And here’s the metabolic rate data
so a 14% reduction in lean mass + caloric intake reduction from 6000 cal/day to zero results in a 29% drop in RMR. It’s not slow, it’s average (down from fast). I wonder how much of this is due to the change in exogenous energy vs. lean mass loss. Again - I wish I had taken a reading around day 4 for a real baseline.
My fat to sugar metabolism changed substantially from around 50/50 to 70% fat and 30% sugar.
Karim, have you listened to Valter Longo’s podcast with Rhonda Patrick? It might make you feel much better right now. I don’t remember the details so I won’t try to go into too much but I think it would be worth your while to listen to it. Here’s what I do remember: Longo saw a (rather alarming) drop in organ size during fasting, but those organs bounced right back up on re-feeding, and presumably filled back in with much healthier cells. If that’s what happens with your muscles on re-feed, you’re looking at some really nice changes coming up. Your DEXA after a long fast will naturally reflect the most catabolic point of the whole cycle.
I’m very curious to hear your thoughts if you do listen!
I’ll continue to post by weight and blood results but here’s a quick day view for Day 1 of phase 2…
I gained 4 lbs in 1 day of eating and 1% “scale bodyfat” … ! LOL!
Ok, I realize it’s mostly water weight and I will admit I probably ate too much, but no digestive issues. I think my daily intake of coffee kept things going.
I don’t believe that device they used is capable of measuring your RER in a fasted state. Do you recall what it was (Parvo, Korr Metacheck, Korr Reevue)? If they used an oxygen sensor for RER (likely) yours should actually come in around 63%, which is lower than is theoretically possible. The reason for that is that these machines cannot account for the reduced O2 required for oxidation of partially desaturated free fatty acids. If they used a CO2 sensor, it should have come in at 70.3. Unless you ate snickers on the drive there, there’s no way you’re at .79 after 19 days of fasting! 
no twinkies… but I did stop dry fasting at hour 13 (3 hrs before the scan). I did take my minerals and 0.8g Leucine and 1g carnitine.
I only heard the audio but it seems like the right one. Is this from mid 2018? I can’t watch it right now…
yes. July 2018.
Madeleine - Thank you. It is very encouraging and makes a lot of sense. The idea that the data is heavily skewed due to the food error and the organ resize definitely makes sense (and gives me hope).
Also, I do feel that the cells lost will be replaced by healthier new cells and that the epigenetic markers will improve my longevity. My health should be better overall and it should be rejuvenating.
I still think I lost 2lbs unnecessarily in my legs - but I’ve always had very thick thighs, so it’s barely noticeable … (wife disagrees)…
Makes me want to go back and redo my DEXA in a week to reset and do an apples to apples. Damn budget!
Nick - thank you.
Yes - I like the idea of alternative phases more frequently. I think the only question is how long the refeeding should last and what should be in it.
I’ve been eating for 1.5 days now but haven’t gotten out of autophagy yet. It’s pretty stubbornly entrenched. I could resort to fruit, but that’s desperation.
I have been consuming a lot of pumpkin seed, chia seed, tiger nut, almonds, cacao, macadamia, pecans, seaweed (nori), avocado, onions, broccoli sprouts, humus, sauerkraut, pickled ginger, coconut cream, MCT, ACV, EVOO, mustard seed, and lime.
I do feel a lot warmer today but I’m still hitting 7+ ketones and even deeper in autophagy.
I plan to go wild today and make tahini - it’s a crazy feasting time!! 
Wife wants to go eggplant but I’m thinking that just taking it a little too far. I might lose that battle since she’s in “I told you so” mode. LOL
For now, I think eating for 3 days back to back counts as re-feeding as long as I can get above 1 GKI. I still plan to continue my fast on Monday, unless I don’t see the data reflect a reset.
Ok. Here’s the updated results. I’m at 51G and 7.7K, so 0.37GKI… and that’s with a feasting breakfast shake with seeds and fats!
I’m keeping the scale data even though I know it’s garbage. I’ll try to realign it later, but there it is.
Night GKI did bounce from 0.42 to 0.66 but was back to 0.45 this morning and is already down to 0.37. Tonight should be better…
Thanks Doug. Yes, I agree that it is healthier. Losing 1/3 of my visceral fats and potentially getting a rebound in organ size and correction for food and hydration - overall, it’s not as bad as it looked.
Appreciate the support! I am a very optimistic person by nature, but also very realistic with myself - plan A didn’t work… move on to plan B.
Thank you Dena! I’m very tenacious (wife goggles = stubborn)…
I’m glad I went through with it and I hope that the learning will help other people too. I think understanding the difference between autophagy and fat loss by ketosis is really valuable. I will rebound and I appreciate the support.
I’ll continue the thread so I can share whatever comes next - success or failure. I do it all for science… and abs. 
One of the things that I’ve heard is common after an extended fast is rapid fat regain. Your rock bottom GKI may give an indication as to why. Right now, your body seems to be still consuming bodyfat and at a similar rate as when you were fasting! My bet is that your body is converting dietary protein for repair material, and dietary fats into body fat so that it doesn’t have to interrupt it’s catabolic homeostasis.
How the heck it does that is anybody’s guess, but it’s fascinating! I’ve never seen the GKI from someone coming off of a 19 day fast and it’s totally unexpected.
I’d say a bare minimum for halting the refeed is when your GKI gets up above 2 and stays there for a couple of days. Right now you’re still “fasting” even though you’re eating food!
Yes… I expected a pretty fast rebound, but I guess 19 days is hard to overturn in 19 hours. “Body memory” is harsh. I actually think the fasting chill is a really good indication, by the way.
I expected to feel warm as soon as I ate, and it did get a little better, but not really warm. I think that the two will return together - higher GKI and body warmth. We will see.
Wife is really set on the eggplant today!
Amount Per 1 cup, cubes (82 g)
Total Fat 0.1 g
Total Carbohydrate 4.8 g
Dietary fiber 2.5 g
Sugar 2.9 g
Protein 0.8 g
If that doesn’t kick me out of it… she also got berries 
That liver glycogen is going to get refilled - she’s “tenacious” too and feels that feeding me is part of her godgiven duty… her redemption cometh!
ok. looking ahead. Here’s what the DEXA shows (as it is)
so I was losing (on average) 0.25lbs per day in fat and 0.91lbs per day lean (ignoring errors and corrections).
To compensate, I would need to add back ~ 1lb of protein per day. This seems excessive.
My usual math is 0.7g / lb of lean mass ~ 0.7 x 130lb ~ 90g per day. That’s only 0.2lbs per day.
Eating 2x this nominal rate might make sense for muscle growth, but 5x… that doesn’t compute.
Also, to blunt the insulin response, I would need to have sufficient fats around it. Assuming 30% protein to fat ratio to remain ketogenic, that would align to ~ 90g protein (360 cal) + 210g fat (1890 cal) ~ 2250 cal per day. That would align with the moderately active RMR data for breakeven.
So that should be a reasonable compensation and still be ketogenic in composition. The idea is to use this macro build up for the refeeding days.
The second part is the composition of the protein. I want to make sure I get the 9 essential amino acids, not just Leucine, in the 90g per day. The first three are the branch chain amino acids, and the top one is leucine (https://aminoacidsguide.com) - I followed each with my simple view (please correct if I’m off):
leucine - helps in regulating the blood-sugar levels, promotes the growth and the recovery of muscle and bone tissues, as well as the production of the growth hormone. This amino acid is also known for preventing the breakdown of muscle proteins caused by injury or stress = builds muscle
isoleucine - able to increase endurance and to help heal muscle tissue, boosts up the energy levels and to assist the body in recovering from strenuous physical activity. = energy, endurance
valine - smooth muscle “nervous” system and cognitive functioning, prevents the breakdown of muscle, because it supplies the muscles with an extra glucose responsible for the energy production during physical activity = prevents muscle loss, mental function
histidine - keeping a normal pH of 7 in the body by shuttling protons to maintain an acid/base balance in tissue and blood, vital in hemoglobin (blood), regulate and to utilize essential trace elements like iron, copper, molybdenum, zinc, and manganese, essential in forming numerous metal-bearing enzymes and compounds, such as the antioxidant super oxide dismutase = oxidation protection, acid balance
lysine- building block for all proteins in your body, calcium absorption, building muscle protein, trauma recovery, helps produce hormones, enzymes, and antibodies = strong bones & muscles
methionine - produces other important molecules, involved in the production of cysteine, the other sulfur-containing amino acid used to build proteins in the body, intermediate in the biosynthesis of different phospholipids, important in single-carbon metabolism and helps the detoxification in the liver. = detoxification, metabolism, longevity
phenylalanine - produces other proteins, coded for by DNA, precursor for tyrosine, the monoamine neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and epinephrine (adrenaline), and the skin pigment melanin. = mental alertness, memory, mood, appetite suppression
threonine - supports the human immune system by helping in the production of antibodies, central nervous, cardiovascular, liver, production of collagen, elastin, and muscle tissue, building strong bones & teeth = immune system, skin, hair, muscle, bone
tryptophan - supports production of enzymes, structural proteins, serotonin, melatonin, and the neurotransmitters, pain perception, sleep, temperature, blood pressure, possible mediator of central fatigue = nervous system, energy
The next step is to find adequate vegan sources and to align it all to the 90g I need… 
I have no idea if this is useful to anyone else, but if I’m learning… I’m sharing…
One pound is positively parsimonious. I gather you missed my steak mountain dinner post last night. I think I hurt myself on my first day of carnivore. It’s more complicated than it looks.
I forgot about that part. Vegetarian would be tricky, but 1lb of vegan protein is a little hard to wrap my head around. Can vegans eat plankton? Whale’s seem to do pretty well, but they’ve got the grill for it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Thanks for the beautiful mountain of meat! I’ll definitely get there in May but the next 30 days will still be vegan.
So I didn’t get to measure immediately after eating my massive dinner of eggplant, poblano peppers (she snuck them in), onions, tahini, garlic, seaweed, avocados, asparagus, mushrooms, EVOO, pickled olives, pickled lemons followed by a bowl of almonds, pumpkin seed, and macadamia… it’s a lot of food. I’m eating until I feel very very full.
But I quickly fell asleep. It was a pretty intense exhaustion too… like my body needed to do something and had to put me out of it while it worked. Yes… it’s weird, but I do anthropomorphize my body… which is weird, since it’s a human body, but it’s not my consciousness… ok ok… back to the topic.
After I fell into this deep 3hr sleep, I woke up and immediately measured… and got this very disappointing outcome:
Before = 57G, 6.4K, 0.49GKI
After = 60G, 7.2K, 0.46GKI
I was hoping that I had a bit more glucose increase and ketone reduction in the interim and this is the post-protein use state… but it seems counter intuitive to eat so much and lower my GKI. But then again, I’m not in a normal metabolic state. I’ve been taking it easy but I might have to do some heavy lifting to make sure I’m not just refilling my fat.
I might have to make that coconut cream berry smoothie after all to kick myself out of deep autophagy and into normal ketosis again.
I’m also eating all this while not hungry at all. There is no hunger signaling at all so it’s actually “work” to consume so much.
I’m even eating things not in my normal food sheet so I have to add it all in before I can get my macros, but I’m pretty sure I’m over 20g carbs.
here’s today so far:
It’s much harder to break 2000 calories on vegan and I’ve already pushed to 33g of carbs, mostly from onions! 
I need more protein and less carbs. 42g of protein is half of what I need.
Here’s the macro view (in grams, not calories)
To get above 90g protein vegan, I had to go to a vegan protein broth and a lot more pumpkin seed. I hate the broth since it’s processed, but I didn’t want to go another day with insufficient protein. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to reset me.
yes - 71g of carbs…
way out of my comfort zone but I’ll see where that gets me.
