Over time, I have developed a love/hate relationship with the Ketogenic, AKA “Keto” diet. While the Keto diet has been around for quite some time, it has caught on in popular culture recently. It is the new trend for celebrities and civilians alike to drop some weight, sleep better, clear their skin, and just feel better in general. And while it is probably one of the more polarizing diet trends out there, I have to say – I am a supporter!

The Ketogenic Diet is a high fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate diet. And while the ideal distribution of macronutrients can vary depending on gender, metabolism, and a ton of other factors, the ratio that I shoot for is: 30g or less of net carbs, 75g or less of protein, and 150g or more of (healthy) fat. Your net carbs are your overall carb count minus your fiber count. My net carb goal is 30g because my main objective is weight loss, however I have read that many people have a net carb goal of 50g or less per day. If you can consume 20g or less of net carbs, you are a Ketogenic warrior! Of course, these macro ratios can be adjusted depending on how you feel and the amount of energy you need per day, but in general the rule is to consume “15-30% of your energy from carbs, 5-10% from protein, and 60-75% from fat.” In the particular article I am referencing the term “energy” means calories. However, the main thing to remember is: carbs and protein are a limit, while fat is a goal. I personally don’t focus on the calorie counting – I just focus on meeting my macro goals with the highest quality, healthiest food options I can. Now, before I launch into my own experience with the Keto diet, let me quickly explain the science behind it. Please bear in mind that I am a layperson, and my research comes largely from internet searches and conversations with fellow Keto enthusiasts. Nevertheless, here we go…

The goal of the Keto diet is to change your body from a carbohydrate burning machine to a fat burning machine. When you include carbohydrates as a main staple of your diet they are turned into blood sugar in your body (glucose). This serves as the primary fuel for you to get through your day. However, when you restrict carbohydrates and increase your fat intake, your body begins to convert the fat into ketones in your blood and use those as your primary fuel source. This is why you also have to be careful of your protein intake; protein is also converted to glucose in your body if you consume too much of it. So in order to keep your body a fat (ketone) burning machine, you will want to limit the carbs and proteins that elevate your blood sugar too much. You want to maintain a steady state of ketosis, which is when your body produces ketones and metabolizes them for fuel. Foods that are high in sugar (soda, candy, milk, alcohol, etc) and high in starch (pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, etc) should be avoided, foods that are high in fat (butter, ghee, olive oil, fatty fish, avocado, cheese) should be embraced, and foods that are high in protein (red meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, etc) should be eaten in moderation. And of course, make sure you’re hydrated with water throughout the day and try to maintain an active lifestyle.

In all of my years of dieting there is one term that makes me cringe more than any other. Of course the weight-loss industry is full of buzz words and motivational phrasing and they are all some degree of annoying, but this one just gets under my skin. The infamous…

It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change!

UGH. Cue eye-roll. But, I must admit, in this case … it’s accurate. Keto is not a diet, and if you see it as one you may not be as successful as you would if you fully commit to the rules for a long period of time (i.e. the rest of your life). The whole point of Keto is to change your body from being carb-fueled to being fat-fueled, so bouncing back and forth between a Keto life and a life trying out other diets kind of defeats the purpose. Your body will constantly be changing it’s metabolic processes to keep up, and while I have no idea if this will negatively affect your health or weight (remember, I’m not a doctor), I can say with a fair amount of certainty that inconsistency is not good. If you are going to embark on a ketogenic diet, try to devote more than just a few weeks to it. You won’t truly know if it works for you unless you give it a real “college try.” Keep in mind that I will continue refer to Keto as a “diet” because that is how it is discussed in the many articles I’ve read, and because a diet is defined as “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.” I am using the word “diet” to reference my new way of eating each day, not a set of restrictions I am imposing on myself temporarily. Got it? Good. So now let me tell you a little more about my reasons “why.”

Aside from the weight loss benefit of the ketogenic diet, there were a few other details I came across in my research that motivated me to really give this lifestyle a try. Firstly, clear skin. Secondly, mental clarity. And finally, improved sleep. As someone who has always struggled with mild acne and has never really experience a full night of restful sleep, and as someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression for most of my life, this diet offered a promised land. After hours of extensive internet research and conversations with my more nutrition-oriented friends, I came out thinking that this diet is my ticket to a better and brighter world. That’s it – I was hooked. I had dabbled in the past with Keto but never lasted more than a few weeks on it. A combination of inadequate meal prep and an addiction to sugar and carbs derailed me, and I fell off the wagon. Or, rather, I fell off the wagon and the wagon rolled into a ditch and burst into flames. But after several months of trying other ways of eating (simply restricting carbs, the 21-day fix portion control diet, etc) I have decided to give Keto another shot. I have heard about it more and more in popular culture and while it is one of the more controversial diets, my own prior experience was positive. I distinctly remember my skin clearing up within about 1 week, and I was sleeping like I never had before. I even remember telling friends that I was “sleeping like I was dead.” In a good way. No other diet after Keto gave me such drastic improvement in areas of my life separate from weight loss. And there was one other difference this time – my husband decided to give Keto a try, too.

Now, for those of you who know my husband, he is pretty set in his ways. He loves milk, enjoys soda, and is addicted to starchy carbs and sugar. He would find it very difficult to go without a Mountain Dew or a Reese’s or a giant glass of cow’s milk for extended periods of time, and his nutritional was rarely (if ever) on his radar. He was also blissfully unaware of the frequency that he was having these items. It is very easy for someone to convince themselves they are indulging in moderation when they are, in fact, indulging very often. And it adds up. My husband and I met about 5 years ago and both of us saw our weight steadily increase during that time, him to the tune of 75 extra lbs. But after hearing a friend at a party rave about the ketogenic diet and the rapid weight loss he experienced, my husband hopped on board with very little coaxing. I told him that we’d both give it ten days, everything we had. No cheating, no bending the rules. Ten days of Keto and we’d see where it took us. You can do anything for ten days, right?

So here is an account of what happened from each of our points of view – Steve, a 6’1” 31-year-old man weighing in at 320lbs and Hailee, a 5’5” 29-year-old woman weighing in at none-of-your-damn-business…Just kidding, my starting weight was 193lbs. Both of us had the main goal of weight loss. As I mentioned, over the past 5 years his weight had increased slowly but steadily, and mine had been slowly but steadily increasing over the past 7 years. In college I was an exercise fanatic living on an uphill campus, and I was in the best shape of my life. However, the morning after I graduated I began working at my desk job, and 7 years later I am up 30lbs from my proudest weight. Of course the improved sleep, clearer skin, and mental clarity was part of my decision to try Keto but the promise of weight loss was my reason for beginning any diet regimen at all. And what better way to do it than with the man I love?

Days 1-3 – the beginning

Similar to any other diet regimen, our odds of success were far better if we prepared our meals ahead of time. This removed the stress of choosing the right foods when there may not have been many Keto options, and took the guesswork out of tracking our macros. So for two hours in the evening on the Sunday before we started our ten-day experiment, we stood side by side in our kitchen and assembled Tupperware full of Keto-approved ingredients. First: taco meat with romaine lettuce and a side of sour cream. Second: rotisserie chicken and broccoli. And third: iceberg lettuce with chicken and full-fat dressing. Snacks included pre-measured fruit (berries only), cheese, and pickles. Everything was measured using a kitchen scale and organized so we kept our carb intake at less than 30g per day. I also use bulletproof coffee in the morning to increase my fat intake (I make mine with coconut oil, a tablespoon of butter, heavy cream, and Splenda) but Steve doesn’t drink coffee. And while we were trying to follow strict Keto and I’m not supposed to use artificial sweeteners, I did give myself that one allowance. The next day, with one last discussion about commitment to our nutrition and a kiss goodbye, Steve left for his week on the road and I left for my day job.

As someone who has tried the ketogenic diet before, and who generally tried to stay away from sugar and carbs as much as possible anyway, getting back into ketosis was surprisingly easy for me. I expected the “Keto flu” symptoms that I had felt in the past because truthfully I had been binge eating myself some bread and fried foods pretty often, but shockingly I felt none of the usual discomfort. Previously I had headaches, difficulty sleeping, and I was very irritable in the first few days of Keto. But this time I did not feel anywhere near as sick. As long as I willed away those pesky cravings, I was home free. Admittedly, at the very end of day 1 I did cheat (damn willpower!) on my regimen. I made the mistake of leaving some ice cream in the freezer instead of tossing it out during meal prep, and at about 8pm that night I gave into my craving. I only had 2 spoonfuls of the stuff, but it was enough to make me feel like a failure. I vowed to do better the next day and went to bed. Luckily I did not give into any cravings at all the next two days, and according to my urine ketone test strips I was slowly falling deeper into ketosis. I did not see any changes in my sleep until day 2 when I definitely rested better overnight. I didn’t toss and turn and I didn’t wake up during the night, which for me is a huge accomplishment. By day 3 I was down 5lbs and was feeling good. Of course I knew that much of this was initial bloat and water weight, but just seeing the scale move was a gift for me. And as happy I was, I will admit to being very skeptical. Keto was never this easy for me before and I had never seen such positive improvements quite so fast, so I had trouble attributing the weight loss and improved sleep to the new way of eating. But I kept plugging along, hoping it wasn’t too good to be true.

Steve reported feeling good in the first few days of the ketogenic diet, but he did complain of a headache towards the end of day 2. He had never tried the Keto diet before, and in fact had never tried to limit his sugar and/or carbs at all, so it made sense that he fell victim to some of the notorious “keto-flu” symptoms. I am proud to say that he muscled through it and kept on the diet. He also complained of being frequently hungry. This is something I had expected and did warn him about. Changing your body over from carb burning to fat burning means you will likely be hungry because protein and fat doesn’t fill you up the same way carbs do. But once your body switches over, the hunger should subside. Getting through those first few days is difficult, but if you can do it you’ll be rewarded. Steve said he was a little hesitant about the diet because it does seem extreme, but knowing that we were doing it together and would be able to meal prep and keep one another accountable made him confident that we could both be successful. He made it through the first three days with almost no complaining and he stuck to it like a champ, even though he had no way to weigh himself on the road. Sticking to a new way of eating without a scale to gauge progress was tough, but he did it!

Days 4-6 – “just keep swimming”

Days 4 through 6 for me helped me see even more steady weight loss, to the tune of about 4 more lbs (for a grand total of 9lbs lost). And while I was well aware that it was mostly water weight, I still felt so good about it. I knew that I was doing something positive for my body, and that plus the seemingly instant results kept me motivated. On other diets that I had tried I always started out incredibly driven. It was new and novel and exciting. But every fourth or fifth day like clockwork I would lose my momentum, and old habits would creep back in. This time around on Keto I did not feel this way, and I think I know why – my husband! In previous years I always embarked on these diet missions by myself, completely and utterly up to my own devices. I had always heard that dieting is 100 times easier when you have a partner doing it with you, but I always thought of it as more of the white noise we always hear around dieting (never skip a Monday, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, etc). It was something I had heard but did not find applicable to my life, and (as always) I know better, right? Wrong! Having my husband as my partner and knowing he was not quitting or even cheating a little kept me honest. I was accountable to him, and it made me stronger.

Steve also experienced more steady weight loss in days 4 through 6. By day 6 he had come home from the road and was finally able to weigh himself. We were both nervous as he stepped onto the scale. If he didn’t make any progress I knew he’d feel like he failed, and I’d feel like I failed him because I was pretty much calling all of the meal prep shots. But he stepped on it, glanced down, and then excitedly told me that he had lost … **drum roll please** … 12lbs! He went from 320lbs at the start of the process to 306lbs, and he was elated. It was the exact boost he needed to keep going. He started enthusiastically talking about hitting the grocery store and meal prepping again, and his excitement helped to fuel my fire as well.

Days 7-10 – the home stretch

Days 7 through 10 for both me and Steve were the most difficult, not because of cravings or boredom but because of a stall. I dropped 9lbs pretty quickly in the first week, and in the following 4 days I was toggling between the same 2lbs over and over (I would gain 2, then lose 2, and vice versa). I found that there was little I could do to break this cycle. By day 10 I was still at the same 9lbs down, so I was becoming a bit discouraged. Steven actually lost another 2lbs by day 8 which brought his total to 14lbs, but by day 10 he had gained 3lbs back. So we began to explore the reasons we might have lost momentum all of a sudden.

– Firstly, we were eating more Chinese food than normal. Now, let me preface this by saying that Steve and I are well-known Chinese food addicts. However, we made the change to Keto so we had to also make the change from fried, battered meats and fried rice to steamed chicken and broccoli, pea pods and bean sprouts, and meats with the less heavy sauces and marinades. And we felt great about it! We would finish our meals feeling satisfied but never bloated, and we still had energy (as opposed to our normal post-Chinese food need for a nap). And while we were making much better choices, I realized (probably too late) that we were still ingesting a significant amount of sodium. And eating this type of food every few days meant that we were keeping these sodium levels up and were not allowing our bodies to recover, meaning we were retaining water. Now, on Keto it is important to keep track of your sodium, magnesium, and potassium levels so you can avoid keto flu and make sure your body is getting what it needs. But I’m sure that eating this type of food contributed to our stalls. Not to mention – there were probably tons of hidden carbs and sugars in the sauces that we thought were better choices!

– Secondly, at least for me, I had begun introducing some light weight training into my weekly routines. My muscles in recovery likely held onto water as well, increasing my water retention even more.

– Thirdly, we did not pay enough attention to our fat macro. During days 7 through 10 we did not focus as much on keeping our fat intake high. We did our best to stay under 30g of net carbs (even though there were a couple of days I was in the 40-50g range), and we did not really track our protein intake. On Keto for me in the past, this was a recipe for a stall out. I wouldn’t really gain weight, but I wouldn’t lose either. My body on Keto requires a little less protein than I was having, and a little bit more fat. It became a goal of mine to fix my ratios to get back to losing, but I also made sure to remember it as a work in progress.

– Finally, tracking is not perfect and it is possible we were eating something that contained more carbs or sugar than we thought. We used the very popular food tracker app MyFitnessPal, and I find that it has the most comprehensive library of foods and is very user friendly. However, nothing is perfect. While we did our best to track everything by scanning in barcodes and measuring portions with a kitchen scale, it didn’t always happen that way. If we were off on our ounces or did not choose the correct item when tracking, it could have thrown us off. Those hidden carbs and sugars are a killer if you don’t know they’re there!

Day 11 – “Home Run”

By day 11 Steve and I were still having the same issues – our weight loss had seemingly stalled. But again, we did not know enough to fix all of the issues I mentioned above so we obviously continued to have the same problems. Steve also had his first bout of what I call “diet fatigue.” He seemed a little down the morning of the 11th day and sadly told me, “Food just isn’t fun anymore.” He said that he was definitely not quitting and was still completely committed to Keto, but he was having an “off day” about it. I told him that food can be fun again, we just have to continue working on our meal prep to find the things he loves. He snapped out of this by the next day, and I am so proud that he kept it moving! I was also incredibly proud that he kept the diet up with confidence and full motivation until the 11th day – most people don’t make it that long before feeling a little burned out.

Our Keto journey definitely isn’t over, and I am certain that we will fall off the wagon more than once in the coming days (or even years). But we are doing it together, and that’s enough for me.

Keto on!

**Disclaimer: This blog entry should not be used as a guide for your own diet and exercise goals. I am not a medical professional or nutritionist, and this blog entry is purely a firsthand account of my experience with the Ketogenic diet. Always consult a doctor before embarking on any new diet and/or exercise program**

Sources:

Kissmyketo.com (Keto Macros: A Guide to Understanding Nutrient Ratios)

Dietdoctor.com/low-carb (A Ketogenic diet for beginners)