INTERESTING
A few months month back my wife was thinking about trying the Keto diet and she asked me what I knew about it, admittedly not much. I knew that it was a low carb, high fat diet but that was about it. She knew a few people that tried it and had some good success with it in terms of weight loss. So I figured I’d join her and we'd do this diet together for a month and let’s see what happens.
A quick summary on what the Keto diet is:
It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat instead of carbs for energy. The keto diet calls for consuming high amounts of fat, a moderate amount of protein, and a very limited amount of carbs. It’s usually broken down to 75, 20, and 5 percent of your daily calories, respectively; Compare that with the typical American diet which is usually 50 to 65 percent carbs.
The majority of your diet will consist of foods such as meat, fish, eggs, butter, nuts, healthy oils, avocados and plenty of low-carb veggies.
You are to avoid carb-based foods like grains, sugars, legumes, rice, potatoes, candy, juice and even most fruits.
Some claimed benefits are:
Weight loss
Lowers blood sugar and insulin levels
Provide health benefits with metabolic, neurological and insulin-related diseases
Increase mental focus and energy
Reduce hunger
Risks or potential down sides of the Keto Diet:
Keto Flu- I did not experience this but it is described as flu like symptoms usually lasting a few days.
Loss of strength and endurance in the gym
Eating bad fats could and will increase the risk of heart disease and bad cholesterol
When you stop being on the Keto diet, you will gain the weight back.
What I Liked:
Having someone to do this with
I don't know if I would have been able to complete the entire month if I wasn't doing this with my wife. There were definitely times I wanted to quit however being there for each other, I believe, helped both of us.
Not having to change all that much
I didn't have to add many different foods to my diet. This also includes the snacks that I would have that would include pieces of meat, cheese, boiled eggs and nuts. My wife on the other hand had a more difficult time because she had to change everything she thought about eating. Just like many people, she loves carbs. Most of her meals and snacks consisted of carbs.
Seeing results and not being always hungry
My main objective when starting this was to shed a couple of pounds. And that happened immediately without having to starve myself and having to increase the amount of time in the gym.
What I Disliked:
The Meal Prep
Just like most diets, meal prep is key. Having your meals and snacks prepped are so important in being compliant with your diet. If it's not readily available you will be more susceptible to cheating.
Restrictive Diet
I was only on this for a month and I was getting tired of the eating the same things over and over again. There are a lot of recipes and meals out there to switch things up but I feel like it shouldn’t be difficult or stressful to make a healthy meal.
The Expense
We spent more money on groceries this month. I knew that there was going to be an initial increase in the grocery bill with just getting started but I feel like the foods that we were buying and all the different substitutes (almond and coconut flour, almond milk etc.) were more expensive.
Keeping track of your food:
Even though the app I used made it pretty easy, it did get annoying before every meal putting everything in. Unfortunately a must do because it would have been easy to over consume on carbs.
Overall impression:
Not something I would try again. I was glad to see that I was able to stick with something and that I do have some will power when it comes to saying no to sweets and desserts. I was happy to lose 10# but was that because I was in "ketosis" or was it because I ate healthier foods and took out all unnecessary sugars and carbs in my diet?
Most diets will work as long as you are consistent and stick to them. The keto diet I believe would be good for people who are overweight or diabetic. Not so good for people whose goal is to add muscle mass, weight and to increase athletic performance. In the end there is no magic diet, eat healthy, have an occasional cheat meal, exercise regularly, drink lots of water and get a good night’s sleep. You can be fit, lean and healthy without the keto diet.
Thank you for taking the time in reading this blog. Hope you and yours have a wonderful thanksgiving and holiday season.
Michael Lopes ATC, CSCS
