Over the past several months I’ve been asked nearly every day by friends, family, and coaching clients how life has worked for me while in nutritional ketosis, even though I’m just in my 10th week of NK currently.
Everyone who queries gets more or less the same quick story (maybe it’s not so quick), which includes a brief touch on the following main points.
My day typically starts at about 6 when I awaken naturally without setting an alarm; that’s about the time of late that the eastern sky lightens in our neck of the woods this time of year. We’ve also been working hard around our to camp to improve our approach to restful sleep, and typically I’ll have slept 8 hours +/- 30 minutes by that 6 AM start.
Almost every early morning I pour a big glass of cold-brewed coffee, with either a bit of cream or full-fat coconut milk to soften it just a tad, along with one scoop (10 gm protein) of collagen powder. Otherwise, for months now I’ve been implementing the WHEN principle when it comes to eating, not consuming anything else until When Hunger Ensues Naturally, very easily (and initially unintentionally) accomplishing another goal of ‘painless’ intermittent fasting.
I then work in my home office for several hours, typically stopping mid to late morning for a workout (fairly high intensity resistance 2-3 days per week, sprinting one day, and walking or hiking 5 to 6 days per week). It’s then back to the desk for another 1-2 hours of work until somewhere between 1 and 2 when I feel the first real urges of the day to eat.
Lunch for me, the first food intake of the day, is most often cold, leftover grilled or roasted chicken, pork, steak, occasionally a hamburger patty or a high quality salami; often a few olives or quick dill pickles are included, though I personally often don’t consume any more than just a handful (or less) carb grams at lunch. If the day’s planned menu is lean on fats, I might have a spoon of coconut butter or a fat bomb with lunch as well.
It’s then either back to the desk or out for errands, finishing up work and communication tasks, taking several stretch and quick walk intervals; the protein and fat rich lunch provides all the fuel I need to remain sharp and productive, with no post-workout or post-meal crash at all.
Given my wife’s work schedule (area manager for large national retail chain) we most often consume our largest meal of the day in the early evening – typically a grilled protein (steaks, pork chops, tenderloin, or pork shoulder, coldwater fish in the spring, summer and fall) with one of the many coleslaws or salads we enjoy (including several cauliflower and broccoli-based), or another grilled, roasted, or raw vegetable.
We then relax with a short walk, reading or writing (that novel is taking forever), or chase little bass with a fly rod on several local ponds, and are usually crashed in bed by 10, getting ready to get sleep well, and get another day started.
Leave a Reply