This post kicks off with 1987 Classic Rock, specifically, the timeless With or Without You (1987).

I've never had my blood glucose checked before, much less my ketone levels. I can now say I've had it TWICE. I ran the Keto-Mojo number cruncher on Thursday and this morning as soon as I woke up (5:30 AM and 2:30 AM). I pricked my finger (ever so haltingly) and sampled my blood for both figures. Despite my family history of diabetes, apparently my carnivore diet is right on point.

August 1 & 2: Fasting Levels

• Glucose: 68, 72
• Ketone: 4, 3.7
• Boz ratio: 17.0, 19.4 (deepest)

I don't need a computer to tell me that I'm in a deep state of ketosis. But, it's good to see what I can expect with eating sardiness and a heavy load of cayenne, black pepper, and salt—4 carbs worth!

And who knows what my supplements contribute. What I DO know is that I smell like a mix of designer cologne and turmeric.

(Again AccuRadio gets me: Echo & the Bunnymen's Lips Like Sugar (1987). My mind returns to a 2019 beneath the summer song soaking the rays.)

Yep, this ship is fat-adapted! I mean, I really ought to be with 278 days into it. And you can imagine my frustration when I hit that last weigh-in stall!

ChatGPT tells me this about my existing in a deep state of ketosis:

1. Enhanced Fat Burning: In deep ketosis, your body primarily burns fat for energy, which can aid in weight loss and fat loss, especially around the abdominal area.

2. Improved Mental Clarity: Many individuals report better focus, mental clarity, and cognitive function when in deep ketosis. Ketones are a more efficient and stable source of energy for the brain.

3. Stable Energy Levels: With ketones as the primary energy source, you may experience more stable energy levels throughout the day without the typical energy crashes associated with carbohydrate consumption.

4. Appetite Control: Ketosis can lead to reduced hunger and cravings, making it easier to adhere to dietary plans and control caloric intake.

5. Improved Blood Sugar Control: Lower and stable blood sugar levels can help manage and prevent insulin resistance, which is beneficial for individuals with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

6. Anti-Inflammatory Effects: Ketones have anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce inflammation in the body, potentially benefiting conditions like arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

7. Therapeutic Benefits: Deep ketosis has been studied for its potential therapeutic effects on neurological conditions such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and even certain cancers. The high ketone levels provide an alternative energy source for brain cells and may have neuroprotective effects.

8. Increased Physical Endurance: For athletes, deep ketosis can enhance endurance by providing a consistent and long-lasting energy source, especially useful in endurance sports.

(Ahh, Heart's Alone (1987). I'd have thought that was a solid song out of '82 or '85. Now, Springsteen's Brilliant Disguise makes sense.)

And again, I am taking the following supplements:

• Caffeine
• NoSalt (potassium chloride)
• Iodine
• Green Tea Extract
• Cayenne
• Turmeric Curcumin
• Ginkgo Biloba

It synergizes well with this ketosis magic, further enhancing my mental prowess, stoking my fat-burning furnace, and empowering me to wield this radiant hammer of anti-inflammation and antioxidation.

(Sometimes, you question your own reality when you find that your sounding like AI—wouldn't that be a plot twist?! But would AI LOVE Whitesnake's Is This Love? (1987)?)

According to my Garmin watch, I fell asleep at 9:08 PM and woke up at 11:10 PM. I do remember being up around 11:30 PM. And while I tried to find my way back to weaving dreams, I just could not!

So, now at 1:10 AM, what do I do? I write and turn on my "radio:" This is Music: 1986. First song? Something About You by Level 42. OK, so that's an '85 song, but it gets me.

Now that I am below 200, I am taking things to the max! I am observing everything in my life and optimizing! I'm going Back to the Future (1985)!

ChatGPT

Come mid-August, my $20/month ChatGPT subscription will be over. It's a handy tool to pull from the toolbox. There's not a day that I don't use it extensively. Past prompts like:

Query 1: "What are the benefits and drawbacks of Scentbird?"

I was debating if I should extend my Scentbird. Yeah, I did hang up my prior subscription, but I was so delighted that my shipment FINALLY arrived that I renewed it for August.

Ehh, but I have since felt regret.

It is too expensive even if it is for designer colognes. The price is the equivalent of paying $214 for a 3.4 oz blindfolded. I do like Confession of a Rebels' Better Than Your Ex though it doesn't stick around for long. Tommy Bahama's Maritime Triump is a little too sweet for me.

What is queued for August?

• English Laundry's Midnight Gold (bergamot, mandarin, patchouli, sandalwood, musk)
• Tru Western's Yellowstone Ride (raw bergamot, crisp clary sage, smoked whiskey, charred vanilla, rough cut tobacco)

Query 2: "What scales does Kelly Hogan like?"

Weight & Bodyfat %

I didn't have to use ChatGPT to find this answer. My wife emailed Kelly directly! I already knew about her leanings toward the Vivitar Body Analysis Digital Bathroom Scale. Now I prefer my medical scale that I bought in 2015, but I am hoping this thing will have the same level of accuracy, but more importantly, I want the fat analysis. I used to have one that was like a console controller that proved pretty useless.

Glucose & Ketones

While I was unsure of her take on glucose & ketone testers, Kelly also suggested the Keto-Mojo, a device that tests blood for both glucose and ketones, as featured on Dr. Boz's for her Blood Glucose:Ketone ratio:

• < 80: Weightloss - Might get autophagy
• < 40: Repair of Immune System - Solid chance of autophagy
• < 20: Goal for Cancer Patients - Best chance of autophagy

And I watched this amusing bit on a recorded live stream from Dr. Berry and his wife about Kelly's take on Great Value burgers.

Blood Pressure

Finally, I also went with an Omron upper arm cuff blood pressure monitor, a practice I once did all up to my time in Alaska, but didn't board the plane with it.

These days, I only wish I had taken all these numbers daily since my carnivore kickoff. That said, this is the place on the scale where I'm amping up things for effect. I am NOT going to hit 182 again and think it is a win.

It is @163, 1995 or bust.

Query 3: Best Supplements

I already do 32 oz of coffee which optimizes caffeine intake. But, green tea and ECCG keep popping up time and again. Thus, I'm going back to 2018 and bringing that to 2024! I'd welcome drinking sencha again, though that perk doesn't hit until I hit @189. Thus, instead of paying for a month of ChatGPT, I am hip throwing Andrew Jackson onto a bottle of Green Tea extract with 45% EGCG.

Move

And AccuRadio's '86 selection now plays the helluva selection from '84, Bryan Adams's duet with Tina Turner, It's Only Love from '84.

You can live without the aggravation
You gotta wanna win, you gotta wanna win
You keep looking back in desperation
Over and over and over again

OK, it has moved to Sledgehammer. I can do that.

Yesterday morning, for a 52-minute cardio workout, I worked the backyard over with a weedwacker before putting the mower through its paces. Later that day, I spent an hour on my walking pad (another Kelly Hogan suggestion off her Amazon list).

Earlier this year, I had a 39-day streak of hitting my target of 10,944 steps, my best since I started counting in 2013. Yesterday was checking off Day 1 of challenging that record. Incidentally prior to that event, I haven't crossed that 10,944 threshold since July 1. You'd think that sort of thing to accomplish in a day would be trivial. But ya cannot be a slap-happy slacker and pull it off.

Perhaps, the place I find my mental space can be best defined by a November '07 episode of Battlestar Galactica *entitled *Razor:

Sometimes, we have to leave people behind, so that we can go o­n. So that we can continue to fight.

Sometimes, we have to do things that we never thought we were capable of, if o­nly to show the enemy our will.

Yesterday, you showed me that you were capable of setting aside your fear, setting aside your hesitation, and even your revulsion—every natural inhibition that during battle can mean the difference between life and death.

When you can be this for as long as you have to be, then you're a razor. This war is forcing us all to become razors because if we don't, we don't survive. And then we don't have the luxury of becoming simply human again.

It's about one thing: Going the Distance (1976).

What's the music for this diary entry? A favorite genre: Rock the Yacht Setting sail on a sea of smooth Yacht Rock grooves. It features songs like Michael McDonald's I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) (1982), Paul Davis's Cool Night (1981), and my beloved King Harvest's Dancing in the Moonlight (1972).

It is more of a theory than an application. Beyond that Power Wheels Bigfoot from Nanny when I was 6 or so, the first vehicle I ever drove with a "steering wheel" was a yacht. I guess it was the summer of '91 out on the Tennessee River. The yacht featured a booth for eating, a galley, and a stateroom below deck. He handed over the helm to this 13-year-old kid.

It was a yacht belonging to a retired friend of my father’s, a gentleman from New Zealand, a mythical, faraway country that's on my bucket list to go. Yes, the home of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies; the Avatar series; the Chronicles of Narnia trilogy; and Viva La Dirt League of TechTown and Baelin's Route.

There's something about adventure that is so compelling, isn't there?

As to my own quests, I continue to scaffold. I enter day 2 of this sardine fast inspired by Dr. Boz. This time around, passing 72 hours will be a Ryan George "Super Easy, Barely an Inconvenience" (Harry Potter) The way I prepare it makes it look like taco meat and the heat DOMINATES the flavor profile even with the inclusion of mustard.

My workout game is...eh, not overwhelming. I put in two hours of yardwork yesterday morning for the front yard and shortly I'll go to work in the backyard. For now, it is over-complicated on paper.