Rule Three: Don't Be A Psycho

It's Not a Purity Test

Friends and family are more important than weight loss or experiments.

Eating with people on strict diets is a pain in the arse.

If you're trying to do something using willpower, then it's important not to break.

I have willpower in spades if I need it.

I once gave up smoking for a bet. Put my cigar out mid-sentence, and didn't smoke again for exactly a month. No nicotine substitutes or anything like that.

It was a matter of honour, so no sneaky ones while no-one was around.

Once I'd collected, after a month with no nicotine, physical addiction a memory, I lit up again. Quite confident that I could do it again any time I liked.

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But nothing I'm trying here is a purity test.

Either PUFAs are bad, or they aren't. Either I'm intolerant to sulphites, or I'm not.

Either ex150(ish) is a good way to lose weight or it isn't.

PUFAs might be bad, but if so, it's certainly not immediately obvious, or we would already know. You’re going to need lots of them, long term. A few here and there won’t do any significant harm.

I probably am intolerant of sulphites. (Not allergic to!!)

I had a test skinful of spirits, a massive session like in the old days, and had no more of a hangover than I would have got when I was thirty, so I'm pretty sure I don't have an alcohol intolerance.

On the other hand I got two days of headache and nausea after half a jar of maraschino cherries. Which would not have happened back in the day. I love the things.

But it doesn't take much willpower to avoid eating something that you know is going to do you immediate harm. Checking labels is a pain, but you quickly get the hang of the sorts of things to avoid.

It may or may not be true that ex150's seemingly magical effect is mediated by ketosis.

If there's something wrong with your metabolism, but it works properly on ex150, then very possibly switching over to the back-up system is what's doing it.

A few carbs might well take you out of ketosis. Possibly for a few days, as you regain all your glycogen stores and then burn them off again.

That might cause electrolyte deficiencies and headaches (not sure...) but from a weight loss point of view it's at worst losing a few days of the magical effect.

So there's no need to be a psycho.

If you're eating out with friends or family, or going to someone's house for dinner, don't be one of those people who ends up eating an undressed salad and making everyone else uncomfortable.

And even more so, don’t avoid doing such things in the first place!

Enjoy yourself, enjoy what your friends have made for you, and keep your most important relationships intact.

It's not a purity test! Either it works or it doesn't. The Lord of Hosts isn't going to strike you down for some small deviation from the rules.

At worst you lose a couple of days of the effect, or give yourself a headache.

Rule Three: Don't be a Psycho.