Update: Intermittent Fasting on Nutritional Ketosis or I'm not Hangry anymore!

      So I lost another 3.2 pounds according to the weight-loss challenge at work as of Wednesday. 1.4% BMI lost.  Total of 8 lbs in two weeks. I am really convinced that nutritional ketosis is the way for me to get healthy. If you are interested to learn more about it I recommend reading Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore with Dr. Westman.

This book is changing my life!

     One of the things I have learned from this book is the concept of intermittent fasting or IF. The concept behind IF is that you only eat when you are hungry. This is a surprisingly simple concept but the ability to only eat when I was hungry was something that seemed impossible before I started keto.  Before I started keto I was consuming upwards of 200g of carbohydrates a day. Eating carbs triggers an insulin response in your body. When insulin is triggered the body burns the glucose created from the carbs. The problem is that these carbs are often converted to fat because they cannot all be burned. Then because insulin is triggered you just feel hungry again. It was a vicious cycle in which I would eat carbs then get hungry again and eat more carbs. It was a struggle not to eat above my calories every day and I felt hungry all the time. Then I discovered keto and everything changed. I changed my diet to high fat, moderate protein and low carb. I now get 75% of my daily calorie intake from healthy fats found in eggs, meats and dairy. I also liberally use butter, coconut oil and lard. It may sound crazy to you and it did to me at first too. Now I know I will never go back. Here's why:

    The reason following this simple rule of only eating when hungry is so easy now is that I am keto adapted and my body is now burning fat for fuel. What this means is that I am not hungry most of the time because my body is using my ample fat stores for fuel. I typically now eat one meal a day and it is definitely a substantial meal. After my last 24 hour fast I ate a hamburger patty, three slices of bacon wrapped around cream cheese, three eggs sprinkled with cheddar and some sauteed kale. That was last night at 6pm. I haven't been hungry since.

My fasting schedule is as follows:

Day 1: Eat until 6pm and then stop
Day 2: Do not eat until 6pm
Day 3: Eat until 6pm and then stop
Day 4: Do not eat until 6pm

And so on....

   If you had asked me a few months ago if I could go without eating for 24 hours I would have told you no. But technically I am not really fasting at all because my body is using ketones to fuel itself. I am so happy that I have such control over my appetite now. I can't wait to see what the future will bring. For the first time in my life I can hear my body and I know when I am really hungry. I have broken through the American concept of having to eat 3 meals a day because that's just how its done. Now I know that this is unnecessary and that I don't need to eat every 3 hours just because that's what is considered normal.  More on keto later.....hope everyone has a great weekend. In other news since the weigh in on Wednesday I have lost  another 2 pounds and am under 260 pounds for the first time in 8 years!!! Only 14 more pounds until I reach my halfway point on MFP! Stay tuned!