So a bit about the word ‘fast’. No eating anything is technically a ‘fast’ – and I’m not going to do that. Now fasting has increasing evidence that it can be healthy, and least to my small brain, but I have no intention of doing any heroic water-only week-long fasts. Some people do these 4 times a year, or every other month.

My plan is to do about zero one-week fasts per year.

The maximum fast I’m targeting would be 24 hours – a one meal a day (or ‘OMAD’ to geeks in the know). This is as far as I’ll take it. I will shoot for a 16:8 fast (16 hours without eating and 2 meals 8 hours apart) or even a 18:6 or 20:4 fast). Ideally, I’ll try to split my calories evenly between the two.

I can do this without being insanely hungry, though I think my years of low carb make this easier. I’ve also been doing this a lot in the past year so I’m used to it – in fact, it is *eating* that makes me hungry more than anything else!

So that’s the time element of the fast. Then there’s the food element.

When I do break the fast the meal should be mostly fat – if I’m adhering to what I’ve set out to do.

It’s not the scale that interests me the most though, it’s the ketones.

I’m one of those people that some keto folks accuse of ‘chasing ketones’. Guilty as charged. I believe they make me feel better, think clearer, reduce my blood glucose more, and possibly have a number of neuroprotective and anti-cancer benefits.

The weight loss? It comes along for the ride.

Now – don’t believe my claims just because I said them. I’m not authority. Use Google and come to your own conclusions. I could cite a long list of articles that discuss some of these claims, but most people won’t read them and I don’t feel like it – but I also don’t want you to believe me just because I said it.

If I felt I had anything to prove, I would. I don’t, so if you choose to read along, again keep in mind this is for my accountability and your entertainment – nothing more.

(Miss Day 0? – It’s here)

Day 3 – Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 – 7:45pm – 242.0 lbs.

Despite the weight loss, I’ve done horrible.

The only thing I’ve done is maintained the 16-hour or more fast, and hae been taking my psyllium daily.

Black coffee in the AM, then at noon or so the psyllium. I have been having Trader Joe’s Ginger-Turmeric Tea in the early afternoon. It’s not only tasty but soothes a stomach that has had nothing but coffee in it for 12+ hours.

I know this is something not everyone could do without feeling awful – but I actually feel OK. I was hungry the first day but not really since.

The evenings have been crap. Wine and then whatever food was about. There was a birthday, Valentine’s Day, dining out, and leftovers.

My portions aren’t huge, so I would imagine I’ve been taking in a reasonable amount of calories and probably between 50-100 grams of carbs per day.

I am going to endeavor to get better though there *is* an especially high amount of chaos in my life at this time (what a drama queen).

I haven’t done this in a while – possibly because too many people would read it – but now that I’ve ‘trimmed my audience‘ it might be time to start another ‘accountability journal’. These usually don’t end well, but hey – people love to watch a trainwreck – though I hope a trainwreck is not the end result.

So to make a real long story short, I lost about 30lbs. last year and I did great through the holidays, then went WAY off the ranch in 2019. Go figure. So here I am at 247.4, and I’ve decided today is as good a day as any to start a fat fast to lose 20lbs.

What’s a fat fast? It’s where you eat 80% fat in your diet and keep your calories on the very low end of acceptable intake. For me that’s about 1200 calories per day. This is a very good way to get into ketosis quickly. My body is also very used to being in ketosis and the transition can happen very fast.

I have a few other high-level goals that dovetail with the above:

1. Intermittent Fasting: A 16-hour or more fast per day. 2 meals spaced 4 hours apart or one meal a day as the extreme or even the occasional one meal a day
2. I’m shooting for ketones in the 1.5-3.0 range
3. I tally my eating. There won’t be much of it if things go to plan so it should be easy
4. No alcohol, duh
5. This is a temporary state. It’s ‘boot camp’ and will get throttled back when my weight goes below 227.4. A lack of protein or veggies shouldn’t be cause for alarm as a short-term thing. They happen after the 20 lb. loss.
6. I take my psyllium supplement daily
7. I take my vitamins daily

Now – a word of caution. I am a dope. I STRONGLY recommend that you Do Not Try This At Home. I have been doing keto diets (for the most part badly)since 2003 and have been reading and researching on the topic for 15 years. This has proven to me that no one should look to me for advice, or do what I do. 

Ketogenic diets are not for everyone. I have years of experience as well as bloodwork that shows I tolerate them well. You might not – and that means you going to your doctor to find this out. This is also an extreme regimen and I can’t think of a single person I would recommend it to.

Lastly, I’m going to try to keep these journal entries short. I typically make this stuff up as I go along so we’ll see what happens.