Terry's 30 day + water fast journal

[Tenax]

Wasn’t going to eat more than OMAD today, but my feed was very early today. 230 am’ish and I’ve been hankering to make keto coconut shrimp in my new air fryer so I sampled 2. They are soooo good and turned out so well. About 2.5 carbs for 2 large shrimp and so easy to make…

[Tenax]

Well that went the wrong way:( Up one lb but…glass half full, I think it tells me what is going on with my weight right now. Here’s my logic…

-ketones meter measured- 3.8 so I’m in the zone.
-14g of carbs, fat & protein intake and percentages, right balance
-lots of weight lifted at work yesterday & then a good 4000 step walk.

So my thinking is at this point relatively early post fast…water weight added back on. This is the first time post fast I have gained anything. This is the only thing I can attribute a gain too. Today I’m giving myself an excuse for a good long walk. To buy seafood sauce & carbonated water at walmart. lol. (our city is so F’ing boring to walk around. Lol)

Otherwise, today is a 10g of carb today, tomorrow my calculated cheat meal, then to shake things up a bit, Saturday will be a 1 cup of coffee with cream day. Hopefully I will still be in ketosis after the feed tomorrow. i calculate under 40g of carbs, any food I haven’t planned to eat but eat that in moderation could bump me to 60-70 but I should still stick it, maybe just pink instead of purple on the stick for a few days.

Any weight gain when being so disciplined is disappointing. But, I’m going to thank my lucky stars if its just adding water fat. I also have to keep in mind I artificially was expelling water for weeks before and during my fast using a laxative. Hell, maybe that caused my stomach issues to. I’m proud of myself for giving them up. I will only use them in the future if I’m unnaturally constipated.

my new addiction is air fryer cooking! and keto recipes! its like hunting hidden treasure! Next week I’m to make a cauliflower grilled cheese sandwich. And maybe the week after a keto cheesecake:) I HATE cooking so this is a totally different me.

[Tenax]

An addendum to my daily journal entry.

-I struggle with drinking water. My family suggested carbonated plain water. I hate it. Picked up a bottle of walmart lemon flavour carbonated water. $1 for a big bottle & omg…I love it!

• Found a few more low carb spreads to add to my arsenal for dressings, dips! Sirachi mayo! Aftertaste has kick but sparingly I’ll use it.

• I like my chipotle mayo a bunch but its so strong I found it killed the flavour of my coconut shrimp versus augmenting it. So I bought a bottle of hellmans sesame ginger. OMG! Its a perfect compliment to the shrimp! I would it on salads as well!

-I made a big batch of the shrimp for appetizers at our family bbq this morning. And realized I had about 1 cup of this delicious toasted pork rind/coconut mix…hmmmm…what do with them? Salad toppers!!! So good!

[Yasemin]

Great Job!!! Love the consistency of your posting!!! You’re amazing! You got this Terry!!

[Tenax]

Thank you M’am. And I will keep tracking my journey in the hope it benefits others😄

[Yasemin]

It absolutely will!! Then you Will have a beautiful journal to share with others!!

[Tenax]

No weigh in today post my “controlled cheat meal” yesterday…my first post the fasting experience. It felt like I ate well but aside fr trying 1/2 a thick potato slice and some sangria, a relatively normal feed. So post feed observations…

-Still in ketosis, as I would expect but even though my diary shows my carbs well under a level that could kick me out, the sugar bomb still is on your mind. My plan to dilute the sangria was smart. 1/2 and 1/2 with sparkling water in a tall glass with ice as well was tasty & sweet enough. when I was offered/teased to have another, I had a glass of sparking water with a bit of my Swerve which I bought with me.

-The potato fry slice was…unsatisfying. As a friend used to say, the potato was filler. Nothing more.

I had a nice steak with a salt, pepper garlic rub. As my son in law to be bbq’d tt, I was reminded how I use to slather my steaks in bbq sauce. Now I completely appreciate the art of cooking a steak & just using seasoning to effect and tasting the meat.

Everyone else had burgers with buns, fries & salad. I love burgers, but didn’t miss them at all.

I finished eating 2nd last of 5 of us. And I started first! I usually finish first so…good for me!

My coconut shrimp was a hit with everyone. Out of 5 sauces, the sesame & sesame ginger were the clear favorites. They just nicely added to the coconut shrimp taste. The others were too overwhelming.

Had a glass of water when I got home. Good thing cause even so, wicked headache & dehydration on wake up. I chalk it up to the alcohol and possibly, disruption to my regular eating schedule. It felt weird to eat 3 times yesterday and that wasn’t my plan. I had my feed when I wake up as I do now but just 3 slices of bacon instead of my bigger OMAD because I was going to eat last night. But about 2pm I got quite hungry. i chalked it up to not having my early meal. As I was going to have a few coconut shrimp as part of dinner, I ate them then (which helped!) Then, we didn’t have dinner until I think about 7.

Even before the fast, eating late was not my thing. I was eating any meal no later than 3 or 4.

So, the combination of the things really honestly made me feel like crap when I woke up.

I was not going to eat today post the cheat but I don’t know…I had a strong feeling that was not a good idea today and needed routine. So I had leftover salad & steak from last night.

I realized in hindsight this may not have been the best choice as while low carb, not the high fat I will need to keep me feeling fed today. But, live & learn. That’s the choice I made & I want to get back on schedule today.

So for sure, yesterday was a shake up to my system from the routine, but the break in routine in the end is a good thing, I didn’t feel like odd man out or like I was being deprived over dinner. I was in interesting company as follows:

son in law-normal average eater
son- fast food eater
daughter-trying to cook a lot at home & cook healthy
kids mom-cooks and eats well at home, intermittent fasts, flirts with keto and her cheat is a real cheat. Eating bad, as I’m going to call it.

So I’ve just eaten, feeling a bit better overall, headache almost gone.

Looking forward to getting back to normal eating, a good walk today in the sun and making keto sweet pickles! I stole a mason jar from my daughters without telling her. A bit of a family joke as my daughter used to be notorious for visiting my house or her mothers when she was on her own and whatever she thought she needed would disappear and we always knew it was her. Now she’s in her own house, a bit of a turnaround. lol. I’ll give it back to her…with a sample of my keto pickles as payment for the “loan”.

Happy Saturday!

[Tenax]

My keto sweet pickles made this morning to go with another new recipe wed…cauliflower grilled cheese sandwich! Very simple to make, quick and almost zenlike:) The pickle juice is amber as I chose the apple cider vinegar option. Ready in one hour to eat, keep for 3 weeks. There’s 360 grams of pickles there. 3 are about 1 carb.

[Tenax]

Going to journal entry and did weigh in but its 1:06 am writing this and I’m not happy with my scale number against fridays, let’s put it that way. I’m am prepared to suck it up and put whatever it is down after I go back to bed for another 5 hours. I know for me that sleep time can bring a surprisingly better scale number to start my day so let’s do that shall we? If there is a curse, insomnia is mine. As I think I’ve said before, I’ve learned to survive by just giving in, getting up for an hour or 2, then go back to bed. This has gone on long enough that I know when I’m for awhile, this is better than a toss & turn for 2 hours in bed. But I totally believe my sleep does not help in my weight loss cause. I do what I have to do and won’t use sleeping pills.

Otherwise, a busy day. A decent walk, and some roaming around to grocery & hardware stories. my homemade pickles first, then next trip for things I needed to make keto cheesecake & a keto strawberry puree’. Cheesecake being cheesecake its still pretty high calories…and carbs quickly add up with any fruit but I figure in combination with a low carb salad or say chicken breast and veggies, its a doable and rare treat (Its freezable). So today my meal you’ll see will be 2 slices of bacon and cheesecake with strawberry puree and my coffee with cream. the bacon helps get my fat number up so I’m sated. If I just had cheesecake I don’t think I’d be comfortably satisfied until tomorrows OMAD. And I don’t want to cheat on my portion size of cheesecake.

I had 1 serving of my keto pickles! very interesting. More of a vinegar taste, less dill taste. sweetness level about the same. Over time they might get more dill tasting I suppose as they age. they are pretty intense in vinegry taste but not a bad way. i think the apple cider vinegar makes it the better way to go to add some flavour to that. these are definitely pickles to eat with something savory & smooth? And that’s where I like them for the purpose I made them…grilled cheese sandwich side. In any case, I have never had sweet pickles to eat by themselves like I would with a dill pickle. These are different, but still good. The recipe works.

Had a couple of excellent BMs Saturday. Lol. Keep going baby!!!

Might be ready to try a 48 or 72 hour fast soon. I’m going to wait until I am laid off next week. I just think it will be easier that way. I have removed all medicinal additives and have Swerve now so I can drink teas for the fast period along with water so I feel better equipped for this go. If I can keep my stomach aches at bay, I might go longer.

PS- I just tried my keto cheesecake! Recipe was pretty perfect inc baking times. The filling was creamy but firm. I now realize the walmart etc bought cheesecakes are overbaked (filling should jiggle a bit when its done & is starting to brown on edges of pan. Just a hint). The filling actually then “sets up” by a) leaving out on counter for 4 hours b) refridgerate overnight. (Mine was in fridge from 6pm to 1am and was fine).

The almond crust turned out great…but I didn’t “love it”, like graham cracker. The recipe does tell you that you can make it crustless. I did not for fear of wrecking the cake but I now have the confidence for next time to skip the crust and it will save some calories. I don’t think there’s much for carbs in it. But for me, its filler. The puree’ was a great success too. So fresh, low carb and a nice touch of sweetness without being too strong.

Lastly, the portion size (1/16th of a 9" round cake sound small) but its not! Especially as this is a deep cheesecake.

Delicious treat and I am able to freeze the rest.

[Tenax]

This is why you weigh in the morning after you get your night’s sleep. At 1am weigh in, I was still 237.6 after morning pee. Then I had a cup of coffee, 2 slices of bacon, keto cheesecake and strawberry puree’ and 5 hours later after another pee, I’m down 1 lb. lol.

[Compdude]

Thanks for sharing.

When people ask me how I stay motivated and disciplined in what I do I tell them of my “why”. My “why” is when T2 diabetes was deemed a chronic and progressive disease (medical jargon for “we have no cure”) you would end up in 1 of 4 fates: diabetes-related heart attack, diabetes-related blindness, diabetes-related kidney failure and/or foot/feet amputation. As a T2 diabetic, by August of last year I had experienced 2 of the 4: congestive heart failure and cataract surgery in the right eye. After my latest blood test, I was one step closer to the dialysis machine and with displaying symptoms of neuropathy in my feet, amputation was becoming an all too real fate.

So I took my destiny in my own hands and changed it. I’m just grateful that when I made the decision, the science has advanced to the point that it gave me the tools. I couldn’t have done it 15 years ago.

It’s what I tell everyone new to fasting. Weight loss is NOT a strong enough “why”. Instead think of as a means to an end. It’s the “end” that should be the “why”. My good friend Anna, her goal was to resolve her mental challenges and she completed a 30-day. Another person here did a 50-day and his “why” was reversing his T2 diabetes which he did.

Find your “why” and you’ll figure out the “what” and have the daily discipline to grind it out like all the successful fasters in this forum.

[Nakedearth]

So glad you took matters in your own hands and didnt give up on you

[Tenax]

236.6. I swear, I’m getting that on a custom car license plate. Contemplating again how I will break it. I do plan a good walk today. Yesterday was cold & wet but at least I got some walking & lifting work exercise. I struggled yesterday with eating. I chalk it up to 2 things. First, possibly my grams of fat way too low for me. About 72 grams, not so much attempting to go that low. Menu choices. Combined with eating very early in the morning (2am) which I’ve slid into lately. So by 4pm I felt like I just had to eat a salad.

So 2 things I’m thinking about that…

To do OMAD, I have to keep my fats in the suggested 110-120 range. Certainly above 100. Otherwise I’m just not going to feel sated to get through 24 hours.

Given I can’t seem to sleep more than 4 to 5 hours (aggravating cause I can then stay awake 1 to 2 hours then go back to sleep as I did last night for another 3-4 hours) I wonder if eating that soon is sabotaging the whole sleep/heal/lose weight cycle. So this morning when I woke up at 1am…Aside from a few swallows of water, I stuck to my guns to not eat until I woke at 6am. And boy did my body tell me it wanted something…now! Speaks to how quickly the body adapts to an eating pattern. I had eggs, cheese, bacon which is a quick easy meal to get my balanced macros in a satiated meal, hence an understanding why some people eating this combo many days in a row. Simple & tasty…and was originally my plan out of the fast. But I fear even so it could get boring and lead to bad eating habits.

As I put a 48 hour fast on my meal planner for Saturday, my stomach ache this morning until I ate reminded me of my extended fast again & whether I’m ready mentally for those inevitable 2 days of stomach ache. And if I’m going to do 3…should I push on to 4. or further?

I’m tempted to go longer because it may be what it takes to solidly get past 236.6. And I will be laid off after friday so if I need to laze on the couch for the first 3 or 4 days, I can. The other soldier I can bring to the fasting battlefield is this time, I am taking zero additives. Aside from my non insulin reactive sweetener that I might add to water and an electrolyte solution as necessary, I am not using laxatives, pain pills or sleep aids. My carbs are at a consistently good level going into it. (I don’t think I’ve gone higher than about 35g on my cheat meal last friday).

And I must admit to wondering if my stomach ache goes away after 3 or 4 days.

So, you’ll be the first to know when I know! I also read the suggestion yesterday to break up the length of fast goals to help keep motivated. I like that idea. Rather than saying I’m shooting for 30, shoot for 5. Then another 5…then another 5 for example.

[Tenax]

So 235.4. Fricking thrilled to jump below 236. No special occasions, no cheat meals looming until son’t birthday on June 17th so full steam ahead! So maybe there’s something about this eat all the bacon & eggs you want thing! (within reason of course. lol) it really is the perfect level and proportions of carb, fat and protein pretty much. I had a good walk, but wasn’t a work day so…Nothing exceptional. I found a new neighborhood with a bunch of interesting houses and pathways around the backs of them which is like finding hidden treasure in my boring suburbia. 20 minutes away are some of the most beautiful paths, hills & parks you have even seen. What do we have for a dog park in my little city? What looks like an asphalt tennis court with a steel fence around it. I kid you not.

Anyhew, work & walk. Contemplating my last 2 days of employment at this point in my life. Mixed emotions as I loved working for the small company I did for 3 years. And it took me 5 years to find that job as being my age, having put 32 years of sweat & blood into my prior career, its scary to think I will be out of work again. (And can’t afford to be). Thanks Coronavirus:(. I’m looking for jobs quite a bit but at almost 59 now with a bad back & knee, the options are very limited. I spent 32 successful years at a desk, much of it as a manager, but definitely running into age, education (no degree) gender and physical barriers to employment. And 2012 to 2014 I went to a very dark place trying to find employment. No responses from HR in the submit your resume’ by email only world so you can’t even get interview feedback, everything seems to be must have prior experience unless you are a student applying for a summer job, driver jobs are mostly moving to commission and all the risk on the employee end. I need the work income to get through about another 6 years. I feel somedays like I’m in water fighting against a strong current. I know I need to look for work…I need to be careful how much I look and what I apply for to preserve my mental state. I hope that makes sense & you don’t mind me sharing.

Now, on the bright side, I should qualify for the Canadian Govt Coronavirus financial relief for 4 months which gives me breathing room, more than helps me pay my bills and perfect time of the year to be off, take a mental break & keep working on making the best me physically & mentally that I can.

Back to food plans…Today I had a carnivore feed, I call it. my airfryer almond chicken (very flavourful & juicy…but…I felt the almond is not my fave. Next batch I will use bacon rind crumbs instead. I’m not a huge chicken fan at the best of times so its got to be really good). I added bacon strips and sesame sauce to drip on the chicken? So why that mix? to get my macro balance. I really feel I want to be around 100g of fat & 10 carbs per day to work best for my plan.

Tomorrow is my first attempt at keto grilled cheese sandwich. Again a few strips of bacon will play a role to get my fat level high enough. With my keto pickles.

Happy Hump Day. A good day to get over whatever humps you may be facing (Mine right now is no wifi, even after 5 hours + on chat last night with my IP, but thats another story for another day!)

[Compdude]

Yeah, I’ve been there.

I’m normally an optimistic person but we all go through the valleys. In February of 2018 after a business failure, I called the Suicide Hot Line here in the U.S. Just talking to someone helped me out and I’ve been climbing back up the mountain ever since.

[Tenax]

To end the day on a positive note, an interest in finding a keto chinese food dish recipe and a bunch of extra celery inspired me to come up with…

Coconut Sesame Chicken with Celery! 900 calories & 16.75g of carbs!

[Tenax]

234.2 today and the weight keeps coming off. Just over one month ago at the start of my fast, I was exactly 30lb higher. So, nice way to help me out of my funk, especially on my last day of work before my layoff. After work I’ll go for a walk and put on some tunes. my neck ache indeed was from my brief time under the truck the night before. I felt the exact spot when I got back under to finish off yesterday. my project turned out well…nice little win I really needed.

Otherwise, breaking 230 is my next weight goal. That will put me solidly over 50lb lost since February. I have my food diary filled for the next week including 2 new recipes…a keto creamy seafood salad and the treasure of a meal I stumbled into yesterday just playing with flavours, leftover chicken & too much celery. I call it keto coconut sesame chicken & celery & its on my top 5 keto recipes!

One of the things I fear after losing my job is less money to eat as needed. There is no doubt my keto journey has cost more money than I want to think about. I had to buy a lot of cooking hardware & appliances I didn’t have. And spices, meat etc I wasn’t buying before. But by my plan, I at least mitigated some expense buying everything I needed while I still had income. I was hoping it wouldn’t come but…I saw it coming in February with word of the virus in Asia. I also saw the meat shortage coming & filled my little fridge freezer up 3 weeks ago. Oh, you say what meat shortage? Even if you are not seeing empty meat shelves, the price on much of it has gone up. A lot. Our wholesale meat price at work went up by 25% overnight 1 week ago. When I was at Home Depot yesterday, the one appliance they cannot keep in stock at all? Freezers.

I am very much looking forward to my meal tomorrow. Its not a cheat, but still a treat! My keto cheesecake & strawberry puree’ and bacon strips on the side (for the macro balance). When I was visiting a little lakeside resort city this week & saw all these beautiful homemade sundaes people were eating, I decided to pull a big slice of cheesecake out of the freezer. I’m not craving a sundae persay, more a longing? But I am looking forward to a different food day.

Well, last day of this job, first day of the rest of my life?

Happy Friday!!!

[Compdude]

One of my clients owns several restaurants. She’s been having me attend Zoom webinars put on by US Foods who service independent restaurants and write up report summaries for her review.

One of the trends is creating meal kits with instructions or meal kits that are easy to reheat/microwaveable. Maybe hook up with a local keto group to find people to make keto meals for? As you mentioned you’ve already got all the kitchen equipment you’ve invested in. Or partner up with a local restaurant that is looking tor another revenue stream.

You can probably find local groups through MeetUps.

Hope this helps!

[Tenax]

I’m never been the entrepenurial type, but I used to hate cooking too, so who knows:) thx for the ideas and support!!! I actually looked at one point to see if any of the big meal services in canada offer a keto lifestyle package and it seems almost non existent. Determining market size & potential would be one of my first steps.

[Compdude]

Let me know.

I’ve had to constantly re-invent myself having been in the computer industry for over 30 years:

1. Started out working in Aerospace on the big mainframe computers.
2. When that went down the tubes, moved to Seattle and broke into the software engineering industry with only a History degree.
3. To help out family moved back to So Cal and became a Certified Personal Trainer for 5 years.
4. Then a health crisis caused me to lose my PT business and reinvented myself again as a social media/website builder consultant.
5. Re-inventing myself one more time by working with a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Southern California Medical School on creating a program based on my fasting experience in resolving all my metabolic related diseases.