Exercise - let's make it more effective

The old mantra for weightloss used to be 'Eat less, move around more!' It's a phrase anyone who has contemplated losing weight has probably come across at some time or another. It's also bullshit. I know, I tested that idea to destruction. It not only made me weaker and sicker but it had negligible effects on my weight/bodyfat. It was a frustrating experience. At one point I was walking 6 miles to work and back every day plus a 90 minute session in a gym 5 days a week for 6 months. All while eating low calorie food that would have met with approval from my GP and most nutritionists and the medical professions in general. But it didn't work. I felt like crap and didn't improve my phsical state at all...in some ways I was worse as this constant training led to little niggling persistant injuries. My sleep suffered too which hindered my body's ability to recover the daily traumas I was putting it through.It flat out didn't work.

So this time I'm going to Exercise smarter. Again I'm going to google research. My aim is to find the most effective exercises that can be done in the shortest amount of time and that will have the most impact. One simple fact that can't be escaped is that increased muscle mass leads to a rise in your body's BMR (Base Metabolic rate). This will make your body require more energy to function and maintain itself. This will help your body to increase it's consumption of your fat stores...which is nice.

I'll report back soon once I've done some more research but my initial studies suggest ditching the Cardio and going for short, sharp, high intensity training.

A few days in...initial impressions

Ok, it's been a couple of days of BP coffee in the morning followed by this optimised Paleo/Intermittant fasting eating plan, how's it been going?

Well to be honest, I don't know how long my body will take take to adapt to the changes fully but it's been ridiculously easy so far. The Bulletproof Coffee is a stroke of genius. I'd never been a big coffee drinker before...mainly because Nescafe tastes horrible. But I'm actually enjoying that coffee. The butter and coconut oil gives it a richness that's hard to be described but one cup leaves me full throughout the day. And the food I'm actually enjoying. Lamb chops are always delicious, The Sweet Potato Pie (see my recipe on a previous post) will make a nice treat now and again and I'm enjoying the vegetables (I must share my Bulletproof Guacamole recipe with you at some time, it's delicious.).

My supplements have arrived in the post this morning so I'll be taking them from today as well. I'll try and log any improvements I feel from them as well.

Quite frankly, this feels like the easiest dietary plan I've ever been on, everything tastes great (it helps that I'm a decent cook), the food going in is nutritious, I'm not feeling hungry throughout the day and I feel a bit more energetic, so all in all it's a decent start. I've no doubt there'll soon come a time where I miss something daft like toast but for now all systems are go!

Recipe - Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

I made this bulletproofed version of a British classic yesterday and it proved such a success it's even persuaded my Dad (who has type 2 diabetes) to make changes to his diet. It's a great dish at this time of year when the weather is getting colder and makes a far healthier version of comfort food.

This made enough to serve 6 people but you can scale down the amounts if you want to make a smaller one. I've used imperial measurements here for convenience.

Ingredients

2lb Ground (Minced to us Brits!) grassfed Lamb (you can substitute this with Beef if you wish to make the similarly delicious Cottage Pie but keep that meat grassfed)
6 average size sweet potatoes (This was mainly due to the size of the casserole dish, if your dish is a smaller circumference less Sweet Potatoes are needed for the top)
Half tablespoon of Tomato puree
Half Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
2 dried Bay Leaves
Rosemary
3/4 pint Lamb Stock
1 egg yolk
Tablespoon Butter

The main preparation is done in a slow cooker, you can do this in your casserole dish in the oven on a low heat if you don't have one.

Method

First up I put the Lamb in the slow cooker and place in the Tomato Puree & Worcestershire sauce in with it, give it a good stir and make sure it's well mixed. Add your Lamb Stock and Bay Leaves and leave it to cook in the slow cooker on the low setting.

I did this just after my morning BP coffee and let it slowly cook through the day. Just before you're ready for the final stage and the sweet potatoes are ready add some chopped rosemary (just a small amount, it's quite a strong herb) and season to taste with salt. Place this delicious filling in your casserole dish.

Now onto your sweet potatoes. You're going to make a mashed potato topping to go on top of that lambfilling. You could peel up your sweet potatoes and boil them until soft enough to mash or you could use this method which is easier and probably preserves more of the nutrients.

Put your sweetpotatoes on a baking tray and bake at 300°F (160°C or Gas Mark 2). Bake them until you can poke them with a knife and it easily slides out. With your sweet potatoes now baked remove the tray from the oven but keep it on at the same temperature for the final stage. Now scoop the baked potatoes out of their skins and into a bowl. Grab your favourite mashing implement (fork, traditional masher, ricer, mouli...it doesn't matter) and blitz those tasty buggers up. Now while that potato is still warm add in your butter and egg yolk mix until it's all evenly distributed. Add salt, taste it and some more if necessary.

Now for the final stage. You need to top that Lamb filling with your sweet potato mash. Now you can be as fancy  or rustic as you want, be it making fancy patterns from a piping bag or spreading the mash out and running a fork across the surface to create ridges, it up to you (I'm a ridge man myself). With this done all that's left is to place the dish back in the oven and let it cook until a slight crust has formed.

With that all done, serve it up alongside the vegetables of your choice. I did it with sprouts, blanched then baked on a gentle heat (don't overcook the...al dente is what you want. Then tossed with the finest grassfed butter and a little salt.


So there you are, if you're looking at a new way to include Sweet Potato in your diet or are hankering for an old classic to banish those winter blues give it a go.

Any feedback appreciated...and if you try it, let me know what you think.

Coming soon...Sweet Potato Lancashire Hotpot.

Intermittent Fasting - What is it and how will it change my life?

One of the key components of the Bulletproof diet plan I'm eating is intermittent fasting. I'm no scientist so I'll try and explain it in layman's terms.

This is not a starvation plan, while ultimately losing weight by starving yourself would work eventually, it would also wreck your health. On this plan I will not consume carbohydrates or protein from 8 in the evning until 3 the next afternoon (If that particular schedule doesn't suit you then choose a 5 hour window to fit your own schedule). What this will do is put your body into what is called Ketosis. Ketosis is a function of the human body that converts the body's own fat stores into energy to ensure the body will keep ticking over (You can see why this might appeal to people seeking to lose weight). You may have heard of Ketosis if you've read anything about the Atkins diet which was the first major eating plan to really focus on putting the body in a Ketogenic state. If you want to know if you're in ketosis you can pick up ketostix on places like Amazon or ebay and pee on them to indicate the levels of ketones in your urine. One advantage that you may discover if you regularly go into ketosis is that you have more energy. Fat may be difficult to burn than carbs but it is a much greater energy source...do any of you remember doing the experiment with the bunsen burner and the peanut in Science class? Don't eat peanuts though (prone to mouldy mycotoxins and full of omega 6 fats).

So how does this intermittent fasting plan work you ask? Well, by eating in that 5 hour window and with a low carb diet (don't bother counting grams of carbs, just stick to the green side of the chart on this page.) You're body's glycogen stores should have depleted enough to send you into ketosis. You probably won't notice much difference and best off all it will continue to do it's stuff as you sleep, converting your fat stores for energy as your body repairs itself overnight (And good quality sleep is vital, important as anything you may eat on this plan). The next morning you wake up and would typically now have breakfast (the name gives you a clue...break fast) and for 30 years I've been consuming Weetabix or Bran Flakes (Heart Healthy it says on the box, a more informed me now knows this is bullshit...die wheatbelly, die!) but not on this plan. You're going to do something that sounds ridiculous but will actually help you prolong that ketogenic state (and even make it easier later on for you to become ketogenic in the next fasting cycle) and will also satisfy any hunger cravings you may have.

Welcome to Bulletproof Coffee

My bulletproof coffee arrived this morning (see my previous blogpost for a link). You're probably wondering what the deal is with this coffee. As mentioned in my other post this is a low mycotoxin (free of harmful mould toxins that give you the jitters, make you feel crappy, etc) coffee which essentially serves as a fat delivery system. Brew your black coffee up, I'm using a cafetiere, but something like an Aeropress would work equally well (I'm sorry but Nescafe instant or Kenco Instant aren't really going to cut it...and forget caffeine free, caffeine is an outstanding performance enhancer). Now with your fesh coffee pressed and poured in your favourite mug (For me it's a 'Nerd Herd' mug from the TV show 'Chuck') you add your fat. Not cream or milk...this is going to get a little weird but trust me!!! Place about a tablespoon of that grassfed butter (preferrably unsalted) I was talking about in a previous post in the coffee, add a  tablespoon of coconut oil/MCT oil (For MCT oil try and get a pharmaceutical grade product). Blend it all together until the butter has completely melted and try it. Isn't that the richest, tasties cup of coffee you've ever had? For those who are not massive coffee fans you can add some things to flavour it, vanilla or dark chocolate are recommended (Try Lindt 90% dark chocolate, this can also be used as a snack on this diet which is good news for the chocoholics out there), not only will these taste great in BP coffee they also provide health benefits of their own.

This coffee is so rich and tasty it will fill you up throughout the day. At time of writing I had my cup 4 hours ago and am about 3 hours away from breaking the fast, not even slightly hungry. If you do find you get hungry (and you may  find this happen in the first couple of weeks then have another cup of BP coffee...or just have a tablespoon of butter. When you break you fast at 3 (or the time of your choosing) eat a meal which is as green as you can make it from that chart I linked to but don't sweat it if some of the things come from the amber list...I'm not judging! Do not have any more of the coffee (remember we want good sleep tonight!) but instead drink plenty of water, try drinking a glass an hour. Have a 2nd meal towards the end of that 5 hour window and then eat nothing more until you have your next morning's BP coffee. Repeat ad infinitum. Keep drinking water after you begin your new fast cycle though.

So there in a nutshell is how this eating plan is going to work...try it, you have nothing to lose but weight. And if you are trying it, give me some feedback on how you're getting on, this is a new experience for me too...let's motivate each other!

By the power of the internet.....

Ok, after some googling I have found some of the stuff I'm going to need so I'll provide some links here in case any of you decide you want to try this plan as well (This post is probably more use to people in the UK, though if you're in other countries you can see what I'm getting and find suppliers local to you...this should be especially easy in the US)

Grassfed Meat

I've found a great site that's been specifically set up to sell grass fed meat products. They seem to be used by a lot of professional sports outfits...including some of the top professional rugby teams in the UK (and the Cardiff Blues as well!:p). I'll report back on the quality of the meat, and will tell you what Bison steak tastes like. Click Athleat. I've also emailed the company to check that their products other than beef are grassfed. I'll post the reply here.

Supplements

Vitamins D3, K2 and Sea Iodine.
I've found an excellent 3 in 1 high quality supplement made by Life Extensions that will supply me with daily doses of Vitamins D3 (5000 IU), K2 (1000 mg MK-4, 100mg MK-7) and Iodine (1000 mg). You could buy all 3 seperately but Life Extensions produce very high quality supplements an produce their vitamins and minerals in usually the most optimal form. Here's the link. If you can find this supplement cheaper elsewhere or a similar quality from another brand at a lower price then please leave a comment with the link or email it to me (address on the right hand side of the page) and I'll update this post.

Vitamin A
The best sources of Vitamin A are organ meats from Grassfed Cattle and Lamb but for those who are a bit squeamish about eating them (or don't eat them regularly enough) then an excellent source is fermented Cod Liver Oil. Regular Cod Liver Oil is chemically processed and loses it's major nutrients, these are re-added sometimes but almost never in a form that is easily absorbed by your body. Fermented Cod Liver Oil is not only rich in Vitamin A but also Vitamin D (More D3! Considering I need around 13-14,000  IU's at my current bodyweight this will help greatly), Vitamin E, Vitamin K, quinones and CoQ enzymes. Pretty well packed. Throw away those junk Cod Liver Oil capsules, get the best one here. 120 Capsules should last you a while.

Magnesium
A very important supplement and most people are very deficient in it. Aim for 400mg a day. Best taken as Magnesium Citrate for absorption. One of these a day should get your levels up towards the required daily amount. Don't take too many, your backside will thank me for that advice, trust me!

Vitamin C
Probably the most common Vitamin supplement on the planet, find this one yourself locally for best price.


Other supplements I'm looking to source
I'm trying to find some other good quality supplements so if you know of one, share the knowledge. Specifically looking for L-glutathione, Selenium, Copper Vitamin B12 and folate (NB...Not Folic Acid!!!!).

These supplements I've listed should reduce inflamation in your body, boost your immune system and thyroid function, strengthen your bones and teeth , improve sleep and generally improve your wellbeing. I will of course keep you updated here on their effects to see if it's worth it.

Butter

Grassfed butter to be precise. I'm going to be consuming a lot of this for the forseeable future. The two major brands widespread throughout the UK are Kerrygold and Anchor. You may also have Yeo Valley Organic or Rachel's Organic butter in a store near you. But the problem is finding unsalted versions (Generally I like salted butter but not in my morning cup of BP coffee!). To solve this I've looked into sourcing Milk from grassfed dairies and making batches of my own butter to freeze. I've found this dairy that delivers nationally. Now not only does this contain all the grass fed goodness but it's also raw unpasteurised milk which means it still contains lots of good probiotic bacteria (much better than those stupid sugary probiotic drinks) which improves your gut health and can also alleviate many modern health conditions. It's more expensive than your typical pint of mik but if I do a bulk buy it can be frozen until required. The butter also freezes well.

Bulletproof Coffee

One of the most fundemental parts of this whole diet plan. Bulletproof Coffee is low in mycotoxins from mould (Who wants to drink mouldy coffee?), from a single estate at high altitude. Now the only drawback is the cost. I could order some from Dave Asprey in North America and get it shipped over here but it would end up costing ridiculous amounts so instead I looked for my own and I think this one seems to fit the bill and at a reasonable price. Also with every bag purchased they donate 20p to a local school project too, so you get a healthy karma boost. I'll report back on this coffee in my upcoming Bulletproof Coffee thread.

I'm already making the dietary changes, I'll add the supplements as and when they arrive and can't wait to start on the Bulletproof Coffee with intermittent fasting (I'll explain IF in my next post). Any questions or feedback, please leave a comment.

Plan of Attack - Let's do this!

Right, now I’ve made the decision that this weight is coming off and coming off for good I need to organise.

First up: Eating Food.

Like in Gremlins, there are rules that need to be followed :-

• My long love affair with bread is over
• Pasta too.
• More vegetables. They’re good, they’re nutrtious and you can consume large amounts of them without worrying about weight gain
• Potatoes…you’re gone too…apart from occasional Sweet Potatoes (less GI (Glyceamic Index) impact.
• Milk. Needs to be a rare thing, suprisingly high in sugar.
• Butter. Is King. But not any old butter. It must be grass fed, which contains many essential nutrients. Grain fed cows do not get this benefit. Margarines and spreads are not to be trusted, they will keep you fat. Only natural goodness permitted.
• Meat. Grassfed Beef and Lamb are the optimum, it’s lucky I live in the country with the greatest lamb in the world. Sourcing grassfed beef might be trickier though. If not grassfed, go for lean cuts (and add plenty of butter). Dave Asprey at Bulletproof exec recommends organ meats in particular due to the very high vitamin content of them. I don’t mind the occasional piece of Lamb or Calves liver so I’ll manage.
• Eggs. Pastured eggs, specifically yolks. The yolks should be as uncooked as possible to prevent oxidisation of the healthy fats contained within.
• Fish. Fresh wild fish is encouraged, especially things like Wild Salmon, Trout, Haddock. Also Fermented Cod Liver Oil is recommended. Doesn’t sound appetising but I’ll give it a go.
• Oil. Avoid things Like Corn, Groundnut, Rapeseed andVegetable Oils. These are high in Omega-6, next to no Omega-3 oils and will do all manner of nastiness to your body. Olive Oil is good, providing it’s not cooked (this causes oxidisation of the Omega-3′s), Coconut Oil is a prime choice, it contains a lot of good nutritious qualities, also promotes a mild thermogenic effect (Though not like those pills that promise to melt your fat away…they don’t. I know because I tried them).
• Avoid sugary fruits. Bananas and Grapes are out, pity. Surprisingly Strawberrys aren’t so bad which is great…they’re my favourite fruit.
• No sugar, unsurpringly. Dodgy sweeteners that are bad for gut health are out too. Use Xylitol or Stevia as alternatives.
• Coffee, Low mycotoxin, high-elevation, wet processed mold-free coffee. I’ll post a link once I’ve found a good source.

Here’s a link to the Bulletproof Diet : http://www.bulletproofexec.com/the-complete-illustrated-one-page-bulletproof-diet/. Read it all, but if you scroll down you’ll see a simple chart of what you should and shouldn’t be eating. You can get ta PDF version and print it out so you'll always know what to buy. Green is good, red is to be avoided (Unless it’s grassfed redmeat!). Avocados are my new best friend.

Supplements

It’s also recommended to take Supplements. Again here’s a link to a Dave Asprey blogpost on supplements. It’s far more comprehensive than anything I could write. http://www.bulletproofexec.com/optimize-your-supplements/

Sleep

I need to make sure I get a good 7 hours of sleep, my body should be going through massive changes and sleep is the bodies major recuperation time. Deep REM sleep is good.

Exercise

Running on a treadmill, or an elliptical walker does not make you lose fat effectively. I’ll be devising a plan based on short, high intensity workouts. These will benefit me by processing muscle growth which in turn will help increase my Base Metabolic Rate and increase my fatburning potential.

Hydration.


It’s important to drink plenty of water. Carbonated soft drinks are out, as are fruit juices. This plan involves starting the day with ‘Bulletproof Coffee’ (Which I’ll delve into in a future blogpost) but the rest of the day I’ll be drinking water. It’s recommended that people drink 1-2 litres a day, I’ll be aiming to do double to triple that.

Right, to google. I need to track down grassfed meat, mycotoxin free coffee and high grade supplements. And then to the local shops to get some of those veggies in. Later peeps!

Burning Fat - Choose a Dojo

 Today I made a momentous decision, the weight, a burden I’ve carried for far too long, has to go. I’ve tried dieting in the past (I’ve ate low calorie, I did Atkins (while I lost some weight on this I found it a horrible physical experience), I tried the Cabbage Soup diet, I even took Xenical to stop my body absorbing fat, I played rugby, I would push myself past breaking point in the gym, none of this was effective or provided a lasting change. Western medical science and nutritional advice failed me. I did the ‘right’ things, I gave up things that I was told ‘were not good for me’ but none of this worked so being naturally inquisitive and a nerd I turned to the internet and google in particular to help me out.

There were all sorts of sites, offering all sorts of ways to help me with one catch…they all wanted my money. As luck would have it the Paleo community seemed to be a little more accessible to new people with short arms and deep pockets. There was a wealth of information to be shared. Many people will look at a Paleo diet and think it’s a fancy Atkins. But unlike Atkins, Paleo really concentrates on the nutritious quality of the food eaten which is great, I like the idea of fuelling my body with the best stuff.

Choose a Dojo

Having chosen to adopt the Paleo route I had to pick a plan to entrust my health and wellbeing in, now there are dozens of great Paleo sites and I’m sure I’ll link to articles on many of them as this blog progresses but I eventually set my sights on www.bulletproofexec.com run by a guy called Dave Asprey. Dave was a man of similar dimensions to me in the past, he weighed a similar amount, both of us were tall and both of us had tried many different diets and exercise programmes without success. Unlike me though, Dave was a dotcom millionaire who spent $250k on researching and experimenting with weightloss until he struck gold. And in a wonderful piece of good karma he gives all his information on his ‘bulletproof’ plan away for free. You don’t need to buy a book telling you what to do, it’s there on the site for you. He also shares any new information he comes across to visitors on his site and best of all before he recommends anything to his readership he’ll try it on himself first. While he does have products for sale on the site they are there for convenience, if you can find the things you need elsewhere (And being that he’s based in North America and me the UK) then he couldn’t give a hoot. While not strictly Paleo and not derived from it, the Bulletproof diet and Paleo share a lot of common ground, Dave’s attitude appears to be, if something quantifiably works it’s in, if not, it’s out. He’s not just about diets though, he’s what’s known as a biohacker. He actually managed to hack his brain to increase his IQ 30 points and hacked his sleep, cured illnesses and ailments. I do find this ‘biohacking’ concept appealing and will see if I can implement any of these on myself as well as the primary goal of weightloss.

So tomorrow it begins. I’ll need to source food items and supplements, I need to source a high quality coffee free of mycotoxins. I’ll leave you with my personal tale of the tape. I’m keeping this all on a spreadsheet and will chart my ongoing progress.so we can track changes in body composition, weightloss, etc. I’m going to keep it all imperial, Weight will be in pounds, Measurements in feet and inches. Screw you, metric system!

Vital Stats

•  Age 33 
• Height 6’2″ 
• Current Weight 334 lbs 
• Neck 21″ 
• Chest 58″ 
• Waist 46″ 
• Starsign Capricorn