Lean Forever: Vegeketosis, Part II

If you're reading this because you're legitimately interested in a ketogenic diet (with a strong Advocare showing on the supplement side), I want you to know what you're in for.

This delicious looking brew is a poor-man's version of bulletproof coffee.  170 calories.  26 grams of fat.  No carbs.  No protein.  All it takes is (brace yourselves): a cup of dark roast coffee (I brewed 12oz of Marley's espresso blend), a tablespoon of grass-fed, unsalted butter (I used Kerrygold), and a tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil (I used my grocery store's brand).  Add butter and oil to the hot coffee, blend thoroughly, and soon Starbucks will be making "butter lattes" for the masses.

It's good.  Trust me.  I'm not snobbish about a lot, but I am very particular about my coffee, and if it's palatable to me, then it's probably decent for everyone.

But this is a prime example of what is needed to make ketosis happen.  You will be getting around 70-75% of your calories from fat, and unless you're into chugging oil or drinking butter, you need to improvise.  And, if you do hate it, there are alternatives.

If you're struggling to drink the required amount of water on the 24DC or Lean in 13, then I've got some bad news.

When glucose is in a holding pattern in the body, it's stored with a ton of water, and when the cells send out the smoke signals for energy, the glucose is released (and the water along with it).  You can sort of see how dehydration happens during intense exercise: glucose is all consumed, water is flushed out, and suddenly you're losing more water than you're taking in.

Anyway, no carbs means a drastic reduction in glucose, which means a drastic reduction in stored water.  This is why Atkins diets see such immediate results: all that stored water is flushed out.  The rule of thumb is to take your body weight and divide by two to get the # of ounces of water you should get.  I find myself drinking roughly my body weight in ounces, and peeing a lot more.  Except in the most extreme cases, there's no such thing as too much water.  But always err on the side of caution and chug it down.

Good news for folks in dire need of some sweets.  Look at that thing.  Doesn't it look delicious?

So earlier I mentioned alternatives to bulletproof coffee, and this is it: the fat bomb.  Essentially a chilled amalgamation of oil and butter, combined with other miscellany that make it taste like something less disgusting.

The one above (and the one I made tonight): is a coconut variant: shredded coconut, coconut oil, butter, cinnamon, and a bit of stevia.  Toast the coconut and toss it in the food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.  Pour into muffin tins (or ice cube trays) and let it chill for at least 30 minutes.

Mine was a little light on flavor, but there are thousands of recipes (just google "Keto Fat Bomb" to see all the Pinterest-worthy sexy photos of chilled coconut oil).  Since the base is usually oil and butter, you're free to experiment and figure out what you like best without throwing a ton of money down the drain.  

Why are they important?  For the same reason as the coffee: you need healthy fat without a lot of carbs or protein, and it is very hard to get the required amount without fat bombs and bulletproof coffee.

I will never, ever quit Spark.  It's the only thing that coaxes me out of bed at 4:30 to head to the gym.  But I did have to sacrifice my Meal Replacement Shakes.  A sad day for me, but a joyous occasion for my daughter, who now gets them all to herself.

But, by the end of the day I am usually sick and tired of rich, fatty meals, and I want to give my protein numbers one last boost before shutting down eating for the night, and that's what Muscle Gain is for (note: I would go with the vanilla over the chocolate...the former is a little more versatile, plus it only has 4 grams of carbs to the chocolate's 7).  One scoop of that, two tablespoons of peanut butter (or PB2, if your fat numbers are good), ice and water, and blend it up.

If you're looking for something more dessert-y: plain greek yogurt (both non-fat and full-fat) is relatively low carb.  If you mix the Muscle Gain in with some yogurt and PB you get a mousse-like consistency (I'd recommend adding a little bit of vanilla extract to cut the tang of the yogurt).

If you did a 24DC or a cleanse you should already know that there are vegetables to avoid, either due to high sugar content or an abundance of starch.  Ketogenic diets are no different.  Thankfully people have already done the dirty work.  While vegetables are an important part of ANY diet, I find that I can somewhat justify a small reduction in the vegetable servings, given that most of my meat alternatives are soy based.  Still, I aim for at least one salad a day, and a veggie with dinner.

I will save Part III until Saturday, which is weigh-in day, so you can see how ketosis has worked for me for one week.  Since by then I should be in ketosis for at least a few days, hopefully with no ill-effects.

I'll leave you with my food round-up for the day.  You can see how the absence of a fat bomb forced me to use both butter and oil while cooking dinner, and make a little sauce out of heavy cream and goat cheese, which really made the dinner almost too rich.  Tomorrow I'm tossing at least one fat bomb into my morning snack, and might have to use another after dinner (they're about 10g of fat per).

Still, though, it barely feels like a diet.

Lean Forever: Vegeketosis, Part I

First off, what the hell is ketosis?  There's plenty of sites dedicated to more scientific explanations, but, above all else, I'm a layman.

In the normal, food-pyramid-y, equal parts carbs and protein diet, your body takes carbohydrates and breaks them down into glucose, which is then shuttled into the bloodstream.  When the pancreas notices the uptick in glucose levels it produces insulin, the hormone that latches onto glucose and shoves it into cells for energy.  Obviously this process is flawed for diabetic folks and the hypoglycemic.

When the body doesn't have enough glucose, the pancreas goes to its backup plan and releases lipase: an enzyme that breaks down stored fat (triglycerides).  The fat cells go to the liver for further processing, creating glycerol and ketones.  The glycerol is further metabolized through amino acids and lactate into glucose, and the ketones are metabolized into BHB (which the brain uses for fuel) and acetone (which is either further metabolized into glucose, or peed out).

The main goal of a ketogenic diet is to keep the body steadily (and safely) in ketosis, which will, in turn, burn fat for fuel.

What's awesome about a ketogenic diet, and what's awful?

Awesome:

• Ketosis relies on a steady input of protein and...drum roll...fat.  It seems wildly antithetical to think of fat as a necessary macro for fat loss, but fat is a) almost entirely ketogenic, which means that if you're in ketosis then that fat is being metabolized immediately for fuel, and b) wildly filling.  I did a ketogenic diet late last year and I'm on day 2 as I type this, and feeling hungry has never, ever, ever been an issue.
• If you're an omnivore, ketogenic diets are similar to Atkins, except with a greater focus on the kinds of fats you're ingesting (so maybe don't eat bacon for three meals)...but this does mean that lean meats and seafood will get top billing with every meal, and everyone knows how delicious they are.
• If you're a vegetarian, welcome to a world of eggs, nuts, and cheese, and nearly every mock-meat is low carb (avoid anything breaded, though).
• With Atkins and Paleo diets still relatively popular, you have a wealth of resources for recipes and meal ideas that are either 100% ketogenic or very easily could be with a few tweaks.
• Ketogenic diets fit in very nicely with Advocare supplements, and (as I'll show in Part II) can be easily adapted to a Lean in 13 program or even a 24 Day Challenge.

Awful:

• Goodbye, bread (although I've made a pretty tasty low-carb bread last weekend)
• Goodbye, pasta (although shirataki noodles are an admirable substitute)
• Goodbye, wine and beer (both high carb...most hard liquors are zero carb and won't knock you out of ketosis, although it will slow down metabolic processes).
• Goodbye ice cream (I don't have a sweet tooth, and there are some ways to still get your dessert on).
• Goodbye fruit (I really have no response to this.  Not eating fruit sucks.  If you plan accordingly you can probably swing some raspberries or blackberries, which are both about as low-carb as a fruit can get)
• If you're a vegan, I hope you love a challenge.  Tofu will have to be your best friend, as every other bean is too high carb to maintain ketosis.

So, before you dive right in to a ketogenic lifestyle, you need to figure out your macros.  Luckily people have already done the legwork, and there's a great site (http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com) that will take your inputs and shoot out a calorie count along with your protein, fat, and carb ratios.

It's interesting to see the min and max...so on an absolutely terrible day (and 285 grams of fat would definitely be terrible...it's like eating a stick of butter), as long as my carbs stay below 30 I'm at least in ketosis.

Most calorie trackers (I use MyFitnessPal) allow you to adjust macros in the tracking, so setting this up was a breeze.

A quick note: when I (or any ketogenic diet site) discuss carbs, they're referring to NET carbs.  There's a very, very complex formula on determining net carbs, so write this down:  take the carbohydrate count, and subtract the fiber. Unfortunately MyFitnessPal doesn't let me track a net carb macro, so I'm constantly warned that "Your goal was to stay below 30 carbs!" and I'm all "I KNOW, I KNOW.  I AM."  Luckily you CAN adjust the food tracking to show net carbs, so doing the math is still easy.

Coming up in Part II:

• I put butter in my coffee.  You heard me.
• Muscle Gain is mana from the heavens.
• Get ready to pee forever.
• Not all vegetables are created equal