My First Week of Keto

Thinking of trying keto? Scared of what your first week might look like as your body adjusts to the changes of diet? Well I'm here to at least share some of my personal experiences with you in hopes of easing some anxiety about starting the new regimen. Because why not, and maybe someone'll benefit from some helpful little tricks I've picked up!

I'm not going to bore anyone with the details of what the keto diet is or how to make a meal plan, because I'm not a nutritionist, and there's a TON of amazing articles and information you can find all over the internet, going into much more science than I ever could. I read about this for a week before deciding that I could even give it a try.

I'd also like to highlight that there are a few different types of the keto diet, and although I'm a little more lax than some of the die-hard keto dieting people, I'm still seeing amazing results with less restrictions.

Let's get on with it!

1. Weight

I figured I'd just put this first and get through with it since I'm sure it's the first thing on most people's minds when starting the diet. At day 7, I have dropped 8.7lbs. Now we all do have to remember that this is the body's period of adjusting, so it's normal to sluff off weight in the beginning in a larger amount, then have the weightloss become more gradual.

Also noting that I've been walking about 5km every two days, but that is the ONLY "workout" that I'm doing.

2. Wellbeing

I can't believe how HAPPY I am. I've found that this diet is not as restrictive as I thought it would be, and I can easily see myself keeping up with it for months to come. My body's adapted to it well, and I'm surprised to have not experienced the 'keto flu' as popularly written.

I experienced some bloating and stomach discomfort around day 3, but again that's to be expected since I came from a much higher carb diet.

Unlike normal me, I've been motivated lately to practice meditation and yoga. I feel like I'm actually more in tune with my body since I'm nourishing it properly and giving it what it's been craving.

3. Attention/Sleep/Energy

I have had the worst time sleeping lately. It could be combined with the emotional stressors of being under quarantine or the current pandemic, but it could also be associated to where my body's getting its energy during the day. It's definitely something that I'm going to continue to monitor to see if I can tweak my diet to accompany this, but I don't have any outright complaints if I'm being honest.

My energy levels are higher since I'm eating way healthier, and I'm internalizing that "I'm healthy" emotion and carrying it with me throughout my day. It's a huge relief for me, who has tried so many restrictive diets, to be able to commit to something and see results. That's more than enough to keep my energy levels up. That all being said, since we're in the middle of a pandemic, I can't exactly go to the gym and monitor how much energy I have during an actual strength workout, but given that I have enough energy to get through a 2hr walk, I think it'd be just fine.

and now for the fun stuff....

Some of my favorite FOODS

AVOCADO has been a LIFESAVER. When you restrict sugar so much, anything that has any sweetness to it at ALL tastes so much better! I found that just-before-ripe avocados were literally sweet enough for me to fall in LOVE with them! 1 medium avocado (about 136g) is 2g net carbs, 21g fat, 3g protein and 227 calories. And you feel SO full after eating just half!

EGG SALAD. Literally on it's own. Here's the recipe from The Recipe Critic, but it's super easy to make even without the recipe, or a few of the ingredients! Hardboil a few eggs, smash 'em, add mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and whatever 'flavor' you want. I'even just put chili powder ontop of mine and eaten it as-is. This recipe calls for dijon mustard, dill and chives, which is SO delicious too!

RED. MEAT.

Ugh so good. Super packed with protein, NO carbs (well depending on the meat), and super tasteful. I've been eating beef and bacon like no other, and they're honestly something that I look forward to. Please be aware that different sauces and batterings have CARBS - something that I wasn't aware of for a while. For example, if you're having some ribs, watch what sauce you're putting on them, since sweet sauces tend to be high in sugars (or honey) and that won't help you at all. (Oh and be careful of chicken wing breading, just saying...NOT keto)

Another good point to mention here is that steak tastes amazing with JUST salt and pepper, cooked on the stove. Let your steak rest when it comes off, and portion it out!

....bacon also cooks really well in the oven, in case you forgot about your ability to cook MASS amounts of SUPER yummy bacon!

Some other Helpful Tips

This is working for me because I LIKE to eat foods that are considered to be keto-friendly. I don't feel like I'm restricting myself at all. I had a day where I really wanted brownies, and I found this brownie recipe that makes 8 servings at 2 CARBS A PIECE. Holy treat! Here's the recipe, and God bless Lauren Rabadi. To be honest, I ate one a day for two days and lost the taste for sweet things, so I froze the rest and I'll grab my yummy brownie treats out when I feel the need to indulge myself!

You can still have things that you crave on various versions of this diet, just in different forms or in different quantities. There are recipes for bread that are keto friendly, even! You just have to put the motivation in place to do this!

Oh and I made a mistake early on that I think everyone should be made aware of - I started off by using MyFitnessPal since I was already familiar with the app, and turns out I didn't have it set to count NET carbs, it was counting ALL of the carbs I was consuming *eyeroll*

I discovered CarbManager, an app for my phone, and it's been AMAZING so far. I would call this app a strict necessity to succeed at this diet.

Well week one's findings are not bad at ALL, and I'm excited to see where this diet will take me, especially when quarantine is over and I'm free to roam around the world of processed carbs again. Fingers crossed we keep up the good stuff!

With love xx

LC