Something To Chew On

September 10-16, 2018

By Becca Bona

becca@dailydata.com

… is this Keto friendly?

Recently, I looked in the mirror and realized the unfortunate truth … I was pudgier than I’ve ever been. I immediately went through the list of excuses. I’m still overcoming that injury (and if you’re wondering if this is the ankle injury from March of 2017, you’re correct), it’s too hot to work out in the summer, there’s not enough time in the day to meal plan.

You know the drill.

In fact, if you add beer and lack of motivation to that list, well then, there I was – one extra-pudgy writer. My family and friends were sweet, telling me I looked fine, and while they might have been right, I still wanted to get back to being more comfortable with my body.

I’m a (somewhat) fit person, or at least I tell myself I am. When I’m taking the time to actively walk and eat healthy throughout the week, I usually feel better. Plus, it’s easier to sleep and manage stress.

That was the simple goal when my boyfriend and I decided to try Keto – for me to get back on track and to ultimately feel a little better in my own skin.  

Before starting, I spent a few weeks doing research. It turns out, there are a lot of people out there on the Keto diet for one reason or another, and because of such, people have a lot to say about it.

Keto – the extremely low carb diet that shocks your body into ketosis (in which you burn fat/ketones instead of carbs/glucose for energy), is literally all the rage on the internet these days. (Although some will tell you that it’s just the Atkins diet, rebranded, and they’re not 100 percent wrong.)

I found success stories of those who lost more than 10 lbs. in the very first week, those who were 30 lbs. down and still in the heart of the journey, and those who wanted to know why they’d gained weight on Keto.

This was sort of overwhelming to me. I read a few horror stories about people who found themselves “light-headed and achy” and “prone to mood swings” and I was concerned my boyfriend and I might not make it out alive.

I bought a cookbook that was five-ingredients or less and took 30-minutes or less per meal (desserts included). I should say – this was a great asset to have, especially when navigating something that was so foreign to me. A high fat, low carb diet goes against everything I’ve ever been taught.

In order to make sure we were doing a pretty “clean” version of the diet (i.e., not eating bacon wrapped mozzarella cheese sticks and so on), we had to meal plan for the entire week, which has been a money and time saver.

We did, however, struggle through a fog for the first week or so – caffeine affected us differently, and salt was a necessity – I’m talking electrolytes.

As we come to the end of this journey, I’m glad that we tried it out. Keto forced me to really listen to my body. Am I thirsty? Am I hungry? Did I get enough sleep last night? These are all questions I was asking to make sure my body was getting what it needed, but I wasn’t asking or checking in on myself before, when food was rushed and I just crammed whatever was available into my mouth.

Now, that being said, I can’t wait to eat fruit again. I’m not sure about diets that are extremely restrictive – and while that’s just my opinion – there’s something to be said about naturally occurring sugars and carbs, versus the processed ones.