I know, long title.
So, we decided to try Keto together, to get some weight off, and to start the year off right. At least the second part is what I tell myself. It sounds some sort of romantic. We both could stand to lose to pounds, but also don’t want to commit to what amounts to a monotonous routine for a diet. Don’t get me wrong, if you are only doing the diet, then you can be creative, and/or try different things. When you’re making food for other people, they may not always want to eat what you are eating. Therein lies the rub.
So, let’s get to it.
We are on day 19. So 2 1/2 weeks thus far. Initially we didn’t have the “water weight” loss that we have had before. As a consequence, we were nervous that maybe because we are older this avenue wouldn’t work this time. Turns out, it is working, just differently. In the past, when we would try the diet, the first X amount of time would be rapid weight loss, then a few days of stall, then more loss, and then less and less drastic iterations as the weight came off. This time we had an initial stall. By the end of week one we almost felt like giving up. The weight loss was negligible-like .5 lbs negligible. However, we stuck it out and lo and behold we have lost weight.
The way it is coming off this round is 2 steps forward, 1 step back. It’ll be a slow trickle, then a small dump-like 1-2 lbs overnight, then back up 1 lb, then back down. Like that. Oddly, we are both down about 7.5 lbs so far. Still, if we make it to the end of January, we have enough time to potentially lose 10 lbs. That’s not too bad in a month, but it’s like the normal “1-2 lbs a week is healthy” way. Keto used to work much quicker, but would take the “long haul” approach if a lot needed to be lost.
I don’t want to project ANYTHING at this point. I can’t speak for my S.O., but for me, I could top off this month anywhere from 8-15 lbs. I have no clue.
And it’s not like we’re cheating. No alcohol. No sugar. No bread-well, except Keto bread and that’s on occasion (me, not as much).
We eat twice a day with a snack in the middle or end if we want. We do high fat zero carb at breakfast. Almost exclusively we’ll do a breakfast meat and eggs, sometimes with cheese. We will even cook in bacon fat. YUM….We then will have a dinner, and often something the rest of the fam can eat. It’s a meat and either an acceptable beg, cauliflower rice, or both, or neither. Just depends.
If you’re considering Keto, there are numerous websites now, and even cook books and recipes, online. However, try not to get too caught up in all the things at first. If you can do just ONE thing to begin, I would consider limiting Carbs to 10/day, but using the counting method. You can also get “Net” carbs, which is more specific than simply “Total Carbs” of an item. For example, if you have a food with 10 grams of carbs, but 3 grams of fiber, then you have 7 NET grams of carbs. Count the net, not the gross :).
Additionally, part of my ongoing work on self involves including exercise. I might write an entire post about this later as I feel that explaining my focus and goals is worthy of exploring. If nothing else, try to do “something.” There is an entire science behind endorphins and feeling better about self when incorporating exercise. Good thing about this diet, though, is that it’s more challenging to “reward” yourself with food…which is dumb, anyway, and we should all just admit it. But since we can’t, it’s harder to say, “Since I burned X calories, I can have Y food” when the acceptable foods are specific…..like I could have a fat bomb coffee after, which includes BUTTER (ew, gross), but I couldn’t have a piece of pie.
Hopefully you feel accomplished when attempting to lose a few L B’s. I know I do (on the mornings when the scale moves south, not north). So, definitely keep the momentum going. And if you’re dieting at the moment, why not share what you’re up to in the comments below.