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  • Another blip, but still good progress

    Ken

    ·

    I was busy over the weekend and neglected to post about my weigh-in. Being very honest, mainly because my weight had gone up since my mid-week weigh-in, effectively erasing this week’s weight loss almost entirely.

    I was back to 17 St 5 / 243lbs (110.5kg), just 0.1lb lighter than my previous week’s weigh-in.

    There are various possible explanations for this. One is that I’d reduced my exercise – not deliberately, as you may recall, just over a week ago, my treadmill broke during my run workout, so not only was I unable to finish that run, I skipped the next two run sessions. The weather here in the UK hasn’t been great and running in the rain isn’t one of my favourite things.

    Fortunately, we had a break in the weather, so I was able to get out for a run on Saturday, my first outdoor run in a long time. It is always disheartening to switch from the treadmill to outdoors as your fitness appears to take a massive drop. Where I’d built up to 5 mins running, 1 min walking on the treadmill, outdoors, I had to drop down to a measly 2 mins running, 1 min walking.

    Rationally, I understand that this is because running outdoors – especially trail running, which is what I normally do – is much harder than treadmill running. But it’s still a bitter pill to swallow.

    Anyway, my run went fine for what it was. I also got some exercise on Sunday of a different kind, but we won’t go into that here. 😈

    And at the same time, I had actually increased my swimming volume this week. Knowing I’d be cutting back my running, I made sure I swam three times this week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.

    I also mentioned that I had been focusing on bilateral breathing – breathing on every third stroke, symmetrically – ie breathe to the right, on the tail end of the right hand stroke, then left, right, left and breathe to the left on the tail end of the left hand stroke. Previously, while I had been alternating sides, it would be every few strokes. So breathe to the right, then stroke left, breathe right again, stroke left, right, left, and breathe to the left.

    By switching to fully bilateral breathing, you effectively place more demand on your cardiovascular system, effectively reducing the amount of oxygen you’re taking in while doing the same amount of work.

    Not only did I increase the number of swims and add bilateral breathing, but I’d also been building up my laps as I mentioned previously, having gone from 1km to 1.25km.

    And finally, I had also been reducing my rest periods and increasing my sets – instead of 4*250m I was doing 2*500m + 1*250m to make up the 1.25km.

    All of this increased swim volume, reduced rest definitely hit my shoulders pretty hard last Monday, so for my Wednesday swim I backed down to 4*250m but was able to return to 2*500m + 1*250m on Friday.

    So to be honest, when I weighed in on Saturday after my second 36hr swim that week, I was genuinely expecting to see a significant weight loss.

    As I mentioned before when talking about these blips, there are various reasons for them – the body has a tendency to plateau and try to hold onto either water or body fat during fasting.

    Another possible reason is an increase in snacking. It’s frustrating as I know I’ve been eating diabetic friendly, but I had gotten into the habit of snacking on bits of cheese with a dab of dijon mustard, and also bought some very diabetic friendly pork scratchings, which were moreish. I also had cooked up some chicken breasts in the air fryer and had them in the fridge to snack on.

    Anyway, whatever the reason, the end result is the same. I didn’t really lose weight over the course of this week.

    This is one of the challenges of trying to lose weight while exercising. Of course, the exercise is going to put additional stress on your body and need both fuelling and repairing, leading to increased feelings of hunger. Much as some proponents of both fasting and keto might try and convince you otherwise, a calorie deficit is completely essential to weight loss. Even if you are eating “healthy” (from a diabetic/keto perspective), if you aren’t in a calorie deficit, then you aren’t going to lose weight.

    But what does this do to my weight loss average, which I need to keep to over 2.56lbs to hit my target? It’s now gone down from 3.7lbs per week on average to 3.0lbs. Still significantly over my 2.56lbs target.

    An average of 3lbs per week is still incredible and represents great progress. My early rapid weight loss has definitely acted as a buffer, giving me some leeway, although now the buffer is shrinking, something I do need to be aware of.

    I’m currently 21 hrs 45 mins into my first 36hr fast of this week, and have just come back from my first swim this week. I did a “leisurely” 1km swim only, to rest my shoulders a bit, and tomorrow I’ll go for another outdoor run.

    I will also be weighing in tomorrow, and am keen to see how that looks. If I haven’t bounced back from this blip and lost a decent amount of weight since Saturday, then I will switch from 2*36hr fasts to 3*36hr fasts, which should significantly reduce my weekly calories and get my body back into a deficit.

    More tomorrow.

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  • A personal political digression – the USA – a wake up call for us all

    Ken

    ·

    I restarted this blog in December because I had a health scare while on a business trip to the USA. It wasn’t dramatic enough to make headlines, but it was dramatic enough to serve as a wake-up call for me and my unhealthy lifestyle choices. I was forced to be brutally honest with myself and reconsider my lifestyle choices.

    I had hemmed and hawed about this trip to the States – given the increasing instability at that time, I knew there were risks. But I went anyway – out of loyalty to my team, and a sense of duty. My manager had fought long and hard to get our globally distributed team in the same room. I hadn’t even met two of them in person before. At the same time, I hadn’t complained earlier in the year when a business trip to Miami afforded me the opportunity to visit DisneyWorld in Orlando for the first time, so I felt obliged.

    At the end of that week we talked about the next time we’d all meet, hopefully in 2026, maybe another team meeting in the US, or at our regular annual US sales conference.

    That was before the current regime accelerated its apparent plan to destroy the US entirely.

    Now, literally just a few weeks later, I can say with absolute certainty: I will not be travelling to the United States in 2026 or the foreseeable future. Not for work. Not for a conference. Not even for to visit the new Universal Epic Universe park in Florida! Wild horses couold not drag me over the pond.

    Because the country I visited in December is not the country I’m watching now.

    The escalation of violence, the political instability, and the fraying rule of law are no longer abstract. Watching events unfold from across the Atlantic is like watching a car wreck—everything appears to be happening in slow motion, while in reality, it is moving way too fast.

    Innocent civilians are being shot in the streets and dragged from their homes. Meanwhile, their ‘glorious leader’ stumbles from one diplomatic crisis to another—starting wars over oil and threatening global stability with nonsensical sabre-rattling over Greenland.

    There is now increasing evidence that Trump is not just a convicted felon, but is a pedophile protector – or worse, an active participant in the most diabolical child-trafficking ring in history. Potentially even an accessory to infanticide. It also seems increasingly likely that he is a Russian “asset”, turned by threats to release the truth about his crimes. The administration’s continued efforts to repress the Epstein files point strongly toward a desperate cover-up.

    Unless the current leadership is removed from power—whether through constitutional, medical, or psychiatric means—I’m not setting foot in the U.S. again. I’m not risking my safety for a country that is sliding into chaos and determined to drag the rest of us down with it.

    It’s not just a rogue administration at fault; Americans en masse must take responsibility. Trump did not gain power purely by brainwashing millions of ignorant citizens; he weaponized a cultural divide that has been festering for decades. This wasn’t a MAGA landslide; it was a victory fueled by voter apathy – with one-third of the electorate failing to get to the polls to prevent this. Even those who voted against him need to ask themselves: ‘Did I do enough?’

    This isn’t hyperbole or melodrama. This is the same blunt honesty that’s driven my weight‑loss journey: look at the data, look at the patterns, look at the reality in front of you, and stop pretending things are fine when they clearly aren’t.

    For any reading this who feels even slightly offended by the content of this post, remember that offense can only ever be taken, never given. And if you feel personally affronted, then I positively encourage you to unfollow and crawl back into the hole you came from. Trump’s butthole! 😂🤣😂

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  • 36hrs fasted, and 2lbs lighter! 💪🏻⚖️

    Ken

    ·

    Just completed another 36hr fast, and I decided to go for another cheeky mid-week post-fast weigh-in – despite last time giving me a blip of temporary weight gain that I wasn’t expecting. But this time around it was all good news, and I’ve lost another 2lbs in just the last three days.

    My new weight is now 17 st 3.1, or 241.1lbs (109.6kg) if you prefer. Not far from getting under 17 stone and into 16 stone territory.

    That’s a total of 16.8lbs lost, which is over 6.5% of my starting body weight.

    It’s great progress and feels really good to see the scales changing not just weekly, but every few days.

    That’s my fourth 36hr fast now, averaging two per week (236hrs), and I’m feeling very comfortable with them. I definitely could push for more fasting, but there’s no need when I’m seeing such great results. I know that as I lose more weight, the amount I drop each week will begin to slow, so then I can look at some of the more aggressive fasting protocols – like 3*36hrs, 2MAW (two meals a week), or longer individual fasts like 48hrs, 72hrs or even more – but only if and when I need to.

    When I was fasting previously, I had to get more aggressive over time, but back then I wasn’t exercising and was still stuck in an “I can eat (almost) whatever I want and lose weight” way of thinking. Whereas now I’m exercising 5-6 days a week, and eating clean – sticking basically to DASH-style principles with elements of ketogenic and primal diet models.

    That sounds complicated, but it basically means I eat quality protein and lots of vegetables, with only a few exceptions like my smoothie-granola mix, which is 0% fat Greek yogurt blended with berries, avocado, and whey isolate protein powder. I serve this over a keto granola for crunch.

    I occasionally allow myself home-cooked popcorn (sweetened just with melted butter, dark chocolate and a sucralose based sweetener), and “diabetic friendly” tacos.

    Breakfast today was a salmon steak and king prawns with three fried eggs, served with asparagus, samphire, and mushrooms, all lightly fried in butter. So yummy I really don’t feel like I’m dieting at all! 🍴🤤

    “But isn’t that expensive?” I hear you cry! Not when I’m fasting 72 hours per week! That basically means I’m cutting out six meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner on two separate days. So I’m reducing my food shopping bill by almost a third. That means I can afford to make sure I’m eating high-quality protein.

    I’ll probably have a smoothie later, and then for dinner I’m having bunless turkey burgers with more veggies. 😋

    I’ll weigh in again at the weekend after my next fast, and if I stay on track I should be another 2-3lbs down. Breaking into the “16 stone zone” would be a great milestone, but I’m not chasing it. I’m just sticking to the plan, doing the work, and letting the results take care of themselves.

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  • Swimming vs running

    Ken

    ·

    As I reported recently, I had a definite breakthrough in my pool swimming last time, comfortably extending from my usual 1km swim to 1.25km, an extra 10 lengths over my usual 40 lengths of the pool.

    At the same time I had been bilateral breathing – breathing to alternate sides, only every third stroke, which makes for a more hydrodynamic shape in the water, but obviously requires a little more fitness as you are effectively swimming on less oxygen overall compared to breathing every second stroke.

    This time out I decided to see if I could match the distance, retain my bilateral breathing, but instead of five sets of 10 lengths of the pool (5*250m) I did three sets – 2*500m, then 1*250m.

    I managed this with no real problem, and as you can see below this made more than 12 minutes difference to my overall time, as there was significantly less resting involved between sets.

    It didn’t change my pace, which remained constant, but it still represents a clear improvement in stamina.

    Running break

    Meanwhile, yesterday, my treadmill run did not go so well.

    Having made a clear breakthrough in swim stamina, I had decided to increase my treadmill run routine from 4 mins running, 1 min walking to 5 mins running 1 min walking. This was going absolutely fine through the first two sets of 5 mins, but then as I was just getting into the third set, quite out of the blue there was a loud crack and the treadmill platform seemed to just break!

    It felt like it was mostly on one side, so I’m not sure if the base split or just fell away from the frame, but either way, it was instantly both unsafe and unusable. I was very lucky that the rotating band didn’t stop suddenly or I’d have been thrown off and possibly injured. As it was, I was able to step off safely, but obviously that was the end of my run.

    I’ve only had that treadmill for two years, and it really hasn’t been used that heavily. Since I record all of my runs on my Garmin app as I do with my swims, I could see exactly how many times I’d run on it and it was just over 70! My runs are typically around 20 mins, with 10 mins warm up / cool down.

    I have also used it a number of times walking, sometimes while I’m on business calls, and I don’t bother to track these – but I’d be shocked if it was more than another 70 times, never more than 20-30 mins. That’s still only 140-150 uses over two years.

    Of course, these things do have a weight limit, and I deliberately hunted out one of the highest – this one is rated at 265lbs – which is one of the reasons was so expensive, just shy of £400 – and I have never exceeded 200lbs in the last two years, usually my weight has been between 240-255lbs.

    While it’s obviously out of the standard “one year warranty” UK consumer law states that an item must be “fit for purpose”, and “as advertised”, and for a treadmill that would certainly mean more regular use than I have put it through. Clearly they were being optimistic with its weight rating!

    I bought it through Amazon and raised this last night after the event, and they have referred it to their “specialist” team as it’s out of warranty. Hopefully, they can resolve it soon – given the cost it’s not something I could readily replace.

    I can obviously still take walks outside, and even potentially run, but with the UK’s dire wintry weather, it’s far from ideal. Fingers crossed they’ll resolve it soon. Meanwhile, at least I have swimming to fall back on!

    It’s just incredibly frustrating as I’d painstakingly built my fitness back up and was ready to increase my running time, so I’m just hoping Amazon can offer a replacement quickly before I start to lose my run fitness.

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  • Diabetic Taco Saturday!🌮😋

    Ken

    ·

    As I’ve been doing so well with my weight loss I decided to treat myself with tacos this evening, but I found a way to keep them completely diabetic friendly, and I have to say I was very impressed with myself! They were utterly delicious.

    The taco shells were always going to be the “worst” part from a carb perspective. Or so I thought (more on that in a minute). While I generally prefer hard shell tacos, I know this is not traditionally Mexican (one of my best friends originates there and is constantly telling me so!), and the regular El Paso or generic hard shell wraps are quite high in carbs so I went for a soft wrap – BFree High Protein gluten free wraps from Tesco – which have just 3.5g carbs per wrap compared to 9-10g for hardshell tacos. But also add 11g protein which is a nice bonus.

    I have always hand made my own guacamole and salsa, which is even easier now I have a Ninja blender – just avocado, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, chilli, lime juice and salt.

    Then I made my own nacho cheese sauce. I made something very similar recently with a generic cheese sauce for a bunless burger, but immediately saw the application for nacho cheese! I’ll include my recipe later if you’re interested in trying it. As I say, I’ve used it both as a “burger sauce” and with tacos.

    I cooked the turkey mince as I would normally – brown in a pan with a little oil, but I had found these Mexican style veggies in the freezer section at Tesco so I mixed these in once the meat was cooked.

    I didn’t realise until right now that the veggies do have 11g carbs per 100g, so will have to think about it before buying them again! But they were quite yummy, and if that’s the worst part of this dish then it’s really not so bad as an occasional treat. They have a mix of red onion, red kidney beans, tomato, sweetcorn and peppers, with seasoning and lemon zest.

    Anyway, the end result was fab.

    I haven’t had Tacos in a few months and miss them – it’s one of my favourites. It’s not particularly difficult to make, just a little time-consuming, as you’re preparing four or five separate things and need to get the order right.

    Preparation of low carb tacos

    1. Prepare salsa – just throw red onions, tomatoes, tomato puree, lime juice, garlic and a pinch of salt into a food processor – you can keep it chunky or go as smooth as you like. You can also add some jalapenos if you prefer it with some kick. Taste and add more lime/salt as needed. When you empty the salsa, leave about 1/5 behind in the food processor – this is the base for your guac.
    2. Guac – Add avocadoes – up to you how many avos, depends how many you’re serving! Blend, then to your preferred consistency and taste again. If you feel your guac needs more of anything lime, salt, garlic or jalapenos then add some more til it tastes right.
    3. Mince – brown with a little oil (needs very little for beef mince, more if you use 2% fat turkey mince like I do. Then add taco seasoning and about 100ml water per 250g of meat. Cook over a medium heat til the water reduces down – you don’t want wet tacos.
    4. As soon as you add the water and have your meat simmering, start on the nacho cheese sauce. Put a knob of butter in a small frying pan, once melted add about 30-40ml milk and lower heat to medium til very lightly simmering. Mix another 30-40ml milk with 2tsp cornflour to make a smooth paste.
      Add the paste.
      This next step is critical – remove the cooked butter / milk from the heat and then andd 60ml Greek yogurt and your grated cheese – whatever cheese you prefer. As much as you prefer. I don’t really measure, just grab a chunk and grate! Obviously for a nacho cheese I used a mexican themed cheese with chilli. Combine fully off the heat, and only then put it back on the hob but over a very low heat until the cheese is melted and you have a smooth consistency. If you over-heat then the yogurt will split.
    5. Final step – heat the wraps in the microwave for 30 seconds and then serve. There’s no right way or wrong way but I find that coating the wrap in salsa, guac and nacho cheese first and then adding the meat on top is the best approach.
      Remember to fold the rear of the wrap, don’t just roll it and leave it open like a tube! If the rear isn’t folded properly, then the juices will just pour out the back of the tube as you bite the front of the taco!

    Note that these wraps are a little thin, and prone to splitting, so make sure you have kitchen roll/paper towels to hand for cleanup! But a little bit of mess is all part of the taco experience! Enjoy!

    This demonstrates that there is a completely delicious and diabetic-friendly way to enjoy tacos! I still have plenty of guac, salsa, and nacho cheese left, so I will make up some more tomorrow night as I’d still have lots of the turkey mince left over. Obviously, the prep time will be much lower – just steps 4 and 5!

    Here’s the end result mid-loading my first taco!

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  • One of those weird blips

    Ken

    ·

    I finished another 36‑hour fast this morning, which coincided with my weigh‑in day (Saturday). I was very briefly disappointed to see that I had put on 1.7 lbs since my mid‑week weigh‑in on Tuesday. Disaster, I hear you say? Nah. ⚖️

    I’m used to these kinds of weird blips in weight from one weigh‑in to the next. The body is a weird and wonderful thing and never responds in a predictable, linear fashion. Muscle mass fluctuates as well as body fat, and water retention also has a large part to play—especially when fasting.

    There are also blips caused by “refeeding” after a fast. After my last weigh‑in, my partner was visiting, and I definitely ate a little more than usual. She’s a bit of a popcorn addict, so I joined her for popcorn on both Wednesday and Thursday. But of course, popcorn is a very lightweight snack—we cook our own from kernels in coconut oil and a little butter. My partner prefers salted popcorn 🤮 while I still prefer sweet, but I’ve switched from sugary sweeteners (usually maple syrup) to melted dark chocolate in butter, with a couple of drops of chocolate‑flavoured sucralose sweetener—so all very keto‑friendly. Less sweet, but still yummy.

    I also joined her in having a home‑cooked burger for dinner. Shock, horror! 😱

    My burgers are generally pretty healthy. This week I bought us Wagyu beef burgers, which I air‑fried and served with fried red onions and a cheese slice on a brioche bun. The bun is probably the least healthy thing I’ve eaten since New Year’s Eve, but it was literally just one bun! And there were no accompaniments—no French fries/chips etc. Just a burger. 🍔

    And anyway, as I said, my last weigh‑in was a mid‑week one and so really doesn’t count. If I look at the actual weekly weight loss, it’s still 3 lbs. Three pounds a week is not bad at all in anyone’s books. Especially not when my goal for average weekly weight loss is 66.6 lbs ÷ 26 weeks ≈ 2.56 lbs per week. So any weight loss above 2.56 lbs is still a stonking great result and worthy of celebration! If I hadn’t weighed in mid‑week, I’d have been none the wiser—which is one of the reasons why weighing too often is generally considered a bad idea! 😁

    Last few weeks weigh-in results

    The other reason I’m not remotely concerned about the appearance of an increase in weight is ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose, and it’s a result of either fasting or a ketogenic (very low‑carb) diet—or both.

    In my case, I’ve been doing both. And I knew I was in ketosis most of this week—well, to put it bluntly, because of my pee. 💦 One of the known markers of ketosis is that it can cause a very particular urine odour due to ketones—specifically acetone—in bodily fluids. It’s not entirely dissimilar to the odour you might detect in your pee after eating asparagus, but it is still quite distinct.

    I noticed this smell repeatedly throughout the week and even commented on it to my partner when she was visiting. And no, there was no asparagus at all! 😆

    This is one of the strongest, most pronounced ketosis smells I’ve ever experienced, despite doing both ketogenic diets and intermittent fasting before, and it’s always a very good sign. Switching to fat‑burning is ultimately my goal, and I know I haven’t eaten enough carbs to switch me back to glucose‑burning—even with popcorn and a brioche bun—precisely because of this smell.

    So anyway, this week’s weight loss brings me down to 17 st 5.1 lbs, or 243.1 lbs (110.5 kg), which represents a cumulative weight loss of 14.6 lbs (6.6 kg)—that’s just over one stone in old UK measurements—in almost exactly one month since I started this new lifestyle in earnest.

    And I have to remind myself that in that period I had four separate Christmas dinners, including alcohol and desserts, and at least one cinema outing that included a hot dog, fried chicken, and popcorn (Avatar 3 is a very long movie; I would have died otherwise! 😜), as well as a New Year’s Eve celebration of cider, bread and cheese, and chips and dips.

    So—I shall very proudly celebrate this win: 3 lbs closer to my target, and rapidly approaching the 16‑stone mark and another milestone, getting under 240 lbs!

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