Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Why wasn't Keto working anymore?

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A few years after starting keto, I got to a point in my health where I thought life was pretty good, my gut was under control,  I even got the word from my GI that my UC was actually in remission, I was ecstactic to hear of course, especially when I never imagined it would happen to me.

But by the Fall of 2017, Even with some peri-meno weight gain slowly creeping up lb by lb, I was still in a healthy weight.  But besides vanity getting to me, I knew that I can better my health to yet another level. Already feeling stronger is great. Am I just putting on muscle weight? No, I wasn't, my clothes were getting tighter. What to do? I have to admit that I was bothered by weight gain, but in comparison to how sick I was, I felt that I shouldn't focus on my body size. I should focus on how I felt but I knew I could feel better like have more energy and improve my mental sharpness.

So how do I get there? I thought keto was going to take me there. What's missing? A few years back, I slid fairly effortlessly from AIP to Wahls Paleo Plus a couple years ago. Check out my post about this transition. I increased my fat intake and cut down on my carbs, you know, the Low Carb High Fat rage? But even after I became fat adapted ( that's when I was mainly burning fat as fuel instead of glucose ), I thought I was supposed to continue eating a whole lot of fat whenever and where ever. My initial quick drop in weight slowed down and eventually stopped, then it was going back up. What gives?

So I let my way of eating go into autopilot and started increasing my exercise. I took up TRX classes at my local community center, push past some fears of stirring up old injuries and definitely gaining more strength and muscle tone. Yay!

By the end of the year, I discovered an amazing wellness tool that helped reset my body in more ways that weight set point ( the comfort zone in weight my body likes to hang out at). This tool is fasting. But this post is not about that. While learning how fasting can improve insulin resistance, I had my Ah-a moment... my biggest Keto mistake.

Too many Bulletproof drinks

All the rage about fatty drinks to extend Intermitent fasting periods apparently didn't work for me. Adding fats into my drink means I was still supplying my body with fuel. Bingo! I was consuming way too many fatty drinks throughout the day, when there's a surplus of fat being provided to the body as fuel, my body didn't need to tap into its own reserves, stored fat, for fuel. Check this link to learn more about Who needs to avoid fat bombs.

Now I also learned that fatty drinks were actually fasting crutches, some people might do fine having them but for my body, it didn't work.

Too much protein

Yup, apparently the body can turn extra protein into fat " Any protein eaten in excess needs to be converted to glucose or fat for storage" Check out this link to learn more about How much protein is excessive?  Now, when I eat, I always start with my veggies, before I dig into the protein. I always make sure I have enough fats on my plate too. Fattier meat cuts and of course avocados. Smoked Sardines or Oysters in Olive oil are also my fav quick protein to add to big salads.

So glad I've found the balance of what works for me now with the introduction of fasting in my routine. Stay tuned for more post on that to come.

How about you? Have you run into some keto stalls? How did you get past them?