It's a GoWear Fit, a gadget attached to an armband that you wear constantly, so that it can use its fancy computer to approximate your caloric output for the day. I'm using it mainly for fun, to find out how many calories (excluding waste and futile cycles and the metabolic advantage of glucogenesis, etc) I'm using per day. I was hoping for an explanation of how I could have lost fat consistently when I first tried the all-meat diet despite consuming an average of 2400kcal per day! Well, it's still a bit of a mystery, since my average result via the GoWear Fit is that I use up around 2100-2200kcal per day. Dr. Michael R. Eades does suggest that the metabolic advantage achieved through high-protein/low-carb diets is only in the vicinity of 100-300kcal per day... So unless my body has to work extra hard to convert protein into glucose when I starve my body of dietary glucose, I'm amazed I was breaking even, let alone causing a deficit. The GWF is correct to about 10% either way, so it's possible the average is still currently skewed, since I've only been wearing it for a week, so I'll keep tracking while my free month of online access lasts, and see how my average turns out...
Meanwhile, I've been trying to hide the gadget under my clothes, so I've been going for longer sleeved-shirts, rather than my usual cap sleeves, but the weather has turned back to hot and humid! Plus, the gizmo beeps when it loses contact with the skin, and somehow it manages to do this on occasion whilst I'm wearing it. Having your arm beep in the middle of teaching is just a leeeetle awkward... The painful part of the process is that the gadget is practically useless without buying a subscription to use the software/website - you can gather the data, but not view it! If it were free, I'd only wear the gadget occasionally, but to get the most out of the trial, I'm compelled to wear the band every day, working my wardrobe around it. Bring on cooler weather!
As much as I don't like thinking about calories whilst I'm eating (checking at the end of the day when I check my macro-nutrient breakdown), since it can interfere with my connection to satiety, knowing approximately how many calories one is burning per day makes it hard not to want to know exactly how many calories is in each meal, to make sure to manage a deficit... And this is even though I know that it's not as simple as calories in = calories out (burned/stored).
At least I won't have to worry about calories tomorrow - I'm going for my first complete day fast! I've eaten a big dinner this evening, and now I won't eat anything tomorrow (a decision primarily driven by my hectic schedule tomorrow - there's no time to eat!), until breakfast the following day! The fast will be just over 34 hours... I'm excited, though I may carry a bit of coconut oil just in case my energy flags to levels that mean I can't get through my responsibilities tomorrow...
Here's most of the food that has been keeping me going for the past few days (I keep forgetting to take photos!):
Saturday
I skipped breakfast as the beau & I headed off to the Queen Victoria Market for fresh fish. Salmon, oysters, rockling, and tropical snapper - yum! After running a few other errands, we returned home and I put together a little plate of raw salmon and oysters in lemon juice.
Then I got cracking on dinner - two Toulouse sausages from Jonathan's, plus a small serve of the beef curry I made for the beau, plus a taste of sauerkraut - my first taste! Wow, so sour/sweet! Perfect with the beef curry - even better than cauliflower rice!
Sunday
After a big sleep-in, I whipped up a generous fry-up for the beau & my breakfast: bacon, Jonathan's Bespoke Breakfast Sausages, and an egg/lox scramble
Later, it was time to get fancy with a massive piece of tropical snapper we picked up at the market:
Recipe: Baked Almond Snapper
Ingredients:
Huge slab o' tropical snapper (or any kind of snapper, or white fish)
1/4 cup almond flour
A bevy of dried herbs and spices (mine: cumin, parsley, basil, paprika, and sage)
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut oil
Method:
1. Place fish fillet, skin side down, in a greased baking dish.
2. Whip egg in a small bowl, and brush/drizzle egg over the top of the fillet.
3. Mix almond meal/flour and herbs & spices in a small bowl, and sprinkle over fillet until completely covered.
4. Drizzle oil carefully over the coated fillet, taking care not to wash away the almond flour.
5. Bake in a moderate oven (160degC) for 30 minutes, until coating is golden and fish flakes apart when cut.
Serve immediately, to rave review!
Monday
Decided to skip breakfast and lunch, so this rack of lamb, with its generous layers of fat, certainly hit the spot!
Tuesday
Started my day with Toulouse sausages and fried eggs, cooking extra snags to take to work for lunch. However, I ended up eating them at recess, resulting in a 8 hour fast between brunch and dinner - very nice!
Then for dinner, I had a few bitsy pre-fast meals, starting with an organic beef steakette (tastier than the photo would suggest), plus some scrambled eggs with Camembert for a luxe treat! I also had smoked salmon, as well as a few macadamia nuts to get my fat intake up. Hope that fibre won't cause any issues!
Wish me luck for my big fast - here's hoping the 'worst' that I experience is keto-breath!
That gizmo is tempting... keep us updated, I may have to buy myself a birthday present. thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have one and I LOVE it. It's really helped me to realize why low-carb / high fat diets work for me - satiety.
ReplyDeleteIt also has the added benefit of really getting me to walk more and do more strength training.
It's the perfect little gizmo if you're a bit competitive (like me)!
Oh I just read about that gadget! Is it really that accurate?
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the whole day fast! I have personally done plenty of 24 hour fasts, but am still yet to attempt not eating for a whole calendar day. I will be interested to see how it goes.. personally I think that if you are keeping busy you will be able to do it with ease!
ReplyDeletePity you have to subscribe to use the software to calculate the calories.. Does the GoWear become useless without the subscription or can you retrieve the data some other way?
Thanks for the comments! It's definitely a fun gadget to play with, even if it has to become part of your life. It's easy enough to forget about, though, if you're not in public or you can hide it under clothes (rather than explain it to others who ask when they see it).
ReplyDeleteFor very detailed reviews - http://www.amazon.com/GoWear-Lifestyle-Calorie-Management-System/dp/B001HX36A0
Yes, you need the online (or via software) activity manager unless you buy the data display (another $100 or so), which isn't nearly as clear and comprehensive. It would be cheaper to buy a year's subscription than buy the display. After a month, I'm pretty confident I'll have a good grasp on how many calories I burn on an average day, and I can use that to work out the other calories that are used up through futile cycling and other metabolic advantages posed by VLC/ZC.
I really enjoy a good 24 hour fast, from dinner to dinner. So far this longer fast is going well, though I'm starting to taste oddness... Makes me a little concerned for choir practice, when I'll be singing/breathing in close proximity to others!
taste oddness?? Ketones perhaps?
ReplyDeleteAlso forgot to ask where you purchase your coconut oil from?
So far I have only perused the local Woolies, so haven't looked too extensively. I did ask someone at one point, but they had no idea what I was talking about.
Of course. I'm very well versed in the flavours of ketosis ;) I just have to remind myself that it's just a taste, not an actual stench. I hate bad breath with a passion, so it's hard for me to remember that others can't smell what I taste!
ReplyDeleteI order my coconut oil online, and am currently trialling three brands since my old go-to brand isn't that great straight off the spoon. I really like Nutiva, and have vetoed Niu (although they make a great coconut oil lip balm). I've bought but have yet to try Nui coconut oil. I love how all the names are so similar - I'm sure there's an etymological explanation behind it... Language geek :)