So I've been intermittent with taking my readings. I admit that. What I'm trying to do from this Saturday onwards is take a comprehensive reading of everything I can measure, and noting it down in a log.
For my "defaults", I'm using some measurements I already have. Mid-January, before I was going to go to Tucson and see my best band in the world. Which, because my memory from that time, I am calling the 15th of January, 2016.
On the 15th of January, 2016, my stats were:
Weight: 95 kg neat
Fat weight: 42.6 kg
Waist/Height: 0.5941
Blood Sugar: Unknown
Blood Ketones: Unknown
Breath Ketones: Unknown
I've been taking incredibly spotty readings since then. At least, until today. For everyone keeping track, there should be a regular update once a week on where I am.
When I started on ketogenics, on the twenty-sixth of November, 2016...
Weight: 88.8 kg
Fat Weight: 38.5 kg
[and the rest of my statistics are unknown. Sorry]
I couldn't even drop ten kilos in eight months. I broke my boring diet, I gorged myself on sweet treats and fatty foods. I was probably two more days away from misery when my Beloved started me on Keto.
Today, on the 28th of January, 2017...
Weight: 83.2 kg
Fat weight: 33.3 kg
Waist/Height: 0.552
Blood Sugar: 4.3
Blood Ketones: 2.22
Breath Ketones: 10.33
And these are all morning readings, where the only thing I've taken in is water.
In two months (and a bit) I have been working out, eating well, feeling satiated, happy, and otherwise fantastic. I've lost over five kilos of pure fat. I'm no longer bored with my food and turning to a "sweetie treatie" just to stay sane at the end of the day.
I don't need coffee. I don't need sugar. I still want it, but I can stay away. I still sniff the aromas a lot, but that's part of the withdrawal process, I'm sure.
I'm sleeping better, and more soundly. I'm dreaming again. I'm hardly having micro-naps during the day, though I am more likely to just drop off if I've had a long and exhausting day. I have more spoons to deal with the things that used to fatigue me.
Before Keto, I would micro-nap and wake up from a hyper-realistic vision that I could no longer recall once I was conscious. I would micro-nap whilst I was driving. On really bad days, I would not drive with just myself in the car. I had mint lollies to help me stay awake on long trips. And then I would have the worst time in the world falling asleep and staying asleep. My life was hell.
There is no way in the world that I would ever go back to hi-carb dieting. Just... no. You can't convince me with a thousand paid scientists4 that I need as many carbs as they say I do.
There's physical differences, too. I was pudgy before I started. My weight was low, but I had cankles, and the wrist's answer to cankles. My fingers and toes were sausages. I had fat feet! And now I'm suffering from an incredibly shrinking underpants zone. I put on the jeans that were a little tight, last year, and there's a solid inch or two between them and my bum.
I can catch things now. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but hand-eye co-ordination has always been my kryptonite. I used to have to make a basket out of my hands and field whatever it was with my entire arms and upper body. Just this morning, I fielded a tossed sock with one hand.
I'm remembering some things a lot easier, too. The day of the week. What year it is. What the hell I walked into that room for. It's subtle, but it's also damn near miraculous. My stress levels are down, my anxiety is manageable. I barely have any kind of depression, any more. Compare my state of mind today with what was going through my head a year ago... the differences are firkin VAST.
I'm still a cynical cuss, but I think that's my default brain state.
And even better - I hardly get sick. The ur-cold feeling, last time, was an acid deficiency and easily cured. Apple Cider Vinegar is tasty shit. Get the organic stuff without the Bliss Point sugars in it. Have it all over seafood and have seafood as often as you can get it. Yummo.
This. Lifestyle. WORKS.
Not even the Powers That Be could change my mind.
Science moment - the waist/height number is a remarkable predictor of lifespan. The more above 0.5 you are, the less likely you are to live a long and healthy life. This, of course, discounts pregnant people. ↩
Ketogenics says: any blood ketone level between 1 and 5 is good news. Above 5 and you're doing it wrong and poisoning yourself. Below 1 and you don't have ketogenesis yet. ↩
This is one of the rare times when bigger is better. AFAIK, there's no upper limit. ↩
You bet your arse they're paid by the wheat/corn/sugar industry to say that you need carbs. All the unpaid scientists use actual real data and have realised that lo-carb is the way to go. ↩