Another good day energy-wise. I was doing some research about fasting last night, and came across a good podcast with Dr Rhonda Patrick talking about studies of intermittent fasting in mice. It’s an old episode of Joe Rogan that I’d listened to some time ago, but it was good to get some renewed perspective. In it she talked about how eating or drinking anything (including black coffee, vitamins) can break your liver out of its fast and start producing enzymes. In the studies, they found that with fasting windows of just 12 hours, fasting mice gained significant muscle mass, without any exercise. I did some more poking around, and the jury is out on coffee and multi-vitamins, but I thought I’d just optimise my routine and play it safe.
So… I’ve cut out the morning coffee and vitamins, and replaced them with an after-lunch bullet-proof coffee (butter and coconut oil – I know, it’s not strictly carnivore, but it’s great for energy in a ketogenic diet). Energy was fine this morning without the coffee, and in fact I had a nap after lunch and forgot to have my planned coffee anyway! That works just fine for me – so long as Kora is happy to sleep for a long period like she did today!
Meal One:
– 200g beef mince
– 1 middle bacon rasher
– 50g minced liver
– 1 egg
– 1 beef sausage
– 1 porterhouse steak
Meal Two:
– 1 porterhouse steak
– 1 beef sausage
– 200g pulled lamb
– 150g minced chicken
Weight: 89.1
Body Fat: 23.7
Starting to really enjoy rump steak now. It’s tougher for sure, but the flavour (especially when doused with a good slather of butter) is delicious. Because it’s from a rough ol’ muscle cow’s arse, it takes more cooking to loosen up those connecting tissues and make it a bit more tender. Usually I’d marinate it in yoghurt or kiwifruit to tenderise it chemically, but that’s a no-no on ths diet so I’ve had to find other strategies. In general, I cook it a bit longer, and let it sit a little longer on each side before turning it. I’ve also been experimenting with cooking it straight from the fridge and not allowing the centre to get to room temperature before cooking. This allows me to cook the bejesus out of it, crust up the outside nicely, while still maintaining a bit of pink in the middle. I’ll also stand it up on its side (fat side down) for a good 3-4 minutes to render the side strip of fat before resting it. It’s working well, and I’m starting to really enjoy it. Lucky that – I’ve got lots of it to eat still!
On an interesting side note, water has started to taste really sweet – straight from the tap (Melbourne’s water supply is some of the best in the world, so filtering water isn’t required here). I think it’s the contrast to the salty and fatty meat, and the lack of sugar elsewhere. It’s making me super sensitive to any sweetness going around – even the odd flower in the street will trigger my whole olfactory senses. I guess it’s my body craving simple energy sources. I can’t say I’m tempted at all to be honest. Cooked the girls a massive pot of pasta tonight, and don’t have any trouble with cravings. I can’t say I’m looking forward to another meaty meal at any time during the day, but I’m also not sitting around thinking about what I’m not eating all day either.