After Sparring: Gut Bacteria, the Two of You at the Fridge, and an Air Fryer for Broccoli (2019 Live)
In this recording
A 26-minute Live from June 2019, straight after a sparring day. I was out of breath, a bit swollen around one eye, and had been quieter in the group that week. It wanders: the first half is philosophy, the second half is an air fryer. It was never posted to YouTube.
- [0:00] Back from boxing, tired, doing some of my "10% better" work and getting my own things organized. I'd been taking time to do nothing: music, the couch, the backyard, "barely" meditating.
- [1:44] The struggle isn't sexy. Sometimes I know what I should be doing and don't do it, and sometimes I watch myself mess up and can see it happening.
- [2:36] That watching is a kind of meditation: one part of you observing the other part. The late-night refrigerator, the "abort, abort, put the chips back" voice.
- [3:49] People say "that wasn't the real me". I questioned whether there is one single "real me" to find.
- [4:28] A physics tangent: particles behaving as waves, space and time intermingled, event horizons. The more you zoom in or out, the more it looks the same.
- [5:32] By cell count, I said, there are more cells on and in you that aren't your DNA than are. You're a walking ecosystem.
- [6:15] Toxoplasmosis, from cat litter, which I said tends to make people take more risks. Then I described mouse studies where, as I told it, fecal transplants flipped risk-taking and risk-averse behaviour.
- [7:34] I said people have been found to take more risks after antibiotics, and wondered whether gut bacteria push our behaviour to keep themselves alive.
- [8:11] I suggested a bad week might be your gut bacteria having a bad week, and that this might be why mood gets better on keto for some people and worse for others: it disrupts the gut flora, and I said it goes well for most people but not all.
- [8:51] The me that ate the cake and the me that watched me eat the cake. There are at least two of you in there, plus everything living in you.
- [10:04] Group decisions are compromises, and a good compromise means nobody got exactly what they wanted. That's how my own wants feel some weeks.
- [10:59] I disagreed with a comedian's line that you have to justify your existence. A tangent on plastic: useful in hospitals, a mess in the ocean. Whatever you do leaves some mess, eating and not eating included.
- [12:29] Facebook irritated me both ways: posts about being blessed, posts about being angry. Then the other voice: who chose to open Facebook right now?
- [13:58] A viewer brought up entropy. I pushed back a little: things also self-organise, like snowflakes.
- [14:44] Boxing as an outlet. I sparred a beginner and a bigger, fitter guy, and got compliments on footwork and body shots, two things I'm self-conscious about as a heavier fighter.
- [15:36] Keeping any order takes constant energy. I said I'd try to be more consistent.
- [16:05] I answer direct messages and tags even when I'm not posting. On low-motivation days, answering biology questions is something straightforward I can still do.
- [16:50] If you smell like vinegar or nail polish, I said that's acetoacetate, one of the ketones, coming out. It means you're doing it right, but I called it the danger zone for keto rash: keep your skin dry and shower.
- [17:26] The air fryer. People on Stall Breaker complain about broccoli, and a lot of you eat nasty broccoli. Microwave steamer bags leave it smelling like feet in a pile of green water. You're trying to lose weight, not punish yourself: drive the water off in a hot pan, a hot oven or the air fryer.
- [18:04] I thought I was buying a pressure-cooker combo and got a plain air fryer. Still glad I bought it.
- [18:26] A coconut-oil spray worked well on the broccoli because it foams and clings. I'm after low-skill ways to use it.
- [18:43] It's easier to clean than I expected and good for one or two people. My 4-quart one is too small to crowd: six or seven wings, yes; 25 wings for a family, no.
- [19:45] The rack is meant for dehydrating, and the heating element and fan sit above the food, so splatter makes smoke. A pork chop with its fat cap smoked enough that I needed the vent hood.
- [20:47] It's a decent "hot kitchen" for an apartment with a bad oven or a dorm room. With a convection double oven it's a bit redundant for me, though it circulates harder and crisps faster.
- [21:14] Vegetables give off water, so the tips burn before the middle dries out. I guessed the lower roast setting, around 350, would do vegetables better than air-fry, around 375–390. More trials to come.
- [22:20] I'd bought a pile of processed cauliflower and broccoli fries and tots to try. I wasn't excited about them, but they're convenient if someone misses tater tots.
- [22:56] A coaching pitch: a year for $960 with three free months, a separate text line, meal-planning help. I said that in Pennsylvania I'm a life coach, not a diet coach or nutritionist.
- [23:56] Why it's called Keto Basic: the things at the core of most traditions, like mindfulness, rest, hydration, self-forgiveness. Mostly things you already know you should be doing.
- [24:36] If you aren't doing them, look for the root: habits, discipline, self-destruction, depression, or fear of succeeding.
- [24:55] My ribs still hurt from a spinning back kick the week before. Signing off: message me if you're struggling, because answering gives me something useful to do.
Watching this in 2026
This is a Live from a low week, and it sounds like one. The useful parts are short: noticing the "two of you" at the fridge, the broccoli advice, and the list of root causes at the end.
On the gut, the direction I gave holds up better than my examples. A 2020 study in people and mice (Ang et al., 2020) found a ketogenic diet shifted the gut microbiome, with fewer bifidobacteria. So "keto disrupts your gut flora" is fair. The toxoplasmosis, mouse fecal-transplant, antibiotic and cell-count claims came from memory, and I can't back any of them: none is on the evidence pages I use now. Don't take them as findings, and don't read your own mood into them.
On the smell: ketone production makes three ketone bodies, acetoacetate, BHB and acetone (see the ketosis evidence page). The nail-polish smell is usually put down to acetone, not acetoacetate. I'd also leave out "keto rash" as a warning. The evidence pages don't cover it, and a smell isn't a reason to expect a rash.
At [12:05] I mentioned suicide in passing, inside the "everything leaves a mess" tangent. If that's close to home for you, call or text 988 in the US, any time.
The coaching price and the "maybe a company will send me free stuff" joke at [22:42] I'd cut now. This community should stay free of sponsors and sales talk.
Key points
- Watching yourself reach for the chips is the start of changing it, not a failure.
- A ketogenic diet does change the gut microbiome; I can't back the more dramatic gut-and-mood examples here.
- Get the water off steamed broccoli: hot pan, oven or air fryer, so the plan doesn't feel like punishment.
- A small air fryer suits one or two people; use a lower setting for watery vegetables.
- When you know what to do and don't do it, look for the root: habits, depression, self-sabotage.
Related
- Videos: Stall Breaker · 10% happier habits · what ketosis feels like · willpower vs habits
- Blog: keto and the gut microbiome · signs you're in ketosis · keto-labelled products · meal prep for beginners
- Guide: what ketosis is · breaking a stall · eating disorders
- Story: ten percent happier · nine-sixty a year