That’s where I’m at food wise to date .

My observations ,

1. My Fitbit app that estimates calorie burn indicates a general calorie deficit- not sure how accurate this is .
2. Satiety is strong – ie no feelings of hunger or cravings . No ” willpower ” required when one is largely carnivorous
3. I have breakfast before my ride ( not normal for me ) and do not eat anything till after the destination reached . Never been a believer in having to snack on the bike or have energy supplements
4. I think my metabolism is fairly well fat adapted now .

Left Bourke good and early with a headwind forecast and 135 kms to push through till a small roadhouse inn at a spot called BARRINGUN. The inn is just shy of the NSW QL BORDER .

The head winds and a sore Glut muscle made for a long and uncomfortable ride so I was very pleased to finally arrive .

Views of the Darling river from Bourke North

This place is run by a kiwi lady , name of Jan. She cooked me up this wonderful carnivore feed and was able to resist the urge to place some random member of the plant family on the plate . It went down like a treat and a short time there after my head was on a pillow and I was into blissful deep sleep 😴

the country changed from the drought afflicted area from Dubbo up to Bourke . After crossing into Queensland the effect of some rains , not long ago , are plain to see. The countryside is grassing up and farmers will be thinking of restocking . It’s been so bad the most of the Roo population has simply died .

Second day was a 120 km run into the town of Cunnamulla. About 15 kms from town a rear spoke broke . I pulled it free and limped into town deciding to effect the repair later . Thankfully I do have some spare spokes , but I’m now a little worried that this may keeping happening . We’ll see.

Cunnamulla fella

This striking bronze site in the town centre . Commissioned in 2003 by the local shire it immortalises a famous song sung by the legend Slim Dusty . The words from the song ,

Well I’m a scrubber runner and a breaker too,

I live on damper and Wallaby stew,

I’ve got a big cattle dog with a staghounds cross ,

I never saw a scrubber he couldn’t toss,

Cause I’m the fella from Cunnamulla,

Yes I’m the Cunnamulla fella

Food log

Fasting glucose 5.7

Ketones .7

Still on a caloric deficit with current intake. Have not been eating any food on the ride , just the decent breakfast before beginning . Energy levels very stable throughout the day . Zero hunger or cravings . Being fat adapted certainly makes this trip easier .

Post ride after dinner Ketones 1.8

Glucose 5.6

RIDE STATS

Some headwinds , so the average speed down but still pretty fast . Will be interesting to watch heart rate trends as they may be insightful if I get overextended – buggered .

Day 4 … a 78 km ride into Bourke.

Started day with some Beef Jerky and 4 fried eggs

Still in a calorie deficit . Surprising how the Carb content of some miscellaneous items adds up .

Day 5 — DAY OFF IN BOURKE

Stats of the ride into Bourke

Started my day with some fried up bacon with 3 eggs on top with some EV OLIVE oil

Day’s end in Nyngan I spoiled myself with a generous 800 gms of T Bone steaks .

Hit the spot

I’m using a The app CARB MANAGER to track all food consumed and the Fitbit app to get some handle on just what calorie consumption is .

Today’s breakdown

The data suggests I’m needing ( using ) lots of calories and in a calorie deficit over these last two days . Interesting fact is I am not experiencing any hunger at all . I’m a well adapted fat burner , been seriously carnivorous since December after being Keto for about 8 months . Current body fat is about 20 % so I have a bunch of energy in my main tank to draw down on till I get to the theoretical 15% mark that may be fairly ideal ( depending on your belief 😉)

So far feeling pretty good . Body handling the load well and bigger days will come with longer distances between possible stopping points .

My ride today was 92 kms – heavy rig total over 75 kgs plus me 🙄

A more general account of my adventure on my blog

http://www.whatisbruceupto.com

Was a good day on the road , just easing into the work . Today I had my first chance to get some handle on how rapidly the ebike batteries would drain on the fully loaded bike . I know that the total weight of the bike and all gear on both the bike and the trailer is something over 70 kgs 😱

What I learnt

1 . On my Eco +1 setting I will get close to 80 kms in this type of conditions ( road surface and lack of strong headwinds )

2 On the middle setting range will decrease to about 50 kms

3 SO — a total range of 240 kms using my three batteries and possibly further if I decrease to the econ setting

Nutrition

Started the day with 2 fried eggs with bacon , followed by a coffee at Narromine after about 35 kms . Had some cheese for a post ride lunch . 650 gm of Steak for dinner

Some ride data shows the ride in two halves . Higher speeds in the last 35 kms , ripping along in the mid 30’s .

Post ride blood glucose 5.7

Post ride Ketones .8

Food Macros today

A few carbs sneak in with the cappuccino milk , cheese and some Lindt 90% dark choc , but keeping it under 23 gms

I feel satisfied , fully satiated and not struggling ( so far ) with energy requirements, fatigue or any food cravings . Looks like I’m running a calorific deficit of about 1000 calories today but as a fully fat adapted metabolism I calculate I have about 40,000 surplus calories available before I need to worry about that . At that point I’d be at a theoretical ideal of body fat 15% for a male

Blog for Stats – ride stats – body stats . Food log , blood glucose , Ketones , heart rate , mental health . Data log .

Just preparing and packing the last of my many essential components for my big cycle ride that starts from Dubbo NSW on about 5 th or 6 th June.

My dietary experiment is about my choice of fuel for this trip . FAT ! — yes fat . I’m attempting to eat a primarily Fatty meat / animal based diet including some dairy and also eggs. I’m attempting to avoid all carbs with the obvious exception of the glycogen present in fresh meat .

True to say I’m fairly well trained / adapted to make this a straight forward reality . My metabolism is already what can be described as ” fat adapted ” . This means my body is used to providing energy to mitochondria via synthesis of fatty acids from food consumed and or body fat stores.

My inspiration for this approach is an arctic explorer named Vilhjalmur Stafansson who spent time living with Inuit ( Eskimos) way back in the early 1900’s . He demonstrated that a no carb diet of fish and meat with water is fundamentally consistent with robust good health . Further he went on to prove his point in a now famous year long experiment under close medical scrutiny when back in New York in 1928. The finding from this experiment were fully detailed and scientifically published and the results are still relevant to this day .

Current dietary dogma and conventional wisdom is pushing forward views that eating meat is harmful , linking it with all manner is chronic human diseases. Careful scrutiny of this ” associational epidemiology ” exposes it as very doubtful weak science ( association don’t prove causality) . If you haven’t been living under a rock you will or should also be aware that the role of saturated fat has been vindicated as the cause of CV risk and we should not be avoiding eating the fat with the lean. This aspect of conventional wisdom is still entrenched with current generations of dieticians and medics but is simply not supported by evidence based science.

In matters of diet ” conventional wisdom ” seems to be 90% convention 10% wisdom .

Stefansson was a prolific author and fortunately some of his books are available as ebooks and cheap too. He describes the role of an interesting meat based food called Pemmican in the history of North American discovery , exploration way back in the early days of the Hudson Bay Company . Developed by the Indians as a way of preserving meat for storage and travel . Ingredients are simple , Beef Fat and dried meat .

I have made myself some rations which I hope Aussy border control don’t confiscate when I arrive .

These packs have over 2200 calories – a days worth of nutrition and energy . They form my back up if I can’t buy suitable food along the route from road houses etc . I have 10 x 330 gm bags .

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton