70lb in 9 months if I’m reading this right. Not shabby at all
My main questions are the same - but what I’m most interested in knowing is where your testing resulted in any increased flexibility that made this process easier to manage. I’m trying to ascertain where the testing benefit lived with you specifically. Can you speak to that at all? I know you’ve mentioned dietary/metabolic flexibility in other threads - so maybe you could walk me through the determination process for that?
By way of comparison, I simply “trusted the process” after giving up on testing because of data I couldn’t properly interpret with a ketonix (and also because I really didn’t see a burning need to draw blood repeatedly as validation that I was eating right - though I fully understand why another datanerd would want to do so - hence my questions and level of fascination).
Also for comparison’s sake, here’s my graph of my loss (apologies for the data gap, there was a year where I didn’t log). I don’t consider it apples-to-apples by any means, since I had a lot more weight to lose assuming you’re of average male height (and I apologize if I just assumed your gender incorrectly).
My primary goals have been to decrease %BF (from 50 to 18) and improve my insulin resistance (as measured by A1c from 5.6 to 4.5). So I established metrics based on this. If you believe in the insulin hypothesis as described by Dr. Fung, the objective is to keep basal insulin levels low. Furthermore, high insulin levels inhibit lipolysis. This is my reason for using GKI to assess my status. I try to keep it under 3 at least 20 days of the month. BG is not a perfect proxy for insulin (especially under certain conditions like GNG or hypoglycemia) but its good enough to assess the impact that food is having on my insulin levels under most conditions.
Although I haven’t reached my goals (currently 25% BF and A1c confounded by fasting), progress has been measurable. For example, my 12-18 hour postprandial BG after a high carb meal used to be 120+ mg/dL. Now it rarely rises above 110. It still falls only 15-20 per day, an indication of my insulin resistance, although with exercise I can double the rate. Another example is my basal BG during a block fast. It stabilizes at 55-65 which is 10 points lower than it was 6 months ago.
Except when social demands dictate otherwise, I don’t eat when my morning BG is over 85. I fast until it drops under 70. Ideally, I hope to reach the point where I can eat everyday and keep my BG in optimum range.
I recently instituted a new practice that I will use to measure my insulin sensitivity progress going forward. Once a month, I’ll eat the exact same meal and measure my initial and 2 hour postprandial BG. Over time, the bolus response this elicits should decrease. We’ll see…
Measuring “stuff” has two benefits. One, it tells me where I’m at. Second, it helps me stay motivated/focused. Glucose and ketones provide immediate physiological feedback so that I make appropriate adjustments. Although I’m belonephobic, tracking blood response is the most best way of managing this for me. It accommodates real world situations, like eating in restaurants, going to dinner parties, and sometimes eating potatoes, pineapple, and popcorn (not together).
Flexibility doesn’t come from measuring metrics, flexibility comes from my actions. Fasting is the most effective and efficient way to heal metabolism. So that’s what I do. I know my dietary flexibility has increased because I’ve measured my metrics over time.
Ok so wow! First thank you for the post. Next all I wanted to know is if I’m testing my blood glucose what would it look like if I’m in ketosis. The strips are always bright red when I pee. I dont count or weigh. I DO eat what I can and DONT eat what I’m not suppose to. I’ve learned that I am what I eat. I was constantly hungry when I wasnon ANY other eating regimen. I stay away from sugar… I use truvia sparinlgy and if I want to eat or “snack” I eat Almonds or Keto bread or I make Cheese chips or just plain crunch on raw veggies. It’s become much easier to eat this way. If not I was Always looking for what I was Eating next.
I tested My glucose and it was 101. I’m satisfied tonweigh every two weeks just to verify that I FEEL the weigh coming off. I’m not doing it for weigh entirely it’s so I can Stop hurting I have Fibromyalgia and I’ve just come off of a HUGE narcotic called Butrane 20mg patch. So I have One pill left. (I no Longer take my psych med either ) I’m clear minded and I cnt Believe food was the culprit. So long story shortened. What are you guys seeing as a BG when in Ketosis.
I’m happy with what I’m eating Ana not eating it gets easier to eat!!!
Prior to buying a ketone meter, I searched the web to see if there was any consensus about blood glucose readings and ketosis. I seem to recall seeing something along the lines about being in ketosis if your blood glucose is less than 80.
I have no idea if that is true, but now that I own a ketone meter and test daily, I can tell you that it’s certainly possible to be in ketosis with blood glucose readings over 100 mg/dL. It’s not uncommon for my fasting blood glucose to be around 110 and yet still have a blood ketone reading of around 1.0 mmol/L. In fact, just a week ago, I had a blood glucose reading of 110 with a blood ketone reading of 1.6.
I find it useful to test daily (and sometimes even more than once a day) to track how I’m doing. I’ve been able to quickly figure out mistakes in my diet - when I mess up the day before, my blood ketone level has dropped precipitously.
If you can’t afford a blood ketone meter, keep an eye on your fasted blood glucose readings. Bear in mind though that a higher fasted reading does not necessarily mean that you messed up on your diet. It could just be that you got a poor night’s sleep or are under some other stress. If you manage to get a lower than normal reading, however, that’s most likely good news - you’re doing something right with either your diet or stress management.
Sorry to burst that bubble . You are surrounded by bacon lovers here. Heck there’s even a eat nothing but bacon for 7, 14 or 30 days resource. Bacon4free.com
I never have and never will measure ketones.
7 months in, diabetes cured, lost a foot around my waist. Booo yaah
Fascinating. Your approach is interesting, though grossly scientific. I could certainly never micromanage myself to that degree.
When you reach your goal, how do you hope to manage this process? Is this testing going to continue indefinitely? Is there some other plan to simplify everything?
I think that’s another thing testing enthusiasts fail to consider in all honesty. They get all gung-ho keto-testing-warrior, get all their test strips, blood meters and data in their spreadsheets, and then when they hit their goal…
…then what?
Do they keep drawing blood for validation that they’re eating properly and that “everything is status quo?”
I mean, I guess if you’re a data nerd that’s attractive I suppose - but I would think after stabbing your finger for the 65,536th time just to confirm Operation Mealtime went well, the data might lose a little of its luster…
There’s nothing wrong with slow and steady, I’m just too impatient for that. I’m scientific in the Tim Ferriss sort of way (though he has a much higher level of curiosity and pain tolerance than I do). I want to identify the fastest, most effective path to my goal. I don’t care about science except as it pertains to n=1. Hence my biohacking. I don’t want to take 2 years to reach a goal if I can do it in 6 months. Maintaining good health is important to me. But I don’t want a “keto lifestyle”. I don’t want the way I eat to play a front & center role in my life.
When I started, my protocol was fast until my social calendar necessitated eating. That was effective, uber simple and not as hard as most people imagine. Now my protocol is eat whatever I want, but don’t eat again until my body has “processed” the food. While not quite as simple as block fasting, it boils down to: eat-stop-eat and measure BG upon awaking. I think this protocol has less tedium and allows greater flexibility than a HFLC diet while also delivering superior results. Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory? No problem. Popcorn at the movie theatre ? No problem. Nachos during the game? No problem. Ensuring my body spends sufficient time in a deep state of ketosis? Yep. Results? I am not the most disciplined person, (while I’m not complaining about halving my body fat in 9 months) if I’d been more strict, I’d be a 42 year old woman with 18% body fat by now.
Reaching my body composition goal may not be far off. But it may take a few years to restore my insulin sensitivity. As it improves, my protocol will identify and adjust to changes. Right now, it takes my body 1-2 days to process a LC feeding day and 3-5 days to process a HC feeding or feast day. For comparison, my sister, mother, and father can do this in a timeframe measured in hours.
One day I may reach the point where I can once again eat an ice cream sundae, have my BG spike to 120 and return to 70 two hours later. For now and the foreseeable future, I will be eating, fasting, and pricking my finger every morning.
Edit to add: My protocol is geared toward best/optimal range not normal range. Its ambitiousness is appropriate for me (with an A1c = 5.7 on a SAD, I’ve never been diagnosed as diabetic or even prediabetic ). To make it less onerous, change the numbers to something that accommodates a higher frequency of eating. For example, if I changed my threshold BG to 90 that would allow me to eat LC everyday. Only a HC feeding day or extreme caloric intake would require subsequent fasting. But again, more rigor equates to faster healing, and I’m impatient…
Blood glucose is not a perfect proxy for insulin. Jimmy Moore in his KetoHacking MD podcast talks about a high protein, low fat, no carb experiment for 7 days. He went into hypoglycemia after every meal. There’s no way to know, but I’d guess that his insulin was sky high, which drove his BG too low. His cohost (the MD) is athletic and metabolically healthy, also did the experiment and did not have that problem.
I don’t know what was going on with you. I don’t have any experience with stalls (block fasting pretty much guarantees that won’t happen) but if I were to experience an unexplained plateau lasting more than a menstrual cycle, I’d use a glucometer and blood ketone meter to get to the bottom of it quickly. Patience isn’t my forte.
. You are surrounded by bacon lovers here. Heck there’s even a eat nothing but bacon for 7, 14 or 30 days resource.