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I am trying to lose some of my spare tire so I am trying ketosis, intermittent fasting and bulletproof coffee. I guess there are different "definitions" of fasting but in the context of dieting, I am wondering if I'm really fasting if I'm getting calories from bulletproof coffee. My original attempt at intermittent fasting was to go water-only fasting (and black coffee, not even sweetener) until dinner time. Today I struggled, my arms were shaking and I was feeling lightheaded, even after bulletproof coffee about 2 hrs earlier so I "broke down" and had some cheese and an avocado for lunch. I've been good until today but I was concerned that the lightheadedness and shakiness was related to hunger or low-blood-sugar (feeling only a little bit better now although it has only been about 30 minutes since lunch).

This challenge will build on my previous one. In the last challenge, my goal was to stabilize my emotional and physical state. Check! Now, we get down to business. Under a doctor's supervision, I'm going to start a 2-3 month keto-adaptive boot camp. I have already ordered the blood-testing kit and keto strips. I wanted to start last week, but the doc has some extra steps he wants me to take before I go full bore. He was worried I didn't have sufficient ketones built up to withstand the initial diet. I take my first blood test Tues-Weds when the kit arrives, and I also have bloodwork that's coming back. This challenge will coincide with the "full bore" phase, starting May 28. I will be evaluating and tweaking my diet as I go based on the ketone results strips. Life Goal: Return to the weight and fitness I had when I worked from home, instead of in someone else's office. 4 Week Challenge Goal: Complete month 1 of the keto-adaptive boot camp. Diet: Category 1 food list, no coffee, alcohol, proscribed carbs of any kind. This is super strict. A = <=1 fails/week, CON +3, CHA +2 B = <=3 fails/week, CON +2, CHA +1 C = <=5 fails/week, CON +1, CHA +1 Exercise: I want to focus on building stamina and vitality, so focus on 5+ "vigorous" exercises and 4+ yoga exercises per week. A = 9+/week, DEX +3, STR +1 B = 6-8/week, DEX +2, STR +1 C = 3-5/week, DEX +1 Refresh: Continue work into mental health-- books and talk therapist if I can corral one. A = 4+/week, WIS +3 B = 3/week, WIS +2 C = 1-2/week, WIS +1 Fiction: Life goal, this. I'm up for one new story a week, which includes a major revision. That will clear the decks for the novel. A = 4+/week STA +3 B = 3/week STA +2 C = 1-2/week STA +1

Last Edit: 4-Feb-2015 After starting this thread, I was informed that what I am doing is known as a Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF). I am constantly consulting The Oracle (Google) to find out more about this subject and modify the diet plan as approriate. As of right now here is how I am planning on executing the diet: I am still learning more about it as the days go on. Based off of what I have learned so far, I will be trying the following diet/exercise plan: Every day my goal will be to consume 140 G of protein. I will cycle 2 days of nothing but protein shakes and fiber powder. 144G Protein, 10G Fat, 6G Sugar 30G Fiber, 738-ish Calories on a shake day the calorie count will be slightly higher - by how much depends on how you calculate the calories from fiber. This figured incorporates the calories from the 4mg of fish oil I will take. Every 3 days I will have have a big ol' egg white omelet made from 4-ish egg whites with spinach, red peppers, mushrooms and jalapenos. In addition I will eat a whole egg as well as a big plate of fresh spinach or lettuce, red peppers, cucumber, a couple of green olives, and about a big handful of salted mixed nuts. I will also have protein shakes to get my required grams of protein. Every other "food cycle" I will have a little bit of cantaloupe (half a cup-ish) and a banana in addition to the omelet, plate of low-carb veggies, olives, and nuts. I will take a multivitamin twice a day with food or a protein shake and a 2mg fish oil capsule. I will continue to workout as normal - Lift 6 days a week and cycle between running 3 miles and doing sprints (ideally 3 days a week). I have a hard time motivating myself to do cardio, so I often find excuses to not run. I will work on becoming more consistent. Before I lift or run I will take 10G of BCAAs. I will drink tons of water, and lots of tea. FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the original post which led me down the path to discovering PSMF (Thanks Hazard) Hey everyone! This is the result of something I was mulling over in my head, and then spending about a week reading a bajilliondy different articles on nutrition, fat loss, muscle growth, carbohydrates, fats, etc etc etc.... TLDR version: Perhaps the best body recomposition (lose fat, gain muscle) thing to do is to focus on eating 1 Gram of protein per lb. of body weight per day, and then minimize both fat and carbohydrate intake while lifting heavy things and then putting them back down??? Note: I will be eating egg whites, chicken, beef, fish, and using protein shakes as needed to hit my 1G protein/lb/day goal while drinking copious amounts of water and tea (Earl Grey and Black Currant, both made by Twinings – it’s more to help keep me from boredom snacking than anything else). I am stuck with cafeteria style dining at the moment and cannot make my own food so I will be getting some carbs/fat as well but will limit them to only what I get as a byproduct of eating the aforementioned foods. Once I hit my desired body fat % (basically I want to look like Deadpool) I will add other foods for maintenance. Perhaps I could live off of just meat, but variety is the spice of life so I will be throwing in other food items once I get to a maintenance phase. Other people have a lot to say about why cardio isn’t the best thing for weight loss. Other people have a lot to say about why heavy weight training (4-6-ish reps for 3-ish sets) is best for increasing muscle strength/mass. Other people have a lot to say about why lifting to get gainz is better for fat loss than cardio for the same amount of time. I am a fan boy (not really, I have a mind more open than Olaf’s arms when administering warm hugs) of the aforementioned things… but I am just here to pose the following question and give my best guess as to the answer: SO…. a certain bit of dietary advice had always confused me, specifically the concept of caloric surplus/deficit in relation to muscle growth. Basically I keep reading that I cannot put on muscle if I eat fewer calories than my body needs in a day and you cannot lose fat when in a caloric surplus. The question: Can I lose fat while gaining muscle on a low calorie diet where I eat 1G Protein/Lb Bodyweight/Day and eating as little fat/carbs as possible? My body needs protein to build muscle. So I will eat lots of amino acids (the building blocks of protein). My body also needs energy to carry on all its myriad of functions (including building muscle). My body already has plenty of energy stored as fat. I can understand why I would need more building blocks to make new muscle, but I already have plenty of energy saved up. Why do I need to eat more energy? Why does using up my energy stores (IE the fat) prevent me from putting on muscle? The energy is already there in my body waiting to be used…. The body seems to me to be pretty efficient and does not appear to want to waste things, especially energy. Now, you can literally piss away glucose at times, but I’ve never read anything that shows this happening in significant amounts in healthy individuals. SO – according to conventional wisdom, it is impossible to put on muscle while eating fewer calories than your body needs to meet its daily energy needs. That doesn’t make sense to me. Why you ask? Well… most of us have huge energy reserves, I.E. fat. Fat is where your body stores the *VAST* amount of its energy. Sure, the body can breakdown muscle (NOTE ON THIS: I have not found any information on exactly when this happens. Since this would seem like a last-ditch sort of thing, I imagine that the body will tap into its fat before eating away at the muscle for energy in significant amounts. I have also heard that consumption of protein and exercise can stave this off, which is why I would want to keep up with the whole 1 G of protein per pound of body weight per day thing. If anyone can point me in the direction of some good information on when muscle cannibalization occurs, I would like it). There seem to be limits on how much muscle a person can put on. Our ability to put on fat appear to be limitless (people can weigh over 1,000 pounds). Our body obviously likes to, and will, easily use fat as an energy storage depot (really more like energy storage medium, but storage depot rolls off the tongue (fingers?) so well….). With this said, just because I don’t consume as many calories in a day as my body needs for all of its various functions does not mean that I do not have energy available. You can live off of your fat stores for a hot minute (here is a link to a report on an obese man whom fasted for a year under the care of a doctor http://pmj.bmj.com/content/49/569/203.short). Glucose is not an “essential nutrient†meaning that you do not have to consume glucose to live. You need glucose to live, but your body can produce it in sufficient amounts to live without you having to eat extra (google gluconeogenesis for more info – there isn’t a whole lot unfortunately). Supposedly you can make 150 G of glucose a day (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-metabolic-paradigm-shift-fat-carbs-human-body-metabolism/#axzz1za02xNxp – Go to the paragraph “So How Much Glucose Do You Really Need?†near the bottom. He doesn’t cite the source for this, and I have not been able to find any research backing it up myself. If someone can find something supporting/rejecting this number, *please* send me a link ). Anyways, unless you are doing some hardcore crossfit thing, doing some crazy bicycling thing, etc etc etc your body will keep up with whatever you are trying to do (Note: This isn’t a fault of gluconeogenesis… People can eat carbz for dayz and still run into these issues with extreme feats of humaning). If you are worried it can’t, then eat a little carbs right before/during the event as needed just to get you through. Your body only has about a teaspoon-ish of glucose floating around in the blood (this is closely regulated by the body) and can store about about 400 grams of glycogen (glycogen gets converted into glucose) in the muscles (I imagine this number varies a bit from person to person based on muscle mass) and about 100 grams of glycogen in the liver (again, probably varies a bit from person to person, but I imagine the biggest variance in individuals come from muscle stores of glycogen). http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/body-store-excess-calories-9627.html (not a direct link to the study which was conducted by Iowa State, a thousand pardons…). There are certain parts of your body which like glucose… the brain, for example, *needs* glucose (even when adapted to using ketones, it still needs 50% of its energy to come from glucose (UGH – Of course I cannot find a source for this now… Fear not though citizen I read it on the internet, so it must be true.. For cereal though, again, if anyone can find anything supporting/rejecting this, feel free to let me know! ) I think our blood glucose levels are pretty much just for the brain, but that is simply a guess with nothing to support it other than observations and my little bit of knowledge of how the body works… With that said, there are parts of your body that like ketones (cardiac muscle). A lot of your cells can use either glucose or ketones for energy once they become “adapted†(which supposedly takes a couple of weeks. I am not even gonna lie – I am getting burned out at the moment with googling things… If someone thinks that my aforementioned statement is wrong then at that point I will go verify it’s rightness or discover is wrongness). SO…. This is a little all over the place, but I think it’s a great starting point for a discussion…. Low Carb…. Low Fat…. Why not both?? https://literatastrophe.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/screen-shot-2012-11-08-at-6-08-31-pm.png As I stated before, I cannot get as low fat or low carb as I would like in my current situation, but I will start implementing this as of today (2-Feb-2015) and post pictures, weight, and tape measurements of different body parts (sorry, I do not have calipers yet… :\) as well as a log of what I eat everyday (with super guesstimated portions). Oh – a note on ketoacidosis… This is a disease state present in diabeetus-ified individuals…. IE their body forgot how to insulin properly. Supposedly insulin helps regulate ketones (this is argued a lot by science-ey people (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/749914). Protein stimulates insulin release (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/72/1/96.full). So, I should not go into ketoacidosis since my body knows how to insulin. However, I will keep an eye out for signs of ketoacidosis (unfortunately I do not have the capability to run labs on myself). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will post weekly updates. When I take pictures they are done with relaxed muscles, full exhaled breath. For the measurements: They are done with muscles relaxed, the fixed end of the tape measure (a plastic tape measure intended for use by a tailor) will remained pinned in place against my body while the free end is pulled tight. I close my eyes and let the free end slip through my fingers until it is barely snug against my body. I will re tighten and let it go loose 3 times before opening my eyes and taking note of the measurement. I purposefully keep things in 8ths. When doing measurements on the torso I do it with a fully exhaled breath, and take 3 measurements (everything is so squishy I have a hard time getting accurate results, so I don't want to rely on just one measurement). Here are the exact locations I measure: Neck - Widest point (over the peak of the adam's apple) Chest - Just under the nipples Bicep - Widest point (no landmark) Forearm - Widest point (no landmark) Waist - Narrowest point (which happens to be my last rib) Belly - Widest point of my pooch (which is just below my belly button) Butt - Widest point (I kind of figure out through trial and error where this this, there is no specific landmark) Upper Thigh (this is the widest point of the fatty area of my thigh. No landmark) Mid Thigh (this is the widest point of the muscular area of my thigh. No landmark) Calf (This is the widest point of my calf. No landmark) I do more exercises than just the ones listed... for sake of not having too much info here I will only post a few lifts. I will fill out a more comprehensive log at a later date and link it to this post. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-Feb-2015 - (NOTE: I know this was not ideal but I took all of these measurements just before dinner. In the future I will do them first thing in the morning when I wake up) Weight - 141.9 pounds Neck - 15" | 14 7/8" | 15" Chest - 33 2/8" | 33 1/8" | 32 7/8" Bicep - 11 7/8" Forearm - 9 7/8" Waist - 29 2/8" | 29 3/8 " | 29 3/8" Belly - 32 7/8" | 33" | 32 6/8" Butt - 24" Upper Thigh - 40.5"" Mid Thigh - 43" Calf - 14 3/8" http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9974-2feb15-front/ http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9975-2feb15-side/ Deadlift: 150lbs 8r 3 Set (working on form) CHANGE: N/A Pullup: (On assist machine): -35lbs 7, 5, 4 Reps CHANGE: N/A Dumbbell Bench Press: 65lbs 4 reps, 65lbs 3 reps, 60 lbs 4 reps CHANGE: N/A Dip: 25lbs 5 reps for 3 sets CHANGE: N/A Squat (butt to calves): 135lbs 5 reps, 135lbs 7 reps, 135lbs 6 reps CHANGE: N/A Standing Shoulder Dumbbell Press: N/A CHANGE: N/A +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bullet Points: -I am officially 30 (and a couple days) but someone said something about a "bone doctor" today and I snickered, so I fully admit age can be a very relative construct in some cases. -I officially told my job about moving to Colorado. They were surprisingly supportive and happy for me and appreciative of my work here. No timeline is set, I told them that I'm flexible and willing to extend my notice quite a bit and that I don't have anything lined up yet in CO, that I still intend on leaving the position in good shape despite being horrendously in the weeds on a lot of projects right now and they were really warm about it all. I mentioned that I'd love to be remote too and they said there wasn't a precedent for that in my position but they'd look into it, which is more than the flat NO I expected. All told everything is as much up in the air as it ever was, but I'm feeling a lot better about having it out in the open and I think that aspect makes all possibilities more workable, so I'm happy. -My birthday was good. I actually told my job about stuff on my birthday, so that was an interesting day. Then I went and treated myself to some shopping. I bought prenatal vitamins and a neurobiology text book, so if your birthday is any summation of where your life is, I don't know what to tell you. Some people surprised me for dinner, so that was nice of them, since I hadn't bothered making plans with anyone, and then I spent the evening calling/texting/social media-ing people back that'd wished me a happy birthday. All told I'm quite pleased with myself in this regard as usually having to return a bunch of phone calls and Facebook messages makes me really overwhelmed and anxious and I end up avoiding doing it for like a week and then I get more anxious and finally respond and feel like an asshole for taking so long. So yeah, I feel like a functioning adult, sort of. -I'm newly in ketosis (I think? I haven't gotten any ketostix to check yet) and it's going pretty well. My reasoning was mostly that I wanted a stricter eating parameter because I've had a lot of trouble with consistency and even when I manage to track and keep calories on the level, some days I still end up with a lot of sugar, some days not, and I think it's all just contributing to a lot of headaches, not feeling well, and overall difficulty staying on routine. I've felt a little better so hopefully this helps. If nothing else, I hope it keeps me more consistent because I don't want to have to get back into ketosis. It hasn't been easy during a birthday week but not nearly as hard as I expected. It's restrictive enough to keep me overthinking about it. -Challenge stuff to be updated. (5/18 edit) Challenge Stuff Update! I dedicate this challenge to Sleep, that elusive seductress. My methods remain pretty consistent, but I am going to try to approach them with intent towards sleeping better, sleeping more, and being more restful. -Keto- continue to track food and keep carbs low. The aim is 20-25 net carbs a day. I actually feel much better on VLC, I think keeping tight reins works better for me. And I definitely feel very awake and lucid with bulletproof coffee so onwards on this front. -Drink all the water- Aim is 100 oz a day. Partly because keto demands it, but it definitely feels better and if I chug water right before bed it's good insurance that I'll be out of bed first thing in the morning. -Work hard, play hard, sleep hard- Aim is some activity daily. Still an inconsistent one for me, and it being 100+ F at night doesn't help, but I envy my dog that sprints her heart out and then conks out for a nap and is off running in her dreams, all within a span of 20 minutes. Exercise helps me sleep. I need help sleeping. -The little extras- multivitamin and omega 3s nightly, figure out a better study schedule for German, continue to chip away at projects at work and get to Colorado.

Hi Nerds, I just spent some time listening to Tim Ferriss's interview with Dom D'Agostino. Here's what Dom researches: "The primary focus of Dom’s laboratory is developing and testing metabolic therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone esters and ketone supplements to induce nutritional/therapeutic ketosis. D’Agostino’s laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro techniques to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanism of metabolic therapies and nutritional strategies for peak performance and resilience." I don't have cancer or epilepsy, but I'm curious about keto diets as a way to kickstart weight loss and develop your body's ability to use fat as fuel and extend workouts. Have any of you experimented with keto diets? How did you adjust? Favorite meals, recipes, etc?

AWESOME!!! Well, it wasn't ben and jerry's, but it was really good. Better than many regular grocery store brands I've had, and better than ALL grocery store low-carb offerings. When I woke up I was at the same level of ketosis as when I went to bed. When I weighed myself the next morning I still lost my usual quarter pound for the day. We made 2; one from Kimmy Moore's keto cookbook, and one from the ice cream maker's recipe catalog with erythritol substitution.I made the keto cookbook recipe with the base of eggs and butter (can do coconut cream for paleo) and my wife made the other with heavy cream for a base. I added some mixed berries and extra artificial sweetener, she added natural peanut butter. Both were less than 5g carb per serving and very fatty. Mine was good, but more like a marriage of ice cream and sorbet. Hers was better. Pure Ice cream goodness - yay cream! Real sugar helps ice cream stay soft in the freezer, so today they were both really hard. But after sitting for 15 minutes they were both soft every bit as good as last night.

The Mission: UNLOCK DIETARY BEAST MODE. What would it be like to eat food and not worry about getting sick? What would it be like if I had a diet that contributed to a healthy weight but didn't make me sick when I eat? I aim to find out. I'm Melissa. Hi! In addition to the challenge things I am working on below, here's what I'm like. I'm a 37 year old living in the intermountain west. Things I like to do include being outside (mainly hiking, camping, backpacking, canyoneering, and rafting), reading, cooking (currently getting into fermentation and sausage making), baking, board games (word, old fashioned, and strategy games), other people's pets and children, and yoga. I think Ron Swanson might be my spirit animal. My superpowers include anxiety and reading comprehension. That's me five years and at least forty pounds ago on my very first canyoneering trip. Some numbers for the start of my first full challenge (all minuses are since my last weigh in on August 11th)! Weight: 187 (-11 pounds! Body fat: 43% (-3%)! Upper bust: 40.5" (-.5") Full bust: 45 (- 2" yesssss)! Under bust: 36" (-2") Waist: 36.5" (no change) Belly: 45.5" (-.5") Hips: 45" (-1.5") Left bicep: 14.25" (-.75) Right bicep: 14.5 (-.5") Left thigh: 29" (-1") Right thigh 29.5" (-.5") Left calf: 18" (no change) Right Calf: 17.5" (-.5"). So that's 11 pounds gone forever, 3% body fat melted (just using my scale for this), and 9.75" inches returned to sender. While weight loss isn't part of my challenge for now, it is still important to me so this is exciting stuff. On to mission control for this challenge! #1. Conquer my digestion. I've spent too much time letting my faulty digestion be in charge. I am doing an elimination diet in an effort to figure out what my system can handle, and I am committed to doing whatever it takes to turn this dark carnival back into a happy funtime circus. If that means living on bone broth and zucchini, BRING IT ON. Right now, this goal means: stick to my elimination diet 100% until it either starts working, or it becomes clear that it is in fact not going to work, at which point it's time to call in additional professional help. I currently eat very few things (pretty much just zucchini, carrots, bone broth, and plain animal proteins), but one upside is that my very restricted diet has me in ketosis (fat burning mode). I'll take all the fat burning help I can get. This is my circus, and those are my monkeys. #2. Be The Kindly Brontosaurus in dealing with doctors and medical stuff. Be the brontosaurus! Be kind, but don't leave until I get what I need! I need to be more assertive (not aggressive, just assertive) in my dealings with my medical issues. It's my body, no one else will ever have as much at stake as I do, and it's time to stop letting stuff happen or not happen to me. This means: making all my appointments in a timely fashion, being assertive at those appointments (be the brontosaurus! take a dinosaur friend if necessary!), researching all my own stuff thoroughly, getting second opinions, making sure my doctors know what they are talking about, filling all prescriptions in a timely fashion, and pushing and persisting for all necessary tests to get done. To healthy people, that may sound like a lot. For anyone else with chronic illness(es), that list will seem familiar. I have a lot going on, healthwise, and it's important for me to keep on top of things even when I feel horrible. I am done using illness as an excuse for not taking good enough care of myself. Don't feel good? Do the things anyway. #3. Track all the things! Continue to keep a daily journal that includes what I eat, medications, and symptoms. If I don't have my journal with me, just make a note on my phone. There is almost no point in my elimination diet if I don't write down what I eat and how I feel. Weight loss and exercise aren't included in those goals for the simple reason that my elimination diet is very difficult and is enough to be going on with right now, but I am working on both of those things as I can. Grading and loot! I do love me some good loot. #1: Diet. This is pass/fail at the end of each week: did I stick to my elimination diet? Fail=get back on the horse, or get a new horse. Pass=LOOT if I've stuck to it 100%. I'll decide as I go what my rewards will be. I am including some diet vacations for planned travel because it is impossible to go backpacking while on my diet. On travel weekends, pass conditions include that I must return to my diet the morning after I return home. #2. Be The Kindly Bronotsaurus. This is pass/fail at the end of each week. Fail=did very few or none of the things I needed to do, and means it's time to ask for some help to get those things done. Pass=did most or all of the things, and means MOAR LOOT, again to be decided as I go (what can I say, I have whims). #3. Track all the things. Once again, this is pass/fail at the end of each week. Fail=tracked 3 or fewer days, or failed to track two days in a row and means no loot for me. Pass=tracked 4 or more days, and earns me more loot. I plan to earn a lot of loot. Shiny! A reward for anyone who made it through all that: it's the song that inspired my thread title.

Aaaand I'm back. Well, I was always around, lurking/creepin' on the forums and dutifully reading my biweekly NF emails, so let's say I'm back and actively participating. So, let's get down to business, shall we? Main Quest: To lose 10 pounds and/or 5% bodyfat. Bikini season is soon upon us, ya'll. SUMMER IS COMING! Current stats: 142 lbs, 28% body fat, 5'5", single white female (j/k j/k). How to do it? 1) Ketosis. Can I get an "Amen"? I'm pretty much in love with the ketogenic diet. After going full paleo since the beginning of the year, I started playing with ketosis for a month now and love my results. I've been following a "paleo" version of it, so no dairy but lots of coconut and olive oil, fish, fatty grass-fed goodness (I'm salivating), etc. I'll follow a paleo-ketogenic diet 97%. By 97% I mean, one "off" meal a week that will probably throw me out of ketosis, but it better be so worth it. I've tried having "weekends off" or even one "off" day a week, but have found that my weight jumps up 5 pounds, then takes all week to get back to my pre-cheat-day weight. Yes, I do weigh myself everyday. Yes, I know doing that doesn't give me the most accurate information about true weight loss. But I like to start my day off knowing I'm making progress, cos usually it's a good number. So anyway, paleo-keto 97% of the time. I'll be tracking my macros and calories on myfitnesspal, aiming for 1400 calories a day (this is surprisingly hard for me to hit. I find myself eating coconut oil off a spoon sometimes to get that high). 2) Drink a gallon of water a day. A ketogenic diet is naturally diuretic, so keeping a close eye on hydration is key. I know I don't drink enough water daily. After I left my water bottle at a doctor's office a few weeks ago, I've haven't been putting effort into my water intake. 3) Follow Barbell Battalion Lvl 1 Started this last week and am OBSESSED with the barbell! So basically for this challenge I'll be at the gym 3x/week following the workout plan. Gotta get dem stallion legs. Motivation: Again, SUMMER IS COMING! More specifically, I'm taking a river trip down in Austin in June with a huge group of folks. I want to look hella good in that new bikini I'm going to get myself when this challenge is complete. #epicloot

Hi everybody! I'm new to the forum and was a little confused about how my Paleo diet wasn't sending me into ketosis. I have ALOT of weight to lose (100 would be ultimate) and have been eating Paleo since the 7th of January of this year. It's been surprisingly easy and I have already lost at least 10lbs.! But I was very interested in getting into a ketogenic state, mostly to see how I feel and how much fat will come off of me. Now I have read that Keto can occur once you are consuming <50g of carbs a day. Now, some Keto diet sites state that you should subtract your fiber count from the total carbs to get your actual net carb number. I have started using MFP to track macros since the 15th and have consistently stayed under 50 g net carbs (I've actually been under 30g the whole time), but I exhibit none of the signs or benefits of being in ketosis. No fruity breath, no great surge of energy, no acetone piss (not complaining). I have been eating fruit every now and again, but a bulk of my sugar comes from tomatoes (not eaten everyday either). That has ranged from 3g of sugar to 26g. If anyone has any knowledge of this I would be much obliged! If further stats are needed, or you need to know what I eat typically, I can provide that also. I have gained about 2lbs currently due to lady issues, but hope that is the culprit!! Once again thanks for the help and hello to everyone!!

Third Challenge [ November 11th – December 22th ] Endangered Initiation Part II Actually started this on on Monday, November 4th. So, this challenge will last 7 weeks for me, with the first (unofficial week) being known as Week 0. Where I came from... Where I went after this... BACKGROUND STORY The two old Jedi stood on the high gallery and looked down on the training younglings in the great hall. “He has made some respectable progress, I give you that, Grand Master! But there are still weaknesses in him, that will prevent him from passing the Initiate Trialsâ€, the Jedi Seer said in a low voice. “Know that I do, but point out those to him I will later today! Assume they will be fixed, what do you think?†“Hard to see, even his near future is.... Even if he passes, many masters will refrain from taking him on as a padawan because of his past and the long time he took to face the trials. But some may and then I daresay he will pass his Jedi Trials, as well eventually, and become a knight!†The Jedi Seer looked sternly into the contemplating face of the Grand Master, before he added: “Success and failure are strangely intertwined in his fate, he may become one of the greatest or worst of our order, or maybe even no member at all! †The Grand Master sighed: “So, not only my sight is clouded here, but the force itself refuses to reveal his destiny.... Nonetheless, thank you for your help! Continue to specially guide this one, I will, until the trials or thereafter, when his path will be apparent.†--------- “Of course, you can speak to him, Grand Master!†The lightsaber instructor bowed low, before she shouted into the hall: “Waldgeist, you're practice is cancelled, you have a visitor!†The practicing younglings stopped at once and one of them left the circle to join the Master, calm on the outside, but bursting with agitation on the inside. “So, William Waldgeist, some time it has been, since the last talk, that we had. Fare how did you?†“I'm goo..., I mean, I have improved. But....†“Wondering wether it is enough you do?! This feeling memorize well, youngling, for you will need it all your life to push past the limits others and you yourself will impose on you!†Slowly the Grand Master walked around William, watching him carefully. “But, your thoughts now are focused on the trials, as well they should be! Spoken with your teachers and observed you myself I have. Improved you have enough, that the Council will order your trials somewhere in the next 6 monthsâ€, the Grand Master said in a clear voice, concealing the discussions that had led to this result. Many of the other members of the High Council had been of the mind, that William would maybe never been ready for the initiate trials and should be handed over to the responsibiliy of the Reassignment Council to become part of the Jedi Service Corps immediately. His diplomatic skills and the weight of his word as Grand Master and Master of the Order were the only things that had prevented this decision. But the price has been to fix the date of the trials in the next months, knowing that the time for preparation may not be enough. “I'm ready?â€, he asked with overboarding joy. The old Jedi cautioned him: “You can be, by then. But only if on the path you are now on you stay and focus even more on your goals!†“I will, Master!â€, the proud initatie said and bowed. “More there is, though..... Some flaws remain, made even more obvious by your improvement. All of them we cannot fix in the time you have left, but on the most important we have to focus on!†The Grand Master threw away his crane in a swift motion and without ever breaking eye contact with the youngling stood on his hands. “Both feet on the ground may work as a metaphor but for the movements of a Jedi it is not enough. Become a circus acrobat you will not by the time you're trials happen, but certain basics you will need. Know that you've failed here before and that this is something many a initiates struggle with, I do, but conquer this fear soon, you must!†The initiate wasn't surprised, he'd actually expected a pointer here and had already started to make plans, that would lead to improvement. “More flexible you've become, but still a major problem this remains, so concentrate especially on this as well! Shoulders and wrist are indispensable parts of you body, focus on them, you must!†MAIN QUEST – Mastering the Pillar of Self-Discipline (=Leaning Up/Body Recomp/Functional Body) GOAL I – Kill the dead weight (+2CHA / +1CON) “A Jedi with the force he flows like a leave, not a dead rock he is, blocking its current!†Basically this is a continuation of the last challenge(s), dropping fat by dietary means while not loosing (too much) muscle on the way. My usual nutrition (by now) is almost completely paleo, that's my base line and starting point. I'm also used to up to two 24 h IF sessions a week, but not gonna use them much this challenge I think. Aaaand last challenge I managed to half my sugar intake from about 120 g a day to about 60 g (take that sugar demon, hah!). If you look down, you'll see I'm about drastically reduce my sugar (all carbs actually) intake again and right from the beginning instead of slowly over time. Abtacha pointed me towards the carbnite concept/ketolysis in general, and I searched around for them and similar ideas in the depths of the internet. Long story short, I constructed/calculated the following macros for my personal use/need on (non-)training days, as well as more general guidelines for the refeed day/carbnite window. Since getting enough veggies(/fruits) in with that concept might be a little hard, I'll also be monitoring these. Goal is therefore to hit these macros with a margin of error of +/-5%. Revised after Week 1 Non-workout day: Workout day: Carbnite: Calories 1.685 2.055 3.600 PROT (g) 120 135-150 130 FAT (g) 125 155 60 CARBS (g) <30 <30 630 Veggies/Fruits 5 portions a day 5 portions a day 5 portions a day Grading: A – Hit macros on 36/49 days B – Hit macros on 34/49 days C – Hit macros on 30/49 days D – Hit macros on 26/49 days F – Anything less than D GOAL II – Body Control (+2STR / +1DEX / + 1STA) “Without control over his own body and mind, to be a Jedi is impossible!†Also a summarized continuation of my workout goals from last challenge. That includes Calisthenics, Gym, Karate each twice a week. Grading: A+ – A conditions plus passing green belt examinations in december A – Working out at least 13 times in each category B – Working out at least 12 times in each category C – Working out at least 10 times in each category D – Working out at least 8 times in each category F – Anything less than D conditions GOAL III – Weakness Elimination (+2DEX / +1CON / +1STR) “Mind what you've learned, save you it can from failure at the trials ahead of you!†A couple of things, that I lack or need/want to work on, as I noticed during the last challenge. A general part of this is my flexibility/mobility, bodypart-wise the focus is on shoulders and wrists and last but not least skills-wise acrobatics basics (really basic stuff like falling and rolling, but also the first steps towards the handstand) To tackle those weaknesses I want to incorporate them into my nightly routine, which worked out pretty good last challenge. Now I'll just have to invest 15 (or 20) minutes instead of 5, which should be still manageable. Nightly Routine: Karate (Kata, Stances, Kicks) Rolls (Parkour, Forward, Backwards) Handstand Progression Stretching (Hand-to-toes, ….) Shoulder/Wrist mobility Grading: A+ – A conditions plus wall handstand for about 30 seconds A – 7/7 days a week - 40/49 in total B – 6/7 days a week - 36/49 in total C – 5/7 days a week - 30/49 in total D – 4/7 days a week - 24/49 in total F – anything less than D LIFE QUESTS – Mastering the Pillar of Knowledge (=study/research/write) “A true Jedi is not fooled by informations other give him, he seeks knowledge out himself!†Grading for those will all be the same. One point a day if I actually did something, partial points possible, but higher bar than last time: A – 6/7 days a week - 36/49 in total C – 5/7 days a week - 30/49 in total F – anything less Thesis Finish Quest (+2WIS) Nothing new here as well. Just a closer deadline..... While the survey is running, I need to write extensively on all the chapters not dependend on the survey results, e.g. theory and methodology. After the survey's finished, the time for analysis and interpretation has come. Psy Class Mini Quest (+1WIS) 15 Minutes a day investment for either developmental or personality psychology/diagnostics. Be it reading a chapter, watching an online lecture, summarizing either one, making study cards etc. I want to be able to kick those exams' asses in March, so gotta prepare now! Oral Exam Prep Mini Quest (+1WIS) After I submitted my MA thesis, the oral exams will be the next dragons to battle in order to graduate. For the moment only two things to do here: 1) finding topics (and get them approved, but that is already done for 2/4 professors) and collect relevant literature, and 2) prepare 60 pages of original Japanese literature, learning new vocabulary, new kanji including reading and maybe even some higher grammar (that I don't know yet or forgot because of not using it). 15 minutes a day should be attainable, as well, I think.

I participated in my first challenge last time, and now I'm back for more! Goals: 1. Do a pull up! This is a continuation from last challenge since I didn't quite make it. However, now I'm working with a powerlifting club on campus, and they have me doing lots of stuff to strengthen my back, so I think this will help. I'm going to try to really focus on this one. 2. Drop body fat As the title suggests, I'm experimenting with a ketogenic diet. I'm not being super crazy about this, but I am giving up fruit except for one day a week. I'm not going to monitor myself really closely on vegetable consumption to try to hit an exact amount of carbs each day. I will be well under 100 g, and I think giving up fruit and all the sugar and carbs that come with them SHOULD cause me to lose fat faster. Not going to be super upset if I don't see some kind of super drastic change. I really am happy with the way I look, but I was curious to see what ketosis would do for me. My current BFP is about 22%. 3. Stop lying around in bed for 2 hours after my alarm goes off This is a terrible habit I've developed. In my research lab, I make my own hours, so there is no one telling me to come in at a certain time. HOWEVER, it would be nice to get in there early so I can leave earlier. But my bed is seriously so comfortable. I want to get back in the habit of getting out of bed once my alarm goes off. 4. Make strides toward entering a powerlifting competition I really, really want to compete. Like I mentioned earlier, I've started working with the powerlifting club here at OSU. They are super friendly people and are totally willing to help get you into competition shape. I just need to look in to finding a good meet to enter and how to register. I'm not sure how far in advance you need to register for them, but if I happen to do that before the end of this challenge, I will give myself an A. Let's do this thing.

This week I cut 90% of my grain intake. I have already cut sugar and artificial-sweeteners earlier in this challenge. People keep saying things like "where will you get your energy from without those complex carbs?" and "why would you cut out grains? Do you have some kind of health problem where you need to avoid them?" Tonight I got asked by a friend if I was trying to put my body into ketosis and how long I planned on doing it because her nutrionist friend told her that it is bad for the body to keep it in ketosis for long periods. I really didn't know what to say. Aren't the paleo and primal diets lifestyles that can be maintained indefinetly? Why do people keep acting like they are so unhealthy?