Day 28 - 20lbs lost

I was officially 223lbs at my weigh in this morning!  That puts me at the 20lb mark, 20lbs in 4 weeks  (today is the last day of week 4.)  Lost 20lbs in 4 weeks AND at the same time I'm building my bike fitness back, but more importantly, I'm having fun.  This is a tad bit lighter than I was when I went to Leadville last year.  I'll be content at 215 (hell I'm content now) but if goes lower without having to work to hard at dropping/maintaining then I'll just see where it takes me.  Truth be told, I watch my carbs and keep an eye on total calories but I don't do much outside of that.  If I'm hungry I eat (despite where I am for total calories that day,) sometimes I still overeat, but I'm not starving (ever) and I don't have to play the "you're over your calorie limit, no more" denial game.  

Day 27 - Dialing in with UCAN

Decided to have another go with the Bike Barn ride this morning.  Last week I bonked and subsequently found myself riding home solo.  This time I rode the remaining 11 miles solo again BUT it wasn't because I bonked.

This morning when I got up I did my typical morning routine.  For breakfast I had a little salmon, some cheese, and a little salami.  In total it was a little over 300 calories for my breakfast.  30 minutes before I left the house I had a shot of KetoForce, 5 MAP amino tablets, and a 1.25 servings of UCAN Superstarch.

For nutrition during the ride I took two separate servings of UCAN with 3 scoops of  BCCA powder in each.  Each of these servings were loaded in a Hydrapak SF150 soft flask.  For emergency backup I took two packs of squeezable almond butter with maple syrup.  I had 3 bottles of water.  I figured if I was in ketosis (which I was, BHB was .7 this morning) I have about 70,000 calories (maybe more) of nutrition packed just under my skin.

Today's pocket stuffers.

Much like last week my I met my buddy Todd at 6:40 and we rode up to the Bike Barn.  40 minutes later we were there.  We spent about 10 minutes in the parking lot before we gathered up and rolled out.

Pace to Wee-mart was spirited.  I felt good.  Made some pulls, pulled in some breaks, it pretty much felt like the same ride as last week.  Actually, when I compared the two rides they were really freaking close in just about every aspect.  About midway through this section I downed one of the flasks of UCAN - it had been about an hour and a half of total riding when I took this serving.

Comparison of Bike Barn to Wee-Mart (last week and this week)

Just like last week, at Wee-Mart I felt good.  I refilled my bottles  with water and got ready for round 2.  I didn't eat or consume anything here other than water.   The trip home would be the real test of the UCAN.  One of my buddy's mentioned he wasn't feeling it today so I wanted to watch him in case he bonked.  I figured I'd shut it down and just ride home with him once I got to last weeks bonk point.

After we got rolling, the speeds picked up and I eventually found myself with the front group in a break of 5 guys.  We continued to open the gap.  Eventually, I pulled out of the group.  I had made it to where I bonked last week and I was still feeling good.  My strength was fading from the work put in up to this point but this is more of a fitness issue rather than a nutrition one.

I was extremely pleased!   Not only had I ridden hard, I was still capable of going on further, I can now call the UCAN test a success.  Now I slowed down and waited for the big group behind us so I could ride with my buddy.   As I slowed up I took half of the remaining serving of UCAN, I figured I'd give the other half to my buddy if he needed it.

The numbers for this section today were MUCH better than last weeks!  

When the group caught up with me my buddy wasn't there.  I asked and someone said they think he turned off.  I pulled over and waited a few minutes but never saw him coming.  "well hell!" I thought, "I'm riding home solo, again..."  I then finished off the other half of the UCAN shot.  3.25 servings of UCAN for the day.  I remember thinking "Hope this doesn't knock me out of ketosis."  More on this in a bit.

The ride back to Bike Barn was uneventful.  I kept hoping my friend would come up on me but I never saw him.  I can honestly say the solo ride back was so much easier today compared to last week.  I was able to stay on top of the gear, I could maintain my speed, and I wasn't suffering at all.  I made the trip back faster this time (a little over 2mph faster.)

I got back to the parking lot and my wife picked me up and brought me home.  I made it back just in time to not get rained on.

I'm pretty damn happy to have the nutrition part figured out!  I'm sure I'm gong to need to fine tune it some but for now, I think I'm on the right track.

So what did 3 scoops (70 grams of carbs) do to my ketosis?  As of right now (5 hours later,) it's done nothing.

When I got home (30min after turning my last pedal stroke) I checked my blood ketones, breath ketones, and blood glucose.   Ketonix showed 47 for breath ketones.  Blood glucose was an alarming 100 (alarming to my normal 66-90).  BHB was 2.5!!! 

An hour and 50 minutes after that I retested, my blood glucose was down to 91 and the Ketonix was showing 58 (a nice red light was flashing)!

3 hours after the above measurement, blood glucose was still 91 but Ketonix was showing 65 (still blinking red and the actual number is rising!)

70 grams of UCAN may have been overkill for today but I'm still in ketosis, my blood sugar is returning to normal, and I feel pretty dang good.  I will definitely dial it down a little next time.

This was an incredibly productive day and I'm very excited with what I've found.  I don't know if UCAN is the "end-all beat-all" but it works for me and now I got a solution for longer rides.  Did I mention I rode for 3.5 hours, expended 2,500 kilojules of energy, and only consumed a mere 650 calories before and during the ride.  I didn't eat for another hour after we got home and even then I wasn't hungry but knew I should probably eat.

This keto "thing" looks like it will work for the bike!

Day 26 - Progress!

Progress - couple of little bathroom stops yesterday, one this morning when I woke. Weight is down to 225. I still think there's a mutha-load waiting to vacate the bowels.  Stomach is a lot less protruding today.  Yesterday I wore a pair of 36 dress pants (i've been wearing 38's) to work.  I grabbed them by accident and while they were't tight, they were more snug than the pants the day before.  This almost caused a panic until I realized they were 36's not 38's.  That felt good when I realized what was going on.  

Did a 2 hour 15 minute group ride last night. Felt pretty good, stayed at the front. Two different sessions now with UCAN SuperStarch and I think I'm ready to re-do the bike barn ride from last weekend.  I'm thinking about rolling out with them again this Saturday to see if I can make it all the way through. Hoping this UCAN is the fix for last weekends bonk/implosion.

Since I haven't been on the group ride in a few weeks (since the 18th.) I was 10lbs heavier on that day. Last night the overpass climbs felt a little easier. Could be the training, could be the weight difference, or maybe a combo of both? None the less I went up them more smoothly, if that's a description.  My accelerations seem a lot more "smooth" than before.  I don't know how else to describe it.  

Two days of back to back intervals on Tuesday and Wednesday followed up with this group ride on Thursday and i'm happy to report that my legs felt "normal". Typically they'd feel pretty heavy with that much load. Keto is supposed to be great for fast recoveries, maybe that's the case? I did wonder if I'd be able to hang up front of the group especially when I saw several of the faster guys showed up on TT bikes. In the end when the pedal smashing was over there was only 3 of us including one on a tt bike - me and two cat2 roadies.  

I'm getting really comfortable and quite optimistic about being in ketosis and racing or riding at a level that I did in the past. If I can make Saturday's ride, it'll be a great re-test to see if I got the bike-nutrition part fixed.

For the above mentioned ride I mixed and took 1 packet of UCAN Orange, 1 tbsp of MCT oil, a cap of elete electrolytes 30 minutes prior to the ride.  I also consumed 5 MAP amino pills at the same time.    During the ride I had two 25oz bottles of plain H2O.  I did not consume any food between the start of the ride and lunch earlier in the day.  

Week4 Intervals

Two interval sessions completed this week.  That's probably all I'll do for the week as this is only week two of training and it's a 4-day weekend coming up for me.  I plan to get in some outdoor "fun" riding and hopefully hit some trails.


Week 4 Interval Session 1 - Tuesday
Tuesday I rode with my buddy Todd in the computrainer lab at home.  I rode an easy zone2 for 20 minutes to warm-up before Todd got there.  Once he arrived we started the workout with the intentions of doing the ERGVideos Intervals for Max Aerobic Power.  We were going to do 3x6x1min efforts.  Rest between each interval was 1.5-2min.  When we got through to the 5th interval of the 1 set the dang computer locked up.  This happens about once every 6 months and it's quite frustrating especially while doing intervals.  All the data for this session up to that point (31min) was lost.  GRRRRRRRR!!

I quickly rebooted the computer and loaded a different program.  This time we used PerfPro and went with the Sufferfest Revolver program.  These are 1 min on 1min off for a set of 15 or so.  Our goal was to finish 8.  We did 9.   Keep in mind we had already finished 5 intervals on the other program...

After we finished Todd went home and I rode another 30 minutes in zone2.  I felt pretty good during and after this workout.  Likely could have done more 1 minute efforts but there's no sense in digging a huge recovery hole and I wanted to do another set of intervals the following day.  I ended up with an hour and fifty minutes of saddle time.  Not a bad session at all!


Week4 Interval Session 2 - Wednesday
For these I was solo and wanted to go a little longer.  This too was done in the computrainer lab and the workout selected was ERGVideo AllenPT Over Unders I also wanted to try out some UCAN Super Starch which I had ordered the previous week.    After my bonk on Saturday I figured I need to find something to get the carbs in me on these longer efforts.  In response to taking the UCAN I also did a separate test, I collected blood sugar/glucose levels before, during and after the workout so I could see how the UCAN effected my blood sugar.  This will be a separate blog entry in the next day or two as I'm trying to get some understanding from the folks at UCAN - hint it did NOT spike my blood sugar at all.  

For this workout I decided to do 3x20min over under efforts.  5 minutes in I could tell the intensity was going to be unsustainable for this long of a workout, I just wasn't ready for this. Remember this is week 2 and I haven't trained at this level of intensity or with any structure since last year.  I backed the intensity down so the unders were done in tempo rather than sweet spot (low threshold.)  I still wanted to get a workout and I still wanted to put the UCAN to work.  Even though the intensity was taken down, this workout was no walk in the park.

I completed the workout and I felt pretty good afterward.   I could definitely tell I got a workout and I was pleased with the efforts.  I was also pleased that I didn't have an upset stomach or any issues as a result of taking the UCAN.  Did the UCAN make a difference?  I don't know.  The ride wasn't long enough to draw a conclusion.  However, the big question about UCAN was answered - my stomach can indeed handle it so I'll be using it next time I go out for a longer ride.

Summary
Being the 2nd week back from training, this was a good solid week of work.  I'm really pleased at where I am and how I'm adapting to training/riding while being in ketosis.  This gives me a lot of optimism about being able to race again and be on the ketones.  It also gives me motivation to start training again.

One thing I want to keep watching is my heartrate.  It seems high.  I don't feel bad when it's up in the 170's or higher.  Obviously I'm working hard when that happens (and my bike fitness is not where it used to be) but I don't feel bad at all.  Breathing is still 45-55 breaths a  minute while in the upper limits of my heart rate.  I'm not sure how to read in to this or if there's anything to read in to.  I'll keep watching it though.

Day 23 - Stupid Scale!

A little frustration this morning, damn scale says 229lbs, up a pound from yesterday. It's not to big of an issue but it is frustrating after seeing nearly a lb a day tick away over the last few weeks. It's been since Friday that I've seen the scale show any weight reductions.  

My thoughts on this are probably not something most want to talk about but since I'm tracking the journey and you've opted to read it, here goes...

I think it's because I haven't had a good bowel movement in a few days now. I had a few little ones, but nothing to account for how much I've eaten the last few days since my last "good" movement on Saturday morning. I know I'm still losing fat as I am seeing the muscle and bone outlines of my ribs, obliques, arms, and shoulders, as well as my calves and legs so visually it would appear I'm still heading in the right direction. With that said, what I'm seeing in the mirror doesn't jive with what the scale says. 

I got the tape measure out to measure my equator at the belly and I was 1/4" bigger this morning over yesterday.  I did this because my mid section is slightly protruding today. The interesting thing with this 1/4" increase over yesterday, my dress pants are just about to slide off of me this morning. A few weeks ago I was starting to contemplate buying the next size up in pants (40's), I was literally there and now I'm starting to slide out of my 38's. I reclaimed a belt loop hole sometime in the last few days and am now back in the belt loop holes that I was at early this year.  Frankly I could take another belt loop (uncharted territory) but that would be a little snug right now, I'll give it another week.  :)

I'm pretty sure I need to take a big ole dump but for whatever reason, the bowels aren't ready to let it go, at least not all at once.

Everything else checks out fine. I'm still at 1 on the blood ketones so I'm still making and running off of fat. Not sure what the weight stall is, but it highlights why the scale should never be your main indicator of success when you are working to lose weight.  I'll just stay the course but this is now 3 days since a good dump and 3 days since the scale has moved, actually it went up a pound today - there's got to be some correlation?

Poop or no poop, there will be an interval session tonight.

Day 22 - Week 3 Summary

Week 3 is now in the books and I'm starting to find a routine with this keto lifestyle (I'm not calling this a diet any longer.)  This last week was an active one, with over 10 hours of saddle time including a big group ride and several quality interval sessions.  Food is getting easier to visually measure.  My daily ketone measurements are pretty consistent and starting to constantly stay above 1.  As I stated above, I'm finding my routine.

On the food front things went well.  I was a little more hungry this week than the previous two.  I think it may be due to the up-tick in training/riding time and intensity.  When I am hungry, I'm not starving or having intense pangs like I once did, it's just a subtle feeling, sometimes accompanied by a little stomach growl.

I'm still working to keep the carbs at 25 grams net.  Really I'm trying to do it to 25g total but I'm finding that difficult so I go by net (total carbs - fiber = net carbs.)  On the weekend I had to take in more carbs because of the big ride Saturday.  I'm thinking the 25 net carb goal is working for me as I've been able to keep my daily ketone measures of blood and breath well in to the ketosis zone of .5 to 3.  I'll keep watching this through the week and next.

I'm still not really watching calories.  I watch them but I don't let them drive me.  I measure for carb grams and to make sure I stay within the 25 gram range.  The rest of the macro nutrients just seem to sort themselves out.  I'm still loosing weight, down to 228 lbs today (15 lbs total)  so when I stop or plateau I'll pay more attention to the total calories.  The last 3 days I have been at 228 but I'm not to worried because I abused my body badly on Saturday's ride and I have a feeling the stagnate weight readings are just my body's way of repairing itself.  My equator reading is currently 39", I lost another .5" around my midsection.  I can definitely feel that missing .5" in all of my clothes - it's NICE!!!

Last week saw some really good time in the saddle.  I did quite a bit of zone1 and zone2 work.  I did this for a few reasons.  First I wanted to spin my legs during the week and keep them loose before and after the workouts/rides.  Second, zone1 and 2 is where all the fat is burned and the mitochondria are conditioned.  Lastly, I need the saddle time.  All in all my body does not feel to bad after completing a good week of riding.  

Looking at my Training Peaks performance management widget, my training is way off.  My chronic training load is currently at 36.  It's kind of funny but indicative of where I am in my training this year.  To be blunt, I haven't done a lot of it nor have ridden much this year compared to past years.  This is typically in the 60's for Leadville it was in the 70's.  The good news is that it is trending back up to the "normal" zone.  The even better news, I'm still considered "fast" in an untrained state - this is truly exciting to me!  

Up top I mentioned I did a lot of zone1 and zone2 riding last week.  I'll likely continue that trend over the next few weeks as I try to ramp my training up (both volume and intensity.)  I have found through research, coaches, and personal experience that ramping up volume and intensity at the same time requires a watchful eye and a lot of caution.


Here's a shot of the volume and intensity (volume of various intensities) over the last few weeks.  Zone1 is at the bottom in the very light purple and then it works up from there. It should be re-stated that this is week 3 of keto for me.  You can see how these first 3 weeks went from a riding perspective. 

The charts and widgets from Training Peaks are helpful (and I'm sure WKO4 will be even more helpful when it's finally released for Windows) but you have to watch your body for signs that you are overdoing it.  I'm not going to get in to a discussion here about the signs but I'll be looking for theme especially considering the new keto lifestyle combined with an up-tick in training volume AND intensity.  This is really important and further compounded by my impatience for where I'm at and desire to get back to where I was in my conditioning and training.  Right now is the time I have to be really vigilant and listen to what my body is telling me.

It should be noted that very few people can successfully go on a calorie deficit and train well at the same time.  The two do NOT go hand in hand.  It is my experience that a good training plan and proper nutrition can elicit weightless but typically you can not restrict your calories and expect to lose weight AND make training progress.   Your results may vary.  


Today's post is long enough.  I'll sign off now.

Day 20 - Trial and ERROR

Earlier in the week my buddy Todd planted a bug in my ear to do the Bike Barn ride on Saturday.  After two good interval sessions during the week I decided last night to get up early and go with him.

This  morning I woke up at 5:30am and ran through my morning ritual: weigh, check blood ketones, log everything, and then meditate for 15 minutes.  With the ritual complete, I hit the coffee and started getting breakfast ready.  Weight this morning was 229, I picked up a pound in the last 24 hours - might have been the 6oz of cashews, walnuts, and almonds that I gorged on yesterday.  Blood ketones measured 1.2, right where I want them!  Ketonix read 59.  In another week or so I'll probably cut back this monitoring as it's starting to feel a little excessive and my levels are fairly consistent.

Interesting thing though probably not publicly correct but it's my blog so...  While I was meditating I was so relaxed I suddenly needed to go to the bathroom.  Held out as long as I could but with 1 minute to go I couldn't wait any longer.  When I was done in the restroom I got back on the scale just for shits and grins (no pun intended.)  My new weight was 227, a 2lb difference!  For those of you who are trying to max out your weight loss at each weigh-in, you might want to consider going to the restroom before hoping on the scale...

For breakfast I had a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of butter, 3 scrambled eggs, 3oz of salmon, and an ounce of Colby cheese.  I also had a cap of Elete electrolytes.

After breakfast I got dressed, loaded my jersey pockets, filled my bottles and got ready to leave.  Prior to leaving I took one serving of KetoForce.  For bike nutrition I took a small dropper-container of Elete, a 2oz bottle of MCT oil (2 servings), and for backup a small bag with about 2oz of almonds and Brazilian nuts.

I have a thing UCAN on the counter but opted not to take any.  This would come back to bite me in the ass later.  UCAN is a slow release "super starch" that a lot of keto endurance folk use to keep their glucose stores maximized during a performance event.  Some folks have reported not needing it as they get more keto adapted.  After my intervals sessions this week and the success I've been having with nutritional ketosis AND 10+ days in ketosis, I thought I'm good and I don't need that stuff!  <-- this is where the ERROR in trail and error started today!

I met Todd at 6:40 and we rode the 12 miles up to Bike Barn.  No issues there, it was an easy pace and we got their with 10 minutes to spare.  I felt good but I was a little nervous for how the day would go.  The route for today would take us 30-40 miles South West of our location.  My backup plan (calling my wife Michelle) would mean she is 30-50 minutes away if I needed her.

Here's the ride up to Bike Barn by the numbers:

At Bike Barn, the groups formed up and we pulled out of the parking lot a little after 7:30am the ride was on!  We had a good group of people and definitely some big motors in the field.

It took 1:22 to make the 31 mile trip from the Bike Barn to Wee-Mart, the halfway point of the ride.  The first 10 minutes were pretty tame and I spent a lot of that time up at the front talking to my friend Mickey.  After those 10 minutes passed, the pace started going up.  I was feeling really good when the day's antics started.

I spent much of the next 50 minutes chasing breaks, working with the breaks, and ultimately going a lot harder than I probably should have.  It didn't mater to me at the time, I felt great.  One thing I feel I have to mention, my breathing was stupid calm (like in the intervals earlier in the week - 45 breaths a minute) even when the watts were high and my heart rate was pegged.  This still amazes me.

I felt so good I bridged up to a break about a mile away from the intermittent sprint zone.  Once I bridged up I set in for a second when my buddy Todd came flying by.  The 3man break didn't have anything left to chase him down so i left them and bridged up to my buddy.  I passed him and kept going, no time to catch a breath because the field was in chase.  I still had a long way to go but just stayed on the gas.  I felt confident I had the win so I sat up and cruised up to the line.  Out of nowhere one of the guys came flying by me right at the line, it was really close but in my mind I got there millisecons before him -- good on him for not giving up and tracking me through the line.  Good lesson learned there for me!

Sprint segment:

Looking back this sprint from the first bridge to the end was a little over two and half minutes and I was wide open throttle the whole time.  This burned way to much of what little muscle glucose I had.  I'd pay for this later along with a few more big pulls and bridge ups and I did on the way to Wee-Mart.

After we got to the final road leading to Wee-Mart I pulled off and road easy the remaining 2.5 miles to the store.  I knew I had ridden hard and that we'd be taking a 10-15 minute break at the store, I needed to let my legs spin down.  I got to the store last, no biggie, it was a good spin down.

Ride from Bike Barn to Wee Mart:

At Wee-Mart I refilled my bottles with water and a cap of Elete in each.  I also took a 1 ounce shot of MCT oil.  I still felt good though I could tell I had been working.  We left Wee-Mart about 8 minutes after I got there and the legs were feeling good as we pulled out of the parking lot.

The pace for the next 30 minutes was easy and peaceful.  Eventually the speeds started going up again and this is where I started to feel that maybe I had gone a little too hard earlier and I might regret not taking the UCAN.  I was able to hang on the next 10 minutes but almost to the 10th minute things finally started going bad!

I was working with some guys in the front when I started feeling something in my chest, like a heartburn feeling.  It didn't hurt, it just didn't feel right and it came on quick.  I immediate let up and moved over to let everyone pass and just like that I was spit off the back of the group.  "It's going to be a long solo ride home" I thought.

Wee-Mart to Implosion:

After I imploded I backed it down and just rode an easy pace.  Eventually I was able to burp and I felt better, the heartburn feeling was gone.  Maybe it was the MCT oil?  I  didn't push my luck, really I couldn't push that hard anyways, so I limped my way back for the next 11 miles.  It now felt like I was in bonk mode.  When I tried to take the power up, my body would trip a breaker and the power would drop.  Along the way I broke in to my backup almond stash.  I wasn't hungry and I didn't want to eat almonds but figured I needed to eat something, plus these things have carbs!  I started feeling better but nothing like earlier in the day.  I was just done.  Michelle was waiting for me at Bike Barn and she help load my bike and get me home.  3.5 hours of riding and 70 miles, this ride is done!

The whole enchilada by the numbers:

When I got home I felt like shit and I definitely wasn't hungry.  I'm pretty sure my blood sugar was down but I didn't have any glucose strips to verify it.  This pissed me off a little because I've been "meaning" to pick some up for 2 weeks now...  I really wanted to know what my blood sugar was at this time but it wasn't going to happen.  After a shower I laid down for 30 minutes and felt a little better but by no means great.  That's when I decided  I need a boost!  I had a tablespoon of organic maple syrup.  Man it was sweet but so tasty.  10 minutes later I was feeling much better.  Maybe it was placebo, maybe it hit the spot, I just don't know but I do know I felt better.

Michelle cooked meatballs and made a keto cheese sauce to go with them.  I ate half a lb of that stuff and it tasted great.  Afterward I went to the drug store and finally bought some glucose strips.  By now, 3 hours had passed since I got off the bike and 45 minutes since I ate.  Blood sugar tested out at 85 so I guess it was good and that's why I felt better?  The Ketonix showed I was at 51.  I didn't test my blood ketones.

It's now been 4 hours since I ate and I feel pretty good.  It feels like I rode hard today but my legs aren't too bad and my body feels okay.

I've read that athletes take 4-7 weeks to fully adapt to ketosis and from there they continue to adapt and slowly start to use ketones at higher levels of performance, off setting glucose needs.  After today I am NOT fully adapted.  This is day 20 of ketosis journey so technically I'm not even 3 weeks in so it was a little naive for me to go out with out a carb helper this morning.

A couple takeaways from today:

• My body is not fully adapted to ketosis, 3 weeks is simply not enough to ride at the intensity I did today for 2+ hours.  While I learned a lot, going on this ride was not the smartest decision I've made of recent.  
• In the immediate future, if I'm riding more than an hour and a half, I'll be supplementing with UCAN.  
• I can still go hard on the bike while in ketosis, I just have to be a little more careful with the watts.
• I don't know what caused the heartburn feeling that shut me down.  I need a lot more experimentation as I have a ton to learn about what works and what doesn't where ketosis bike nutrition goes.  
• While maple syrup may not be ketosis friendly, it is good for a pickup when you're in trouble.  (it worth noting, 3 hours after taking th maple syrup, according to the ketonix, I'm still in ketosis.)  
• Don't procrastinate when you think about ordering testing equipment.
• I need to experiment with testing my blood sugar when I get off the bike.
• Don't let up until you cross the finish line, EVER!

I learned a lot today and I hope this is helpful to some of you.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  -don