How do I know I'm on the right track?

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #21

Totally agree with this! I’m at this exact point now - energy has come back with a vengeance! :blush:

#22

A body scale was an essential tool during my 85 lbs weight loss journey. I rarely used a food scale. A glucometer and ketone meter were also essential. I also used a FitBit. There were several useful phone apps, including a “snap a pic” food journal.

The bottom line is, that there is no single way of doing anything that works for everybody. The key to success is knowing what makes you tick, and designing systems to reach your goals that incorporates that knowledge.

I am feedback driven. It is essential to keeping me motivated. I thrive on daily feedback on my efforts. I don’t care about formulas, I don’t care about rules of thumb, I don’t care about data. What I care about is progress/results.

In my opinion, tracking calories or macros is useless data. What matters is how my body responds to the food I eat. This is captured by measuring BG. I know what happens when I eat bacon vs ribeye vs eggs. I know what happens when I eat rice vs potato vs macaroni. A glucometer gives me actionable information that I can use to achieve my goals.

Ditto for a scale. Since my weight can fluctuate widely on a day to day basis (sometimes for identifiable reasons, sometimes not) I don’t focus on that. Instead I look at the trend or try to identify patterns. A smart scale that syncs to a phone app makes this easy to do. Now that I have no more weight to lose, I use the % body fat on the scale in the same way to track my body recomposition efforts and keep me motivated.

One of my current goals is to increase my insulin sensitivity. Specifically, I want my HOMA IR < 1. I will do this by fasting, eating within my empirically determined carb tolerance, time restricted eating, and exercise. I use a glucometer to give me feedback on how my body is responding to all of these. For example, glucose falling vs rising after exercise gives me actionable information about my workout, so I can make adjustments according to what I’m trying to achieve.

A ketone meter is slightly less important. I usually measure ketones only once a day. Testing them is more expensive and besides that, glucose is a faster and more sensitive reactor to dietary and activiity inputs. I calculate GKI every morning and try to keep it under 3 at least 20 days of the month.

My system is efficient, because I want put in the least amount of effort needed to achieve the results I want. My system is simple, because my mind is not detailed oriented. My system is quick- I spend less than 2 minutes a day tracking, journaling, etc. Most importantly, my system keeps me motivated and on track. I describe my system purely for illustrative purposes. Many folks would find this degree of daily feedback stressful. Many folks find a more laissez faire approach works best for them. There is no right or wrong way, what matters is the way that works best for you.