Fasting, Keto and Progress

extendedfast
(Mark Rhodes) #1

I just wanted to share my latest DXA with some background. I have been solidly Keto since April 1st and LCHF thee three months prior to that. End of July I did my first 48 hr fast. During the time period between these two scans (2 months) I created a regime to take advantage of the fasting and lifting routines.

I lift 3x a week, legs, chest & shoulders, back, bi and tri. Big compound movements with some isolated work if I have the energy after the first 75 minutes. I time these lifts to coincide with the HGH spike. That is I finish lifting on my fourth through 7th day of a fast. I break fast with a BCAA, EAA glutamine HWC drink followed shortly after with a very big steak dinner. A second dinner. Then copious amounts of eating until it simmers back down my normal keto ( HWC in coffee and eating in the evening)

dexa
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As you can see I lost 7 lbs of fat. Not concerned about the visceral fat increase as a DXA machine has difficulty differentiating fat. I am impressed with the LBM gain. Even if 1/2 of that is glycogen load it is still a great gain.

Thanks to everyone here and especially @brownfat and @LizinLowell. You have helped me in ways you likely do not realize by making your time available to me.

Fasting Ramps Up Metabolism
(Todd Allen) #2

Mark, congratulations on the excellent results! You’ve achieved a very healthy body fat%. Simultaneously gaining muscle and losing fat is challenging. And not very rewarding on a scale despite being better than just losing fat. Although the DXA scan is imperfect it is better than commonly available alternatives and I’ve been finding getting regular scans a good way to evaluate my progress which keeps me motivated to sustain and fine tune my efforts.

I’d only become concerned about the visceral fat results if it is an ongoing trend. One off it might be due to the contents of your intestines or some other temporary factor.

(Mark Rhodes) #3

Thanks Todd. Yep a trend would be worrisome and I will be more concerned should I see one in February. I also agree about regular Dexas. As you can see I had 3 prior to this. A fourth done elsewhere will not translate to this format. In that I was at 25% BF, 50 lbs of fat for a 17 lb fat loss since April 12 with little to none scale movement.

I am enjoying my ketofied holidays. keto bliss bars. Keto pies. Keto cheese dips. I check BHB about every other day. If I get two days in a row below .5 I cut the desserts out for 2 days. Bingo. After the New Year my plan is another extended fast to attack that remaining 13 lbs using the described methods. Plus it helps the wife who is also keto but has another 70 to go and I always want the home to be conducive to what we both need.

(Liz ) #4

Fantastic to see your great results after so much focused work. Well done! The inspiration is mutual for sure. This is such an amazing & helpful community. I can’t imagine being this successful without all y’all.

#5

Lay out this workout plan again… you fast for seven days and lift days 4 through 7? I’m assuming you fast every other week?

(Mark Rhodes) #6

I fasted 3 times in this period. 74, 116 & 139. There is an increase of autophagy & HGH after 72 hours. Maybe sooner if you are already keto adapted as we are but I have no proof of that. I do know that there is a 330% increase in one individuals HGH in 1982 and I am basing as Fung does, my results on this n=1.

If I am on day four, I lift. Day five, I lift, and day six, I lift Then I either break fast immediately after that last lifting session with HWC, BCAA and EAA to use the insulin to drive this where it needs to go. OR I wait another day and feast normally. I never supplement without first working out. and I wait at least 4 days before lifting again, often 6 or 8 days.

In January I am going to do a ten day fast and work out twice in that period finishing again with a massive refeed.

I am operating under the principle that autophagy breaks down the proteins I need from the cellular reconstruction and the HGH takes that material and rebuilds with what is on hand until a feast can supply exactly what it needs. My feasts will go for days until it falls back down to normal keto. I am ravenous when I start eating again easily hitting 5000 calories and almost 3 g protein to KG of LBM for two or three days. The protein I do not attempt to hit, I just eat that way until I don’t. I let my tastebuds dictate what I need.

(Mark Rhodes) #7

PS: My fasts are water, black coffee, salt, iodine, and a slight amount of potassium, magnesium. I drink at least a pot or more of black coffee a day and a cup or two at night. I am awaiting my 23 and me results to confirm my suspicion that I am a coffee non-responder.