Karim's Extended Fast Tracker - come along for the ride

(Little Miss Scare-All) #34

Wow that’s awesome!!! I havent EF’'d in a bit, but I’m happy that while IF 20/4 I Hover around 1.8-2.2. As soon as I feel more fat adapted I’m going to do an EF. Used to never be able to do them while eating copious amounts of carbs. I was like Satan and no one wanted to deal with me lol

(Karim Wassef) #35

Gets better. As a negotiated term with my wife, I’ve added a “calmness score” that only she can provide during my fast.

So far I’m hovering between 7 and 8 (out of 10). I like setting targets. Helps me focus. :smiley:

(Karim Wassef) #36

Ok. Best day was Dec 20 (8 days in) with 7.3 ketones and 53 glucose… GKI = 0.4 … love that sweet autophagy.

Funny … my GKI seems to bottom out at 0.4 to 0.6. Don’t know if that’s just my personal limit or a biological limit for most people.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #37

Good doggie gets a bone huh lol!!!

(Little Miss Scare-All) #38

So GKI is (blood glucose/18) / Ketone level? If so mine’s 2.7. If my blood glucose was just 90 and my Ketone level was 1.8, is 2.7 a good number? I’m currently not fasting other than IF 20/4 but usually just make OMAD out of it.

(Karim Wassef) #39

2.7 is great! I’m at 3.4 after 4 days… I think that’s because I’m more fat adapted now… too damn efficient.

I created 5 zones in my chart. Under 1 is deep autophagy.

1-3 is deep ketosis and autophagic

Keeping Ketones High
(Karim Wassef) #40

She’s not supportive of my long extended fasts… she says it takes me a week to not be irritable so the agreement was that I would actively control my calmness and she could score it to help me improve.

I will say that one unexpected benefit of cold showers and ice baths is that my mood is remarkably elevated. Not sure why or how yet but there is a definite link.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #41

I love your chart. That’s awesome! The big nerd in me is giddy looking at your chart.I love it. What do you use to track your data?

GKI 2.7 is good then. I’m happy with that lol.

(Karim Wassef) #42

I use my iPhone health app since it syncs to my “smart” scale. I input glucose and ketones manually but it tracks the time automatically.

I extract it to my laptop and load to excel where I do the calcs and plotting. I’m data driven - it helps me see trends. My bf% drops directly align with the extended periods of GKI.

I plan to eventually find a way to correlate GKI to bf% reduction. I’m a scientist by training so I can’t help myself… I need to run regression analysis and look at fit & significance. But I will resist!!!

(Little Miss Scare-All) #43

She blinded me with science! Sorry, I relate everything to a song lol. Trends are a very interesting thing to me, especially if I’m emotionally invested in the subject at hand. Very cool.

Just checked my blood ketones again and I hit 3.0. Didn’t expect it. I guess my blissful stroll on lunch break aroused my liver. <3

(Karim Wassef) #44

I hit 51 at 2.7… that’s GKI of 1.05!

That’s right… I went two digits so I could be closer to 1… :smiley:

#45

Great results so far, in awe of your goal. In to watch your progress.

(Karim Wassef) #46

Day 1
25% (bf%)
193.2 lb (total)
144.9 lb (lean)
48.3 (fat)
0.4 (morning ketones) -> 1.8 (night)
82 (morning glucose) -> 73 (night)

Day 2
23.6% (bf%)
186.2 lb (total)
142.3 lb (lean)
43.9lb (fat)
0.6 (morning ketones) ->1.1 (night)
73 (morning glucose) -> 51 (night)

Day 3
22.9% (bf%)
182.8 lb (total)
140.9 lb (lean)
41.9 lb (fat)
0.6 (morning ketones) -> 1.0 (night)
81 (morning glucose) -> 71 (night)

Day 4
22.6% (bf%)
181.8 lb (total)
140.7 lb (lean)
41.1 lb (fat)
1.1 (morning ketones) -> 1.9 (night)
68 (morning glucose) -> 61 (night)

Day 5
22.5% (bf%)
181.8 lb (total)
140.9 lb (lean)
40.9 lb (fat)
2.9 (morning ketones) -> 3.8 (night)
59 (morning glucose) -> 64 (night)

First morning where my weight doesn’t change. But my fat dropped by 0.2 lb which means that I gained 0.2 lb of something else to stay flat. I doubt it’s lean muscle just yet. I think it’s more blood volume since I’ve been taking active steps to ward of the fasting chill and that’s a lot of cold showers, salt and water intake.

Also first morning over 2 ketones so yay! GKI is 1.1 (yes I drop the next significant digits at my discretion… :smiley: ). Need to bring my glucose closer to 50 to break under 1 - that’s the next milestone.

Amazing that it takes 5 days to get here. I used to hate my body’s efficiency and optimization but now I’m cool with it… he’s just trying to make sure we’re alive, healthy and able to survive predation, etc… also I think the cold showers help my mood tremendously- keeping me coooool. :smiley:

Can’t resist.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #47

I thought of something, and this may not be the case, but just food for thought–I’m all about lymphatic flushing techniques, since our lymph system doesn’t necessarily pump the crap out itself, it often needs it a little help. This, as I’ve researched, can be done in a multitude of ways. One way specifically, is alternating cold/warm shower water temperatures during the same shower session. I believe the reason is, the cold water hitting the body helps cause a chain reaction that helps the lymph glands to start to spew out the crud that collections in them, and makes the toxins ready for disposal and excretion.

Maybe, not saying definitively, this is why you’ve been feeling better taking cold showers. Just a thought.

(Omar) #48

this Dr John douillard recommendation for flushing the lymph

(Karim Wassef) #49

My experience is that moving the joints is the pumping machine for the lymphatic circulation. The cold showers may do it too. My primary purposes were different:

  1. Increase thermogenesis to combat the fasting chill
  2. Increase blood flow by driving harsh vasoconstriction - followed by release. It exercises the arterial soft muscles that control blood flow.
  3. Hormone production - both testosterone and norepinephrine I believe are stimulated.
  4. Enhance autophagy during fasting with more ketones.

I’ll research the lymphatic effects and see if I should add it to the list.

Any ideas on the lean mass gain after 5 days? I am supplementing with leucine at night after my workouts.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #50

How are you determining your bf and lean mass? On the scale that calculates it or the machine that you grip and it outputs your calculations?

(Karim Wassef) #51

Smart scale at home but it lines up with the handgrip one at the gym and the dexa so I can’t disparage it as much as I’d like to

(Little Miss Scare-All) #52

One thing I learned about those is that, the reading is dependent on how hydrated you are. The more hydrated, the more accurate. The less hydrated, the less accurate. I had a personal trainer that would track me with the hand grip every 6 weeks, a he would tell me to try to be hydrated the same amount so that the readings would be accurate.

I think the lack of hydration gives a reading of a higher bf and lower lean mass reading. Higher water content in the body gives the opposite reading, lower bf and higher lean mass. We tested that theory and I drank extra water and tested the next day and I was significantly leaner. From then on, when I knew it was Grip Day, I drank hella water lol.

(Karim Wassef) #53

Yup. Water is a big confounder.

I measure every morning after my daily ablutions… :smiley: