Waiting To Start A Diet

We all know how the saying goes, “my diet will start tomorrow”, to give yourself an excuse to indulge in some pizza, wings, and beer while partaking in the festivities surrounding the start of football season. You don’t want to feel like an outcast by munching on all the celery and carrots from the veggie plates, so you think, “what can a couple slices of pizza do to me?”

I’ve been there. I used the excuse on every layover for work, telling myself “I’m on vacation”, I’m allowed to treat myself to a double scoop of Jeni’s ice cream. But when you live your life like you are on vacation all the time [talking to my fellow travelers out there], the pounds start to add up.

I was tired of always feeling bloated and lethargic from all the carbs and I knew I had to change something if I want to continue this lifestyle as a traveler. Not to mention, my hormones were all out of whack and I was having pretty bad stomach issues every time I splurged on a meal.

I decided to go with the keto diet to make a lifestyle change. A lot of people are against this diet, but you are always going to have skeptics with every decision you make. I decided to do some research myself [I’ll post the sources I learned from at the end of this post] and decided to take on the challenge.

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What is keto?

Low carb, high fat, moderate protein.

Our body runs off glycogen to give us energy. We produce glycogen from the carbs we eat daily. With keto, you cut out the carbs and sugar and eat a high fat diet instead. Instead of your body producing glycogen, you begin to produce ketones as your source of energy, getting into a state of ketosis. This is a natural state of metabolism that our body goes into once you deplete its source of glycogen.

If I eat a high fat diet, won’t I get fat?

That was one of my biggest concerns when I heard the nickname for this diet is the “bacon and butter” diet. This diet does take a bit of prework, such as finding out your macros. I found a macro calculator on Google and used the Carb Manager app on my phone to track what I ate. Just because this is a high fat diet, you still need to track what you are consuming and make sure it is a healthy fat. Ex: avocados, coconut oil, MCT oil, cheese, heavy cream, certain nuts in moderation.

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There is so much to learn about the Keto Lifestyle, but once you get into Ketosis, you can learn along the way. It took me about 4 days to get into ketosis the first time. I tested my blood with a blood meter reading called Keto Mojo. This is a more accurate way than using the urine strips and I found it to motivate me knowing when I was actually in a state of ketosis.

Some other resources I loved —

Simply Keto Cookbook by Suzanne Ryan – From Buffalo Chicken Dip to Cauliflower Pizza, these recipes prove that you can still have fun watching football, while eating Keto!

Keto for Beginners Facebook Group

And my favorite source….. 

Keto For Women Podcast ; It’s on iTunes for free and Shawn is a wealth of knowledge! I listened to every episode anytime I got in the car and quickly became a keto nerd!

 

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I was strict Keto for 4 months and slowly saw the fat burn away. I found it to be a healthy, more attainable way of losing weight because it wasn’t a rapid weight loss. I now allow myself sweets that aren’t keto friendly every now and then, and the weight has stayed off! I think it’s all about figuring out what works for you and your body! I will say I have never felt healthier and more in control of my body than when I did keto!