nutrition

Sous Vide Update: Yeah, it is yummy.

Completely unrelated to Keto Chow but still quite relevant to ketogenic diets. The chuck roasts I had cooking for 44 hours with my Sous Video “Precision Cooker” finished cooking (like yesterday but whatever, I was going for awesome overkill). Turned out awesome.

On an unrelated note, I’m claiming a personal victory: none of my kids cut any of the fat off the meat. All of them ate ALL of it, in fact they ate most of one of the plates full by themselves (I think it was mostly the 14 year olds but whatever). Only my wife cut some fat off, old habits die hard after a life of “fat is bad” indoctrination.

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By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00May 19th, 2016|Ketogenic|Comments Off on Sous Vide Update: Yeah, it is yummy.
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The Biggest Loser Diet – Explained!

This entry is part 126 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

This week results of a study were posted showing that contestants from “The Biggest Loser” from several years ago had mostly regained all their lost weight. From the conclusions offered in the findings it would seem there is no way to lose weight. The subjects metabolisms slowed down so much that it was nearly impossible for them to maintain their weight loss. Doctor Jason Fung does an excellent job of distilling what’s really going on here. I suggest you head over and read his article. I’ll wait.

This is what is sometimes termed ‘starvation mode’. This is what people imagine happens as their body starts to shut down in order to conserve energy. Basal metabolism (Calories Out) falls and you feel like crap. As you eat less, your body burns less calories, so that eventually weight loss plateaus. Then you feel like crap, so decide to eat a bit more (your hunger hormones are also rising like a spire), but not as much as you used to. But, your ‘Calories Out’ is so low that you get weight regain. Sound familiar? Happens to every dieter out there. What’s unfair, is that their friends and family silently blame the victim of having ‘fallen off the wagon’, or not having enough will power. Actually, the dietary advice – Eat Less, Move More is guaranteed to fail. So don’t blame the victim when they actually do fail.

You did read the article right? If you didn’t the TL;DR is:

  1. Caloric Reduction as Primary strategy puts you into starvation mode (lower metabolism).
  2. The key to losing weight in the long term is maintaining basal metabolism, or keeping ‘Calories Out’ high.
  3. Failure rate of Eat Less, Move More is proven to be 99% or so. This remains the diet advice favored by most physicians and dieticians.
  4. Actual starvation (fasting or bariatric surgery) does not put you into starvation mode (metabolism remains high).
  5. Ketogenic diets do not put you into starvation mode either (metabolism remains high).

My own experience confirms this. When I had a DEXA scan done I also did the resting metabolic rate test. Despite being on a Ketogenic diet for over a year and a half, my metabolism isn’t crazy low, quite the opposite:

The RMR report also said I probably want between 1776 and 2218 calories a day for weight loss; and that my metabolism is 10% faster than people of similar sex, age, height and weight. There were some less than useful platitudes about “you must burn more calories than you consume to lose weight” which is the same as saying “you must save more money than you spend to save money” or “if more people leave a room than come in, there will be less people in the room” – um… thanks?

So. If you want to lose weight because your body doesn’t handle carbohydrates well (like me!) and keep it off, it seems these are the steps:

  1. Switch to a ketogenic LIFESTYLE – no cheating, no end. If you go back to eating the sugary junk that got you fat in the first place, what do you think will happen?
  2. Do intermittent fasting (just don’t eat for two meals but keep drinking water) or outright fasting (24 hours without calories)
  3. If you’re feeling ambitious, try lifting weights. I’m currently a few weeks into StrongLifts5x5 (along with my wife, she’s awesome by the way; our anniversary is tomorrow) and so far it’s been simple and easy to stick to. Takes around 30 minutes, three times a week.
By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00May 5th, 2016|Ketogenic, Weight Loss|Comments Off on The Biggest Loser Diet – Explained!
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Started StrongLifts 5×5 at the Gym, couldn’t stand it – time for home gym

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Weight Lifting

I’ve been wanting to start lifting and StrongLifts 5×5 looked like a simple and effective way to get back into it (not to mention there is a seriously awesome app to keep track of it, it even has android wear integration!). I did lifting back in high school and some in college but that was 6 kids ago; and while my quads still look pretty awesome (if I say so myself, which I do) it’s time to take the next step. My brother advocated “renting” the equipment via a gym membership before outright buying so I decided to try that.

So I made an appointment at two local gyms to see what they offer. Lifetime was pretty much a country club with a price to match ($69 a person, $169 for 3+ “adults” over 13 years old, kids under 13 are $10). It was a really nice place with several hundred treadmills, indoor and outdoor pools and other amenities. VASA was more spartan with less available but again, a price to match ($10-25 a month). Both of the gyms are targeting people who want to do classes, who want to do cardio, who want to use weight machines with pulleys and cables. Both are sub-optimal for StrongLifts 5×5 because their free weight offerings frankly sucked.

StrongLifts 5×5 is pretty basic: you alternate 5 different lifting exercises 3 times a week: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row, Overhead Press, and Deadlift. Each is 5 sets of 5 reps (hence 5×5 – except dead lifts which is 1×5), Squats is done each time or it would be 6 exercises. It ends up being really simple and doesn’t require a lot of equipment. Mostly you just need weights, a bench and a way to lift safely – that involves a squatting rack/power rack which is also used for bench press. If you have a full cage power rack you can do the whole thing without a spotter, on your own terms and schedule, so going to the gyms I was looking primarily at how many power racks they had. Lifetime had two fully enclosed free weight racks and four power lifting open cages – mostly for deadlift though you could easily use them for squatting. VASA had 3 full cages. Neither had a bench you could pull over to use in the cages so you would need a spotter for bench press. I was able to locate a roaming bar to use for barbell row/deadlift/overhead press at Lifetime but not at VASA. Neither were terribly accommodating to StrongLifts or free weights in general. At least they don’t have the moronic PlanetFitness “lunk alarm” used to actively discourage serious body building. I actually did a full SL5x5 session of lifting at LifeTime and I pretty much hated the entire experience. Waiting for a rack, waiting for a bench, searching for a bar, no bueno man. Add to that at the beginning of SL5x5 you’re just lifting a naked bar without plates; I felt silly at the gym.

So I came home and was at least grateful that I just did it as a trial run without actually signing anything. I decided half way through my first set of squats that I was going to clean up the basement and buy my own equipment. There was a really helpful post on reddit that pointed me over to the Titan T2 Power rack which I had previously seen on the SL5x5 site. On a side note: Titan has a 10% off code good until April 30, 2016 “REFUND10” – they also do free shipping which is crazy for how heavy the stuff is they are shipping. So I ordered the T2 then found a guy on craigslist that buys inventory from gyms and got some used plates, a bench and a bar. The guy gave my kids some mis-matched 1 lb hand weights because my youngest kept asking what he could buy with the $3 in his wallet. Nice guy.

Anyhow, I have a place set up in the basement and the power rack should be arriving Friday, which is pretty awesome for free shipping from Tennessee ordered Monday night. I’m looking forward to posting updates (and not being able to walk every other day).

By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00April 20th, 2016|Weight Lifting|3 Comments
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Day 100 – 100 days of Keto (Chow) retrospective plus a rant about skinny weight loss coaches

This entry is part 81 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto

Weight change for the 100 days: 209.9 lbs to 205.4 lbs. That’s not really stellar progress but compared to gaining I suppose I’ll take it. I also didn’t “cheat” once; meaning I didn’t ever deliberately eat foods containing sugar, starch or other carbohydrates – but that wasn’t a surprise, aside from “robins eggs” that are still kicking around my house I’m not tempted at all by carby foods. For the most part I did have 3 meals of Keto Chow a day for the 100 days but it’s the “extra” stuff that was detrimental.

This 100 day experiment was a good experience though. I can see a direct correlation between my progress and the amount of malitol I consumed, for one thing. Malitol is a relatively common “sugar free” sweetener. And by “sugar free” I’m using the loose standard the food industry uses since it is a sugar alcohol and is arguably better than sucrose, though not by much. Because malitol is cheaper than most of the sugar alcohols like Erythritol it gets used pretty frequently in sugar free stuff. Like Russell Stover chocolates, sugar free lemon heads and others. My advice to myself and to others: if it has malitol then you can’t subtract the sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrates. In other words: just avoid it entirely. Go get some Swerve sweetener and make your own stuff instead. Seriously, it’s my downfall and I’m finally coming to terms with it. As much as people rail against aspartame and sucralose at least I know they don’t affect my metabolism.

So, I didn’t lose much weight during the experiment, what about blood ketones? First off: measuring your ketones is generally a really bad idea. It’s motivational to get some of the urine test strips when you are very first starting out doing keto since you can see a tangible and almost immediate result. As your body adapts to ketosis the urine test strips become useless though, you stop producing extra that gets excreted and the strips stop working. So you can test with blood tests or breath acetone tests. The blood tests are like $2 each and the breath tester is $150. You also fall into a non-constructive pattern if you are constantly testing and “chasing ketones”. You’re better off just limiting your carbohydrates, tracking food in general and keeping at it. Keep Calm and Keto On (KCKO) as they say. So I did measure my blood ketone levels every day. Near the end of the experiment I discovered that I was doing it wrong! Thanks to the “dawn phenomenon” my glucose was high and ketones were low every morning when I tested. That can partially account for why I only averaged 0.5 mmol/L during the experiment (you want to be in the 1.5-3.0 range). the rest of it is the aforementioned malitol.

So here’s where I get into my rant: I feel your pain because it’s my pain too.

Losing weight can be very, very difficult for people (at times it can also be really easy for others). The irony is that almost all of the people you see that advocate exercise, active lifestyles and other “traditional” forms of weight loss have never experienced Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance or Diabetes. You see the rail thin “never been overweight” paragons of fitness selling exercise plans to get people skinny, or body wraps, or ab crunchers. Even the models they use for weight reduction surgery look like they’ve NEVER been obese. They just don’t understand, and it drives me nuts. Unfortunately society as a whole also subscribes to the notion that all you have to do to be skinny is exercise, fat people are lazy, it’s a moral weakness.

Being fat is a lack of character so far as being allergic to peanuts is a lack of character. Some people can’t handle gluten, others get sunburn almost by looking at a photograph of the sun. Are those problems with their moral fiber, with their will power? Should society look down on them? Maybe they should just try not being diabetic, or celiac , or ginger. Your body’s ability or inability to process glucose/carbohydrates isn’t your fault. If people happen to have won the genetic lottery and their cells haven’t become resistant to insulin yet then that’s also not something they should be applauded for. That’s just how your body may be.

When I was a skinny little kid with asthma I couldn’t gain weight for anything. Then I overcame that and, by the outward indicators, slowly worked up resistance to insulin. I stopped processing glucose like I was supposed to. I don’t know if that was genetics, environment, or (more likely) a result of what I was eating combined with the two.  Regardless, I got fat and stayed fat. To date, the only thing that has had a consistent effect on my weight was coming to terms with how I personally metabolize glucose (or rather don’t). Switching to a ketogenic diet has impacted my health and weight tremendously and I don’t see any reason I would ever stop. Why eat bread when you can eat bacon?

So I consider these 100 days a success for the additional experience I gained. Sure it would have been awesome to be down to 180, but when people report that they’re having issues losing weight I more than understand. I’ve had the same frustrations and maybe even done the same things that are hindering your/their progress.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00April 13th, 2016|Keto Chow, Ketogenic, 100 days of keto, Weight Loss|6 Comments
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Day 061 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 50 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 204.6
  • Blood ketones: 0.4 mmol/L

Again with the running! I went to my dentist yesterday to see if the pain in my jaw was tooth related, got a panoramic x-ray and everything looks good. Based on my description and the way my jaw was closing, the dentist posits that I hurt the “disc” in my jaw somehow and it needs some time to get better. He prescribed 800mg of ibuprofen and told me that although it would be hard, I needed to try to limit biting down for a week or more “try to stick to soft foods”. I literally laughed out loud and then had to do a really rough explanation about my mostly liquid diet =). So for future reference, Keto Chow works quite well when you have dental/jaw problems.

I did awesome yesterday and the only non-keto chow calories I consumed was a little bit of cheese, I’ll see if I can act on the advice of my dentist.

Last night I was reading a post on the /r/ketochow sub-reddit where someone had gotten a DEXA scan. Down the rabbit hole I went! A while later I had found a company here locally that does them, they charge $99 for 1 scan and have in the past given discounts if you sign up for multiple ones at a time, so I have an appointment for Monday, March 14 (Pi day). EDIT: I was looking at their “Sample Report” and laughed out loud at “Android fat is associated with visceral (unhealthy) fat” – that darn android fat!

On a final note, today there was a new “study” published that claims a high fat diet (in mice) causes cancer. There is an excellent discussion over on /r/ketoscience about it but the TL; DR is

Low quality fat sources: 55% lard and 5.5% soybean oil. 32% of the fat is PUFA, omega6:3 ratio is 14:1.

Low quality protein sources: 20% casein that is poor in glycine and taurine, which are needed for metabolic health.

Low quality carbohydrate sources: 12% maltodextrin and 7% sugar that are completely unnecessary and just there to hinder fat metabolism.

Turns out that if you put mice on a diet of sugar and lard, the mice get fat and sick.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:47-06:00March 4th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 061 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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User experience: 100lbs lost doing keto in 5 months, 3 months of Keto Chow

This entry is part 119 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

Over on Reddit there’s a post by /u/ANewAccountYetAgain detailing his experiences with nutritional ketosis. He did keto before, went from 330 to 253 lbs over 6 months but stopped when depression came back and over the next 3 years gained it all back and more.

5 months ago he started keto thanks to /r/100DaysofKeto and also tried DietBet (money as a motivator can be strong =) and lost a lot. In November, 3 months ago, he started using Keto Chow.

This ended up eliminating my last two big sources of stress: money and cooking.

It’s great to read success stories, there are tons on /r/keto and some Keto Chow specific ones on /r/ketochow. I encourage you to check them out! He said I could use his pictures, even though I dislike doing things when I have permission I’ll do it anyway =)

Before

His very first DietBet weigh in photo ~353
After

Yesterday’s photo – 253lbs

The first thing that stands out to me is he seems to be taller in the new one… oh wait, it’s just a larger photo. Still, his complexion is really clear.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:52-06:00February 12th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow, Soylent, Weight Loss|Comments Off on User experience: 100lbs lost doing keto in 5 months, 3 months of Keto Chow
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Day 040 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 34 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 205.0
  • Blood ketones: 0.2 mmol/L

5 days straight with the scale going down, yay! Going to keep this going. I made eggs and sausage for the family for breakfast, and I did eat 2 patties of sausage but now I’m drinking my Keto Chow. I am planning on having a rib-eye for lunch (see above) during the keto chow mixing party that will be today.

One of my daughters is celebrating a birthday and there’s a ton of super carby desserts. They don’t even phase me anymore, I’m actually starting to get conflicted about the amount of sugar my (non-insulin resistant so they don’t need to do Keto like I do) kids eat. Hence the sausage and egg breakfast… which was almost 0 carb until they broke out the maple syrup! Regardless, our family does eat far less sugar and refined carbohydrates than before and that can only be a good thing.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:54-06:00February 12th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow, Ketogenic, Weight Loss|Comments Off on Day 040 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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PSA: “Fat Head” documentary online

This came up today so I thought I’d post for everyone, the Fat Head documentary used to be on YouTube but was taken down. Now days you can find it on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879 and also on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/127401963 – the Hulu one seems more official.

If you haven’t seen Fat Head, it’s a rather good introduction to HFLC/Keto and explains some of the history behind the war on fat and cholesterol. Along with the info there’s a healthy dose of humor. It’s a good way to explain what the crap you’re doing when people ask =)

It follows stand-up comedian Tom Naughton as he tries to lose weight on a fast-food diet, to prove Morgan “Super Size Me” Spurlock wrong. Along the way Naughton realizes that he himself has been wrong in focusing only on calories.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:55-06:00January 27th, 2016|Weight Loss, Ketogenic|Comments Off on PSA: “Fat Head” documentary online
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Keto Chow in paradise

This entry is part 116 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

 

My parents visited Hawaii and my dad sent me some info on his experience. Bright, sunny Hawaii is a radical departure from his recent photographic work (photos of nightscapes – check out http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.com/ in several of his shots I’m the guy turning on the light to paint the scenes). He seems to really like measuring out 50g into bags ahead of time to make measuring easier:

Keto Chow and traveling is an easy combination. I wondered if airport security would question the plastic bags of powder ,  but no one has seemed concerned. I pack 50 grams of Keto Chow per small snack bag.  I even went to Arizona in December with no security problems. The insulated bottles keep my Chow the perfect temperature, even in Kauai.  Winter here is only a few degrees cooler than the Summer months but my favorite time to escape the snowy mountains of home in January.

A local snack of dry roasted macadamia nuts has been a unique and readily available treat.  Serving size, 1/4 cup.  Total carbs, 4 grams.  Dietary fiber, 2 grams.  Net carbs 2 grams, same as almonds.  Total fat, 21 grams to balance protein intake.

I forgot a measuring cup but that was a simple purchase.  Extra cream can serve as a substitute for the MCT oil for a few days,

[to simplify] ingredients.  I like to bring a variety of flavors but my favorites are:  chocolate peanut butter, rich chocolate and strawberry blast.  The wonderful smell of fresh pineapple has not even been able to convince me to break my diet.  Keto Chow is a big part of my successful quest to lose weight.

Stats
  • Male
  • Age 67
  •  Time on Keto Chow: 3 months on Feb 2nd.
  •  Complications: none.
  •  Lost about 12 lbs, average 4 lbs a month.

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By |2016-10-13T07:27:55-06:00January 25th, 2016|Keto Chow, Ketogenic, On Tour, Soylent, Weight Loss|Comments Off on Keto Chow in paradise
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Keto and Kidneys from a Golden Oldie, Senior citizen viewpoint

This entry is part 115 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

Here is a followup experience to an earlier post:

Caution is always advised when considering a new diet and I read all the studies, comments and concerns about

[moderate] protein/low carb combinations.  I did not factor in my response to the protein powder because I did not realize my kidney function was diminished.  I have had two painful episodes.  The first seemed attributable to dehydration, which should be avoided at all times.  The second hit me hard after limiting protein powder for 3 weeks and deciding my issues had been temporary.  They are permanent and very painful.  I am fortunate, that I appear to have recovered without serious damage.

I share this to help others be aware of the remote, but real, possibility of kidney problems.  My age could be a factor, since I am over 65, but husband is just a few months older and he has no problems.  Other health impairments could also contribute to the difficulty; but I have heard my body’s clear message and will try to find less intense ways to balance nutrition and protein intake.

I have not “found” the weight I lost during the two months on the keto diet.  It helped me become much more aware of the hidden sugars that lurk in commercially prepared foods.  Changing eating habits to better choices is beneficial and this continues to be my plan.

I personally, liked the Keto Chow approach and wish I could maintain it.  Keto Chow is simple, easy to prepare and delicious.  My husband will keep his schedule of enjoying 2-3 meals a day.  We see embracing sugar free living as a way to be kind to our aging bodies and not become diabetic.

Bottom line:  if you can tolerate the protein…try the Keto Chow.  It is amazing.

So there you go: if you have kidney problems, check carefully to make sure you can handle the protein; and specifically the protein powder

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By |2016-10-13T07:27:55-06:00January 16th, 2016|Keto Chow|Comments Off on Keto and Kidneys from a Golden Oldie, Senior citizen viewpoint
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