Hey brothers and sister Steemians! Last week I started a journey to better health and wellness (see the horribly produced video here https://steemit.com/dtube/@downrighthustle/nlw4904e ...my bad!). To spare yourself from watching the video, my starting weight was 255 pounds/115.6 kilograms. As a part of this project, and for accountability purposes, I will be posting weekly weigh ins along this journey. It is really important to me that I keep doing this so I don’t get lazy and slack on my health goals PLUS I love the interaction so please comment.
I have really dug into some research and tried my best to find a method(s) to optimize my weight loss and still be healthy. What I discovered was Intermittent Fasting (IF) and the Ketogenic Diet (Keto). There have been many scholarly articles written on both that I have linked or referenced below.
I have tried other methods of losing weight before but combining these methods seems like something that I can sustain for the rest of my life. Obviously, once I get to a healthier weight level, these methods can be modified but the same concepts will be in place (fasting and eating fewer carbs).
I know that there are differing opinions about both of these lifestyles. Some would say that they are too extreme or even unhealthy. Others would even go so far to call them both dangerous. But based upon the things that I have seen (data, scholarly research, fitness forums) I think that this is the right way to go for me. That said, six months from now I could feel like a shit sandwich and totally change course.
For this week’s weigh in, I have lost 5.2 pounds/2.3 kilograms! This got me super excited at the possibility of reaching my goal weight of 199 pounds/90.2 kilograms. While I will say that the first week was NOT easy, I will say that as time passed it has gotten a lot more tolerable.
My plan is rather simple. I have an eating (or feasting) window from noon to 8:00 pm and I don’t eat during any other time of the day other than in that window. When I do eat within my feasting window, I eat foods that have low or no carbs. Basically my IF schedule looks something like this:
Image Credit: Pinterest/liftlearngrow.com
This method of Intermittent Fasting is called the 16:8 Fast (16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of feeding). There are other ways that one can participate in IF such as the 5:2 where one eats a very calorie restrictive diet for two nonconsecutive days during the week. There is also the Eat-Stop-Eat method. This basically means that you skip two meals, say lunch and dinner, and you don’t eat again until breakfast (or break fast…see what I did there) the next day. That process is done two times within the week as well.
Most people have heard of the keto diet, but I had no idea how much this can affect one’s brain. This diet has been used to treat epilepsy and there is research that suggest that the Ketogenic diet can improve outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). TBI is something near and dear to my heart as it has an impact on thousands of veterans who come back from battle with head injuries.
Keto has been somewhat of a struggle for me because I LOVE breads, cakes, and pasta. Who doesn’t right? I know that if I want to have a lasting change in my health and life, I have to restrict those right now. I want to be around for my wife, kids and someday maybe even grandkids.
For more information and scholarly research about the Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting, take a look below:
Keto Links:
Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury: Improving Acute and Subacute Health Outcomes in Military Personnel.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209323/
Inter-relationships among diet, obesity and hippocampal-dependent cognitive function. (Keto is effective against cogitative impairment)
Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet v. low-fat diet for long-term weight loss: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (Keto diet is more effective long-term than low-fat diet)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030645221300732X
The Beginner’s Guide to the Keto Diet
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-the-keto-diet-or-ketogenic-diet/
Intermittent Fasting Links:
Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. (IF helps you fight disease and live longer)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528630400261X
Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: Two potential diets for successful brain aging.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163706000523
Alternate day calorie restriction improves clinical findings and reduces markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in overweight adults with moderate asthma.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089158490600801X
The Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting.
https://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting
I am hopeful that the combination of IF and Keto will be beneficial to my health goals. Please feel free to leave a comment or DM me on Discord 
Please click the FOLLOW button to watch my transformation…or my utter failure (my bet is I will succeed).
Thanks!