aim weight of 190lbs.
2. WEEKS 1-4: REDUCED CALORIES
WHAT I CHANGED
Weight loss program
– Decreased energy to avg. of two.4k, however saved consuming a lot of carbs & processed meals
– Avg. every day macros: 141g protein, 128g fats, 171g carbs
Train
– Had been strolling ~1 mile per day. Put a treadmill at my desk, avg. of 6 miles per day at 1-2mph.
Monitoring
– Macros: Bought meals scale and began (truthfully) monitoring all the pieces I used to be consuming utilizing MacroFactor. (No affiliation w/ the app but it surely’s labored nice for me and I like to recommend it extremely.)
– Measurements: Neck, chest, waist at BB / 2cm above / 2cm under, biceps, thighs, calves.
– Weight: Each morning.
– Blood: Glucose in morning utilizing KetoMojo.
RESULTS
– Misplaced 18lbs (238 > 220)
– Measurements: Shrank in every single place, e.g. waist at BB down 6%, from 115cm (45in.) to 108cm (42.5in.), i.e. 7cm (2.8 in.) change
– Important enchancment in power and temper
– No change in glucose – common of 93 mg/dL
WEEKS 4-11 – FURTHER REDUCED CALORIES, STARTED KETOGENIC DIET + INTERMITTENT FASTING
Weight loss program
– In the reduction of again every day energy an extra 20% to avg. of 1.9k.
– Lower out processed meals virtually solely
– Went keto: eradicated grains and different sources of sugar.
– Day by day avg. of 109g protein, 144g fats, 51g carbs (32g internet carbs)
– Staple Meals: eggs, avocados, spinach, olive oil, zero-carb cheeses (cheddar my fav), hen, prosciutto, macadamia nuts, sugar-free whipped cream.
– 24-36 hour fasts 1-2x per week.
Train
– Continued strolling at the very least 5 miles/day, added RUCKING…
– RUCKING = strolling 3-4 miles 2-3x/week with weights in a backpack. “Cardio for individuals who hate cardio”. Began with 20lbs, upped it progressively. Bought as much as 65lbs however now specializing in velocity and extra hills with a ~45lb bag.
– Dr. Peter Attia on rucking advantages: https://youtu.be/OHdp75ezdyY?t=6191
Outcomes
– Temper and power improved much more. (It isn’t a NIGHT AND DAY distinction, however sufficient of an enchancment that it is a large motivator for me to stay on keto.)
– Majorly lowered want to nap in the course of the day. Vitality ranges extra secure.
– Glucose (fasted, after waking up): Avg. 93 mg/dL (5.2 nmol/L) in weeks 1-4 declined to 82 mg/dL (4.6 nmol/L) in weeks 5–11.
– Ketones: started measuring blood BHB utilizing KetoMojo: avg. of two.0 mmol/L (36mg/dL), highest I’ve ever been is 4.2 mmol/L (76mg/dL)
– Blood strain and resting coronary heart fee have remained the identical.
MY TAKEAWAYS
1. Enter a caloric deficit and you may drop pounds. Revolutionary idea, I do know! I am proud to be the primary individual to ever understand this. You are welcome.
2. When you’ve by no means tracked your macros earlier than, take into account doing so. Get a meals scale (they’re low-cost) and use an app. It is going to make you far more aware of what you are consuming and sure encourage you to make higher choices about what you eat.
3. Take into account monitoring weight and physique measurements at a minimal, weekly. To see your progress in quantified type is vastly motivating.
4. Whereas on keto and/or fasting, be sure that to eat a lot of water and sufficient sodium, magnesium, and potassium. In any other case, you are extra more likely to expertise the “keto flu” (e.g. complications, lethargy), muscle cramping, and different generally reported points.
5. Early on in keto, dishonest is not value it.
– In early January I had a couple of cheat days the place I finished exercising, stuffed my face with carbs, and fell out of ketosis. I’ll admit, the enormous bowl of ziti I had for my first cheat meal was a near-religious expertise. However my weight reduction stopped instantly and it took me ~2 weeks to see my train habits, temper, ketone ranges, and weight reduction to totally get well.
As Dr. Stephen Phinney, one of many godfathers of the trendy ketogenic eating regimen, as soon as stated:
You be taught in a short time, by not feeling properly, not functioning properly, that it is higher to remain on [keto] than to take the occasional vacation after which pay the worth of getting to undergo the re-adaptation course of.
That stated, many individuals who’ve been on keto for longer than I’ve and are extra totally “fat-adapted” report that they will have a cheat meal or perhaps a cheat DAY with out falling out of ketosis – or in the event that they do go away ketosis, they will get again into it in a short time.
I am simply reporting my expertise, which is that I want I hadn’t cheated for a number of meals in a row after solely a month on keto. I might most likely be at 195lbs proper now as an alternative of 202lbs.
6. There’s nonetheless a TON of unsettled science about vitamin, metabolism, the weight problems epidemic, and so on.
– Some specialists declare that ketosis + fasting immediate you to burn physique fats for power WITHOUT decreasing lean physique mass or considerably reducing your baseline metabolism, permitting a sustainable discount in your “set level” weight when that # is in any other case very cussed.
– Energy-In, Energy-Out (CICO) Counterargument: Others say that these results are overblown, and what truly issues much more is that keto and fasting each trigger many individuals to eat fewer energy. On this method, they are saying, keto + fasting succeed for a similar purpose ANY eating regimen succeeds: a caloric deficit.
I think each colleges of thought have some extent. I want I may re-run the previous 11 weeks, consuming the identical energy and exercising the identical method I’ve every day, however consuming carbs and by no means going greater than 6 hours throughout waking hours with out consuming.
How a lot weight would I’ve misplaced to this point as an alternative? I strongly suspect it will be at LEAST 50%, however virtually definitely UNDER 100%, of what I’ve misplaced doing keto + IF. However I do not know past that and am open to being unsuitable.
Curious for y’all’s ideas on this!
