Keto January Recap

Every time I told someone over the last month that I'm following the ketogenic diet, I got a quizzical look and some version of, "Why are you doing that? You don't need to lose weight!"

I get it, people. I promise I don't have an eating disorder. Whether most people realize it or not, the ketogenic diet has benefits far beyond weight loss. These include:

• Improved cognitive function and decreased brain fog
• Improved mitochondrial function
• Conserved glycogen during moderate aerobic activity (70% of VO2 max)
• Improved autophagy and potentially reduced long-term cancer risk
• Decreased insulin release, and thereby decreased systemic inflammation

And that's just the start. I'm excited to see more and more research emerging each year around various other salutory effects of keto-- the list just keeps growing!

Now that I've finished my three-week experiment with it, I have a few personal observations I'd like to share, broken down by week:

• Week 1: lead-in week. Did not check my ketone level. Felt ok. A few headaches. Immediately lost 5-6 pounds of water weight, which is was happened last time I went keto. Started drinking water with salt, lemon juice, and a splash of apple cider vinegar in the morning to replete my electrolytes. Decided to monitor my blood ketone level (using my new Keto Mojo monitor) rather than track my macros, which would have been just too much work this time around. 
• Week 2: mild ketosis (levels 0.5 - 0.9). Workouts were poor since I had no glycogen and was not yet keto-adapted. More headaches. Had to push through this week. But I did notice that I was very full for 6-7 hours after eating my late breakfast of cheesy eggs, presumably the effect of both the satiety that comes from a high-fat diet and the anorexic effect of ketones.
• Week 3: moderate ketosis (level was 1.2 at beginning of the week, then I ran out of ketone strips. Presumably it was at least 1.2 afterwards). Workouts improved as I became more keto-adapted. Headaches decreased and had little brain fog, although I still got headaches if my sleep was disrupted. Gained back about 4 of the pounds I had lost. Felt essentially back to normal. 

Though it's not something I've decided to follow long-term, I do plan to continue the habit of going keto every January-- probably with a tweak each year, to keep things interesting. It's quite possible that this habit alone will extend my lifespan by 5 or even 10 years-- though I'll never know for sure.

So whether you're fluffy, lean, or something in between, the ketogenic diet serves as a master metabolic reset. If you do it right, you'll be glad you gave it a try. Let me know if you do!

2020 Focus

My readings and musings over the last few months have crystallized two deep desires in me. The first is enjoying and being present for each moment. Few things sharpen your appreciation for the moment like a baby, and as I've grown in my understanding of and experience with meditation over the past year, I've come to recognize that the degree of fulfillment in life is largely determined by how undistracted a person is. Frequently entering a state of flow is a necessary condition for the good life. So whether it's feeding a baby at 5 AM or having a conversation with Mindy or swimming intervals in the pool or knocking out notes at work, I try to achieve complete focus on each moment, each appearance in consciousness-- each breath, each stroke, each thought, each interaction, each emotion. Fostering that practice will be the cornerstone of my next year. Mindy can't wait!

I'll also be exploring the subconscious over the next year. Whereas mindfulness meditation completely centers on the contents of consciousness, dream work and active imagination (which I'll cover in a future post) are practices that bring to awareness the deep well of the unconscious. Carl Jung trailblazed this field over a century ago, and by a stroke of luck I obtained an anthology of his work at Boone United Methodist's Fall Bazaar, pictured at the right below. I'm sure I'll post more on this as the year progresses and I have time to work through more of his writings. The middle book, Robert A. Johnson's Inner Work, explores the topics of dream work and active imagination in a practical way, and though I'm only now starting to dig into this book, I'm already excited to share some of the techniques and insights I gain.

As for hobbies, I will of course continue to train for and compete in triathlons, kayak as time, relationships, and rainfall allow, garden, read, and write. I'm also currently eating keto, and plan to dive back into the bongos later in the year. But my most recent passion has been stirred by the third book in the photo, Fiery Ferments-- a fun, practical, and educational exploration of the making of hot sauces and fermented foods that is the perfect marriage of my love for microbiology, gardening, and spice. I can't wait to experience and share the resulting concoctions! Thanks, Michael and Meghan!

Professionally, my work as a hospitalist will morph as Boone's new Family Medicine residency starts up in July. I'll be doing more teaching and precepting (which I love to do), and I've already started doing more bedside ultrasound and procedures (which I also enjoy doing) in anticipation of teaching the residents these topics. I'll also continue providing oversight and and medical care at the Community Care Clinic. 

So like most of you reading this, my life is full of moving parts. Meditation and taking time to silently reflect will continue to help me understand why I act and feel the way I do in each moment, and I'm grateful that mindfulness is enjoying its time in the cultural sun. But a topic far less prominent but no less essential is how to understand our subconscious. The vast well from which the contents of consciousness emerge remains a mystery for most-- but it doesn't have to be that way! I'm excited to start unraveling that mystery, and share what I learn with all you lovely readers. 

Memento mori, memento vivere.

Dan

2019 in Review (and the 2010's!)

The big-picture themes for 2019, as I stated in my blog post preparing for the year, were

"reapproaching the Bible in a new way and generosity of spirit. My goal is to be more empathetic, warm, and understanding by the end of next year than I am now. Though I'll still be reading books and book summaries and posting my reflections, I'll be more focused on the emotional and relational side of life, which is where I stand to grow the most right now. And I hope that, as a result, joy and humor will flow like never before!"

It turns out that, roughly the first half of my year was spent on reapproaching the Bible through various books, meditations, and podcasts (which was great), while I shifted my focus onto generosity during the second half, culminating in accepting a foster baby in December. I also assumed the volunteer position of Medical Director at the Community Care Clinic, Boone's only no-cost clinic serving exclusively uninsured patients. Contemplation and Action! Just what the sages always prescribe. Though I fell short plenty of times, especially in the area of presence and warmth, I can honestly say I grew across most important domains this year.

Mindy and I continue to grow and put down roots in the High Country, and the fostering process has brought us together as a team like never before. We have become more committed at Boone United Methodist Church, and have found a wonderful, supportive small group to be a part of. We also took two big trips, one to Europe and one to Colorado-- which should satisfy the travel bug for years to come!

Triathlon season was a success, and I was able to kayak a few times, though not as much as I wanted. The garden did pretty well, and I found some field mushrooms to eat in our very own pasture and at Mindy's uncle's house in Colorado-- morels, no less. I made some great strides at work, especially in the areas of procedures and ultrasound, completed my leadership program, and helped plan for the new Family Medicine Residency starting in Boone this year.

As I turn my attention to 2020, I want to take a moment to be grateful not just for a full year, but for a wonderful decade. The past 10 years have seen me through medical school, residency, marriage, deconstructions, reconstructions, major travels, a real job, and, to close out the decade... a baby! Though we don't know if she'll be with us forever or not (we sure hope she will be), Mindy and I are offering our foster baby as much love as we can give. And there's no better way to end a decade or start a new one than with that kind of self-giving love. And lots of snuggles.

The Best Thing I Read in 2019

I read a lot of articles, quite a few book summaries, and a fair amount of actual books. I love few things more than digesting a good blog post or quality book. And if I was asked to recommend just one thing I've read over the past year, Tim Urban's series "The Story of Us" on his blog "Wait but Why" would be it-- hands down. Here's the link: https://waitbutwhy.com/2019/08/story-of-us.html

Below, I do explain this picture.

The reasons for this selection are many. First and foremost, the topic is one of utmost importance: the underlying reasons why our society is heading in the wrong direction. Urban deconstructs the psychological, historical, cultural, anthropological, and technological dynamics that have brought us to our current state of affairs-- which by his and most other accounts is the brink of societal collapse. The number of mental models I gained or reinforced as a result of reading this series by far exceeds any other collection of writings in my recent memory. And I can't think of another series with as many "aha" moments as this one. And finally, like most of Urban's writing, it's fun to read. Hilarious, even.

Though a summary would take far too long, a couple takeaways I will mention is that the level of consciousness of individuals, organizations, political commentators, news outlets, political parties, and politicians matters far more than where on the "right/left" spectrum they are. Is their "higher mind" (symbolized by the guy with the turquoise light above) in control? Or is their primitive mind (you guessed it-- the orange flame-carrying blob) calling the shots? Another idea is that confirmation bias, rather than truth, becomes the driving force when the primitive mind takes over an individual or a group, which instigates a feedback loop which becomes ever more difficult to break as time goes on.

Urban isn't actually finished with the series, either. In the two final posts, it seems that he intends to offer his prescriptions for how we can break the cycles that have fractured our society. If you get a chance to read the series up to now, I think you'll be anticipating this as much as I am. Happy reading!