Long-term Effects of a Ketogenic Paleo Diet combined with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for weight loss: A Case Report

This is a short summary of my weight loss story, which was published 2013 in the "Journal of Evolution and Health". I want to republish this here to increase the chance to inspire and help many more people around the world.

Enjoy! :-)

Introduction

This case report is based on a self-experiment using a ketogenic Paleo diet and HIIT workouts to reduce my body weight. 

The Paleo diet I adopted was based on the dietary habits of our prehistoric ancestors during the Paleolithic era of about 2.5 million years that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and grain-based diets. It excluded grains, modern processed foods, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, processed oils, refined sugar and refined salt.

The ketogenic diet is an isocaloric high fat, moderate protein and very low carbohydrate diet. The diet forces the body to use ketone bodies as primary fuel derived from fats (fat metabolism) instead of glucose derived from carbohydrates (glucose metabolism). HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is an exercise strategy with alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods.

Case Description

Past history: I had no weight problems for the most part of my life and in 2002 weighed approximately 76 kg (167 pounds, BMI of 21) at a height of 1.86 m (6.1 feet). At this time I smoked approximately 25 cigarettes per day. In early 2003 when my Mother was diagnosed with cancer, it was a shock to me. My mother was fighting against the cancer, but unfortunately she had lost the battle and died on 31.12.2004.

After her diagnosis I stopped smoking and started to overeat on foods, in particular “junk food”, as a way to treat my emotional stress and frustration. As a consequence, my weight steadily increased until in April 2012 I ended up with a body weight of 150 kg (330 pounds), a BMI of 43 and 40% body fat.

Starting the diet and exercise program: I started with a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) approach, in which decreasing the carbohydrates and increasing the protein and good fats in my diet was more important than food quality. The beginning was very difficult. Especially the early days of the "sugar withdrawal" (sugar and grain detox) were extreme, and choosing the right foods was a challenge. However, after 2 weeks on this altered dietary regime I already had lost 10 kg (22 pounds) of body weight and felt so good like never before in my life. I also discovered the joy of exercise doing functional HIIT bodyweight workouts using the Tabata Protocol (8 sets of 20s workload followed by 10s rest) three times a week. After 2 months, I had lost more than 20 kg (44 pounds) and after 12 months around 60 kg (132 pounds).

Starting a ketogenic Paleo diet: After 3 months on the LCHF diet I transitioned towards a ketogenic Paleo approach. It really was not easy as it took weeks to get into ketosis and to constantly adjust the diet (carbohydrates and proteins). The ketone bodies were first measured in the urine with Ketostix but later from the blood using a Ketometer which provides a much more accurate measure of “ketosis”.

Results and Conclusion

Administering a ketogenic Paleo diet for approximately one and a half years at present helped me to transition from an obese to a normal-weight person without any significant negative side effects.

Adjusting to the ketogenic Paleo diet led to subjectively noticeable health benefits:

• Significant weight loss of 70 kg (154 pounds) within 15 months
• Enhanced metabolic fat burning and gains of lean body mass
• Improved cognitive performance
• Stronger immune system
• Mental balance and general well-being
• No more food cravings
• No more heartburn
• No more snoring

The biggest difficulty was to implement my new habits into everyday life despite the social environment, which hardly accepted them. Today's environment with its supermarkets, fast food restaurants and processed foods does not make it easy for me. Nevertheless my approach worked for me because I had not to count calories and was able to enjoy unlimited amounts of natural foods that positively and noticeably influence my health.

Excerpt from Proceedings of the 1st annual symposium of the German Society for Paleo Nutrition held in 2013.

Publication: Journal of Evolution and Health

Might also be interesting on my Blog: 1 Year as a Paleo Freeletics Free Athlete – My Transformation Success Story