Keto and Analysis Paralysis

All the noise, noise, NOISE!! Make it stop!! (Oh, the humanity!) 😱

I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink," a book about how quick, almost knee-jerk reactions and decisions are often the best ones to make and that sometimes more information leads us to poorer decisions than if we kept things simple. Some of the examples he provides—ranging from war games to antiquities authentications to buying jam in a farmer's market stall—explain how we can quickly get side-tracked by gathering ALL the information we can when a couple of salient facts are all that is needed. Sometimes more data or options distract us from what needs doing and which choices are best.

I read books on many topics, and this one has nothing to do with nutrition or eating habits. But I realized how the examples and studies Mr. Gladwell cites speak perfectly to some things I notice when talking to people when they start the ketogenic protocol. While keto is simple, many of us clutter things up by seeking information, suggestions, and input from as many sources as possible. Some people insist they "must understand how it all works" before implementing a change in their diet, or their life, for that matter. This attitude has always seemed like a stalling tactic. I don't know how my tv control works. I just need to know which buttons to press to get results.

Anywho, the problem with all that fact-finding is that (1) some people in the keto-sphere aren't providing facts. They say the opposite of what is true trying to sell something, and (2) we can become overwhelmed by too many voices and too much noise.

The protocol is straightforward: Keep your carbohydrate intake to 20/g per day or fewer (that's total carbs, not net carbs); if it's not on Page 4, don't eat it (but a list isn't necessary: eat fatty sources of protein, limited amounts of non-starchy vegetables and limited amounts of full-fat dairy); don't eat if you're not hungry; stop eating when satiated.

That's it.

Some recommend micro-managing how many grams of protein and fat to consume (I never have), will insist on restricting the time of day to eat (I don't), and that percentages of macronutrients must be monitored and regulated (nope). Oh, and if you just buy their "keto" kit, meal plan, supplements, and shakes, you can succeed.

You do what works for you, but all that is tosh as far as I'm concerned.

Unfortunately, many people get confused by the drone of recommendations. Worse, some become demoralized. The constant buzz about keto can make us a bit crazy, like a virtual "Taos Hum," planting conflicting advice in our ears:

"Eat at least 200 grams of fat every day! You must eat fat to burn fat!" (false)

"At least 7 cups of leafy greens every day or your liver will suffer" (ditto: false)

"Eat anything you want as long as you combine raw protein, cooked grains, bee pollen, and kombucha at noon every day!" (Ok, I made that one up, but don't be surprised if you hear it.)

When faced with too many choices, we sometimes default to the easy one: doing nothing—limiting our sources to a few rather than a lot may serve us better. Doing something to improve our health and lives and simply feeling more in control is preferable to the status quo.

Take a break from the Keto Cacophony. Keep things simple. And, like my mugs and shirts read: "Lay off the Carbs and Lay off the Excuses."

(BTW, I won't ever shill food products, supplements, or such, but I'll sell you a mug all day long! 😉)

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Getting to the Core of Things (and the arms, legs, back and shoulder)

my fancy new scale. so much data!

A few days into 2014, I found myself in a dreary state of mind. I’ve written about this before, but suffice to say that I was not a happy camper. While my life has always been pretty great and was then, the world inside my head was dismal. I was in my mid-fifties and had been morbidly obese for much of the preceding thirty years. Yes, that means that from my twenties to my fifties, I was fat. That day in 2014, I changed the food I ate and lost 97.4 pounds. Simply put, I laid off the carbs. I continue to do so and I've been weight-stable for over five years. My life could scarcely be more different than it was that long ago Wednesday morning. I left a decades-long career and dove into the unknown. I couldn't have invented what I do now, getting to speak to people from all over the world, to hear their stories, to hope that my story may ring true with others and that they can feel better and be healthier. The goings-on inside my head now matches the beautiful life with which I've been blessed.

So, what's next?

That question has sprung up several times over the last few years. I have traveled the same stages of life that most of us do. Raise children/release them. Navigate marriage/try to avoid killing each other. Enjoy a youthful body/kiss it goodbye. Now, though, I'm in what I can only describe as a fine-tuning stage of my life. Health, emotional happiness, security, stability. Check, check, check, and checkarooni. What I am after now is strength. I have emotional strength. I want a strong body.

To that end, I am diving deeper into something I've been doing for some time: increasing core strength via resistance training. I wrote long ago about exercise and how it "was time." And it was. I've been at it, in various incarnations for years now. (Of course, I went the 'move more, eat less' route for the entirety of my overweight years. Take a gander at the Before Photos tab on this space, and you'll see what a round person in triathlon kit looks like—and how unhappy she looked, to boot.)q

No, this time, I'm honing in on body composition, not working out to lose weight. (That has pretty much always been a losing proposition, anyway). I want more increase the lean, decrease the fat. I work out every weekday on my Total Gym, each session focusing on a major muscle movement group. For those interested, my current regimen is:

• Mondays - legs

• Tuesdays - chest & shoulders

• Wednesdays - core

• Thursdays - arms (the hardest!)

• Fridays - back

There is a snazzy scale many doctors and clinics use for measuring various components of weight. It employs bioelecrical impedance analysis to measure body composition: skeletal muscle mass (yay!), body fat mass (boo!), body fat percentage (also, boo), BMI, and BMR (basal metabolic rate, or the approximate number of calories required if one just sits all day—which I used to do a LOT!) I've invested in the consumer version of that scale. Several weeks ago, I stepped on it for the first time, followed the instructions, and recorded the results. This set of numbers gave me a baseline. Every Saturday morning since, I've repeated the process, logging the figures on a spreadsheet with accompanying charts.

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from 2.12.2022. fat mass (the yellow line) is trending upward based on the previous six weeks data while skeletal muscle mass trends lower. 😕

I'm truly curious to see what happens. I've decided to share the charts for skeletal muscle mass and body fat mass here and will post weekly updates, warts an' all. I won't share the actual numbers. (I'm scrupulous about not sharing my weight in any way, not wanting someone to think they should weigh as much or as little as I. Knowing how many pounds of lean mass and fat mass may allow math whizzes to calculate my weight. My Lovely Mate doesn't even know that number!) At this point, I'm more interested in the trend-lines from the data than the numbers themselves.

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from 2.26.2022. fat mass) is trending downward. skeletal muscle mass trends higher. 💪

So far, I’m pleased. I designed the charts to reflect the answer to the question, ‘if the next six weeks were like the past six weeks, what would the number be? You can see the a couple of weeks ago that answer showed body fat mass trending higher than skeletal muscle mass. No es bueno. But, as of the past Saturday, the trend-lines are reversed. ¡Muy bueno!

There's no telling how things may change or if they will at all. I'm glad to have specifics to track, happy for a new spreadsheet opportunity, and hopeful that, going forward, there is as much left for me to learn about myself, my capabilities, and my potential as laid ahead of me that morning in 2014 when I thought the best was behind me.

Boy, howdy, was I wrong.

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Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor, researcher, or Ph.D., but instead, I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths, and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all. I welcome questions, comments, and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!

Keto and Age: Is it Ever Too Late?

"If you haven't lost weight by the time you reach [fill in the blank] years old, you almost certainly never will."

For anyone who has been overweight, this blatant message is communicated by everyone from the medical community to tacky, spinster aunts. There is an unheard but not unfelt clock ticking for the overweight and obese. It's different than the old trope referring to a woman's biological clock, marking one day less for an opportunity to become pregnant. Instead, this clock is keeping time for our supposed diminishing chances to lose weight.

“…It’s too late…” Gee, thanks. Such encouragement! Whoever touts that line of thinking should never consider coaching young children, joining a booster club, or becoming a crisis negotiator. "Hey, you're right. Life sucks, it's too late for it to get any better, and no one can blame you. Go ahead, jump!"

One can be forgiven for wondering thinking assuming it may be too late to make a change that leads to better health, weight loss, and increased confidence. Once the doubt is there, it is difficult to shake. It is like a seed that has fallen on really fertile soil because there are few things more fecund than our firm knowledge that we can't lose weight, that we have no control over the food we put in our mouth. Haven't we tried and failed more times than Edison did in his quest to create the light bulb? We are already prone to believe the worst about ourselves, and outside influences reinforce that.

The thing is, all the magazine articles, doctors' pronouncements, and cynical opinions are often a load of bull $h!t — a large, steaming, stinking pile of it. Many of us are proof of that. I know because I changed my life when I started the ketogenic protocol. I did this in my mid-fifties, post-menopausal, and after thirty years of morbid obesity. All of those factors should have precluded me from success if the prognosticators are to be believed. (They aren't) I hear from people every day of the week whose stories are like mine, who decided that they wanted and deserved a future better than what seemed laid out before them, some in their 80s.

As trite as it sounds, the truth is that it is never too late to do the right thing. That doesn't hold just for being honest, fair, and kind. Doing the right thing for ourselves is always a good idea, no matter how long it takes to figure out what that is. For me, that right thing meant laying off the carbs—and laying off the excuses. (I feel a t-shirt, mug, and sticker design coming on!) It was not too late for me, and it needn't be for anyone else. The key is to be kind to ourselves, be firm, and, most importantly, to be honest with ourselves. Some of us bought into the negative messaging about the difficulty of meaningful change after years or decades of habits that didn't serve us. Couple that demoralizing forecast with non-stop marketing of foods, restaurants, treats, and ads that claim, "You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to"—well, you know where to—and the path to change can be challenging. Isn't it always? All of us have overcome all manner of obstacles. That's what life is: a series of bumps in the road, some of them more like boulders the size of Buicks. Yet, we're here to tell the tale, right? Yes, we are.

So, it's never too late.

It's never too early, either, for that matter. But that is a topic for another day.

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Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor, researcher, or Ph.D., but instead, I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths, and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all. I welcome questions, comments, and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!