Keto, fitness, and life

Progress & workout blurbs

[kynft-keto]

Keto broke my addiction to food. Jesus broke my addiction to myself: self-pity, self-obsession, self-hatred. (yes all of those can be concurrently rampant in a person's heart at the same time and wreck havoc)

- me. and my life as of lately.

[kynft-keto]

In effect, wheat is an appetite stimulant. It makes you want more - more cookies, cupcakes, pretzels, candy, soft drinks. More bagels, muffins, tacos, submarine sandwiches, pizza. It makes you want both wheat containing and non-wheat containing foods. And, on top of that for some people wheat is like a drug, or at least yields drug-like neurological effects

William Davis "wheat belly"

[kynft-keto]

2 months of progress. Probably would've made more progress if it weren't for the 2 dirty carb ups (intentionally eating lots of ice cream, pizza, fries, cookies) on a CKD. But live and learn. Never give up

[kynft-keto]

Keto Avocado Ice Cream

This makes half a pint.

2.5 Hass avocados (bought in a bunch bag)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 can full fat coconut milk (aim for 150 calories per half cup, the 50 calorie ones are watery and won't freeze right)

Mash all ingredients together. Freeze for 10 mins. Pour ingredients into ice cream maker.

approx per half cup - Cal: 220. Fat: 21.5 g. Carbs: 6g. Fiber: 3g. Net carbs: 3g. Protein: 1g.

* Note: these are essentially fat bombs. Great for people on a keto/paleo diet (if they're allowing dairy. ie heavy cream).

** I adapted this from david lebowtiz's avocado ice cream recipe. 

[kynft-keto]

Mac and Cheese Shirataki

1 package of shirtaki noodles 

a few tablespoons of heavy cream

1/2 - 3/4 cup of cheese 

[kynft-keto]

[kynft-keto]

Ketosis 101

[kynft-keto]

Even though I bought sugar-free peach rings and sugar-free white chocolate almond bark, I still understand the 1-star reviews in a way that I never wanted or meant to. 

24 hours later and I am still FULL of gas. At least I've stopped exploding. 

[kynft-keto]

I've been thinking about trying out crossfit. Soon I'll be one of those people who never shut up about crossfit OR keto

[kynft-keto]

note to self when carb-loading

Summary of guidelines for glycogen supercompensation on the CKD

1. 5 hours prior to your final workout before the carb-up, consume 25-50 grams of carbohydrates with some protein to begin the shift out of ketosis. Small amounts of protein and fat may be added to this meal.

2. 2 hours prior to the final workout, consume 25-50 grams of glucose and fructose (such as fruit) to refill liver glycogen.

3. The level of glycogen resynthesis depends on the duration of the carb-up and the amount of carbohydrates consumed. In 24 hours, glycogen levels of 100-110 mmol/kg can be achieved as long as 10 grams carb/kg lean body mass are consumed. During the second 24 hours of carbing, an intake of 5 grams/kg lean body mass is recommended.

4. During the first 24 hours, the macronutrient ratios should be 70% carbs, 15% protein and 15% fat. During the second 24 hours, the ratios are roughly 60% carbs, 25% protein and 15% fat.

5. As long as sufficient amounts of carbohydrate are consumed, the type and timing of intake is relatively less important. However, some data suggests the higher glycogen levels can be attained over 24 hours, if higher Glycemic Index (GI) carbs are consumed. If carbing is continue past 24 hours, lower GI foods should be consumed.

[kynft-keto]

“Diet is about pounds, exercise is about inches. Diet is about weight, exercise is about health. Exercise does the one thing that dietary restriction cannot: it builds muscle.”

Excerpt From: Lustig, Robert H. “Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=4C5DD14C96649327D1BC5F31AC46CD43

[kynft-keto]

“In general, large amounts of glucose (starches such as pasta, white bread, rice, etc.) will cause you to gain pounds but it won’t make you sick. Rather, if over time you gain too much weight from glucose, the visceral fat that is formed will eventually take its toll on your health (see chapter 8). But when you consume the same number of calories as either ethanol or fructose, you get much more of a bang to your liver (more like a hand grenade), and it takes its toll that much faster.”

Excerpt From: Lustig, Robert H. “Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=4C5DD14C96649327D1BC5F31AC46CD43

[kynft-keto]

I REALLY wanted to be 100 lbs or less when I started exercising (psst unhealthy mentality). Imagine my dismay when I ended up gaining 2 lbs that became my new homeostatic weight, which simply wouldn't budge. It's incredibly easy to increase that number but near IMPOSSIBLE to decrease.

FINALLY AFTER 6 MONTHS I'VE LOST ONE POUND. And I have no doubt it's fat. All in all I've lost 5 lbs from keto (gained 3-4 lbs in NYC, lost it all and then this new pound) 

[kynft-keto]

I constantly run across people that say my diet doesn't sound healthy and that it doesn't make sense. My other before/after picture before might not reflect the efforts of pure/sole keto since I had been training for a few months before I started keto in my 'after' picture. 

This picture is taken 2 weeks apart. I intentionally carbed up by eating lots of ice cream, fries, and cookies one day (i follow a CKD keto diet) and afterwards, i caught a cold and haven't been super stringent on keeping my carbs as low as I could but i still see PROGRESS. 

This has been so great since I was about to give keto only another month but now I will probably extend it for a few more months. Eventually at some point I might transition back to IIFYM or clean eating but for now, I'm convinced keto works for me.

[kynft-keto]

I am OBSESSED with almonds. Especially flavored almonds. The one on the left satisfies my chip cravings. The one on the right is crack...These have been my breakfast for the past few days! 

[kynft-keto]

I get up early to train because the pain of missing the workout is so much worse than having to wake up early.

my boss 

[kynft-keto]

My story

I started working out purely from a place of naive insecurity (today I've grown and can truly say i LOVE working out for myself). I made the oh-so common mistake of being obsessed with cardio, whether it be machines or short jogs - it was ALL i did. 

Countless trial-and-error routines later, I've finally found something that works for me. I do a combination of cardio (training for LDR, HIIT/sprints, and machines), insanity, and lifting. Even with that, I still wasn't very disciplined and had more cheat days/cheats than necessary and never balanced out my macros perfectly. 

Enter keto. The ONLY method of eating for me that satisfies to the core. It's a high (healthy fat low carb) diet that isn't necessarily "clean" (think bacon, cheese, and butter!) and that's exactly why I think it works so well! I never feel deprived and I LOOOVE being able to love the food i eat as well as feel amazing! I have never-ending energy, I am super optimistic and happy almost always, and great mental alacrity! And i shed fat + tone on top of all that. 

This blog is going to help me document my continued transformation and the keto-creations I make to fuel my journey! The picture on the right is before (i was already lifting, like around 1-2 months), the one on the left is after (taken after three weeks of keto after a one week patron binge drinking, carb-heavy-no-macro-tracking AYCE diet when i was in NYC).