I am eating fat to help me not be fat.

I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but I wanted to dedicate a whole post to the crazy diet that Dana and I will be on for (at least) the next 30 days.

We are trying the Ketogenic Diet. This means that we will be eating a lot of (smart) fats, moderate protein, and very little carbs (the carbs that come from leafy green vegetables).  Some people say the Keto diet is like a paleo diet on a diet.  Another fair comparison is the Atkins diet.  So let's see... What are we eating you may ask?  here's just a few things

• Grass-fed Butter 
• Coconut Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Olive Oil
• Pork Belly
• Prosciutto
• Creme Fraiche (Dana refers to Creme Fraiche as "food of the gods" it's SOOOO delicious)
• Mayonnaise (yes I have gotten over my hatred for Mayo for the sake of my own health)
• Cottage cheese
• Cheese & eggs
• Pork (yay bacon!), chicken, beef (grass fed & organic when possible)
• Broccoli, Cauliflower Zucchini, steamed mixed greens
• Salmon salmon salmon (Wild caught & organic)

That's most of it so fair.  We need to go to the grocery store and get some almond flour since that is ok on the Keto diet.   So what aren't we eating?

• Bread
• Rice
• Pasta
• Sugar (or it's cousins Maple Syrup, Agave Syrup, and Honey)
• Potatoes
• Most fruits (strawberries and blueberries are ok since they have a very low sugar content and are fairly nutrient dense.)

That's basically it.  It's been a week  and a half so far and I've lost ~10 lbs, however I'm not really scale watching. Let me try to explain what this diet does, and then I'll get into why we chose it.

So what does this diet do? Well the Ketogenic diet basically trains your body to burn ketones (which are made from your fat stores) for it's energy.  By depriving the body of glucose, your body looks for it's secondary energy source which is fats.  The reason our body stores fat is for when we can't find food, we can still live long enough to find food by burning the excess energy our body can produce by burning it's fat stores.  Our fat storage is like a extra gas can in the back of the truck, if that gas can somehow magically make your car run on diesel and overall be more efficient.  Some of the benefits of keto are that your brain runs more efficiently on ketones than on glucose so alot of people report on feeling more clear minded and sharp and its been known to be a great help for those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia.  By moderating proteins and not taking in any glucose, you do alot to help your body become less insulin resistant so it can help reverse type II diabetes (although ketoacidosis is a very really danger for those with type II diabetes and a ketogenic diet should only be attempted under close watch from a medical professional).  It removes most inflammatory foods out of your diet so it's known to help with arthritis or tendinitis.  It's been known to treat, and in some cases cure, childhood epilepsy because of it's positive affect on the brain.

Some of you might be saying, Sam, you don't have childhood epilepsy, Alzheimer's, type II diabetes or arthritis.  Why would do such a crazy restrictive diet?  Well I'd be willing to bet that I am pre-diabetic (I haven't been checked or it)  The more and more I read about this diet the less reasons I had to not do it.  Dana was on board pretty quickly, but I wanted to do more research so I bought a book, read countless blogs, listening to podcasts, and perused the Keto reddit thread.  I was convinced.  Honestly, it only feels "restrictive" right now because of having to track our macros.  We try to hit a 80% fats 15% protein and 5% carbs (from leafy greens) ratio.  So far it's been hard for me to get my protein intake under 15, but I'm getting better at it day by day. 

I've decided on tracking my progress in the following way:  Pants.

I have 4 categories of pants right now.  As I progress in weight loss and waist inches loss I will move along into different categories of pants. 

Category 1:  current pants-  These are pants I wear now that are either a little big or fit just right on me.  work khakis, 2 pairs of jeans, work grey pants

Category 2:  Almost pants-  These are pants that I could wear to work in a pinch, but are a bit to tight for my liking.  another pair of khakis and a pair of blue slacks I bought 2-3 months ago that I even got hemmed to fit my hobbit legs, but are just too tight in the waste to be comfortable

Category 3:  2010 pants:  I would say the most in shape I've been in my life was 2010.  I was dating a woman who runs long distances, and when we broke up I started to work out for like 3 months.   I still have 2 pairs of pants from then.  1 pair of jeans, and 1 pair of brown plaid pants

Category 4:  Juice fast pants-  I lost so much weight on the juice fast that almost all of my pants I had looked ridiculous so I had to buy a few new pairs.  1 pair of mustard yellow pants 1 pair of dark grey work pants, and 1 light blue capris (we went to Europe; don't judge me).

This was me right after my juice fast.  The most svelt I've been in my life. 

I think I'll be fully into category 2 by next week.   I'll keep you updated on my current pants situation. I can't wait to be able to button those ridiculous yellow pants again.   Wish Dana and I luck, and please let me know if you have any tips or questions in regards to the Keto diet.  The more I talk about it and research it the better I can understand it's affect on my body.

Stay tuned, I'm really excited for next week's post:  Where is Hillman City?