Keto 10: Losses, Gains, and Ch-ch-ch-changes!

            My weight has been a bit up and down over the past few months. After my recent trip (belated diary posts and photos to be posted eventually), I was a little bit up there. No need to go into details about my average weight, etc., but I was so not thrilled with the weight and the way that I looked that I didn’t record weight or photos in MyFitnessPal for a couple of weeks. I eventually decided to suck it up on June 18^th, when I clocked in at a cool 129.5 lbs. This is perfectly healthy for my height, but I also felt like I could do better.  I knew that it wasn’t muscle, and I knew that it wasn’t just water weight. I had brought home a foreign food love child.

            June 18^th happens to mark the weekend that I had begun transitioning to a keto diet. [Ratios.] I had hoped that making a slower transition would make it easier. Unfortunately, one cannot “ease into” ketosis. Summer camp began Monday, June 20^th, and it was not entirely pleasant. I started running out of glucose on Tuesday or Wednesday. Evenings were rough the entire week. Fast-forward to now. On a full stomach, I just weighed in at 121 lbs. I’ve been weighing myself first thing (well, after my cherished Diet Dr. Pepper and a good pee) for the last several days. I’m averaging around 119. This still has me in the healthy weight range, at least according to the dubious BMI scale.

            But it gets better: my body fat percentage is obviously going down. I can see the shadow of a four-pack. I am clearly gaining muscle. Today, when I leaned my elbow on the counter, I could see my bicep slide down the inside of my arm when I relaxed. It wasn’t fat; it was my darned bicep! I am beginning to see little muscle dimples show up on my back.

            I didn’t mention this on my blog at all earlier, but back in March, I got a DEXA scan done. According to the DEXA, my body fat percentage was 31.2. Yikes! (That was pre-trip; I was 124.3 lbs. then.) That means that almost 40 pounds of my body was fat.

            I’m not going to go in for my next one until September (I figure 6 months is a good amount of time to see about my recomposition), so I’ve been relying on other methods for gauging my body fat. I’m too cheap (and pinch-averse) to buy calipers, so I looked at the free options. There are two: visual estimate and measurements. According to a handful of sites (all of which probably refer to one of those sites), in order to begin to see an outline of abs, a woman needs to be somewhere in the ballpark of 15%. This is clearly not the case for me. Okay, plan B. My gym friend M. told me that she does estimates based on measurements. This past Saturday, I decided to take my measurements. (I wound up needing to take more in order to fill in all fields, but never mind.) The estimate based on the online calculator? I’m at 21% body fat. It still seems low, but wow! That’s still better than I expected. 

            Update regarding general health: I know that the blood pressure cuff stations aren’t the most reliable, but I still wanted to post my latest results: 103/68, with pulse pressure of 35, mean arterial pressure of 80, and pulse of 95. Considering the fact that I’d just been wandering all over the grocery store trying to remember what I’d wanted to buy (it was milk for a recipe), that’s not too bad.

            I’ll keep track of this and intermittently post more progress.

Cheesy Poblano Chik'n Skillet

Note: this is relatively high-carb, so be sure to eat with something fatty. I could have increased the cooking oil quite safely, but I’m posting the recipe as I made it for the sake of clarity.

Makes 2 servings

Ingrediens:

1 Quorn Chik’n Naked Cutlet, thawed

50 g zucchini, diced

50 g poblano pepper, diced (I left seeds and membrane out)

2 g garlic (I used one clove)

1 t. olive oil

1 t. canola oil

1 t. coconut oil

2 T. sour cream

4 T. hot salsa (I used Herdez brand Casera Hot)

¼ c. shredded cheddar and jack blend

1. Prep all ingredients: dice the zucchini, peppers, and Quorn. Mince the garlic. Put that on one saucer/plate. Measure out your cheese and sour cream. Put it on another plate or in a ramekin or something. Do the same with your salsa.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium to medium-high. I used my cast iron; non-stick would be fine, too. Just don’t use something thin that gets hot spots.

3. Dump in the veggies and Quorn. Cook until everything is done to your liking: if you like things brown around the edges, cook until then. If you just want it heated through, cook until then.

4. Dump in the salsa and stir to distribute evenly.

5. Dump in the cheese and sour cream and stir until the cheese is melted and everything is nicely coated. It will not be especially pretty, so don’t make this for something you’re trying to impress with pretty food.

The second portion was really good with half an avocado (mashed up with Veganaise and milled flaxseed). 

Per serving (calculated by MyFitnessPal; excuse errors):

205 calories, 15.3 g. fat (7.5 saturated, 1.4 polyunsaturated, 4.1 monounsaturated) 8.8 g. carbs (1.4 fiber, 3.9 sugars)

10.6 g. protein

Other nutrients: 25 mg cholesterol, 542.2 g. sodium, 61.2 mg potassium, 11.8% Vitamin A, 52.6% Vitamin C, 3.6% Calcium, 2.6% Iron

Keto 7: Mo Fat, Mo Problems

            Now, I realize that I haven’t brought this up. Keto, like any dietary restriction, has a few complications that arise when it comes to etiquette. I am not “out” to everyone. Most of the people in my life aren’t going to understand it, and a few will be quite opposed. I’ve already had some who, not knowing why I was turning down food, try to push stuff on me. I think some of them mean well, but others are definitely baffled at my decision to not eat the bread, crackers, cupcakes, cookies, whatever.

            There are also the people who see me eating anything with carbohydrates and immediately jump on it, as though eating a food that contains carbohydrates means that I am not actually doing a ketogenic diet. This obviously makes about as much sense as taking a person who is eating a lower-fat diet to task for having something that contains egg, jumping on a person who is trying to up his protein intake for eating a carrot, or “calling out” someone who is eating more fiber for drinking coffee instead of Metamucil. It’s rather idiotic. Most, if not all, diets that are based on nutrients are about the bigger picture… high protein does not mean only protein, low fat does not mean no fat, high fiber does not mean only fiber, etc. A ketogenic diet is not about never having carbs, ever. (Doing so would be not only difficult, but also very limiting… one would have to stop eating anything other than meat and pure fat. Not even eggs and dairy can claim zero-carb status. Incidentally, this would very likely result in boredom and nutritional deficiencies, unless one ate organ meats.)

            It’s tough to find a good balance. I’m obviously very excited about eating this way because it has had such a positive effect on my life thus far. However, few people are especially interested in hearing about what you eat, even when they post pictures of every last meal that they order in restaurants. Still, the main purpose of bringing it up is making sure that people who want to feed you know how to do so. Taking responsibility for one’s dietary restriction might mean bringing something. It might mean declining food (repeatedly). Of course, in a polite world, if you declined something once, that would be the end of it (other than a “Let me know if you change your mind” or a “Is there anything that I can get you?”).

            Alas, we do not live in a polite world. People sometimes want to know why you aren’t drinking or eating. They might that you aren’t enjoying yourself if you aren’t digging into the kale smoothie bowls with sardine puree. (As if you didn’t come for the company?) Sometimes, you get a guilt trip. Since kicking people in the shins is most certainly not polite, you need to find another way.

            I go with the KISS technique, which I employed when I went vegetarian. If a “no thank you” elicits questions, concerns, or any other sort of response, I simply explain that I have started a ketogenic diet and that I eat very low carbohydrate and very high fat.

Keto 7: I don’t believe you.

i8i            You’ll be surprised at how often you hear something like this, though you usually don’t hear it directly. People will say things like, “That doesn’t sound right” or “Eating too much fat is dangerous” or “Epidemiological studies show that [insert ominous thing here]” or “Look at what happened to Atkins on a low-carb diet.” Sometimes, they’re right. The Standard American Diet [SAD] is definitely too high in fat, especially saturated and trans. It is not especially salubrious, and the extra fat (surprise) is usually stored. When your brain runs on ketones rather than glucose, though, the fat isn’t stored. It’s used to feed your brain and muscles. The key here is that you have to stay in ketosis. You cannot use both glucose and ketones. Your body will opt for the glucose. Unless you are basically using the glucose as soon as it goes in, your liver is going to start storing the glucose and using it instead of the fat. You’re going to have problems if you eat high fat and high carb.

            So, they ask, what stupid magazine or blog did you read all this crap on? I’m glad you asked. While I did initially read about it on more general sites, I wound up doing some of my own research as well. (Thanks, Google Scholar!) Most of the existing studies deal with mice, but there was one of particular interest. This was an observational study rather than an RCT, so it is not perfect; however, the results are enlightening.

            Essentially, the trial followed a group of people who were using ketogenic diets to treat their epilepsy. (Ketogenic diets have long been used to significantly decrease the number of seizures that patients have when drug treatments are not effective.) The study spanned 5 years and studied markers like body composition, body fat percentage, bone minerals, [and so on]. The conclusions were that the ketogenic diet did not have an appreciable negative effect on any of the markers. It just cut the number of seizures in half. Unless you believe that epilepsy somehow has a protective effect against fat accumulation in a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, then this study indicates that a ketogenic diet in and of itself is not inherently harmful.

            Another group that indicates this is the Inuit. They eat a ton of fat, mostly in the form of blubber, and a very, very low-carbohydrate diet. Still, they tend to be reasonably healthy.

            Now, any idiot can find a study, particularly an observational study, showing that diets higher in fat tend to be associated with poorer health. The problem they have is the same problem that most observational studies have: it’s next to impossible to isolate single characteristics. The observational studies don’t have much of anything to say about carbohydrate intake, or whether or not the people tend to listen to their doctors when making choices about what to do. It’s like many of the other observational studies that have returned results that did not hold up in random-controlled trials: something else caused the results. In at least some cases, researchers speculate that a.) people who adopt one habit said to be healthy (such as eating less fat or eating breakfast) are more likely to adopt other habits said to be healthy (such as eating whole foods, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and getting regular exercise), and b.) one of the latter habits is more likely to be responsible for the health improvements than is one of the former.

            Additionally, recent studies, including random-controlled trials and meta-studies have failed to replicate many of the supposed problems associated with higher fat consumption, particularly when that is coupled with other healthy habits. In fact, some studies have shown the opposite effect.

Keto Recipe 2: Massive Taco Omelet

Taco Omelet (serves one, substantially; serves two, more reasonably; serves three children or six toddlers)

½ c. Beyond Meat Fiesta Crumbles

2 eggs

1 T. heavy cream

2 T. full-fat cream cheese

¼ c. grated cheddar cheese

2 T. salsa (find one that has 2 carbs or less per serving)

1 T. coconut oil

1. Plop the coconut oil into a nonstick skillet with slanted sides. (Not a time for your cast-iron; it’s hard to flip the omelet. ) Turn the heat up to medium/medium-high.

2. Toss in the crumbles, still frozen. No need to watch them closely; just give them a stir or a shake every so often to make sure they’re browning evenly.

3. Cream together the cream cheese and cheddar. It doesn’t need to be an even paste. 

4. Shake the pan so the crumbles are somewhat evenly distributed, then pour the egg mixture over evenly. Do whatever you usually do to make an omelet. I’m working on my flipping skills, so I usually lift up the edges carefully and let some of the egg run under, then, when the top is coagulated rather than liquid, give the whole thing a shake and a flip.

5. Put the cream cheese-cheddar stuff on one half of the omelet, fold the top over. Let it sit for a moment or two to get a little melty, then slide onto a plate. Put salsa on top. Eat it.

Based on the brands that I used: 538 calories, 6 grams of carbs, 43 grams of fat, 33 grams of protein, 1047 mg sodium, 3 g sugar, 1 gram of fiber. NET CARBS 5. I’m about halfway to my fat point, halfway to my protein point, and only about 1/7 of the way to my carbs max. If I were to make this again, I probably would only use ¼ c. of the fiesta crumbles simply because it would keep the calories and protein down a bit.