What I Learned on the Keto Diet: Losing Weight and Keeping it off.
In the summer of 2019, I decided to try the Keto diet. It had been 3 years postgrad and I had been getting too comfortable with the 9–5 sedentary office life, just going to work then home to binge on unhealthy snacks. In the past year, I had gained 10lbs of unhealthy weight, my clothes were a tighter fit than usual, and stepping on the scale confirmed that I was nearing overweight.
I did my research on the popular diet and it seemed Keto worked well for a lot of people. I followed Keto pages on Instagram and pinned Keto food ideas on Pinterest, and did my due diligence with my research, looking for reliable sources and searching if there were any side effects or dangers to following the diet. I was surprised to learn not a lot of medical research has been done on it at the time. I’d found that some medical experts thought it was not a good idea to keep the diet longterm because of how limiting it is. I also found that intermittent fasting with the Keto diet helped with the weight loss, so I added that to my diet rules.
I decided to start right after the 4th of July holiday and follow the diet for a month and go from there. I figured doing it in that time frame will have less temptations since the holiday is done and there wont be another one for months. My diet rules were simple enough: intermittent fast, little to no carbs, no sugar, and no cheating. I also decided to have a choice of protein and vegetables in my meals, dessert would be a low carb fruit; and snacks will be string cheese, almonds, seaweed, or beef jerky.
I started on a Monday, I only drank water in the morning which was easy enough as I don’t get particularly hungry in the morning. Lunchtime came around and I had rotisserie chicken with a lot of zucchini and for dessert, watermelon slices. It was a high volume food for not a lot of calories and I felt satiated throughout the afternoon at work. After work, I had a piece of string cheese and some almonds and went to the gym where I did a combination of weight lifting. When I got home, I started cooking my dinner : shrimp and spinach, and for dessert, a bowl of berries. Again I felt satiated after dinner and was finished eating by 7pm, which established my intermittent fasting window. My eating window allowed me to eat from 12–8pm but most days I would eat from 12 until 7 because I am stuffed by then. I did my diet day after day, cooking the night before for my work lunch then when I got home. For protein, I had my choices of steak, chicken, or seafood and for veggies my go to is spinach, zucchini and broccoli. In my first week, I had lost 4 lbs. Some days, my weight stalled but at the end of my 1 month diet, I had lost a total of 12 lbs. During that time, I also felt no cravings for sugar or junk food. I felt great and like my old self again. I decided I was happy enough with the results to go back to a normal diet. After much research, I to re-introduced carbs slowly in the form of whole foods back into my diet so as not to shock my body with carb loading.
My findings are that the Keto diet works but not for what it is (steering clear of carbs), it works because of the bigger picture (eating more in volume but less in calories). Weight loss is all about a calorie deficit. Today, I am able to maintain my weight by keeping some of the keto diet rules like eating vegetables in and fruit in every meal but without the carb restrictions. The carbs I eat are mostly from fruits and vegetables and in whole foods. I also eat anything I want but in moderation. A good rule is the 80/20 rule, eat good most (80%) of the time, this allows you to indulge without binging. I learned that this is the healthiest relationship to have with food.
