Tuesday, April 5, 2016

FINAL RESULTS - 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015
Today I am posting the final results for my 91-day challenge. I waited several days to post the results so that I would have a chance to do an HbA1c test, put together final photos and think about what I wanted to say about my findings, my feelings, and where I want to go from here in my quest to maintain my new weight and lowered fasting blood glucose.


THE WAY I WILL EAT

One thing is for certain, and that is that I will continue to eat a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb. This really seems like the only way to keep on track.  In the past, every time I have tried to increase carbs, I have gained weight.  I really don't want to do that this time.  More about exactly how I will proceed from here at the end of this post...


MY HbA1c TEST RESULTS 

I have taken an HbA1c test to see what my average blood glucose has been for the past three months.  The last time I took one was around a year ago, and I got a reading of 5.4%, which means that my average blood glucose for the prior three months had been 108 mg/dl.  And that is not an average of just the morning reading (FBG), but all the levels at all times of the day.  The ideal HbA1c is around 4.5% which is equal to 83 mg/dl.  You can see a chart of how that works here.

 
My test gave me a result of 5.2%, which is equivalent to an average blood glucose of 103 mg/dl.  This is an improvement over my last test, but I would be lying if I did not say how extremely disappointed I am.  What this means is that although my fasting blood glucose has come down into very good levels, my non-fasting blood glucose levels are still elevated.  As much as I hate the idea, I am going to have to start testing my postprandial (after meals) blood glucose to see what is causing this problem.  If my average is 103, that means that my post-meal readings must still be in diabetic ranges, possibly in the 120s and higher.


But, wait a minute!  It is very hard for me to believe that my average BG is this high when I have been doing all this fasting.  I went to the interwebs and found many articles that show the inaccuracy of the HgA1c test.  This article by Chris Kresser is a good example and is very easy to understand.  In short, Dr. Kresser believes that home monitoring before and after meals is a much better indicator of average blood glucose than the HbA1c test.  He found that his patients who had stellar BG readings before and after meals at home would test artificially high on a standard A1c test.  In the article, he mentions that people with anemia and/or iron-deficiency have incorrect results with the test.  I have been anemic and/or iron deficient since childhood, so a standard home test for BG will be accurate when an HbA1c test may not.  We'll get to the bottom of this!

Over this next week, I am going to check my BG at home nine times per day and find out what my true average is.  I will check fasting when I get up in the morning, one hour after starting to eat breakfast, two hours after starting to eat breakfast, then right before starting to eat lunch, then one and two hours after that, and the same for dinner.  The average of these nine readings should be very close to a true average.  I'm very sure that my result will not show that I have an average BG of 103 mg/dl.  I started doing this this morning, and so far my average over the three readings was 87 mg/dl.  When this week is over, I will post my results. 

The chart below is the final chart that shows my fasting blood glucose test results.  The grey lines are my long term goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The orange lines are my 7-day averages.  As you can see, I did make progress toward normalizing my FBG.




MY OFFICIAL BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

Although I have posted a few casual photos in this past three months, I wanted to wait until the challenge to post my official before and after photos, so here they are:




As I always do when I take these type of photos, I took special care to stand normally, neither pushing out my stomach in the before photos nor sucking it in in the after photos.  I also crop the photos so that they are the same size and can be compared side by side.  Also, if you click on the photo above, you will be able to see that I have been left with loose skin.  I hope you will not judge me too harshly for this, remembering that I am over 60 years old, and that is part of the reason why.  I remember my father telling me that it would be better to be somewhat overweight in order to have tighter skin and therefor a younger appearance, but I would much rather look a little bit older and have a proper body size for my height!























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Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Glucose)

Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally low blood glucose (blood sugar) levels, usually less than 70 mg/dl. However, it is important to talk to your health care provider about your individual blood glucose targets, and what level is too low for you.
Hypoglycemia may also be referred to as an insulin reaction, or insulin shock.
Hypoglycemic symptoms are important clues that you have low blood glucose. Each person's reaction to hypoglycemia is different, so it's important that you learn your own signs and symptoms when your blood glucose is low.
The only sure way to know whether you are experiencing hypoglycemia is to check your blood glucose, if possible. If you are experiencing symptoms and you are unable to check your blood glucose for any reason, treat the hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia has the potential to cause accidents, injuries, coma, and death.

Signs and Symptoms of Hypoglycemia (happen quickly)

  • Shakiness
  • Nervousness or anxiety
  • Sweating, chills and clamminess
  • Irritability or impatience
  • Confusion, including delirium
  • Rapid/fast heartbeat
  • Lightheadedness or dizziness
  • Hunger and nausea
  • Sleepiness
  • Blurred/impaired vision
  • Tingling or numbness in the lips or tongue
  • Headaches
  • Weakness or fatigue
  • Anger, stubbornness, or sadness
  • Lack of coordination
  • Nightmares or crying out during sleep
  • Seizures
  • Unconsciousness
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hypoglycemia-low-blood.html#sthash.99Em6ldy.dpuf
As I always do when I take these kind of photos, I take special care to stand normally, neither pushing my stomach out in the before photo, nor sucking it in in the after photo.  I also crop them in such a way so that they are equal in actual size and a true comparison can be seen.
I had a bad incision during my c-section in 1977, and my stomach muscles were cut in such a way that I will never really be able to use them to hold my stomach in.  Because of that, I will probably always have a little bit of a "pooch" no matter how slim I am, but I can live with that.  Some tummy-control undies go a long way to giving me the impression of a flat stomach.  By the way, I am not wearing anything like that in either of these photos.  I am wearing regular, non-slimming leggings.


MY BODY MEASUREMENTS

Another thing that I have been doing in the background during the challenge is tracking my body measurements.  Here are the results for those:

NECK
12 3/8"  -  11 3/4"
LOST 5/8"

BUST
36 3/4"  -  35"
LOST 1 3/4"

WAIST
33 3/4"  -  29"
LOST 4 3/4"

BELLY
41 1/2"  -  37 1/8"
LOST 4 3/8"

HIPS
41 1/4"  -  38 1/4"
LOST 3"

THIGH
22 7/8"  -  21 1/4"
LOST 1 5/8"

CALF
14 3/8"  -  13 5/8"
LOST 3/4"

TOTAL INCHES LOST - 19 1/4"

When I do the math for the total inches lost, I count each measurement as one unit with the exception of my thighs and calves, which I count as two units each.  Because I have two of each of those.  That might not be the right way to do it, but it is the way I do it.


SCALE WEIGHT AND BODY COMPOSITION

 Before I talk about my weight loss, I want to explain how I determine my body fat and lean body mass percentages.

In the past few years, I have had DEXA scans and Bod Pod testing done to determine my body composition.  These are very accurate, but are expensive, usually costing around $100, depending where you get it done.

Several years ago, I found an online calculator that is used by the US Navy and is based on neck, waist and hip measurements.  I tried it out and found that the results, at least for me, were so similar to the expensive tests that I decided to start using the free online calculator to get an estimate of my body composition.  In my experience, I have found the free results to be within a few tenths of a percentage point of the other tests.  For my purposes, this is close enough.

My goal for the past several years has been to reach my goal of 136 pounds with 30% body fat. When trying to lose weight, the goal should be to lose body fat and not lean mass.  So knowing what your body composition is starting and ending is very useful.  Here are the results for those:

January 1, 2016
60.1 pounds of body fat - 39%
93.9 pounds of lean body mass - 61%
154 pounds of total scale weight

April 1, 2016
41.7 pounds of body fat - 30.3%
95.9 pounds of lean body mass - 69.7%
137.6 pounds of total scale weight

LOST 18.4 POUNDS OF BODY FAT
GAINED 2 POUNDS OF LEAN BODY MASS

The way I see it, I have come close enough to my weight loss goals to declare this part of the challenge a victory.  Technically, I still need to lose 0.9 pounds of body fat and I am actually over my goal for lean body mass by 0.7 pounds.

Because my lean body mass is over my goal, I need to make a shift in my goals.  Now, the new goal is to achieve 30% body fat regardless of my scale weight.  To reach this goal, all I need to do is lose another 1/4" from my waist.

By the way, according to my measurements, I am the smallest I have been since starting low carb in 2009, and also the smallest I have been in around twenty years.  Before now, the lowest body fat percentage I achieved was around 32% and that was three years ago, but I gained the weight back.  This time, I am bound and determined not to do that, no matter what it takes.

One thing that I want to be sure to mention is that I purposely did not do any kind of exercise during the challenge.  I did not want there to be any confounding factors pertaining to my results.

The chart below is the final chart that shows my scale weight results.  The grey lines are my long term goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The orange lines are my 7-day averages.  As you can see, I came very close to reaching my goal.




FEASTING AND FASTING

 When I started this challenge, I really had no idea that I would end up fasting as often as I did!  I even said that I was going to fast at least once a week, even if I was meeting my goals for weight loss and FBG.  Little did I know that I would end up fasting three, four and even five times per week to reach my goals!  Here is my little heat map to show how often I needed to fast to achieve my goals:


I have said it before, but it bears repeating, that if I had known this going in, I wouldn't have started.  I probably would have just started micromanaging my food intake again, lost some weight, gotten sick of it, quit tracking and then gained all the weight back again.

I have fasted in the past, and I knew I could do it, but it is still hard to start doing it again once you haven't done it in a while.  I went in with a lot of commitment and drive and made it to the end, even when it was difficult.  But how often was it difficult?  Surprisingly seldom, to tell the truth.  For me, once I started and my body adjusted to it, I rarely got truly hungry, and I could even be around other people (most notably, my husband) when they were eating and I would not feel anything.  

In the evening, after a full day or two of fasting, I would start thinking about how wonderful it would be to eat in the morning.  Then I would get up in the morning and not be hungry at all.  This is one of the blessings/curses of fasting and being in deep nutritional ketosis.  Running on ketones instead of glucose is a big appetite suppressant!  Very often, I would have to force myself to eat something when I was not hungry.  If there was one downside to having a suppressed appetite, it was the concern that I was not going to be getting the nutrition I need.

Obviously, though, I was able to maintain my muscle mass while losing body fat, even though I was eating only every few days for the last half of the challenge.  I even gained some lean mass!

WHERE I AM GOING FROM HERE

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I intend to keep eating a ketogenic diet.  But will I continue to feast and fast, or will I go back to caloric restriction, which is eating a smaller amount each day and tracking my food?  I would like to look at the pros and cons of each.

FEASTING AND FASTING

Pro - On a feast day, I never have to count calories or grams of anything or weigh food.
Con - On a feast day, I sometimes don't want to eat and worry about getting nutrition.
  
Pro - On a fast day, I don't even have to think about food.  Or pay for it!
Con - On a fast day, I don't get to eat if I want to, and I have to watch others eat.

Pro - On either day, my metabolism stays strong and does not slow down.
Pro - This way of eating seems to be sustainable.  I may not feel like I need to give up.

CALORIC RESTRICTION

Pro - I get to eat every day.
Con - I have to measure everything I eat and track it on a spreadsheet.
Con - I have to stop eating when I am not satisfied.
Con - I have to pay for food every day.
Con - This is not a sustainable way for me to live.  I hate it and I always give up.

And the biggest con of all - Caloric restriction has been shown to slow the metabolism, meaning that the longer you restrict calories, the slower the metabolism and the less food you get to eat to try to maintain your weight.

I found this to be true for myself.  In the past, even when eating low carb, I had to continually reduce the amount of food I was allowed to eat in order to keep losing weight.  I'll leave it to others to get into the science of why that is true, but I know it is and I have read many articles about the subject.

So, as nice as it seems to be able to eat every day, I think that the preponderance of the evidence in my case is that I need to continue to feast and fast to maintain a healthy body composition and normal blood glucose.  This is what I have decided to do, and I can only hope that it will be sustainable over time.  I have done it for three months without too much drama, so it is sustainable so far.

From here on out, I will not be using the bathroom scale as the measure of my success.  Starting next week, I am going back to the gym once a week to do my weight training and I will also be starting a walking regimen to help with insulin resistance. 

Because I intend to gain more muscle (and hopefully tighten up my loose skin!), I know that the number on the scale may start increasing.  However, even as I gain muscle, my body size should not increase.  For that reason, I will be using my body fat percentage as a guide of whether or not to eat on a given day.  Using the free online calculator mentioned in this post, I will check my neck, waist and hip measurement each day and use those numbers in my decision for feast or fast.  If the scale is over 136 pounds, but the calculator says that I am still 30% body fat, I'm feasting.  If it is 30.1% or higher, I'm fasting.

The only drawback of this is that I am basically going by my waist measurement, and the day after I feast, I always feel a little bloated, which may be due to water weight and not true body fat gain.  Also, like I mentioned earlier, my stomach muscles don't work very well, and just having food in my stomach, even the right kind of food, makes my tummy stick out.  But, I figure that if I am fasting each time my waist measurement goes up a little, it will be good for me.  Fasting is good for me.  I need to keep telling myself that!  

Throughout this challenge, as I was needing to fast more and more often, I have been concerned that I would need to keep up only eating a few times a week in order to maintain my health.  But I'm thinking that it may not be the case, because I am now no longer needing to lose weight.  When the challenge was in full swing, and I gained weight after a feast day, I would not only have to "fast off" that weight, but also an additional 0.2 pounds to keep up with my weight loss schedule.  Now, if I gain weight (and by that, I mean body fat) on a feast day, all I need to lose the next day is that same weight and no more.  

I fully expect that I will be transitioning into a regular pattern of Alternate Day Fasting.  I hope that it will go well enough that there may be times that I eat two days in a row, but if not, so be it.

Rebecca on April 2, 2016
Well, I guess that's about all there is to my summary.  It's been a great three months!  I learned a lot, and I lost a lot.  I hope there has been enough content here that my challenge has been food for thought for those that feel like they are stuck and don't know what to try next or where to turn.

Thanks so much for reading and for sticking it out with me for the full challenge!

Oh, and just in an effort at full disclosure, I must admit to my faithful readers that I went out to a restaurant and to the mall on April 1st, the first day being off the challenge, and I ate things I should have not eaten.  It's all a blur now, but I have vague memories of a few French fries, some popcorn and a Dark Chocolate Pixie from Fannie May.

I gained weight.  I fasted on April 3rd and 4th.  Today I am eating and checking my blood glucose before and after eating.  Onward and downward!

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

35 comments:

  1. Great write up Rebecca. You did a fantastic job. As far as the loose skin, I see none. You look great!!. Keep up the good work. Your postprandial will continue to plummet with lchf and fasting. Again well done.

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  2. I assume you will continue to check bg. This will no longer be a determining factor to whether you feast or fast though? Just body measurements? I guess if measurements are down then insulin will be also? Interesting. I've followed you for many years. I have gleaned a lot of knowledge from you. I look forward to continue reading about your journey. Again well done

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    1. Bill, since I first posted this article, I made a change to it based on the research I did on the HbA1c test. If you go back and read the section about that, you will see what I'm going to do about continuing BG testing. Rebecca

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  3. You look great! How do you feel?? Oh, I would have been so bummed about the A1C numbers ~ good that found a plausible explanation!
    I am thrilled with you that you reached your goals, and am inspired by the way you stuck with it! I've considered an every other day fast (because of your challenge, and your results) but honestly, I don't think I'm at a place in life where I'd be successful with sticking to it. Perhaps when I am no longer feeding a bunch of people every day....
    Thank you for sharing your journey! I look forward to the next phase...
    Tracy
    p.s. You totally deserved those fries... :-)

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    1. Thanks so much, Tracy! I have really appreciated your support through this challenge!

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    2. Oops! I forgot to answer your question about how I feel. I feel great!

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  4. Great blog! Glad to have met you and learned from your shared experience!

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Mike! It's been great getting to meet you, too!

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  5. Hi Rebecca. I wandered into your post about protein consumption on Facebook. I was all ready to up protein until I read about higher levels of protein opening the Mtor window. How are you going with this. I would love to eat lots more protein, but I'm think if I can stay around 65 to 70 fat, 30 to 25 protein and 5 carbs I do best. What do you think? What you gonna do?

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    1. Do you mean those amounts per meal or per day? Also, which post are you referring to on FB? Which group was it in?

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    2. I got this response from Raymund Edwards in the Optimizing Nutrition Group on FB:

      m-tor activation is GOOD - context changes all
      LOW CARB not chronically eating , not snacking not eating sugar --- WELL you should not be fearing m-tor .
      AS you have low insulin and IGF-1

      the opposite of m-tor is AMPK

      people who eat bad never activate AMPK
      and hyper insulin leads to chronic activation of m-tor

      ALSO most people on about m-tor do not allow for that context and look at too many worm and insect studies

      the longevity factor in humans is having some ketones
      you got them at moderate levels and you dip into them between meals - THEN your worry is too little m-tor

      AS longevity is also about strong muscles and bone !!
      FRAILTY is a real concern too !

      Protein is what makes you a healthy thriving HUMAN !
      In the right context !

      LOW CARB and LOW PROTEIN - is starvation !

      is not how HUMANS are supposed to be.

      FEED WELL is about amino acids , FAST WELL ( time between that feeding )
      AMPK is in balance with m-tor

      ketones with robustness = healthy aging and thriving !

      WE want to activate m-tor - when we have balance the building up of new ( m-tor ) the tearing down of the old ( AMPK )

      FEEDING WELL and SELF EATING WELL

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  6. Thanks Rebecca. I'm really not a stalker I promise. :-) it was the post about where you were trying to increase your protein and your blood glucose numbers were staying down. I never saw any more posts after the first couple how are you doing with that? Do you plan to incorporate higher protein and less fat in your diet? Are your blood numbers staying down with increased protein? I would really like to increase my protein but not at the expense of my insulin. But what I was reading in that post seems like lots of type 2 people were getting excellent numbers with increased protein. Have you given any further consideration into changing your diet and how you're going to proceed with your maintenance? Thanks again.

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  7. It was the post where cyr and Julian and I think Raymond were telling you about increased protein

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    1. Do you remember when that was and what the name of the FB group is?

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  8. LOL! I didn't think you were a stalker! It's just that I have been talking about protein on a couple of different threads, and was wondering which one you read. :)

    As for me, I am increasing protein and my blood sugar has been staying stable and nice and low.

    I have a suggestion for you. I'm still not sure which FB thread you are referring to, because I've been talking about it, probably with all those same people on more than one thread. If you do not already belong, I would higher recommend that you join the FB group called "optimizing nutrition". There is another one called "optimizing nutrition reviewers", but that is the wrong one. Once you have joined, find the thread here and read every word of it, including the comments that you have to manually open, and watch the videos and read the articles that are included in that thread.

    Once you have done that, I would love to see you join in the conversation and ask any questions that you might have.

    The thread has gone crazy with lots of wonderful information, and none other than the famous Dr. Ron Rosedale has now joined in and has been explaining why he suggests lower protein, which of course Raymund Edwards disagrees with.

    Once you are a member, here is the link to the thread to look for.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/optimisingnutrition/permalink/1536336123334097/

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    1. One more thing, Bill... Everyone on that thread wants to know if, when you were saying how much fat, protein and carbs you eat, was that in grams or was that a percentage of your total calories? We all think you must have meant percentages, which none of us go by because the percentages are variable based on the total food for the day. We all go by how many grams of each thing, because it makes more sense. For that reason, we do not use macro calculators, because the percentage could be right, but if you are only eating 500 calories per day, you are not getting enough fat or protein, and if you are eating 5000 calories per day, you are getting way too much fat and protein. Could you please respond here and let me know how many actual GRAMS of fat, protein and carbs you are eating each day, and don't bother with how many calories that adds up to. Thanks!

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  9. Thanks Rebecca for your response. I'm not sure if I'm a member of that one or not I'm a member of like 20 of them so I have a hard time remembering which ones I read and which ones I posted. Anyway yes I was talking about percentages. I normally shoot for around 115 grams of protein right around a hundred grams of fat and 25 grams of net carbs. I remember Jeff saying keep the protein in the fat about a one-to-one ratio. I will dig in and then join in The Fray. One last question which blood glucose monitor do you use? I use the Freestyle Lite and it gives me a lot lower reading than say the ReliOn or several others that I've used. I will soon be retiring and lose the insurance that I've got so I've got to try to find another monitor that is somewhat similar to my FreeStyle Lite. The relions are 15 to 20 points higher I guess I could just subtract that amount but I'm wondering really which are accurate and which aren't. I know my FreeStyle Lite is considered a very accurate unit. I read that the ReliOn micro was accurate as well but it gave me a 20-point higher reading then my FreeStyle Lite. These machines are driving me nuts :-)

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    1. I originally used the Walgreens TrueTest meter, but the strips are pretty expensive. I switched to the Walmart ReliOn, which had pretty cheap strips, but I guess you get what you pay for. The readings were all over the place, and were always at least 10% higher than the TrueTEST when I would compare them with the same blood sample. So I went back to the TrueTest.

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    2. This is interesting, I've been doing my own blood glucose readings and now I need to check my relion accuracy. What a bummer. http://simonhunterhealthfitness.blogspot.com/2016/07/monitoring-your-own-health-blood-glucose.html

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  10. OK.yes. I am a member. I was mainly on okl I guess. I will change direction and peruse that site.thanks for direction.

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  11. Okay Rebecca I read every post in that thread. A lot of great information most of it over the top of the head for this Middle School teacher who teaches autistic kids. I came out of it going to increase protein to the levels that Raymond suggested. But I am still concerned about the m-toractivation with higher protein. So in essence I still don't know what I'm going to do! On the okl charts I think I'm supposed to be up around 140 grams of protein at a minimum. I may go up to 110 115 grams for protein but I think I'll cut it off there. Still leery about the mtor. Thanks for your counsel Rebecca.

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    1. I guess there's nothing wrong with tip-toeing in when you are not sure of something! I know what you mean about mTOR. There are definitely two schools of thought on that, but it seem like the vast majority are in the "mTOR activation is okay within the context of a ketogenic diet" camp, and the only person I can find in the "mTOR activation is to be avoided" camp is Dr. Rosedale. And, in the video I watched where he explained his view, he told people to make up the deficit from protein in carbs. He was saying a healthy breakfast contains an English muffin. So I don't believe he is really looking at the data from a ketogenic point of view.

      Be sure to keep me posted. By the way, how tall are you, and how much body fat do you want to lose, if it's okay to ask?

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  12. I'm 6 ft tall. Weigh 220 and want to get the stubborn rest off. Would like to be 205-210.eating I go down and back up. I can gain 5 lbs after fasting. Eating at a pretty good deficit I know it's not fat as bg numbers remain relatively low. Maybe I am supposed to stay 215-220. Am losing inches.

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    1. If you are losing inches, you are losing body fat. That's good! Have you had your body fat measured by DEXA or Bod Pod? To get a free estimate, try the US Navy calculator here: http://www.thrivepersonalfitness.com/bodyfat-calculator/

      Also, I just want to add that I gain weight very easily, even when my BG numbers are good. If you are eating too much fat, you will gain weight even if your BG numbers are low.

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  13. Thanks Rebecca. I was eating higher fat. I am sick today so by numbers are wonky. I was ravished today so I said what the heck. I'm eating a ton of protein. Do you know I only moved 3 points after consuming 90 grams of prot. O guess higher prot and reduce fat IS the key. Right now gonna try 1 o 1 ratio of pro/fat. Might even lower fat by 10 or more eventually

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    1. Sounds good, Bill! I hope you are feeling better soon!

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  14. I don't know if you got my partial post or not I was posting and then it just went away so I'll do another one here for you.
    The last few days my blood levels have been up in the high eighties low nineties I don't know if this is due to being sick and added protein or not fasting. I'm going to fast today to see if they come back down into the seventies where they normally are. Anyway on my ketonix I have checked the ketones and its way low. Once again I don't know what to attribute this to. Can the added protein bring your Ketone levels down since dietary fat has been dropped significantly and you're just burning body fat? How important is it to chase the ketones?

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    1. Being sick, alone, can raise BG. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

      I just read a quote from Ketogains: "Chase results, not ketones."

      That makes a lot of sense to me. I am not even checking ketones any more. My BG is good, my weight is good, my energy is good, my body fat is good. I assume my ketones are good, and if they're not, who cares? What would change in my results if I found out that my ketones were low and I "did something" to increase them? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

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  15. Ahh. I like that. A very wise woman you are! Thanks for all your coaching and assistance Rebecca.

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  16. Hi, Aaron and thanks for reading!

    No need to email, because anything you share in these comments will not be seen by anyone but me unless I choose to publish it. If you would like to speak to me privately, go ahead and comment again and let me know whether or not you want it published.

    Rebecca

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  17. Hi Rebecca, I am both gluten and lactose intolerant. As you can understand, that makes my food choices pretty limited, especially while attempting to keep my palate entertained. In your recipe for "Lime Cheesecake Minis" in Fat Fast Cookbook, you have used 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream. What do you know of that I could substitute? Maybe the heavy canned coconut cream? You gave a lovely recipe for Coconut Sour Cream in the book. I can use that. But, is there any substitute for the Heavy Cream? Many Thanks, Joy (joyannah@gmail.com)

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    1. Hi, Joy!

      The Fat Fast Cookbook was a collaboration between Dana Carpendar, Amy Dungan and me, and the two recipes that you mentioned are not my recipes, so I am not sure I can be of any help. I don't have the book with me at the moment to see who wrote those particular recipes, but I suggest that you send your questions to Dana, who is the main author of the book. You can find her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Dana-Carpenders-Hold-The-Toast-Press-118433594850660/?fref=ts

      Thanks for reading!

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