Photo by Fabrizio Bucella on Unsplash
Whoa Momma! No EGGS for me please!
We are now on Day 6 of The Bacon Challenge. Today and tomorrow will be the final days of this challenge and I will be able to give a full report of the results.
Just a couple of things I wanted to share with you today on the challenge though.
First of all…The answer to the one question I get asked a lot. “But won’t you get sick of eating bacon all the time?”
The answer is PLAIN and SIMPLE! NEVER! lol But on a more serious level I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every moment of this bacon. There were a couple of times that I did get a little concerned in my head that when I sat down to my bacon at dinner I would be completely done with it. To my surprise I would take my first bite and think to myself “Boy this is good!” Even in my own doubt I found that my mind was trying to play tricks on me and I had won 😉
The bacon has been delicious every time! I want to point out as well that this type of challenge was primarily to kick start my system back into ketosis. There have been other things that I have tried in the past to help with stalls in weight loss that were not as pleasant. Let me share some details of one just in case you come across it in your research. I want to remind you though that my biggest thought on this is so important and what I stand strong on. ALWAYS remember that what works for me may not work for you and what works for you may not work for me. But…you never know until you try, right? So this next challenge I tried and it helped for a moment but also failed me miserably. Here’s what I did…
The BEEF & BUTTER FAST…have you heard of it? All I can say is beware…lol.
(FYI: This method/fast is usually used by those who are following the Keto Way of Eating)
So the whole idea of this one is to only attempt if you have been at a weight loss stall for at least 6weeks or longer. Not at all used for people just starting their weight loss journey.
So here are the rules:
• Eat 1 cup of ground beef with 2-3 tbsp of real grass-fed butter (I used kerrygold butter) 2 servings per day You can season it however you’d like.
• Consume this beef and butter combo for anywhere from 3-5 days. You decide how long you will be on this fast. I’ve seen people do it for 7 days as well.
• Intermittent fasting is also recommended on this fast because you are only eating two servings per day anyway so the idea would be to skip breakfast and then have lunch and dinner.
Now for my results:
Did I lose weight?
Yes I did! I lost about a pound per day on a 5 day beef and butter fast. 5 lbs down! And this was pretty exciting because I hadn’t seen the number on the scale change for months.
Did I get tired of the beef and butter?
YES! I was ok the first 2-3 days and yes it does leave you feeling full and satisfied but after those initial days I was sick of it. It made me want to gag.
What were some of the issues I had?
The grease in the beef started to leave me with heart burn every night (something I rarely get). I was starting to feel constipated. My stomach would cramp every night after the 3rd day. I wasn’t feeling satisfied anymore but more sick.
Would I recommend it to anyone else?
I would be willing to share it as an option but with my own experience attached. Reason being so that if the person wanting to try it started to experience any of the similar issues they would know to stop and try something different. No point in going through discomfort if there may be a better way.
*Side note: I do eat non-dairy now so the butter could have been part of the problem. In this case I would suggest using homemade mayo as another healthy fat to substitute for the butter.
So why Bacon over the Beef & Butter?
• The bacon was definitely more satisfying
• I have seen double the amount of weight loss with the bacon 8 lbs vs 5 lbs and still losing
• The only evening that I even slightly had heartburn was the one night I decided to add hot sauce to my bacon. My mistake 😉
• The bacon actually serves as a better food choice for quick snacks to grab during the 8 hr window of eating time in the intermittent fasting schedule. Especially for those who work and need to eat on the go as opposed to having to find a place to warm up beef and butter. Seriously…cause who wants to eat cold beef and butter? Not I.
Ok! So where do the EGGS come in?
The Bacon Challenge as created and described by Dan Quibell states that eggs can be substituted for bacon if a change in taste/variety is needed. This is generally used by those who are doing his 30 days of bacon. The rule is generally that you can replace 2 slices of bacon with 1 egg.
So I decided to try this last night and I added 2 eggs and cut out about half of my bacon allowance for the day. Although I did enjoy the eggs, I realized that I really didn’t need it and I was thoroughly enjoying my bacon as is. Nonetheless…I ate the 2 hard boiled eggs and bacon with some unsweet tea.
This mornings results:
No weight loss
I had actually gained .2 lbs (not a big deal but still not a loss like the previous days)
I am happy with my 8 lb loss this far and will be going back to what works (just bacon) and see what tomorrow brings.
I have also seen an overall 5.25 inch loss on body measurements. This is what really matters even more over the lbs.
So although the eggs are allowed on this challenge I know to just leave things alone if they are working. If weight loss continues on tomorrow morning then I will know that eggs are definitely a stall for me.
So lets get through these last 2 days and see where we end up. On Tuesday I will be sharing my overall results with changes in Weight, Inches lost, change in Body Fat%, Muscle, and Visceral Fat. If you are unfamiliar with Visceral Fat we will be touching on that in a future post but for now lets just stick to the simple stuff.
We’ll see you back here tomorrow for more updates!
