Ketosis - Day 6

As I happily skip into day 6 of ketosis, I am surprised to be loving it!  I read so much about the "keto-flu" that occurs during the first few days of ketosis; I was dreading feeling that way.  But here I am in full keto-mode (check with Ketostix) and feeling really good. Of course, I want to share my theories on why and what seems to be working for me.

As your brain and body adapt, ketone levels rise and the muscles switch over to burning fat for fuel. During this process the body loses a lot of water (as well as potassium, magnesium and sodium), thus you become dehydrated and basically feel like you have a hangover/flu. Being a good little Girl Scout, I was prepared (that might be the Boy Scout motto).

First and foremost, drink lots and lots of water, then more water, other sugar-free drinks and then more water! I also found a great supplement that replaces all those very important minerals that get lost during ketosis. (Maybe they need Google Maps since they keep getting lost.) Yep, I figured it out and I am not telling, just kidding; here is a link: Ionic Magnesium. I also added a Vitamin C supplement, because as cool as pirates maybe, I don't want scurvy.  For good measure, I added really good probiotic; good probiotics are sold refrigerated and need to stay refrigerated at home.

The shot glass is how much Ionic Magnesium is in a dose.
Note: It tastes awful, add water and take it like a shot.
Then, chase it with something that tastes good.

Flora Adult's Probiotic (store in refrigerator)

Even with the supplements and all the water, there were a couple times that I started to feel a little tired or weak, so I ate fat and a little protein and it helped very quickly. 

Here is the most exciting part for me, I have been sleeping better!  Turns out that high fat diets can help with REM Sleep and deep sleep (SWS) - Bonus! 

Also,my heart rate has been about 20 BPM (beats per minute) higher than normal.  I can't find any scientific research that studies this specific side effect, but there are lots of blogs and forums noting the same effect.  I am theorizing it is my body adapting to using fat for fuel instead of carbs and when the adaptation is complete (2-4 weeks) my heart rate will return to normal. 

Overall, I am feeling great. I have dropped 1 lb; I consider this to be a good thing, because it means my body isn't just dumping water weight and I am staying well hydrated. Eating this much fat feels counter-intuitive, and yet oh so amazing!

Anyone else considering jumping on this train?  I will have some of my favorite keto-foods in my next post. Stay tuned...

Chelle

Bacon!

I am considering putting my body into a state of ketosis as a means to jump start my fitness routine after 6 weeks on the sidelines due to major surgery . As I was researching, it occurred to me that I have thought about this before, moreover, I have researched and written about this before. So of course, I Googled myself and found my old blog! Hi old friends, and new ones! 

By the way, have you ever "googled" yourself? Well once you stop, get on the computer and look yourself up. That joke is for you dirty minded kids; you know who you are.

Back to business, if you aren't familiar with keto, or just want to refresh your memory, flashback a few years on the ol' blog here and check out all the details. My curiosity in keto was refreshed by a friend that told me high fat content is a really important part of the keto diet. And not just healthy fat, but butter, cream, bacon, and cheese; yes please! Kind of seems too good to be true, I mean, sure I have to give up carbs, but add in all those indulgent foods and I might just jump on board this crazy, carb-free, train. "Nutritional ketosis" is widely debated, with study after study showing pros and cons.

After reading several studies, conducted over the last two centuries, my conclusion is that high fat, low protein intake allows for the maintenance of lean muscle while also burning fat for fuel. It is widely accepted that carbohydrates are needed to replenish depleted glycogen stores in the muscle post-workout, however, after 2-4 weeks of adaptation, physical endurance is unaffected by ketosis as long as high amounts of fat replace the carbohydrates.[1] Bonus! You can take 2-4 weeks off working out while your body adapts; I wish I knew this 4 weeks ago.

The ideal amount of protein is 1.5g per kg of "ideal" body weight. I don't know about you, but I don't know my weight in kg, so here is the conversion factor for you: (lb/2.2) I love seeing my weight in kg. Now multiply your kg by 1.5 and that is how many g of protein you need to consume for a healthy diet. I find the number to be surprisingly low. In Ketosis, the rest of your diet has to come from fat. That means 80-85% or your daily caloric intake needs to be from fat.* Too much protein (25%) leads to the fatigue and malaise noted by people who are attempting low-carb diets unsuccessfully.  The source of the 80% of fat is noted as coming from meat, fish and poultry. Getting that much fat seems exceedingly difficult without a large percentage being "unhealthy", so maybe my friend is right and we should all eat more bacon!

Choo-choo!  I think I am jumping on this train.  Let's see what happens.

Chelle

*It is very important to note that sodium and potassium supplements were provided during the study where keto-adaption occurred and health was maintained. The exact supplementation from the study is as follows: sodium at 3–5 g/d and total potassium at 2–3 g/d. 

Source:
 (1) Phinney SD (2004). "Ketogenic Diets and Physical Preformance"

My name is Michelle and I love infomercials.

When it's still dark out, before the kids are awake and after the hubs has left for work; I drink coffee in bed and scan though the TV channels looking for infomercials.  It is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.
Whenever I feel like I want to order something, I get on my phone and read independent reviews; they are always awful and turn me away from ordering.  Last week I was watching the Brazilian Butt Lift infomercial and I was impressed by the transformations of the users.  I take it with a grain of salt, knowing that they follow a strict workout regimen and diet to get those kind of results.  What really caught my attention was the women that were already in good shape; their booty's looked amazing after the 8 week program.  So I got online and started looking for reviews. To my surprise they were all really good, with the only bad comment being, "it was very difficult" and "not for beginners."  That just made me want it more!  After considering it for a day, I decided to order.  The videos arrived two nights ago, there are 7 different workouts and a guide that tells you exactly which ones to do each day according to your body type and goal.  I am planning on following the plan for the most part, but doing my own upper body, abs and cardio at the gym (on the days suggested in the program).  I am excited to see if it works and share it with others if it does.  I am going to take before and after pictures and post them here at the end of 8 weeks.  Stay tuned....

A day at the beach

We went to CA last week and for the first time in a long time I was excited to wear a bikini.  Jenn and I had fun taking some pictures of each other on muscle beach.  I think the guys working out were a little put off or maybe just distracted as we were the only to girls in the vicinity.  I gave myself licence to eat whatever I wanted and not feel guilty about it and it was everything that I thought it would be.  We even had ice cream for dinner one night...it was glorious. 
Since none of this is workout related I feel the need to add a little note of advice.  Do your cardio after you lift weights.  Your body takes 20 mins to burn through its glycogen(sugar) stores before you start to burn fat.  It you burn thought the glycogen during weight lifting, you will start burning fat for fuel as soon as you start your cardio and get the most bang for your buck.

Chelle

Teeny tiny bikini

My sister and I went to the Fitness competition on Saturday.  This is the same competition that we are going to compete in next year.  There were a record number of contestants...262!  It was amazing to see some of the bodies of the athletes.  Some of the men were so cut and defined that you could see the different fibers in their chest muscles.  It was like being at Body Worlds, but you could see the muscles with the skin still on.  The women started with the fitness competitors.  They come out on stage according to their class which is based on height.  They do quarter turns in front of the judges completing a circle, flexing the whole time they are on stage.  They were so muscular; you could see all of the muscles in their backs, beautiful v-tapers, ripped abs, defined bootys and not a drop of fat.  I was so intimidated, not to mention that the women the judges seemed to favor were a little bigger than I would like to be.  I was feeling reluctant...then the bikini women took the stage.  Now these women have some beautiful bodies, but not cut so you can see all the muscles.  They are toned and tight with not so much as a thigh dimple.  They don't have to flex, they simply stand in front of the judges, pose and smile.  They do a short "model walk" and present their backside to the viewing audience.  This was far less intimidating and totally achievable.  They had about 20 contestants per "class", so I have to have a better body than about 20 hard bodies to win.  I realize that this is probably not going to happen, but hey, at least I can say I tried.

Ketosis

While talking to a trainer at my gym to inquiring about getting ready for a fitness competition, he mentioned that I would want to put my body in to a state of ketosis for 2 weeks before.  Having lived though the Atkins craze I am familiar with the term and am none to happy to have to try it again.  I tried Atkins, where you eat a very minimal amount of carbs, for a few days about 8 years ago...it was awful.  I felt shaky and jittery; I could feel my blood sugar dropping and if you have ever had a sugar crash, you know that you have to get sugar and you have to get in NOW!  So it made me wonder, what exactly is a "state of ketosis" and why is it so important for body building? 
Ketosis is when the body lacks fuel from food sources and must burn its own fat for fuel. Normally the body burns carbohydrates for fuel -- this is the main source of fuel for your brain, heart ,and many other organs. A person in ketosis is getting energy from ketones, little carbon fragments that are the fuel created by the breakdown of fat stores.

As a result, your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine. So instead of relying on the carbohydrate-rich items you might typically consume for energy, and leaving your fat stores just where they were before (alas, the hips, belly, and thighs), your fat stores become a primary energy source.  It also benefits people weight training is by increasing the growth hormones released due to low insulin levels. Don't worry about getting bulky if you are considering ketosis, as women it is nearly impossible to "bulk-up" without the use of steroids; we just don't have enough testosterone to make it possible.

This sounds pretty good, the body burning fat for fuel, I'm totally loving this clever evolutionary trick.  Think about early man, meat would often be more readily available than crops containing a high amount of carbohydrates, thus the body would find another way to get energy...from fat stores.

Since in our modern, fast food world, we are never at a lack for carbs our body wants to avoid this "state" at all costs.  It can take several weeks for your body to get used to using ketones for energy instead of glucose(derived from carbs). During these weeks, your body will fight to get its carbs back and I can say from experience, it fights dirty.  I can't imagine feeling that way for several weeks; I only lasted a few hours. 

So can I get in "competition" shape without ketosis?  Only time will tell...

Anitbiotics, friend or foe?

I took antibiotics about two weeks ago to get rid of a sinus infection; it worked.  It killed most of the bacteria in my body, then my husband got gastroenteritis (stomach flu).  It didn't seem too bad, he was sick for about 10 hours and recovered for the most part in 24.  Then I got the stomach flu and it kicked my butt.  I was hold-up in the bathroom for 24 hours and writhing in pain.  I was convinced that something more must be wrong since I was in so much pain.  I tried to go to urgent care, but there was about 25 people in this dirty little room with plastic chairs and I decided I would rather go home and die then wait there.  It started to get better that night and I was able to keep food down.  It still took 2 days before I could stand without the black fuzzy dizziness that you get when you are super dehydrated.
So why was I hit so much harder than my husband?  As you may have already guessed, antibiotics are the culprit.  They can't distinguish between good bacteria and bad bacteria, so while traveling through my digestive tract they took out all of the good, healthy bacteria that keep things running smoothly.  The hubs, unknowingly, passed the virus on to me and bahm!  My system is without defense and tells my brain, we have no defenses here, just get rid of everything and brain does just that.  The whole digestive system contracts and seizes until everything is out. 
It takes the human body 18 months to regrow all of the good bacteria that are killed from taking one round of antibiotics.  18 months! Taking probiotics and eating foods with them, like yogurt, can help and I know I should have done that...too late now.  Doctors should say that every time they write a script for antibiotics, "Take some probiotics with this and if you come in contact with the stomach flu you will feel like you are dying.  Still want the antibiotics?"  I officially declare antibiotics foe and I will try to take them only when necessary; no need to die from strep to prove a point.