This morning I finally hit one of my goals surprisingly! After about 5-6 days of very low carb and intermittent fasting, my body entered into a low state of ketosis. And now at approximately 4-5 days with a ketone level hovering around 4, my weight this morning was under my 1st 180 lbs goal.

The reason this surprises me is early this morning after work I weighed at 184.4 lbs approximately 12hrs after eating, but I had been drinking a lot of fluids at work (coffee, and apple cider vinegar with cinnamon and cayenne). However, I checked my weight prior to relieving my bladder, which has typically loss me 1-2.5 lbs on experiments to see how much fluid I hold in my bladder.

This afternoon, after waking up, emptying my bladder, and 23hrs since last meal, I weighed in at 178.8 lbs for the first time in maybe 2.5 yrs! I’ve teased the 180 lb mark on this recent Sunday at 180.2 lbs, but have not dipped below 180 lbs. What also surprised me is that my body fat % came out to 18.9% (33.8 lbs) which is about 3.5 lbs less calculated fat than my original weigh-in 6/28 at 185.4 lbs with 20.1% (37.3 lbs). This benchmark made me excited to reach, as my lifting weights goal have not been consistent due to little time and exhaustion from work.

My will power to focus and hit the gym hasn’t been where I want myself. But now that the brain fog of transitioning from carbs as the main power source to fat as the main power source from ketones, my headaches are fewer and my muscle stability feels more solid (was having minor shakes and feeling weak during the transition). Although my lifting aspect of my body isn’t up to par, my weight loss of fat is steadily keeping my overall body and health goals rolling. I have not attempted a pull-up yet, but I’m sure I’m safe to say I’ll find pull-ups easier with 5-10 lbs less of weight to lift.

The trouble with ketosis I have found with myself is I almost become obsessed with its success for me. This is not for everyone, no doubt in my mind, but for me, ketosis AND intermittent fasting combination is a great 1-2 punch to getting myself into better health. Once I can stay focused with weight training, this would add the hay-maker punch to the combo and really knock out fat. My meaning for saying I become almost obsessed is that once I pass the mind fog and body fatigue during the transition, that almost euphoric state of being in ketosis with its far superior mind focusing ability and less dependency on hunger, I feel more in control of life and wanting to keep pushing the boundaries. Often I’ll have planned a meal after a 16-18hr intermittent fast but not have much of an appetite, and since intermittent fasting benefits don’t really starting going into effect until this 16-18hr mark, I find little reason to eat lacking hunger, but rather want to ride the wave of the intermittent fasting benefits for longer. I’ll do this by planning my meals at 16-18hr mark when I’ll have a chance to sleep, this way by the time I even slightly become hungry, I’ll prefer to sleep, which gives me anywhere between 3-8hrs more of fasting benefits to take effect.

I still plan to fast for a 66-72hr chunk of time, but have decided I’ll commit to this longer fasting the day after a big carb re-feed day, possibly this coming weekend when my father comes to visit. Adding to the obsessed feeling of ketosis, another factor is once the body goes into ketosis and you feel the benefits, you begin to question why to even bother eating carbs that you know will throw you into a tailspin of feeling gross, bloated, and lethargic. As great as carbs taste (I don’t have much of a sweet-tooth, but I love bread and pasta), carbs on average retain about 3 grams of water per 1 gram of carb, this is one cause to the bloat feeling, and also why you quickly lose weight (mostly water weight) switching to a low to very low card diet.

Another huge benefit of a low carb to very low carb diet is less spent on food. I’ll follow-up with this in more detail in a later post.

Until next time, keep LivingLife, and take care of yourself and those you love!

Have comments/questions? Please feel free to email me at my2cents@livinglife-blog.com

“Remember, I’m NOT a qualified doctor, trainer, physiologist, philosopher, or have any other certified qualification. I’m only someone who’s passionate to learn & develop personal skills, habits, goals & finding a balance life-style, while sharing my journey through experiences.

– Developer of LivingLife-Blog”