Bulletproof Two Week Protocol Wrap-up

So, this weekend marks the end of a couple of things...1) The end of the Bulletproof diet two week protocol (plus one week) and 2) the end of my first two weeks of Vineman training.

Bulletproof Two Week Protocol + 1 Week

The author of the Bulletproof diet claims that you can lose up to a pound a day, that didn't happen for me. To be honest, I have about 8-10 pounds to lose, so I didn't expect to see a big loss on the scale. I expect a battle to get the last several pounds off that will probably take several months.

Since I felt things were inconclusive at the end of the Two Week Protocol, I decided to give it another week...just to see if the scale continued to move down. I started the diet on Saturday Dec. 27 at 147 pounds. I ended the diet on Friday, January 9 at 143 pounds. Not bad...but I kept going with the diet to see what would happen...

On Monday, January 12, I was up to 146-1/2. It's not unusual for me to be up a bit after the weekend (long workouts and snacking) so I wasn't worried. It would normalize in a couple of days.

On Tuesday, I was up to 147-1/2...I was starting to get concerned because I had been eating very cleanly. On Wednesday, I was up to 148-1/2...NOT GOOD.

Bulletproof Positives

Regardless of the weight issues, I did notice some non-weight related positives:

• I slept through the night...a good deep sleep
• I woke up clear headed with no brain fog
• I felt energized throughout the day and was able to focus and be extremely productive

Back to the Diet

Unfortunately, these positives dissipated as I started my second week of Vineman training. After my trainer ride on Tuesday evening, I climbed off the bike and thought "I don't want to do this again" and that is unusual for me. I typically LOVE my workouts and look forward to the next one. I started waking up in the middle of the night and tossing and turning for 1-2 hours. My brain fog returned and I felt lethargic.

Something Needs to Change

I revisited some of the things I was doing and not doing that the diet required.

1. Eat 3 times a day - Check
2. Drink Bulletproof Coffee for breakfast everyday - Check
3. Cut out fruit and bad starches - Sort of...had a cheat day, but I did cut out Coke Zero and candy
4. Day 6 & 13 no protein - Nope, only did day 6, forgot about day 13
5. Eat lunch and dinner within a 6-hour window - Nope, lunch is at 12pm and my workouts make it hard to make the 6-hour window...especially on swim nights.

One of the biggest changes for me was only eating 3 meals a day. Normally I would have a mid morning snack and an afternoon snack. Since HS and I get up at 4am and eat within a half an hour, it is a long stretch to make it to lunch at noon. On top of that, as the days of training increased, I noticed that I felt like I was starving in the afternoons.

At that point, I made a decision to scrap the 3 meals a day and add mid day snack back to my routine. I also added a little more carbs back to my diet. On Wednesday, between my run and my swim, I chomped on some pretzel chips as we drove to the pool.

Thursday, my weight was down a pound, and Friday it was down one more. I'm not ready to write off the Bulletproof diet as ineffective, but I need to keep in mind that I am training for an endurance event and that some exceptions/changes will need to be made in order to have enough fuel in the tank for my workouts.

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