PP's Ketogasmic transformation!

[phabphour20]

aweasome log^^ ill follow ur steps next time i go on keto. subscribed.

Thanks! I am really enjoying the steak and eggs so far. It is especially good when I can get fresh eggs over-medium with some run in the yolk. I thought I would get bored after a few days, but I haven't. We'll see what it looks like after two weeks... and we'll also see what the results look like.

I am thinking of ways to tweak this as just eating steak and eggs forever is probably untenable. I might try and switch it to meat an eggs and vary the meats up... pork, uncured bacon, chicken, lamb, turkey, etc. I do miss a few elements of my usual keto diet (vegetables, cheese, nuts, red wine), so I will slowly add these back in over time. I have to see how they effect my results. I think the wine may be detrimental.

Hopefully I see some good results on this which will encourage me to continue it longer.

-PP

[thesilent1]

It is especially good when I can get fresh eggs over-medium with some run in the yolk.
-PP

As far as I am concerned this is heaven!!!!!!!!! LOL

Nothing like a runny egg on steak or gammon!!! lush

[phabphour20]

Dinner on Friday night was at a steakhouse. Guess what I had? Steak. Filet to be exact. It was great. We finished up dinner around 10 pm.

Then I slept 11 hours... really needed the sleep.

Today I had some tea this morning and relaxed for a while. I wanted to work out fasted. I went to the gym around 3 pm and did some HIIT cardio. I was on the elliptical machine. 5 minute warmup and then 15 minutes of intervals... sprint all out for between 30 second and 1 minute (I vary it) then a minute of rest. After the intervals, a 5 minute cooldown. This is a killer cardio workout.

I am just going to eat dinner tonight around...now. Steak and eggs. Then I am going to go to the movies with my wife.

Tomorrow is legs and shoulders.

-PP

[phabphour20]

As far as I am concerned this is heaven!!!!!!!!! LOL

Nothing like a runny egg on steak or gammon!!! lush

I can't get enough. Thought I might get bored, but nope. So freakin good.

-PP

[thesilent1]

the irony is that my wife hates both eggs and steak!! lol The more for me basically I say.

Thats natue for you; good tasting food all the time.

[phabphour20]

Slept late again on Sunday, about 10 hours. I guess I needed it. I had some green tea upon waking.

I had stopped eating 10 pm on Saturday night. I didn't eat Sunday morning before going to the gym around 2:00 pm. So, about 16 hours of not eating before the gym. Then I killed it.

Legs and shoulders. I know my squat weight is not high, but I do real, full squats... butt below the knees. Workout as follows:

6-minute elliptical warmup

Squats Bar x 10, 155 x 6, 6, 6, 6 (increase next time)
Lunges 20 (lb dumbbell in each hand) x 10, 10, 2 (could barely get back up after these two)
Standing calf raises 195 x 15, 295 x 8, 8

Dumbbell military press 30 x 15, 50 x 9, 7, 6
Upright barbell row 90 x 9, 7, 6
Side lateral raises 22.5 x 9, 8, 7
Rear Delt machine 100 x 12, 145 x 8, 8

Had a difficult time walking up the gym stairs to leave...

A quick question, if anyone has any advice. I really like the dumbbell military press and I would like to increase the weight. The problem is that I have a hard time getting the dumbbells into position at shoulder height in each arm. Is this just something where hopefully in my all around strength increases this movement (raising the weight with each arm to the shoulder) becomes easier as well? Or will I need to find a spotter to help me get the weight up?

After I got home from the gym, an hour later, at 3:30, I ate lunch. 4 fried eggs and a small eye round steak. This was the first meal I had in about 18 hours or so. A few hours later, at about 7:30 pm I had dinner of steak and eggs. Then I stopped eating around 8 pm last night.

Feeling good.

Feeling sore.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Weight - 283 pounds (down 10 lbs)
Waist - 48.25 inches (down .75 inches)

So, pretty dramatic results so far. The weight loss is dramatic because the 293 was right after a carb up and I have been known to store up to 10 lbs of water weight. The drop in my waist measurement tells me that I definitely lost some fat too during that time. The next week will definitely not have nearly these results, but hopefully we can make some more good progress.

We'll need to see what happens with my lifts over the next week to begin to assess if I lost any muscle during this time. We'll see.

I can barely walk today. Just throwing that out there. Squats are brutal.

Today is going to be a fasting and resting day. I am only going to eat one meal today, a big dinner. During the day I am going to just drink a bunch of green tea. I am going to eat just steak and eggs during this week. Then I think I may open up the diet a bit next weekend to include some of the things that I like to eat on keto. We'll see.

Have a great day everyone.

-PP

[TikiCabales]

A quick question, if anyone has any advice. I really like the dumbbell military press and I would like to increase the weight. The problem is that I have a hard time getting the dumbbells into position at shoulder height in each arm. Is this just something where hopefully in my all around strength increases this movement (raising the weight with each arm to the shoulder) becomes easier as well? Or will I need to find a spotter to help me get the weight up?

For heavy seated dumbbell presses I always use a spotter.

As for getting the weight up to the shoulders. -- I get comfortable on the seat, grab the weights and rest them vertically on my knees. Once I get my posture is right, I "POP" the weights up to my shoulder with each knee. When I'm ready to press, I turn my elbows out, my spotter braces below my elbows and presses with me to help get the first rep up.

[phabphour20]

For heavy seated dumbbell presses I always use a spotter.

As for getting the weight up to the shoulders. -- I get comfortable on the seat, grab the weights and rest them vertically on my knees. Once I get my posture is right, I "POP" the weights up to my shoulder with each knee. When I'm ready to press, I turn my elbows out, my spotter braces below my elbows and presses with me to help get the first rep up.

Thank you. I guess I'll have to find a spotter, although I am not quite that heavy yet. Popping them up with the knees seems to make a lot of sense. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Good morning. Had steak and eggs for dinner last night. Stopped eating around 8 pm.

I am still sore as all get out today. After sitting at my desk for an hour, getting up and moving around is very painful. I am hoping that going to the gym tonight and getting the blood flowing will help recovery.

I am going to fast until after my workout tonight, probably nearly 24 hours of not eating. Chest and triceps tonight.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Moving around and getting the blood flowing is definitely helping the soreness. Resting will only get you so far.

Just had a great workout. Very high energy and good intensity despite (or maybe because of) not eating for 22 hours beforehand. Chest and triceps:

6 minute elliptical warmup

Bench press Bar x 30, 145 x 7, 5, 4, 4 (up from 16 total reps last week)
Incline dumbbell press 35 x 12, 45 x 8, 8, 7 (increase next time)
Dumbbell flyes 15 x 15, 25 x 8, 8, 7

Tricep rope pushdowns 80 x 15, 120 x 6, 5, 5
Skullcrushers 50 x 8, 7, 6
Assisted dips 150 x 10, 130 x 8, 8, 7 (increase next time)

Overall a good workout. Everything was stronger than last time with either increased weight or increased reps.

I am going to eat dinner in a bit (an hour after my workout). It is going to be a lot of eggs and a steak. It will be a pretty big meal since it is post-workout and my only meal of the day. Looking forward to it!

-PP

[phabphour20]

Well, I didn't think it could happen, but I might be starting to burn out on the steak part of steak and eggs. It might just be that I had it cold this morning at my desk, but I was not into my steak.

Anyway, had a big dinner last night and a decent breakfast this morning... half a small steak and 4 eggs over medium. I am going to see how hungry I feel at lunch time today and maybe see if they have some beef in my office cafeteria. I might eat, I might not. After that I am not going to eat again today as I have tennis tonight from 9-11 pm.

I am going to go get some green tea.

-PP

[phabphour20]

So, I ran out of steam for just eating steak. I still love eggs though. After my breakfast yesterday I couldn't bring myself to eat more steak. So for lunch yesterday I ate some roast pork tenderloin and took some fish oils. It was a nice change.

I was quite hungry again at about 7 pm and didn't want to run out of steam while playing tennis so I ate a can of tuna in mayo. This is very competitive tennis for two hours. It requires a lot of energy. I'm sure I could have been fine doing it fasted (I did last week), but I was feeling real hunger beforehand so I ate. Tennis was fun and exhausting. I am sore all over this morning. Love it.

For breakfast today I had an omelet with ham and bacon in it. No cheese. What I think I am going to try and do going forward, since I have seen good results with the steak and eggs plan, is to eat basically only meat and eggs from Monday morning through lunch on Friday. And then on the weekends, allow myself more freedom, but still in keeping with keto/rough paleo. So this would mean that I add in veggies, maybe some berries, nuts, red wine, dark chocolate, etc. I am going to try and keep my cheese intake lower as this is usually an area where I go overboard.

I think this will be a good plan for me. I'll keep with the workouts that I have been doing as I have been loving my plan lately and am seeing good results. 3 weight sessions per week + 2 cardio (either 2 HIIT or 1 HIIT and 1 tennis) + 2 rest days. I will also continue to do intermittent fasting as I think it is definitely helping. Sometimes I'll work out fasted, sometimes not. I'll keep posting weekly weigh-ins/measurements on Mondays and log my food intake and workouts here.

So, lunch today will probably be whatever kind of meat that they have in my office cafeteria. Then I will workout back and biceps after work (unless I have to work late, which is a definite possibility tonight) and then eat a meat and/or eggs dinner afterward.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Had to work a bit late last night and my lower back was sore from tennis. So I didn't go to the gym. I am going to go after work today and do back and biceps.

I went to the diner for dinner with my wife last night. We have both been working a lot, so we don't see all that much of each other. It is nice to mix it up once in a while and a dinner at the diner isn't that much of a financial splurge. I had scrambled eggs with bacon and sausage. Pretty good.

I am going to fast today before going to the gym. I stopped eating around 9 pm last night and will go to the gym around 5:30 today... so a little over 20 hours fasted before my workout. Afterward I will shower and then my wife and I are going to a party in the city tonight, so I'll probably pick up salads for us to have on the train. I think I'll try to stick to red wine and a maximum of two glasses. We'll see how that goes...

Tomorrow I am going to do a HIIT session and then legs and shoulders on Sunday.

Happy Friday!

-PP

[phabphour20]

Stuck at work... still. This is effin miserable. Was supposed to go to the gym and then to a party in the city. Scrap that.

I just ate a big salad with bacon, chicken and gorgonzola. It had been 23 hours since my last meal.

Tomorrow I will go lift.

-PP

[phabphour20]

When I got home from work last night (about 10 pm) I ate a bowl of my homemade chili. Love it. Then I went to bed. I stopped eating around 10:30.

This morning I woke up and had some green/white tea blend. Then I went to the gym around 12:45, so about 14 hours since my last meal. Back and biceps, went like this:

6-minute warmup on the elliptical

Deadlifts Bar x 5, 145 x 6, 6, 6, 6 (up from 135 last time, increase next time)
Assisted chins (wide-grip) 150 x 12, 140 x 8, 7, 7 (increase weight)
Seated cable rows 135 x 12, 165 x 7, 6, 5 (up from 150)
Bent over rows 90 x 8, 7, 7 (increase and up from 80)

Straight barbell curls 70 x 7, 6, 5 (higher reps than last time)
Preacher curls 50 x 8, 7, 7 (increase weight)
Hammer curls 35 x 16, 14, 14 (increase weight)

So nearly every exercise needs to be increased next time or was increased this time. Good progress. Felt very good after the workout. Energy was high.

I am going to eat lunch shortly, about an hour after I finished lifting, of some scrambled eggs and herbed chicken salad. Dinner will be some form of meat and a vegetable before we go to a birthday party tonight. I'll try to stick to red wine and just one glass or two.

Have a great day everyone.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Weight - 278 pounds (down 5 lbs)
Waist - 48.0 inches (down .25 inches)

Another nice week. Weight down pretty substantially and waist down a quarter of an inch. And this while my lifts have still been increasing. I like this plan of keto + IF + lift weights + occasional HIIT.

So Saturday night I had some tuna fish and cheese for dinner. Afterward my wife and I went to a party. I made myself DD and only had one glass of red wine. It is nice to be able to combine the improvement of my health with my safety and the safety of my wife.

Yesterday (Sunday), I woke up and had a weird pain in my foot and a bruise on the top of it. Didn't want to risk it, so I skipped the planned HIIT session yesterday. I iced my foot on and off. For lunch I had a decent sized salad with romaine, red onions, tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, chicken, gorgonzola and a little bit of bacon. Delicious. I took my fish oils and vitamin D of course.

In the mid-afternoon I had a snack of a cup of pistachios. Love pistachios.

Dinner was this tasty keto concoction that my wife and I created. It is a kind of play on sausage and peppers. We start with sauteing a big white onion in some butter and olive oil. Then I add in two large green peppers (cut into strips) and 3 cloves of garlic (minced). Saute all that for a couple of minutes and add in salt, pepper and a little crushed red pepper. Then I add in 3/4 of a pound of hot Italian sausage and 3/4 of a pound of sweet Italian sausage (removed from casings) and brown that up. Once the sausage is cooked, I add in the florets from 3 small crowns of broccoli. Toss them around for a minute and then add in half a cup of white wine. Cover and steam the broccoli for a few minutes, then uncover and let the wine/sauce reduce until the broccoli is cooked. Put into big bowls and cover with shredded mozzarella. Delicious and nutritious.

I also had two glasses of red wine with dinner last night and a square of 85% dark chocolate for dessert. I will rein things in a bit during the week, cutting out most of the cheese, nuts, wine, chocolate and vegetables (may have a sald for lunch one of these days if there is no meat available). I will try to keep it mostly meat and eggs. I have a nice big bone-in ribeye sitting in my fridge for tonight after my legs and shoulders workout.

I am fasting today until my workout. Hopefully I can get out of work at a decent time and get to the gym by 7 or so. That will be about 23 hours since my last meal.

Have a good day everyone.

-PP

[thesilent1]

looking good dude. you still having issues with the military press db thing?

I tend to have the dbs on my knees and lift up from on each side. Not sure if that makes sense at all! lol

[phabphour20]

looking good dude. you still having issues with the military press db thing?

I tend to have the dbs on my knees and lift up from on each side. Not sure if that makes sense at all! lol

They are going ok. Once I up the weight, I'll start having the problems. I am just going to go higher reps with the heaviest weight I can get into position until I am strong enough to lift a heavier weight. Seems silly to press a weight that I can't even get over my shoulders.

-PP

[phabphour20]

So yesterday I got stuck late at work and couldn't make the gym. It is ok because my foot is still hurting, so I iced it again.

I fasted for 23 hours yesterday and then ate a good sized bone-in ribeye. I pan fried it in a mix of butter and coconut oil. Glad I have gotten my taste for steak back.

Had some eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning. I will probably skip lunch and then try and workout on an empty stomach after work tonight. I shouldn't get stuck here again so I should be able to go do legs and shoulders. I am craving squats. They are killer.

Have a great day everyone.

-PP

[phabphour20]

I still just want to be healthy.

Fell off the wagon for a while... combination of factors...

Have been back since July. In early July, around my 28th birthday, I weighed in at 295. This was a good deal higher than the low I had gotten to back before my wedding (Sep 08), but still lower than my all-time (measured) high of 322.

This morning I was 268 again, giving me the confidence to come back and post on here. I have sort of drifted away from the bodybuilding aspect of this and am more into the health/longevity thing and general fitness. I still believe most keto principles are healthy (maybe excluding the planned carbup).

I haven't been exercising much during the time that I have gotten back to 268. My shoulder was pretty screwed up. I have just recently been back to the gym. The goals of my gym trips are mostly brief, intense sessions focusing on movements that are functional. I am focusing on pushups, pullups, dips and deadlifts. I sprint a bit, play basketball and might get into yoga... still hard for me at the moment.

My diet is mostly just real food. Meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, all from a local farm), vegetables, cheese and full fat yogurt, nuts, some seafood and the occasional fruit, mostly berries. I fast once in a while for 18-24 hours, usually at least once a week. My only supplements are vitamin D and fish oil. I think this is the most healthy and sustainable that my diet has ever been.

I am going to do this for the rest of my life. Sure, there will probably be times where I fall off again, but it is so easy to get back on since I know it is sustainable. Also, my wife has gotten more into the same plan which makes it a lot easier as well.

All the worry about calories, post-workout nutrition, carbups, etc, seem foreign to me know. And frankly, they seem like low-grade eating disorder issues. I don't have any problem with someone paying that level of attention to their diet, especially if they are true bodybuilders and compete, etc. It just isn't for me. I want a simple set of guidelines to follow that will lead me down a long path of health and well-being.

For me, it is basically this:

Eat real food (what I listed above)
Avoid grains and ALL sugar
Avoid refined vegetable oils and other processed monstrosities
Take fish oil (with my wife not eating fish I don't get it much either) and Vitamin D (since where I live in the Northeast US we can only get it from the sun about 4 months of the year).
Fast occasionally to allow your system to rest and recycle
Workout a few times a week, lift weights or do bodyweight exercises
Play sports for fun

That is really about it. Easy, sustainable and healthy. Everybody has to find what works for them, and for me, I think this is it. Hopefully I'll slowly continue to lose weight until I reach a level that I am comfortable with. I won't freak out if the scale is flat for a few weeks. I am in this for the rest of my life. If I pursue health, the rest will follow.

Cheers,

PP

[Victoria1990]

For me, it is basically this:

Eat real food (what I listed above)
Avoid grains and ALL sugar
Avoid refined vegetable oils and other processed monstrosities
Take fish oil (with my wife not eating fish I don't get it much either) and Vitamin D (since where I live in the Northeast US we can only get it from the sun about 4 months of the year).
Fast occasionally to allow your system to rest and recycle
Workout a few times a week, lift weights or do bodyweight exercises
Play sports for fun

I like your idea's, very similar to where I want to do.

Eh, everyone falls off the wagon, it`s not a failure. The only way you can fail is if you don't get back on.

I'll be following your progress!
Good Luck!

Vic

[phabphour20]

I like your idea's, very similar to where I want to do.

Eh, everyone falls off the wagon, it`s not a failure. The only way you can fail is if you don't get back on.

I'll be following your progress!
Good Luck!

Vic

Thanks for the support! Good luck to you too... you appear to be well on your way!

-PP

[phabphour20]

Happy Thursday. Just a quick update.

Meals for yesterday...

Breakfast: serving of F A G E Total Classic Greek yogurt, full fat. With a big handful of my own mixed nuts thrown in (almonds, walnuts, cashews and pistachio meats). Two fish oils and 2,000 IU of D3.

Lunch: Nothing

Dinner: Sauteed chicken breast marinated in lime juice and garlic. Topped with shredded cheese, sour cream and pico de gallo. Also had a side salad of baby spinach with two hard-boiled eggs, dressed with olive oil and a little red wine vinegar. 2 fish oils and 4,000 IU of D3.

After work, before dinner, I went to the gym (last meal was 9 hours before working out). 15 minute warmup of shooting hoops, aggressively chasing down all my bricks... in my Vibram Five Fingers. Also did a couple of quick sprints on the court. Then deadlifts. 4 sets of 6. Went light since I am just getting back into this... 135 lbs. Felt good. Sweating like a pig when I left.

I also had two cups of green tea during the day.

After dinner went for a half hour walk with the wife and the dog. Good for the mind AND the body AND the dog.

I was asleep by 10 and up at 6 this morning. Took the dog for another 25 minute walk and then came to work.

Stay healthy.

-PP

[phabphour20]

Happy Friday!

Here was yesterday in the life of PP --

6:00 am - 30 minute walk with the dog.

9:00 am - Breakfast: 3 eggs and 2 small sausage links, 2 fish oils, 2,000 IU D3

12:30 pm - Lunch: serving of F A G E Greek yogurt... full fat, with a big handful of mixed nuts, 2 fish oils, 2,000 IU D3

7:00 pm - Dinner: Delicious BBQ. Ribs (dry rubbed) and spicy smoked sauage with sides of collard greens and green beans. Delicious. Filling. Two fish oils again and 2,000 IU D3.

10 pm - Bed.


Today I am fasting until dinner and doing some exercise just before that. I'll be about 20 hours fasted when I workout... I think it will just be some basketball and some sprints. After that I'll eat dinner after approximately 22 hours or so of fasting. I think my wife is making roast pork tenderloin and kale with garlic and butter. Yum.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

-PP

Also, official weigh-in day is Monday... although I am not too worried about the scale these days. I am more interested in feeling and looking healthy. The scale is just a small part of that.

[gymratluke]

Glad to see ya back at it brother...hit me up if you need anything!

[phabphour20]

Glad to see ya back at it brother...hit me up if you need anything!

Thanks man. It's good to be back.

I got a baby coming along in June, so it might be now or never. That is overly dramatic, but it would be nice to make some serious headway before things get real crazy.

Hope all is well with you.

-PP

[phabphour20]

So, Friday I fasted until dinner. My allergies were acting up so I skipped the gym.

Dinner was a roasted marinated pork tenderloin with a side of kale and fresh garlic sauteed in pasture butter. So good.

After that things went a little haywire... a friend came over and we set to drinking. I had probably 5 Bacardi and Diet Cokes. I don't usually drink diet soda as it is mostly garbage, but I was tired and needed a drink that would help keep me up... not like the red wine I usually drink.

Long story short I woke up in a bad way yesterday morning. Yowzers. I often forget how bad hangovers can be when I drink a lot on a lower carb diet. This served as a good reminder.

Saturday I was nursing my hangover most of the day so I ate a lot of food. A LOT. All good stuff though, just generally too much of it. Full fat Greek yogurt with nuts (twice, I LOVE this stuff), scrambled eggs with cheese, 2 pears, natural salami and cheese for a snack, and then dinner was taco salad (seasoned ground beef, cheese, salsa, sour cream and guacamole in a big bowl). I also took my fish oils and Vitamin D and drank a few cups of green tea. Still feeling full this morning.

So today I am going to try and eat lighter today. One main meal. I am making my beanless AMAZING chili for football. Gym this morning. Bodyweight upper body exercises.

Have a great Sunday.

-PP

[brom32]

Hey man, could you post up your chili recipe? Ive been looking for a good low carb chili.

[phabphour20]

Hey man, could you post up your chili recipe? Ive been looking for a good low carb chili.

Sure... it is labor intensive though... and not THAT low carb (from tomatoes and onions). But I have been eating it almost every Sunday for a while and doing great. I have gotten nothing but raves.

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed

Brown these up in a big pot and then put the meat in a bowl on the side. Keep a good amount of the meat fat in the pot.

1 huge white onion, diced
2 medium green peppers, diced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (toss seeds, but keep white part)
4 cloves garlic, minced

Start cooking the onions in the meat fat and then after a few minutes add the peppers and the garlic. Cook everything until the peppers are fairly soft. Add in some butter if you think you need more fat in the pot (if you poured out most of the fat from the beef and sausage).

1 large can peeled tomatoes
2 regular sized cans stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup of red wine
3 squares of 85% dark chocolate (I use Lindt)? but basically this is a third of a bar of dark chocolate, adds some sweetness and some depth of flavor

Add the meat back into the pot with the veggies and then add in the above ingredients, using all the liquid from the tomatoes. Stir together and crush/break up the bigger tomatoes.

The spices to add, in order of quantity (I eyeball it, but use the most chili powder and ingredients at the top of the list, using less as you go down):

Chili powder (quite a bit)
Garlic powder
Cumin
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil
Cinnamon (just a tiny dash)

After you have added in the spices it should look and smell like chili. Simmer uncovered for at least two hours on low/medium-low. Eat when the flavors have all combined.

Enjoy! All the carbs in it are natural. I top with a huge dollop of sour cream and a bunch of shredded cheddar cheese.

-PP