Last night some friends were in town, so a whole bunch of us met at our favorite local restaurant and bar. I usually don’t drink alcohol (including beer and wine) — although I have found that I can drink some red wine and stay in ketosis.
So, time for an experiment, where n=1. In other words, I’m going to change one variable, but the sample size is as small as possible, just me. This means: your mileage may vary. But it’s an interesting experiment to try!
I stuck with vodka last night, and I ate keto-friendly bar food, and I was still in ketosis this morning. I’m not going to advocate this approach, because I don’t feel exactly awesome this morning, but I’m still burning fat.
Some numbers:
- According to my trusty keto strips, I’m at about a 15 on the ketosis scale, which is actually slightly higher than the last few days (around 10 – 12, certainly below 15).
- My weight is up less than 1%.
That compares favorably with some other times I’ve indulged, especially when I drank wine and didn’t eat keto-friendly foods. In that case, my weight can go up almost 2% in 24 hours.
Today, I wasn’t up for fasting for a full 20 hours, or even 16. By noon, I was starving. I went for just under 14 hours of fasting from my last drink, before I had my typical lunch.
So one of the effects of drinking alcohol seems to be to trigger my appetite the next day, Not really a problem; I don’t have to fast 16+ hours every day. But I want to fast as much as possible, so drinking booze (in this case, vodka) makes it hard to do an otherwise easy daily fast for 16+ hours.
Here’s what I had for the party:
- 3 vodka drinks over about 3 hours: 2 martinis and one mixed drink with kombucha and bitters (that was good).
- Buffalo chicken wings with guacamole or bleu cheese dip.
- A massive Cobb’s salad, with more bleu cheese dressing.
I walked out of there pleasantly buzzed, not drunk, and pleasantly full, but not stuffed. I certainly didn’t feel deprived or like I missed out on the fun. I didn’t have any fries, or any other starches or anti-keto foods. It worked! I’m pleased with the lack of a hangover, and the surprising fact that I was still in ketosis this morning. I could use a few more hours of sleep, though.