Last year I decided to try the Keto diet. I’ve tried almost every diet at least once and this was no exception. The trip to stock up for this diet was one of the last shopping trips me and my mum took together and I don’t know- it makes the two things connected in my mind.
I didn’t weigh myself on this diet so I don’t know if I lost weight and how much- for people that are interested in that. I measured my waist and I lost 6 inches off my waist in the three weeks I was on this.
I kept a daily log for the first week of my feelings and roughly what I ate to track my macros.
Day 1- I had this crazy idea to wake up super early and SEIZE THE DAY. In reality, I woke up super early and spent the next two hours walking around in a confused daze. Tired me was tired and tired me makes bad decisions so I hauled my ass back to bed.
It’s 3.30- I’ve had a nap and feel more exhausted then ever. I’m starting to think this is the diet and not waking up one hour earlier. I feel foggy and exhausted and my head feels like it weighs a ton. I’ve had like 2g of carbs so maybe eating lunch will help. I’m not hungry though but I’m very tired
Day 2- started the day normally and by the time afternoon came, I was EXHAUSTED- had a nap and felt slightly better
Day 3- I was hungry- I even dreamt of being hungry
Day 4- I woke up hungry, but once I ate - I was good- water started tasting sweet- did my Google’s and found that it’s a sign of ketones in the blood- ate and water went back to tasting normal which was fine by me- couldn’t finish lunch and couldn’t eat again rest of the day- wasn’t tired or sleepy - had energy and motivation. Prepped chia seed pudding with coconut milk- the thing is I don’t like things that taste like coconut - so I mean we’ll see.if I wasn’t doing this for a story, I would have straight up started exiting
Day 5- cravings hit HARD. Im not hungry but I’m highly unsatisfied- after snacking on almonds and cheddar, I’m like ??? I’ve had coffee, a salad, chia seed pudding and lots of water
I want caaaarbs
Woke up in the middle of the night because I kept having the sensation of ants crawling under my feet- lord when does all of this end- Googled what it was and took a magnesium tablet - eventually, I drift off to sleep and when I wake up it’s fine
Day 7- at some point in the evening, my joint starts aching - some googling again and realise that it’s probably Uric acid- need to really up my water intake and be deliberate about drinking my 3 litres
Day 8- wake up, NOT HUNGRY! Whoop
So, the main feature of Keto after day 8 was that I was hardly ever hungry. I stopped it when I started going whole days without eating. I hated the feel of fat in my throat so much, and I couldn’t face another thing that wasn’t carbs. At the beginning, having butter or cream in coffee was fun but I got sick of that after a few days and switched to homemade almond milk. On my very last day on the diet, the only thing I had all day was coffee and I just thought, enough of this.
I tried to be really creative with my meals and made things like almond pancakes, chia seed pudding and frozen yoghurt- things I had never made before. I actually also ate more fruit and veg than usual because they were the only carbs I was having (while still staying under 20g of net carbs). It also turned me off dairy in coffee forever and I haven’t been able to go back to having my coffee with any dairy in it. Saying that, butter in coffee might sound gross, but when it’s blended, it’s really just the same as cream.
I can see why it’s so popular though- After I adjusted to it, I craved nothing. Food just didn’t interest me very much (I don’t know how much of it was the diet and how much of it was that I’m not all that crazy about meat and fat).
I don’t see myself doing it again but I can see it being a very good diet for people that are struggling to wean themselves off sugary processed food.
I would also suggest doing adequate research to make sure things like fibre and veg targets are reached rather than eating lots of fried processed food and artificial sweeteners.
Have you tried Keto? What did you think?