Day Two: Tuesday, 11/28/2017

Morning: Day two is underway. Woke up this morning and chugged 32 ounces of water. Something I learned from intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet is to always stay hydrated. Because these two techniques deplete the body of glucose (sugar from carbs) and glycogen (storage form of glucose in skeletal muscles and the liver), the body loses one of the mechanisms by which it can hold onto water. So…we urinate it out. We urinate a lot, making it necessary to replace that water throughout the day.

For breakfast, I crafted some bulletproof coffee. This stuff can stop anything. Kidding. It is a combination of coffee (I use Keurig Starbucks Pike Roast) with two tablespoons coconut oil, 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. If you’re counting calories, it equates to approximately 500 Calories. But I don’t count Calories because it is defined as, “the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1L pure water by 1 degree Celsius at sea level.” What does that even mean? More importantly, I am concerned with the fat and carbohydrate content of my food rather than Calories. Bulletproof coffee provides the energy I need in the form of caffeine, adds delicious flavor from the heavy cream and gives me the fat content I need from the butter and coconut oil to feel satiated and full.

Afternoon: Because I am intermittent fasting and want to give my body time to heal and process all the damage I did to it over the Thanksgiving weekend, I need something to make sure I can get through the day and avoid the “Keto Flu”.

That’s where homemade bone broth comes into play. It provides the salt and mineral content needed for my body. By adding apple cider vinegar, I am able to leech out those minerals and extract the bone marrow from within. The marrow contains natural fats. In the crock pot, I added carrots, celery and onion (for flavoring only, I did not eat them). I spiced things up with cayenne pepper, sea salt and black pepper.

As the body is forced to use the glucose (sugars) in the blood and glycogen (in the liver and muscles), we also lose the ability to hold onto water (sugar acts as an osmotic agent, pulling water in with it). Now that the sugar tank is empty, how do we hold onto water? The good old fashioned way…with salt. Salt acts like glucose to create a similar osmotic effect. We know this already, “salt retains water”. We use this property to our advantage.

Drinking homemade bone broth is an excellent way to avoid the Keto Flu, a collection of symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, sugar cravings and stomach irritability. Everyone experiences the Keto Flu differently, but the best way around it is to have high fat in your diet, high salt content coupled with lots of water and to stay busy throughout the day. I have continued exercising as usual. The goal is to get “keto-adapted”, the process of training your body to switch from sugar-burning to fat-burning for fuel (more on this in another post).

Evening: Hit a little speed bump today as I experienced some stomach upset. My theory is that the acidity in my coffee combined with the high fat content in the coffee and broth created some indigestion. Unfortunately, I succumbed and reached for some over the counter antacids. They worked really well, but they have sugar (about 6g). But it still allowed me to continue fasting, so I guess it was worth it.

Exercise: Ab workout, 1 hour spin class
Relaxation: Stretching, Steam room

Motivational word for the day: FOCUS

Set a goal, aim for it, go after it. There should not be any excuses in your mind. Don’t doubt yourself, let others do that for you. Then use that to fuel your fire. Stay focused on your goal and stop at nothing to attain it. Focus on all the pain and the hurt in your past and on all the goals you had and never followed through on; now FOCUS and promise yourself that this current attempt at success will not end the same as times before.