In contrast to yesterday’s off day, I’m feeling pretty great today. It’s fair to say that during the 4 fasting days I have had over the last 2 weeks, my energy levels have been pretty ordinary on those particular days.
Mind you, the usual way to do 5/2 intermittent fasting is by having 500-600 Cal during that 24hr period. This is not what I have done. I have gone 24hrs with 0 Cal. It now makes sense to me why it’s done this way.
The extra calories you would consume doing it like that should be enough to carry you through until you begin eating again, without having that slump in the middle of the day.
Live and learn, I guess.
Nothing To See Here
Despite the increased energy I had today there was nothing really exciting that happened. It was a bit of a tidy-up-the-house, wind-down-the-week, ready-to-party sort of Friday. Spell check is not gonna like that last sentence…
This weekend is meant to be pretty crap weather, so we are not sure what we are going to do. The kids have a party and it will be outdoors, but it could be a washout. Those weathermen are always correct, arn’t they?
Keto Eating
I want to digress and talk a little bit about what a typical day of eating is for me on a Keto diet. If you haven’t followed any of my other posts and are unfamiliar with this diet, it is basically a low-carb, high-fat diet which switches your body from using glucose for energy to ketones.
I have been on this diet for almost 3 months now and there has been a lot of trying new foods and finding new recipes and that type of thing, but now this far into being on this diet, I really find that I don’t eat all that much and this will show in the data that I have recorded on MyFitnessPal, when I sum it up in a couple of days.
I tend to only eat when I feel hungry and I don’t eat large meals as much. Dinner is my main meal. Having breakfast and lunch are just a matter of how I feel at the time.
What Do I Eat?
A typical morning would see me have a coffee with almond milk and a stevia based sweetener. I will sometimes snack on a strawberry or piece of meat, like salami or ham, whilst I am making the kids school lunches.
Then I will take the kids to school and come home. Sometimes I will feel like eating something when I get home, so I will make some bacon and eggs with tomato, avocado and Keto bread (see Day 3), but lately I have been finding that I don’t tend to do this as much. I just haven’t felt hungry enough to eat a big meal.
If I don’t have a meal, I might snack on a couple more pieces of sliced meat and a sugar-free chocolate and/or another coffee.
If I decide to have a big meal, I know that I won’t eat until dinner. This is due to the satiating effects of eating plenty of protein. If I don’t decide to have a big meal in the morning, then I will generally just graze on some almonds, tinned salmon, maybe some low-carb crackers or sliced salami. I do love salami.
For dinner, I like to try and prepare some different Keto recipes from a book that I have, if I have time. I’m not amazing in the kitchen, but I do like to try some different things. Some recipes work, some don’t, but if not I will generally cook a pretty simple meal with a serve of meat, usually either chicken or pork, sometimes steak, with cauliflower, carrots and now my new recent fav, green beans!
Is This A Healthy Diet?
This is a “typical” day, but obviously, no day is the same. Whilst this diet has so far been successful in my weight loss and I feel comfortable with how things are going, I have recently been questioning whether I will be “Keto” long term.
Looking at the “typical” day that I have described above, it’s clear that there is a lack of variety and quantity of fruit and veg and I wonder about the long term effects of this.
I wrote an article on Keto Flu a few days ago and my research into the writing of this has prompted me to want to dig a bit deeper into the electrolytes and micronutrient side of things.
As I was researching about electrolytes, I realized that I had been having some symptoms such as dry lips and occasional cramps and though that maybe I had not been getting enough electrolytes.
The last few days I have been taking some vitamin and mineral supplements and I sense that I have been feeling better. I still need to learn more in this area, and experiment a bit more, but it makes sense that extra vitamin supplements would help my overall health, especially when I am not consuming them in my foods.
Watch this space…
The Numbers – Day 12
Weight (start of day): 122 kg (269 lb)
Weight Loss To Date (11 Days): 1.9 kg (4.2 lb)
Maximum calories allowed: 2560
Calories consumed: 2,496 = 64 calorie deficit
Water consumed (inc tea/coffee): 2 Litres
Fat consumed: 130g (46.3%)
Carbs consumed: 50g (17.8%)
Protein consumed: 101g (35.9%)
Keto Goal: Fat 70%, Protein 25%, Carbs 5%
Day 12 Round Up
Today has been one of the bigger calorie consumption days so far (other than our night out last week). This is partly due to eating a bit more than usual during the day and having a few rums to wind up the week.
I have another 3 days of the 5/2 method before I review the last couple of weeks and work out my next move. I have actually learnt a bit during this period that I think will help me, moving forward, which I will cover in my conclusion.
Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
