Keto Update Number Four: Getting Back On Track

Feeling thinner on departure day

We came home from our vacation to certain disasters challenges. We got home and dropped our luggage and immediately went on a (slow) walk to the health food store and vegetable stand to get fresh food. We got home and I started cooking dinner. I found a bunch of rotten produce in the fridge so started throwing things away and scrubbing out refrigerator drawers as I cooked.

It wasn't until we were about to sit down to eat that Calliope went to get ice for her water and we realized that the fridge and freezer were dead. No power for god knows how long. I suddenly realized why the refrigerator had smelled bad, and why there was so much rotting produce (which I had expected would survive our trip).

We sat down to eat and after a few minutes, Calliope suddenly felt nauseous and retired to the couch. I started scouring the neighborhood, looking for a place to stash the organic (aka not cheap) milk and cream I had just bought as poor Calliope started vomiting. Finally, I found a friend that was home and left things with her and dashed back home to comfort Calliope.

I sent a message to our landlord and put us to bed. But not before eating a bunch of trail mix. Waaaah. Not good for keto but I was emotionally spent and searching for comfort. It could have been worse. At least it was lots of nuts, which are good for keto (along with raisins and M&Ms which are obviously not good for keto).

The next morning I was mad at myself and tried to fast and.... ate more trail mix. Sigh.

I also cleaned out the freezer which was pretty disgusting. Luckily poor C was feeling better.

Unfortunately, I realized that whatever zapped the fridge and freezer also killed the microwave and put out a bunch of lights. Plus I had let our gas supply run down to zero -- it went down faster than I anticipated -- so I couldn't cook or run the dishwasher or even heat things in the microwave. Not to mention shower. Sigh.

So it was another rough day.

Luckily the refrigerator and freezer is now fixed. The microwave should hopefully be returned today. And supposedly a gas truck should FINALLY be showing up today. Fingers crossed. We showered two days ago at a friend's house but my hair is feeling disgusting right now. And I have a massage scheduled for later today because they were too pricey at the resort.

On the plus side, in addition to the refrigerator being repaired, I went 22 hours fasting yesterday. I'm on track to go about 25 hours today. When I woke up this morning, my ketones were finally high again. Tomorrow I plan to do two meals to boost my metabolism up -- continuing to eat only one meal a day can slow it down over the longer term (but keeping my eating window short allows for low insulin levels and higher growth hormone levels to repair cellular damage and lower insulin resistance). And then I am hoping to try to (?eventually) stretch to a 36 hour fast. Apparently they are ideal for healing insulin resistance which is associated (or causes) PCOS.

Since we got home I gained back about four pounds that I had lost but lost one again today. My ketones are finally back up above 2 today which feels like a huge success. I'm drinking tons of water with a little Ultima for electrolytes which helps with hunger. Yesterday I had a big steak with salad, grilled veg, and a portabello mushroom covered with some kind of gooey cheese. So good. Looking forward to a nice dinner out with a friend tonight -- first time without my kids in more than two weeks.

Looking forward to pushing through the challenges and reaching my goal which is ten pounds away. Fasting 57 hours after my stomach bug made me lose quickly so I'm hoping 36 hour fasts will help too, and quickly!

This is a little embarrassing to share but here's a photo of the old me and the newer me... First time I have ever asked someone to take a photo of me in a bathing suit!