Two
months ago, after deciding that with my 30th birthday
coming up next year it was finally time to get serious about my
health and my goals, I (along with my mom) decided to go on
the Ketogenic Diet. The Ketogenic Diet, or Keto Diet, is a low-carb,
moderate-protein, high-fat diet where you essentially retrain your
body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose. I won't go into major
details about what the diet is or how it really works because I'm
definitely not an expert. But if you are interested in learning more
there are tons of websites and resources online that will explain it
much better than I can. What I want to talk about in this post are
the things I've learned since starting Keto. It's been an interesting
two months to say the least, but I feel like I've learned so much
about my body and what I'm capable of. In these past eight weeks I've
gained a whole new awareness of my relationship with food and feel
like I've gained so much along with losing 15lbs. Here are eleven
things I learned in my first two months on Keto:
To
Forget What I've Been Taught About Dieting
Most
people will tell you that to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle
you need to incorporate more fruits and veggies and less fats into
your diet. While that might work for some people, there can be a
tremendous amount of carbs and sugar in fruit and some so-called
healthier foods. The Keto diet is about teaching your body to burn
fat for energy instead of sugars and carbs. It means that you can
have bacon, butter and cheese but not oranges or potatoes. That might
sound counter-intuitive to some people and my first instinct was to
not go too crazy on fats. It just felt...weird. Like I was doing
something bad. But eventually you learn to forget what you've been
told about what is “healthy” partially through doing lots of
research for yourself and partially through results. Don't get me
wrong, I still try to incorporate as many non-starchy vegetables in
my diet as possible because they're crucial for nutrients and I just
enjoy them. But learning to change your mindset about what is “good”
and what is “bad” does take a bit of time.
Tracking
What You Eat Makes Things Much Simpler
Trying
to count carbs and make sure that everything I eat in a day stays
under 20g of net carbs would be much harder if I had to calculate
everything in my head. I began using the MyFitnessPal app when I
started Keto and it's been a godsend when it comes to keeping track
of what I'm eating and where I stand for the day. I thought it might
feel very tedious to track all of my meals but it really only takes a
second and I feel like I'm so much more aware of what I'm putting in
my body now and what my portions should really be like. I feel like
portion sizes are something people constantly overlook and I was a
big offender before starting Keto. Tracking also helps keep me
accountable. I know that if I have a snack or have an extra piece of
something I'm going to have to account for that. It's greatly helped
me cut down on my propensity for snacking.
Weigh
Yourself, Even If You Hate To
I'm
the kind of person who absolutely hates stepping on a scale. I guess
most people are like that really. No one wants to be confronted by a
number that often dictates how they feel about their body and
sometimes even their self-worth. For me, wanting to lose weight has
always been more about how I wanted to feel in my clothing and in my
skin, and just being healthier rather than reaching a certain goal
number. So, for the longest time, even if I was trying to lose weight
and working out I never weighed myself. And although that's a
personal preference, here's why I should have just weighed myself
anyway. Weighing yourself at the start and periodically throughout
any weight loss journey is important because it helps you gauge
progress. Even if you don't care a lot about the actual numbers,
seeing the number actually go down gives you a little thrill and a
burst of encouragement. Another reason why weighing yourself is
important is because most tracking apps use your weight to gauge
progress or to establish how much you should be eating in a day. The
reason I actually initially weighed myself was to calculate how many
grams of carbs, protein and fat I should be eating in a day on Keto
and to set up my MyFitnessPal account. Trust me, even if you really
don't want to track the numbers, it'll really help give you
perspective and a more tangible idea of how your body is changing.
And if it seems like the numbers aren't changing at the rate that you
want, don't get discouraged. Sometimes the scale won't move. But that
doesn't mean the changes aren't happening. Trust your body.
Don't
Compare Yourself To Others
It's
easy to look at Keto forums and blogs, see all these amazing success
stories and imagine that you'll be losing 30lbs in your first month.
I'm sure for some people that does happen. But you have to take into
consideration that person's starting point and acknowledge that every
body is different. I've been on Keto for 2 months now and have lost a
total of 15lbs. It's not a tremendous amount. But I see the changes
in my body, feel how loose my clothes have become and how things that
didn't fit me before can now be buttoned easily. It might not be the
same amount that some other people are losing, but the point is I AM
LOSING WEIGHT. I focus on that wonderful detail and the fact that I
feel healthier, and more confident and proud of myself every day. You
really shouldn't ever compare yourself to others or judge your
successes against theirs. That's just good general life advice. But
it's especially important when starting Keto to not allow yourself to
get discouraged or to give up because you feel like it's not the
magical fix you imagined. Like with anything, consistency is key. You
just have to trust that you'll continue to see results, because you
will.
Always
Keep Your Goal In Mind
I
think such a big part of sticking to a diet has to do with having the
right mindset going into it and knowing why you're doing it. I've
tried eating healthy before, though not using any specific diet
plans, but I feel like as much as I wanted to lose weight I always
got thrown off track because I made excuses and allowances for
myself. I'd say something like “One piece of this won't hurt” or
“A glass of soda isn't going to make much of a difference”. But
the problem was that once I made that excuse for myself, I just fell
back into my old habits within a week or so. My first few weeks on
Keto I would sometimes crave sweets when I was hungry and was even
confronted with a cheesecake at my cousin's birthday dinner. But
whenever that happened I just focused on why I had decided to start
Keto in the first place. The goal that I want to achieve by my 30th
birthday next March. Remembering how I want to take pride in that
achievement and how, as delicious as I'm sure that cheesecake was, it
was a temporary pleasure and would just keep me from accomplishing my
goal. I know myself and I know my history. For me, being strict with
myself and setting clear boundaries keeps me on track much better
than giving myself some wiggle room. For this reason I remind myself,
my goals and my health are worth more than a piece of cheesecake.
You
Won't Miss Things As Much As You Think You Will
I
honestly don't think I ever would have gone on a low-carb diet had it
not been that my mom started it with me and she wanted to reduce her
carb intake. I never would have thought myself capable. Carbs were my
life, bread was my greatest love affair. A meal without carbs seemed
like blasphemy. I never thought a low-carb diet would have been
viable for me long term. Hell, I once gave up bread and chocolate for
2 weeks because of a promise I made and that felt like
torture. But somehow with starting Keto, it really wasn't the
struggle I expected it to be. The trick was to come up with
acceptable alternatives. You don't really have to completely cut out
meals you love. You just have to find alternatives for the
carb-loaded parts and work around them. Having a burger without a bun
would have seemed like sacrilege to me before but once it's loaded up
with avocado, bacon and cheese, I don't actually feel deprived. I
truly expected to feel deprived on Keto and honestly I just don't. I
think another trick is to focus on all the things you can have
rather than the things you can't. If you're enjoying what you're
eating you're not really bemoaning the things that you can't have, if
that makes sense.
You're
Much More Likely To Crave Something Bad When You're Hungry
When
starting off I sometimes noticed that I'd start thinking about
chocolate chip cookies while just sitting on my computer. I'd be
sitting there, doing something, and the thought would just pop into
my head. Sometimes my mind would wander to random thoughts of pizza
slices I'd once enjoyed but could no longer. And I noticed that in
all of these instances my mind seemed to be drawn to those thoughts
because I was hungry. So, instead of eating the bad things I had been
thinking about I would get up and make myself a Keto-friendly meal.
And every single time the thoughts would stop. Eventually those
thoughts stopped all together and now I just don't crave things in
the way that I used to when I ate carbs and sugar. So, sometimes it's
not really a carb craving, just plain old hunger.
Everything
Tastes Sweeter When You Aren't Eating Sugar
Another
thing that I was never really able to do before was drink my coffee
without sugar. It just seemed wrong and frankly, a bit gross. I was
always a fan of both milk and dark chocolate but could never really
eat chocolate with over 70% cacao because it always kind of tasted
like dirt to me. My body was just so used to the sugar that it craved
it. With starting Keto and eliminating sugar from my diet, things
like drinking my coffee black and eating 85% cacao dark chocolate
became not only doable but way more enjoyable than I would have
imagined. Things that once tasted bitter and unappetizing actually
started to taste sweeter. It was like I could appreciate the
sweetness in things more easily because my body wasn't so inundated
in sugar. It's a pretty interesting experience.
To
Savor My Food
I feel
like I enjoy my food so much more now on Keto than I ever did before.
It has nothing to do with the types of food, but rather my mindset
about my meals. I feel like I have a new awareness of what is in my
food and what the benefits are. I'm much more conscious of what I'm
eating and what portion sizes should be like. But I also seem to
savor my meals much more than I ever did before. Even if I'm just
having a simple mixed salad or some chicken, I feel like I take more
time enjoying my meal and really taking in the flavors. Maybe there's
a physical reason for this...like with the sugar. Maybe something
about the diet has changed the way my food actually tastes to me. But
I've definitely noticed that I've been commenting a lot more on how
great my food tastes, sometimes multiple times within a meal. It's
such an odd change to notice, but I never really savored my food the
way I do now.
To
Switch Things Up
A
surefire way to get incredibly bored with a diet is to eat the same
thing day in and day out. It's repetitive and uninspiring, and can
quickly make you feel a bit trapped and limited. For this reason, I
try to switch up our dinners every night and incorporate some family
favorites, like fajitas, once a week. I was never really good with
eating vegetables as a kid but now that I'm on Keto my body craves
them. So, I'm constantly looking for new and interesting recipes that
will work in vegetables I actually like or make ones I'm not as into
tastier and more appealing to my palette. I've also made several
different Keto desserts in the past two months, all with different
degrees of success. Switching it up has helped me find some recipes
that really work well for me and that have become instant favorites.
It's been an integral part of making sure I don't feel deprived and
contemplate giving up.
The
Importance of Electrolytes
When
you start Keto your body starts to flush out a lot of the water that
has been stored. This results in people losing a lot of water weight
right off the bat. Along with the water, your body also flushes out
electrolytes at a much higher rate than it did before. For this
reason it is often recommended that you replenish your electrolytes
(Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium) daily to avoid side effects. People
can experience headaches, dizziness, brain fog, lethargy, leg cramps
and even heart palpitations if they don't get enough electrolytes.
Personally, I didn't really experience “Keto Flu” in the way that
most people describe it. There were no flu-like symptoms. There were
some random days when I guess that my electrolyte intake from my diet
was low (I wasn't supplementing my electrolytes when I started
out) and I experienced a headache or some dizziness. And on two
occasions I've experienced heart palpitations or an instance where my
heart was beating way too fast. These symptoms can all easily be
remedied by taking my magnesium supplement and getting some extra
sodium and potassium (I put some Lite Salt in water with lemon and
just chug it). I've quickly learned that a lot of the negative
things you experience on Keto can easily be remedied by drinking some
more water and upping your electrolyte intake.
Suffice
it to say that for the most part I've felt wonderful since starting
Keto. I'm really enjoying the whole process and getting to know a new
side of myself and of my body. I feel like the experience has been so
much better and easier than I ever expected it to be. I might not be
shedding pounds as quickly as some people have on Keto, but I'm
getting there slowly but surely. I also think it's important to note
that to start off I wanted to see how much I could lose with diet
alone and have not yet incorporated any exercise into my routine. I'm
looking forward to experimenting a bit and seeing what my body is
capable of and what I can accomplish. Making my health a priority has
been one of the most fulfilling parts of this past year.
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