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! 😉)


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.

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.

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.


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 Doctors

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We all need medical care at one time or another. We rely on the education and experience of our doctors, physician's assistants, nurses, and others in the healthcare system to help us stay healthy and to mend us when needed. However, we risk doing ourselves a disservice if we relinquish decision-making about our well-being to someone without questioning the whats, whys, and hows. Medical professionals go through years of education and training. They have more medical facts crammed in their noggins than there are cat videos on YouTube. They deserve the respect society often pays them. There is one glaring exception, though: nutrition. Most physicians receive virtually no nutrition training in medical school (other than saturated fat causes high cholesterol, which leads to heart disease, which kills you, which is inaccurate). Apparently, Hippocrates' quote, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" was left on the metaphorical cutting room floor when the curricula were designed.

Because so many medical professionals graduated with so little instruction on food and its impact on health—other than "everyone should move more, eat less, and when we eat it should be low-fat"—patients with symptoms of chronic disease are often given that bit of lame incorrect unhelpful advice—and are then prescribed medication. It is rare the GP who recommends their patient steers clear of carbohydrates (if they've inquired at all about what the person eats). Many don't realize that for many, intolerance to carbs is what causes those symptoms: inflammation, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, skin rashes. The list goes on. Further, many doctors believe that vegetables and fruit are "free" foods, that one can't overdo them, and that they are essential to our well-being. In fact, carbohydrate, of which fruit and veg are mostly comprised, is not an essential macronutrient. Fat and protein? Indeed, they are essential. That means that we must consume fat and protein to get the amino acids required for cell life—our bodies cannot generate those acids themselves. However, we don't need to consume carbohydrates to get the required glucose. Our bodies create glucose as needed through gluconeogenesis. I wonder if your doctor knows that. Possibly so, but very possibly not.

Decades of fat being demonized have resulted in medical misconceptions ruling the day. It has become Bizarro World, with the simplest solution to many health issues being ignored and the opposite of correct information being passed on to patients. There is little doubt that the tsunami of Type 2 Diabetes that is rolling over most of the world has been caused by poor nutrition recommendations put in place decades ago, resulting in poor medical guidelines. The solution is food, and that food should be low in carbohydrates.

How did we get in this mess? It's a long story—very long— and to delve further, I recommend reading The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz, and Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. (Try not to get too ticked off as you read how egos, politics, and commerce all came together to trash our collective health.)

How do we deal with our personal situation in regards to how or medical providers may advise us? Many of us already know that laying off carbs works. We feel better, lose weight, come off of medications. Our doctors may still be on a learning curve. My approach, after years of having noted in my medical record, "Casey continues to struggle with her weight [true]. I recommend a low-fat diet and exercise." After I lost the first 25 pounds or so after starting the ketogenic protocol, I went for my annual checkup.

"Hey! I see you've lost weight! That's great. How are you doing that?"

"By doing the opposite of what you told me to do."

"… Oh … I see. … Uh, so, what are you doing precisely?"

"I'm eating very low carbs and enjoying my fill of fat and protein."

"… Okay … I'm glad you're doing well, but I'm worried about your cholesterol."

"I know you are. That's not your fault. You were taught the wrong thing."

To her credit, my doctor took no offense and agreed to order of complete NMR lipid profile. That test provides more information about the several components that comprise cholesterol rather than getting just the overall—and pretty useless—number. Spoiler alert: the results of that checkup read, "Casey, these are excellent numbers. Your overall cholesterol number is a bit high, but that's because your HDL is so high. Keep up what you're doing."

Now, that's a good doctor. Being open-minded and a bit curious are good qualities in general. When one is charged with the healthcare of others, I dare say they are a must. Ultimately, though, we need to take more of a lead in our care. Medical doctors aren't infallible, and they don't occupy our bodies. They don't know how we feel, nor can they know how much better things are when we take control of our nutrition and fuel ourselves the way we are designed to do.

The bottom line is, our health is essentially in our hands when it comes to fundamental things. We can't control many things, and tomorrow is promised to no one. Random diseases can strike us, but we can control what we put in our mouths. And when choosing to eat foods that serve us and not to eat those that don't, we do a long way to wresting control of our future. Let's make our futures as vital, pain-free, medicine-free, and fulfilling as possible.

We can do it.


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!