What’s the difference between primal and keto? How do I know if I’m in ketosis? Do I have to be in ketosis to burn fat?
We’re tackling these questions and a whole lot more in today’s episode.
In episode 387 I laid the foundation for our week of discussion around ketogenic diets. I defined ketosis, ketones and talked a little bit about “clean keto” versus all those keto plans touting ketogenic treats & desserts.
Today we’re doing a bit of a debrief on those episodes to answer some questions and dive deeper into some of the powerful points we rushed through in episode 388.
If you’ve got questions about fat burning, ketosis or anything we talked about in episodes 387 or 388, don’t miss this episode!
Reminder: next week I’m hosting a free mindset & motivation masterclass. The more we talk about nutrition & consistency, the more I feel the need to tackle mindset and the ability to create motivation because we can know a lot about nutrition strategy but not have the mental muscle to consistently implement it.
The mindset side of change cannot be overlooked. If you struggle with the consistency we talk about in today’s episode, make sure you sign up for the free mindset masterclass next week!
Ketosis is a state of metabolic efficiency where you are able to burn stored energy in the form of body fat and ketones & not be dependent on regular high carbohydrate meals to sustain your energy, mood and cognitive focus.
Ketones are an energy source just like carbs, fat & protein are energy sources. Ketones can be used by your brain, your heart, and your muscles. Ketones are produced by the liver as a byproduct of fat metabolism.
Ketones produced under certain conditions:
blood sugar is low
insulin is low
muscle & liver glycogen stores are low
To understand more about this, listen to the following episodes of the Primal Potential podcast:
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
Here are some of my favorite Primal Kitchen Products:
Popping in for a quick daily update! I promise to be back to my full posts on Monday but I didn’t want to leave you hanging with nothing today.
I’m in the White Mountains working & attending the Highland Games. All day long I was surrounded by food & alcohol. Everyone around me was indulging in “special” treats.
I’ll tell you what – “special treats” don’t make me feel that special anymore. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE a good piece of red velvet cake or cup of ice cream, but that’s about it. A random cookie or whoopie pie or batch of french fries just doesn’t make me feel very good. Yeah, it tastes good for a minute but then I feel tired, heavy, bloated and thirsty. That’s definitely not very special!
I knew fat loss friendly choices would be challenging today. Before we left this morning I thought about what would make me feel my best. Without a doubt, avoiding sugar, starch & alcohol makes me feel my best. It’s not even a question.
I want to feel my best. I want to feel my best more than I want 2 minutes of enjoyment from a treat or a drink.
I woke up at 4:30am and drank coffee while I worked until about 10:30am. On the way to the Games I had 2 handfuls of macadamia nuts.
We went to a food tent at the games for lunch. Everyone I was with ate scotch eggs, fried fish, french fries or meat pies. Fortunately, they had hamburgers. I got a hamburger, threw out the bun and felt satisfied. I had a packet of coconut butter with me but didn’t end up eating it. The burger wasn’t the most delicious thing ever but especially when I’m away from home, I want to feel my very best.
While everyone drank beer, I drank water. I didn’t feel like I was missing out because I knew I was making the choice that would make me feel my very best. That’s not missing out. I don’t want to miss out on feeling great!
We went out to dinner and after making great choices & avoiding temptation all day, I wanted to stay the course. I also wanted to really enjoy my meal. So, I did.
I had a delicious prime rib & side salad. After a few ounces of the meat, I shared it with the table. I definitely didn’t need the entire huge steak.
Though I wasn’t precisely aware of my carb & protein grams today, I was for sure under the 50 grams of carbs and 110 grams of protein I’m shooting for with this reset I’m trying.
I didn’t get in a workout today other than walking & hiking, and I’m great with that. I’m planning a full workout first thing tomorrow morning.
That’s all I’ve got for you today! Identify what choices will make you feel your best and choose them with conviction!
If you have ever said anything along the lines of “oh, this one thing won’t hurt” or “this won’t make a difference” or dismissed activity or exercise as “not enough to matter” then you’ve got to read this.
The other day I had to put change in a parking meter. As I evaluated my awful parking job (masterful driver I am not) considering if I should make a second attempt, I noticed 3 pennies under a trashcan. I dropped to my hands & knees and reached through the metal bars to get them. Mine!
The next day I went to a car wash to vacuum out my Jeep. As soon as I opened my door I spotted a penny & two dimes on the pavement. Mine!
Less than minute later, right in my little vacuuming stall, I saw a pile of dirt & sand where someone had clearly shaken out their (filthy) floor mats. In the pile was easily $0.80 of pennies, nickels & dimes. Mine!
A guy looked at me like I was crazy as I sifted through the dirt to collect the coins. He said, “Are you seriously going to touch that change? They’re just pennies!”
I was equally incredulous, though for different reasons as I said, “Very seriously.”
I have trained myself to be someone who values the little things.
I used to tell myself that one bite of this or one taste of that wouldn’t matter. And, I was probably right in that individual instance – one bite wouldn’t put weight on and skipping it wouldn’t take weight off.
But the mindset – the attitude and habit of convincing myself that small choices “don’t count” – that was a catastrophic problem.
That mindset kept me from results.
It was a crutch I used to avoid doing hard work and building mental muscle.
I was talking to a client a couple nights ago about arguments she uses to justify choices that she later regrets. She referred to this very thing: telling herself that it wouldn’t matter. It wouldn’t make a difference. It was no big deal.
I asked her to imagine she was having a house built. Imagine going to the construction site and noticing that one the walls is just a little off.
Would you care?
Of course! she said.
Why?
Because if a little thing is off than the whole thing can be off.
Exactly….She made my point for me.
The small things create the big things.
The small things done well create the big things done well.
You can’t do the big things well without doing the small things well.
The big things ARE the small things.The little things matter. If you want to be successful, you’ll need to be successful with the small things.
For as long as you tell yourself they don’t matter, you’re in trouble.
The people closest to me in my life know I’m a hawk for loose change. They tease me about it. When I was writing this post today I texted them:
“Random important question: You know how I pick up loose change? From your perspective, why do I do that?”
My phone rang almost immediately. It was my mom. She said, “it’s because you know that it’s in the details that your life is built.”
My sister texted me back within a minute: You see opportunities every where, especially the most people would dismiss something as nothing.
My best friend said: You value small, incremental things rather than just big things. That you focus on the things that other people ignore.
If you haven’t pieced this together yet: it ain’t just about money.
Opportunities for progress are everywhere, especially in those little decisions you dismiss as too small to matter.
The little things are the big things, in progress. Choice by choice we advance & the opportunities are all around us.
Are you writing them off and grabbing them up?
I know this is a mindset shift. It’s the mindset shifts that make behavioral shifts possible. If you want to chat this through and learn how I changed my mind in this way and many more, I hope you’ll join me for next week’s live mindset masterclass!
….
I don’t love workouts that I have to re-write due to my ability or injury. Today was a serious shoulder day so I had to totally forgo the group workout and do my own thing because my shoulder is still on the fritz (though it’s remarkably better than it was 2 weeks ago)
“Pump House”
For Time:
15-12-9-6-3
Strict Press
Ring Rows
200 Meter Run*
*Following each round
The run felt really good today, which is one of those non-scale victories I love so much! I’m getting fitter and stronger every week and that feels good. It doesn’t happen by accident, it happens with consistency and hard work.
On the food front:
The next few days will require some creativity. I’m heading out of town and I don’t know the food/kitchen situation. I will do my best to stick with this keto phase I talked about in episode 388: max 50 grams of net carbs and approximately 110 grams of protein. The rest of my energy will come from dietary fat.
I left this morning after breakfast so I was able to have my cabbage salad bowl after my workout. It was about 20 grams of carbohydrate worth of cabbage plus 3 large eggs and 4 slices of bacon. I didn’t add any avocado to save some of those carbs for later in the day but I did add a dollop of Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo.
After breakfast I hit the road to spend a long weekend in the White Mountains. I didn’t eat anything until about 5:15pm – I wasn’t even hungry!
I had a few pieces of cheese to hold me over until dinner. I don’t eat a lot of dairy (even though I love it) but it works well during travel.
For dinner I had a cedar plank salmon and some broccoli. Total win for a travel day!
Today we have best selling author Mark Sisson on the show! Mark’s book The Primal Blueprint was a game changer for me when I was initially adopting a primal way of eating. On today’s episode we’re talking about his newest book, The Keto Reset Diet and how he thinks phases of what I’ll call “clean keto” are the next level of primal in terms of anti-aging, fat loss, performance, satiety & energy.
For an introduction to ketogenic diets, ketones and other general concepts, check out episode 387 of the podcast where I talk about this stuff from a high level to lay the foundation for today’s episode.
For today, we’re talking about why Mark considers keto phases the next level of primal and what kind of carb & protein intake he suggest for great results.
Mark said a few super powerful things in the episode that I want to highlight:
Building a fast metabolism as a health goal is completely flawed. Accelerated metabolic function accelerates again.
Guys, it’s not that we need faster metabolisms. It’s quite the opposite. We need more efficient metabolisms that are optimized for fat burning. We can create that with our food choices and today Mark will tell us how.
He also said, “When I’m keto, I’m barely keto & when I’m not, I’m barely not”.
Do you know what that is? It’s consistency. It’s getting to a place where there aren’t wild fluctuations in the quality & quantity of your diet. That’s what we need to focus on more than an inconsistent extreme approach.
I strongly recommend you check out his new book, The Keto Reset Diet & definitely take a listen to today’s episode!
The mindset side of change cannot be overlooked. If you struggle with the consistency we talk about in today’s episode, make sure you sign up for the free mindset masterclass next week!
Ketosis is a state of metabolic efficiency where you are able to burn stored energy in the form of body fat and ketones & not be dependent on regular high carbohydrate meals to sustain your energy, mood and cognitive focus.
Ketones are an energy source just like carbs, fat & protein are energy sources. Ketones can be used by your brain, your heart, and your muscles. Ketones are produced by the liver as a byproduct of fat metabolism.
Ketones produced under certain conditions:
blood sugar is low
insulin is low
muscle & liver glycogen stores are low
To understand more about this, listen to the following episodes of the Primal Potential podcast:
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
Here are some of my favorite Primal Kitchen Products:
I have created a lot of suffering in my life. I was unhappy with my weight, I lacked confidence, I felt frustrated and hopeless. I was really afraid that nothing would ever change – that I would never change.
If I hadn’t done the work to change how I think, I wouldn’t have been able to change my life.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here to listen on Anchor.
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Looking back, I was the source of my own suffering. It was my very own choices that were creating the feelings I hated.
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I was unhappy because I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was isolating myself because I was unhappy. ⠀
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It was powerful to ask myself, “Why am I unhappy? What choices am I making that create these conditions?“⠀
If I’m being honest, it was tough to swallow my pride and own the fact that I was the source of my own suffering.
By saying yes to temptation, by saying yes to laziness, by saying yes to fear, I was saying no to happiness.
If you want to solve a problem, you must first stop participating in it’s creation.
What would it look like if you refused to participate in your own suffering? What would need to change?⠀
Last night I had a video chat with my Primal Potential Masters Club and we were talking about phrases we use to talk ourselves out of hard work or talk ourselves into staying in our comfort zone.
One client shared that she works so hard & is so driven in her career & home life that she just doesn’t have the energy to be motivated & driven with regards to her health.
I suggested a reframe.
Perhaps you don’t have the energy you think you need precisely because you aren’t taking care of yourself. It’s very likely that your focus & motivation in other areas are NOT to blame for your lack of energy and self care.
It’s your lack of self care that is to blame for your lack of energy. And investing in taking great care of yourself would boost your energy, it would create more vitality and happiness – it wouldn’t take from it.
The thinking you used to create the problem cannot help you solve it. You need to think differently.
Guys, change is much more a mindset than it is a skill set. We’re too focused on tactics and not focused enough on mindset.
That’s why next week I’m hosting a free mindset & motivation masterclass. I want to help you create these shifts I’ve been creating in my own life and with my Fat Loss Fast Track & Masters Club clients.
If you know you’ve got to change your mind in order to change your body – if you know you’ve got to think differently to be truly happy, I hope you’ll join me!
I love Wednesday workouts because they’re primarily strength days. Welcome to my wheel house! These are the workouts I enjoy the most.
“Weightlifting Wednesday”
EMOM 10:
0:00 – 5:00: 3 Pausing Snatch Grip Deadlifts
5:00 – 10:00: 3 Snatch High Pulls rest 5 minutes
10 Minutes:
Build to Heavy Power Snatch
then
“Head to Toe”
AMRAP 8
8 GHDs
10 Burpees
The AMRAP was hard as heck – those GHDs sneak up really quick! Here’s an example of what these bad boys are for those of you who aren’t familiar. I had these in a workout last week & my abs were sore for more than 5 days! Love that!
On the food front:
I shared with you guys a couple days ago that I’m playing with Mark Sisson’s Keto Reset concepts to help increase mitochondrial biogenesis, increase fat burning and decrease inflammation.
Don’t miss episode 388 of the podcast for more info on it, but here’s the short version:
No more than 50 grams total carbs (this is total, not net)
0.7 grams protein per lb lean body mass (around 110 grams)
It is a phase – a cycle – not a permanent restriction or limitation
Today was pretty easy on the food front. I planned to have my salad bowl around noon but I was hungry right after my workout so I ate it early. It absolutely satisfied my hunger until early afternoon when I had some celery and Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo.
I had the Divine chocolate bar just about an hour later because I wanted it.
For dinner I had last night’s leftover chicken thighs with the rest of the chipotle lime mayo.
