That's a wrap on week 2 and I'm on to week 3. This morning I got on the scale and I was at 231. Twelve pounds lighter in two weeks. The 'tell of the tape' showed I lost 2" from my equator (midsection around my waist at the belly button) in these two weeks. It was 41.5" on the 10th of August and this morning I am 39.5". I can definitely tell my pants are fitting better. This morning I could actually gather some space and make a little gap at the front once my slacks were fastened. That's really encouraging to see. Looking at some previous records, I was at 39.5" equator earlier this year I'm still 5lbs heavier than I was when that measurement was taken in January.
I measure my blood ketones (BHB) each morning when I get up. I got over the magical .5 the first week on day 4 I believe but I didn't start measuring in the morning until last Saturday on day 6. I struggled to find when is the best time to test. Since I couldn't find anything that definitively said when to test, I just decided to do it when I wake up. Here's how the blood test shake out.
I also acquired a Ketonix breathalyzer. I got that last week. Though the instructions are quite simple and the device is equally as simple, it's been a learning curve for me to figure out how to use it. I got it down now. I use this device several times a day when I'm home but I only log one blow in the afternoon. The Ketonix info says breath and blood ketones won't necessarily be in alignment and I'm finding that to be true. No big deal, I just need to find out what the base line is. Down the road I can see using the Ketonix and maybe only checking blood when I'm stuck, sick, or maybe for a weekly routine check? I'll figure that out as I go. From a use perspective, the Ketonix is pretty easy to use and seemingly reliable once your figure it out. I'm staying pretty steady at 48ish.
Food wise, things are going well. I have a lot less hunger cravings and when they do come on they are more subtle than before. Kind of like "Hey Don we should probably eat when you get a minute" instead of "STOP, GET FOOD NOW!" When I do eat, I don't stuff myself. I eat until I have enough. I guess the best way to describe it is that if you're feeling your gas tank in your car, you fill it to 3/4's or 7/8's but not completely full and I definitely don't pack it. I'm conscious of the calories but I don't let them drive me especially over these two first two weeks. I did track my calories but it was more of a side effect from tracking my carbs. I was working to keep my net carbs as close to 25 as I could. I gave myself a little leeway these last two weeks because I frankly didn't know what I was doing. My main goal for week one and two was to get in to ketosis. I think I'm there.
Interesting story, I woke up early Sunday morning around 5am. I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and started working on this blog (I'm obsessive.) I had a few cups of black coffee and at 10am Michelle and I went and rode an easy 90 minutes on our bikes. We were home by noon and I while I hadn't eaten yet, I still wasn't hungry. I had been up over 6 hours, rode the bike 90 minutes (albeit easy) and I hadn't eaten nor did I have hunger pangs. This is not the norm for me and truthfully I typically get a little irritated and short when I don't eat, especially in the morning as my blood sugar drops. I was cool as a cucumber and not hungry that morning. We did eventually eat lunch a little after noon.
Along with this story another interesting thing happened. I got on the scale after we got home from our ride. I was at 226lbs. I didn't sweat a lot on the ride, it was an easy ride. Not sure where the weight went and how it came back this morning? Maybe water weight? None the less, I weigh myself in the morning after I get up (to keep it a constant time of the day) so I didn't count the 226 weigh in as it was outside the normal measuring time. The scale didn't lie but I'm in this for the long haul so official weight wise, that measurement didn't count. It was REALLY freaking cool to see though!!!
Here's how the last two weeks went from a tracking standpoint. Exercise calories are based of kilojules from my power meters, I may have rounded them up to the nearest 10 but they are in line with the power file. I use my fitness pal to track everything I eat, they've got a pretty dang good database.
I stated above I was obsessive, I have two of these scales, one at work, one at home. It's crazy how "off" my visual calorie guesstimates were. Thanks to the scales and Myfitnesspal.com, I'm getting re-calibrated at guesstimating.
Food wise, if you want to know what I eat, here's a link to my myfitnesspal food journal. You might notice I do enjoy the ribeye. Keep in mind, I'm trying to figure out what works for me, how much I need, and how much I can have. This is a journey and I'm sharing it with you so that you may have less struggles while on your journey.
Cycling wise, my energy is coming back. I'm really pleased about this. Saturday's race showed I could still race on the track which are short and very intense races. I have a feeling this is going to be a great week on the bike. I'm actually quite excited to start training again. I want to see what we can do. "I'm excited to start training again" is not something I've said and meant in over a year. I'm genuinely excited now! There will be another post shortly talking more about what I have experienced with training and while on the bike over these last few weeks.
Christopher Kelly over at Nourish Balance Thrive is a professional mountain biker who's been living keto for 3 years now. He sent me a link to a great youtube video about endurance performance on a Keto diet. The bottom line I took from the video, give your body a few weeks (4-6) to adapt and you will perform at the same level as you were prior to going keto. Not only will you perform at the same level, you can keep getting better just as you would on a more 'traditional' training diet.
One of the biggest challenges has been with not drinking and frankly it hasn't been to big of a challenge as long as I stay mindful. I talked about that in the week 1 summary post. Michelle and I attended a pool party this weekend and we didn't drink. The crazy thing was - the party didn't stop, we still had fun, and everybody respected our decision. It was good to see and talk with all of our friends. We didn't shut the party down but we had a good time without drinking. I can't say that I will be a life long non-drinker but I'm okay with not drinking for now.
This post is getting long so I'll close for now with a summary. Two weeks down, I've shaken the low-carb flu and I'm feeling great. Hunger is not something I have to deal with now as I'm never really hungry. My mood is a lot less volitale which probably has something to do with the blood sugar. Weight is coming off and my midsection is getting smaller. Bike performance is coming back and I'm excited about training again. These two weeks have not been bad at all and I'm looking forward to the next two!
Thanks for reading -don
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