Hey all, have tracked many metrics and done countless of hours of research, so wanted to share what has worked for me and key things I've learned so far.
1. PRIOR TO CHANGES
– I'm 6'2". 2010–2019, fluctuated btwn 195 and 210lbs. Started creeping above that in 2019.
– In 2022, diet went from not great to pure garbage: 3.5k – 5k calories daily, incl. soda, fast food, candy, and other processed junk. Gained 15–20lbs in under a year.
– Hit 238lbs in November 2022 and realized that was... not OK. Louis CK echoed in my head:
"I weigh 240 pounds, which not okay, because there's no way, like, you know, when you go to a doctor, they give you like a formula for how much your weight-- like a rule of thumb? I'm pretty sure it's not your age + 200 pounds. Like, I was watching a boxing match today and both guys, they weighed 110 pounds each. So both of those guys still need a fat baby and a dead dog to make me."
Decided to make some changes, with a goal weight of 190lbs.
2. WEEKS 1-4: REDUCED CALORIES
WHAT I CHANGED
Diet
– Reduced calories to avg. of 2.4k, but kept eating lots of carbs & processed food
– Avg. daily macros: 141g protein, 128g fat, 171g carbs
Exercise
– Had been walking ~1 mile per day. Put a treadmill at my desk, avg. of 6 miles per day at 1-2mph.
Tracking
– Macros: Got food scale and started (honestly) tracking everything I was eating using MacroFactor. (No affiliation w/ the app but it's worked great for me and I recommend it highly.)
– Measurements: Neck, chest, waist at BB / 2cm above / 2cm below, biceps, thighs, calves.
– Weight: Every morning.
– Blood: Glucose in morning using KetoMojo.
RESULTS
– Lost 18lbs (238 > 220)
– Measurements: Shrank everywhere, e.g. waist at BB down 6%, from 115cm (45in.) to 108cm (42.5in.), i.e. 7cm (2.8 in.) change
– Significant improvement in energy and mood
– No change in glucose – average of 93 mg/dL
WEEKS 4-11 – FURTHER REDUCED CALORIES, STARTED KETOGENIC DIET + INTERMITTENT FASTING
Diet
– Cut back back daily calories a further 20% to avg. of 1.9k.
– Cut out processed foods almost entirely
– Went keto: eliminated grains and other sources of sugar.
– Daily avg. of 109g protein, 144g fat, 51g carbs (32g net carbs)
– Staple Foods: eggs, avocados, spinach, olive oil, zero-carb cheeses (cheddar my fav), chicken, prosciutto, macadamia nuts, sugar-free whipped cream.
– 24-36 hour fasts 1-2x per week.
Exercise
– Continued walking at least 5 miles/day, added RUCKING...
– RUCKING = walking 3-4 miles 2-3x/week with weights in a backpack. "Cardio for people who hate cardio". Started with 20lbs, upped it gradually. Got up to 65lbs but now focusing on speed and more hills with a ~45lb bag.
– Dr. Peter Attia on rucking benefits: https://youtu.be/OHdp75ezdyY?t=6191
Results
– Mood and energy improved even more. (It's not a NIGHT AND DAY difference, but enough of an improvement that it's a big motivator for me to remain on keto.)
– Majorly reduced desire to nap during the day. Energy levels more stable.
– Glucose (fasted, after waking up): Avg. 93 mg/dL (5.2 nmol/L) in weeks 1-4 declined to 82 mg/dL (4.6 nmol/L) in weeks 5–11.
– Ketones: began measuring blood BHB using KetoMojo: avg. of 2.0 mmol/L (36mg/dL), highest I've ever been is 4.2 mmol/L (76mg/dL)
– Blood pressure and resting heart rate have remained the same.
MY TAKEAWAYS
1. Enter a caloric deficit and you'll lose weight. Revolutionary concept, I know! I'm proud to be the first person to ever realize this. You're welcome.
2. If you've never tracked your macros before, consider doing so. Get a food scale (they're cheap) and use an app. It will make you much more mindful of what you're eating and likely inspire you to make better decisions about what you eat.
3. Consider tracking weight and body measurements at a minimum, weekly. To see your progress in quantified form is hugely motivating.
4. While on keto and/or fasting, make sure to consume lots of water and enough sodium, magnesium, and potassium. Otherwise, you're more likely to experience the "keto flu" (e.g. headaches, lethargy), muscle cramping, and other commonly reported issues.
5. Early on in keto, cheating isn't worth it.
– In early January I had a few cheat days where I stopped exercising, stuffed my face with carbs, and fell out of ketosis. I will admit, the giant bowl of ziti I had for my first cheat meal was a near-religious experience. But my weight loss stopped immediately and it took me ~2 weeks to see my exercise habits, mood, ketone levels, and weight loss to fully recover.
As Dr. Stephen Phinney, one of the godfathers of the modern ketogenic diet, once said:
You learn very quickly, by not feeling well, not functioning well, that it's better to stay on [keto] than to take the occasional holiday and then pay the price of having to go through the re-adaptation process.
That said, many people who have been on keto for longer than I have and are more fully "fat-adapted" report that they can have a cheat meal or even a cheat DAY without falling out of ketosis – or if they do leave ketosis, they can get back into it very quickly.
I'm just reporting my experience, which is that I wish I hadn't cheated for multiple meals in a row after only a month on keto. I would probably be at 195lbs right now instead of 202lbs.
6. There's still a TON of unsettled science about nutrition, metabolism, the obesity epidemic, etc.
– Some experts claim that ketosis + fasting prompt you to burn body fat for energy WITHOUT reducing lean body mass or significantly lowering your baseline metabolism, allowing a sustainable reduction in your "set point" weight when that # is otherwise very stubborn.
– Calories-In, Calories-Out (CICO) Counterargument: Others say that these effects are overblown, and what actually matters far more is that keto and fasting both cause many people to consume fewer calories. In this way, they say, keto + fasting succeed for the same reason ANY diet succeeds: a caloric deficit.
I suspect both schools of thought have a point. I wish I could re-run the past 11 weeks, consuming the same calories and exercising the same way I have each day, but eating carbs and never going more than 6 hours during waking hours without eating.
How much weight would I have lost so far instead? I strongly suspect it would be at LEAST 50%, but almost certainly UNDER 100%, of what I've lost doing keto + IF. But I have no idea beyond that and am open to being wrong.
Curious for y'all's thoughts on this!
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