Modified Atkins Diet

Have you heard of someone's diet being one-third bacon and them losing weight with no change in exercise? Well, if you're reading this, now you have! Let's start with the basics of the Modified Atkin's Diet (MAD), also known as the keto diet. I will be using terms interchangeably.

IMPORTANT: This is meant to educate. Because of potential side effects, it is a good idea to work with a doctor if you are going to try this diet.

What is the MAD/keto?

This diet is when your body turns fat into energy, rather than turning carbs into energy. This is possible by having a high fat intake and a very low amount of carbs. For example, I can only have 20 net carbs a day. Not per meal, per DAY.

What does the term "net carbs" mean?

Net carbs is a simple math equation (just subtraction, nothing crazy):

Total carbs - fiber - sugar alcohols* = net carbs

*Sugar alcohols are a sugar substitute that doesn't count towards daily carb intake.

What is the MAD used for?

I can't tell you everything it's used for but the two things I can confidently talk about are weight loss and epilepsy. It can be used to try to help treat people with epilepsy who are medication-resistant. That means the person is still having seizures after three or more unsuccessful medication trials.

What are some good keto foods?

Some of the best foods for the MAD are bacon, avocado, almost any type of meat, most vegetables (no potatoes, beans, or corn), cheese, and eggs. I don't like avocados unless they're in a smoothie, so my diet has a lot of bacon and eggs.

What about desserts?

While you can't have typical desserts on the keto diet, there are still options. There are keto ice creams, chocolate bars, and (my favorite) keto Reese's. They aren't name-brand but they're the same thing. There are other things too but those are just my more common desserts. They stay low in carbs by using sugar alcohols (such as erythritol, sucralose, and aspartame)for sweetness rather than sugar.

What side effects are there that were mentioned earlier?

A huge concern that doctors have when someone starts the keto diet is high cholesterol. It's extremely common due to the fact that most foods are bland. Many recipes make up for this flavorlessness by adding salt. Every three months, I am required to have bloodwork done. They check everything, including things I had never heard of. The main thing I hadn't heard of that's important is carnitine. Carnitine helps your body to convert fat into energy when there's not enough glucose to use to function. I wasn't getting enough of it in my diet and need to take four pills of levocarnitine (a supplement) so my body has enough.

Another pretty common side effect (I'm lucky it hasn't been an issue so far) is constipation. My dietician told me to use a laxative if I don't poop for three days. She also asks about it at each appointment, every three months.

Now, the hard part...

If you are the only one in your residence doing the MAD and other people live there, it is really hard to maintain and slip-ups are really easy. I know this from experience. For the first eight months, I was doing a great job. I had very few cravings after the first two weeks when all I wanted was pasta and sugar. In the middle of October, eight months in, my mom bought seasonal donuts. I wanted them so bad that I ate three donuts. A couple of days later I had a seizure. Then, I had another the next day. Even before I started the MAD, they didn't happen that frequently. I struggled after messing up for almost two weeks and eventually reached out to my dietician. I wanted to get back on track but lost faith in myself.

When I met with her, I asked how common it is for someone to do great for a long time but then slip up. Apparently, that happening is very common. She reminded me of some resources that I was told about in February when we started working together.

My favorite resource:

The other resource she told me about that I didn't start using until recently:

I'm sharing these resources because there are some delicious recipes and you don't need to be on the MAD to try some new recipes.

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If you try any of the recipes, I would LOVE to know which ones and how they were. I haven't tried them all, I gravitate to a few different ones, depending on what meat I'm craving and what I have at home to cook with.