Over A Week Into a Ketogenic Diet
So for those of you that follow my wife, @abloveshorchata, you would know that my wife and I have been on a Ketogenic diet. We started on the 16th of this month (6/16/2017). My wife has been giving updates on our journey so far so I wanted to give my two cents on it.
So we started on a Friday and of course it was little different. I did kind of miss bread the first few meals, but then I made a loaf of Keto Bread from a fantastic recipe I found online. I'm ok with eating a little of this instead of regular bread.
Then the Keto flu kicked in. I felt a little nauseous but more than anything, I was just constantly thirsty. It felt like a hangover and the constant mild headache was kind of annoying. What was weird, and I'm not sure of this is normal, is that it seemed like the symptoms subsided for a day or two then came back. Now I feel great though. And I have actually lost about 10 lbs. since starting the diet.
When we started this diet, I was hovering around 175 lbs. which was a bit too much for my height (I'm about 5'9"). I felt at my best when I was about 150 lbs. and active. This was around 2009. I was working out, rock climbing as often as possible, and just generally felt really good.
I was at a point when I rock climbed so much, my hands were always torn up. Picture is from 2009
I was also doing a lot of martial arts. That's me on the left.
Then I just started being less active. Slowly this occurred (as it usually does) and I didn't really notice it. Fast forward to today and I gained almost 25 to 30 lbs. and I don't want to gain anymore.
So far Keto has been tough. I'm not going to lie. The Keto flu was not fun. What has been fun, and I think a great bonding adventure between wife and I, is experimenting with recipes and figuring out menu items and meal planning. It's almost like a game to us.
This week I started working out too. Diet is important, but so is staying active. I look forward to where I will be in a month or so. Hopefully a little bit more healthy.
Wow, your keto bread looks very nice! I have tried many different recipes in the past and have never had very good success. Usually it doesn't rise, or it's uncooked in the middle...
As for the keto flu, it is totally avoidable! Just remember to keep up your electrolytes! When you go keto, your body lets go of a lot of water, which is dehydrating and yes it can feel like a hangover. You can plan ahead and counteract this effect by making sure to eat plenty of salty foods.
An easy thing to do is get powdered or cubed bouillon and add to hot water and drink. Salty snacks too like olives, cheese, etc are good. Green stuff like avocados and celery are great sources of electrolytes too. Basically look for foods high in potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium.
Thank you. Yeah the recipe I found which I linked to in the post is fantastic. The trick to getting it to rise is to separate the egg yolks from the whites and whipping the wipes with cream of tartar.
I am on day 6 today of the same diet plan. I'll let you know how it goes for me!
Yes! Please do. Have you gotten through the Keto flu yet?
Yeah about 3 days in I got a headache and felt a litle off. I went to Korean BBQ this weekend, tho and didn't realize until after the meal that the lettuce salad vinagarette has sugar in the recipe. I didn't have too much of it but I went over 30g carbs that day so I think another flu may be coming in the next few days when I really get back on.
Aw. I think that's why mine probably came and went and then came back again. I went to BBQ at my dads and ate a burger but didn't think what was in the patty. So I worry that may have tipped me over.
I've read that you can stay under 50g in carbs but if you want to positive stay under 20 or 25g.
Yeah, my buddy was surprised that I was targeting 20 because he was doing under 50 for his keto diet. I just want to be awash in ketones asap, haha. Going all out!
Do you count sugar alcohols as full carbs, half carbs, or no carbs? I have seen a lot of people take a different approach to it. Or base their choice on the GI of each individual sugar alcohol.
Hmm. Honestly, I hadn't thought about those. We've been eating a lot of things made from scratch as of late. To be sure, I've tried to just avoid anything sugary. I'll have to do some research. Lately, it's just been keeping track of carbs in general.
Found this link. Gonna do some more research. What are you doing?
http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/sugar-alcohol.html
I have just been counting them as full carbs. Some of them have basically zero in the GI but I can never recall which ones are which so I just try to avoid them. But my chewing gum has 2g of sorbitol and I hate to have to switch, haha. It's my favorite gum!
Recommend reading RAW Food and the Psych Ward. Think it will talk to you :)
I will for sure check this out.
Take good care of your bodies.
Have a nice day!
Well, that's the whole point of starting this diet and trying to exercise more. I wasn't taking very good care of myself up until now.