Keto in Abundance

A DAY OF MARVELS

Early 1970s one summer on a narrow little street in Dutch seaside town Castricum the dark blue cobblestones lit up as bright as the perfect sun filled sky above. Making way fast as my small feet could carry me to a place of wonders, of heaven in Holland, bathing suit doubling as superhero costume, I felt the uneven hot street surface painfully penetrate my thin beach slippers but I ignored the discomfort because I had reached my destination: a family run Souvenir / Beach Toys / Comic Book store whose interior shade looked virtually black as I stepped inside, already locked on to the row of precious exciting literature farthest right in back.

I had left my vacationing family to their own devices and had gone exploring, out on the town by my lonesome, away from prying eyes that might notice how I spent almost all of my guilders on my preferred reading materials. These days I was in my Spiderman, humble unassuming Peter Parker phase. Devoured each new title as it came out. These were paper magazines that had a feel, an addictive smell of printing ink, the world as yet devoid of video games, X box/Nintendo, Game Worlds what have you, what my generation of kids so intensely was aware of and enjoyed was the style of drawing on the cover, that came first, conveying the superpowers of Marvel's heroes and heroines, and then the stories of unending contest with so many Super Villains. Who were the best? Spiderman of course, but up to age ten I was totally into Batman. I think Superman must at some point have been a favorite of every young and less young Comics reader. I didn't like Wonder Woman, maybe found her boobs drawn too big to my taste. Loved Supergirl, especially appreciated how she could keep up with the big guy in the sky, and was nearly (but not quite) as strong. The Flash was OK but somewhat inferior to his colleagues because he was a one trick pony. Daredevil appealed to me, much along Supergirl lines, because he was the underdog, blind guy fighting for Justice AND PERSONAL EMANCIPATION. Guy fought to be 'somebody'. We all want respect. Never cared much for the Hulk due to his powers being kind of out of control. I guess that as I grew up (this is a slow process, I'm 62 and I'm still not entirely grown up ) I became Supergirl, I identified with her the most. No cape though and rarely flying, with KLM only. At this point in time my place in the Marvel universe has become something like ahh.... Super Old Cat Lady. Not overly heroic but a happy animal nonetheless. Purrs a lot.

But there I am, streets of 1970s Castricum, happy as can be, holding tight to my prize, an awesome new Spiderman which I've begun reading as I walk. And all the time I am wearing this cheerful beach hat, white and red fabric on top, the rim made of transparent orange/red/yellow plastic turning the whole world reddish orange. Walking in the shimmering summer heat, nothing existed but Spiderman's adventures, and this once in a lifetime orange hue spoke to me, the world bathing in sunlight whispered its secrets, life itself in its eternal youth seemed to make a promise... of a day that never ends. Of course.. I did not listen, walking in the sun, reading my Comics, I was already there.

ENCOUNTERING KETO

This is my third, probably last, thread starter on the Keto subject, so if you have no idea what I'm talking about you might check out the two previous ones, GETTING FAT and Ketosis and 7 gaunt cows. Also, do tell if you too, as a young person, felt life seemed to promise you something, these are so called Quantum Moments when important stuff, about who or what you will be, destiny/life's purpose comes to you from uh... parts unknown. Using those big fonts is plain fun! And it's been a long time since my super teen years in sunny Dutch Castricum where life seemed to make its promise. Lately I have wondered if experiences like this are like accurate predictions, or pure bunk, or something entirely different. Looking back I had a full life, not at all boring, forever grateful I went to school in the UK, fell in love with that culture, made plenty of friends yet inevitably by now have begun losing loved ones, family members and a nr 1 guy. At the core of my being has been practicing the Martial Arts and both studying and teaching this transformative Way of Life has been my pride and joy. Witnessing some of my students make the switch from enduring to overcoming life's challenges has been like a SHARED quantum moment. When you get to help someone to make a change for the better you may take the experience with you forever. The most important part is the change for good in another because it will start to lead a life of its own, it's out of your hands, I think of it as 'fire and forget' goodness.

As a side note I should add that keeping busy and always curious, plus the genes from Mom and Dad, not leaving out God's abundant mercies (and a bit of luck) have allowed me to lead a fit and healthy life up until the COVID-19 pandemic. Several things caught up with me, as it did with human beings all over the planet these past years: I enjoyed a little too much of our family's traditional rich foods, including recipes from Indonesia, South America and The Netherlands itself, especially at festive get togethers. Worked hard, too hard. For icing on the cake I was stressed out over the pandemic threatening my fam and friends, over businesses and jobs disappearing, over skyrocketing bills and uncertain income. To make a long story short: suddenly my robust health seemed to have evaporated, I started gaining weight dramatically, feeling sick too, BP went way up, and during my last major check up my doc gave me the fire and brimstone treatment, turn your life around right now OR ELSE. (Mentioned were unpleasantries like impending heart attacks, stroke, diabetes what have you.)

To save my life, I listened. Took the advice to go 'low carb', and googling came across Dr Eric Berg's YouTube videos. My impression of this Doctor of Chiropractic and weight loss expert is that of a great communicator, his diet program is presented in a logical, easy to understand fashion, he has done extensive research in the fields of Nutrition and Exercise, and last but not least: when I tried it, IT WORKED! Blood pressure lowered within normal range, I lost 50 pounds without hunger or calorie counting. Still can't get over dieting hunger free! And now I'm tweaking down to an ideal Body Mass Index, a healthy weight. Dr Berg in one of his videos predicted that if you do KETO, his diet plan, right, a terrible thing will happen. You'll be forced to buy an entire new outfit. The good doctor's prediction was accurate. In the next few weeks I'm gonna hit the shops, spend money like obscene on items 2-3 sizes smaller.

For anyone who needs to lose weight and increase overall health, or is interested to learn more about KETO, I'll try to summarize as briefly as possible what this diet plan and life style comprises. Keto basically has three components, the Scientific Basis, Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet.

The Scientific Basis underpinning keto-type diet programs is called the Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis, an extensively tested and confirmed theory saying that a high amount, highly frequent intake of carbohydrates and/or sugar raises our bodies' insulin levels, making it harder to lose weight or more likely to gain it. Lowering carb intake leads to lowering insulin, making weight loss easier.

Intermittent Fasting works as follows. If you eat three meals a day, start by cutting out all snacks in between meals. Otherwise eat what you normally eat. The next day move breakfast to one hour later. Next day move breakfast another hour later. And so on, until breakfast is right before lunch and then you combine both mealtimes in a single brunch. Next day move brunch an hour later into the afternoon. Next day brunch moves another hour closer to dinner until the two meals almost coincide, then make it into one big dinner. This practice is called One Meal A Day, or OMAD. This creates a short eating window around dinner time, while leaving a large fasting window of around 20 hours. A daily 12-20 fasting hours is found to lower insulin levels and make losing weight easier.

The Ketogenic Diet popularly known as KETO consists of a method of nutrition that by lowering carbohydrate and sugar intake aims to lower insulin levels, which in turn helps participants lose weight. It takes it name from Ketones, an emergency fuel and signalling molecule our bodies make when carbohydrates are absent and/or we starve. Ketones assist in switching our metabolism, the system of energy conversion, from running on sugar/carbohydrates, to burning our own body fat. Because human bodies store vast amounts of fat, compared to limited stores of sugar, burning ones body fat provides energy for much longer than sugar, making it possible to both lose weight and do so without hunger.

When you feel you need to lose weight quickly, never overdo it, BE SAFE and go slow 'step by step' regardless! Always cue in your doctor if you have a pre-existing medical condition. I'll give you a bare bones version of recommended foods. (There's a culinary version of KETO that recreates your most cherished dishes following the traditional recipe substituting only carbohydrates/sugar with alternative ingredients.) Keto's main staple is about 10 cups of vegetables, especially fresh arugula, radish, avocado, add Extra Virgin Olive Oil/'Grass-Fed' Butter fried whole garlic cloves, onions,various peppers to taste, Bok Choi, cooked Brussels Sprouts, Sauerkraut, Cauliflower, Kale, plus favorite fresh and dried herbs. Select or combine according to taste, as long as you make it a plate big enough to feed an extended family of giant ravenous rabbits. Not everybody can handle / digest such large vegetable portions, so reduce those veggie portions experimentally until you can. For proteins have a hand palm sized portion fatty fish (Salmon, wild caught) or fatty 'Grass-Fed & Finished' Beef, actually it need not be Steak, a Hamburger will do fine, as long as it's not lean. Fry in 'Grass-Fed'-Butter. Sorry, you've got to ditch the alcohol and sodas. They wreak havoc on insulin levels. You'll be drinking an elixir of the gods like my favorite spring water (any brand will do) San Pellegrino with a squeeze of fresh organic lemon. Used as medical intervention KETO does restrict, cuts out much loved choices like fizzy drinks, personally I would grieve if never to taste purrfect Palo Alto wines again. Similarly, soooo satisfying Rice, Pasta, Potatoes, Bread, temporarily even most Fruits, none of these work well in KETO because they increase insulin levels.

QUANTUM MOMENT

In traditional Zen Buddhism its master teachers are said to have suddenly struck aspiring students over the head with a stick, quick read their faces like, to see if they were cut out for the full curriculum of prolonged, repetitive, even grueling 'sitting', Zen meditation practice. Or perhaps they were just checking if you were paying attention. Right Now.

About a 1/2 year ago I had a moment with my IM specialist who had pored through my test results, consulting even with learned colleagues and judging by their grim demeanor the news was not good. The dire warnings of a significantly increased risk of Stroke, Heart Disease and Diabetes hit me like that Zen master's stick. I felt shocked, confounded and dismayed yet deep down, well... I already knew. You see, I have spent most of my life dedicated, often teetering at the extreme edge of performance, to be as fit as possible. As a result, feeling physically fit and robust was what I have ever known. Weeks, perhaps even a little bit longer, before walking into my doctor's office my sense of well being had changed. Overworked, over stressed and overweight my body, my life, the universe whispered to me a different message. The years literally seemed to weigh on me, youth disappearing in the distant past, I felt old. I am just a mortal human being like everybody else, I will grow old, getting more and more sick and weak and demented and supportive of diaper manufacturers and then.. I will die.

I have lived my life the best I could, served my employers well and from the heart, have experienced loving and being loved (this imo is as important to the soul as breathing is to the body), finally I feel comforted by belonging to a family with 4 living generations spread across 3 continents. And I found a Friend in God. Faith is very personal and the strangest, even craziest thing to those who observe reality from a more Atheist perspective. I get it. God bless'ya forit. Maybe it is simply nice to be able to pray to One who always listens, is always on your side and when that BIG DAY comes and you transition from here to the next place, your best Buddy you've been talking with all the time happens to be totally at home in all the worlds, of the living and of those who died. You'll be OK.

This here cat lady has imposed on your patience long enough. Right now, at this very moment I am not dying. Instead I'm in the best shape of my life. Thanks to my regular doctor, who intervened striking just the right tone, so I would listen and change from a fatal course. Doctor Berg is my superhero too, with the superpower of being able to ...shrink...  overweight people across vast distances. KETO is being studied and spread globally by more and more of its enthusiastic advocates, numbering many medical professionals, but when I was looking for a knowledge source this man was there, and Dr Berg's methods worked. Simple. Not to forget my Mom, of Evangelical persuasion, who prayed to God that he would SOMEHOW stop me from working myself to death. It would seem the Good Lord carries the biggest stick of all. Just now I purchased a training device called the Bulgarian Bag and I've begun training the basics with it. In a couple of weeks I will start a training program that will culminate in high intensity training or HIIT, where you continuously sling this heavy bag, curiously resembling a dead sheep, in various ways around your body to the point of utter exhaustion/muscle failure, interspersed with minutes of rest and recovery.

Today I'm alive, and seem to be doing fine.

purr