Beginnings
I started a Keto Diet at breakfast on the 21st October 2018.
Leading up to this date, long before any commitments to start it had been made, I began mentioning to people that I wanted to try it, and I did some online searches about the diet, foods to eat, and recipes.
What I knew, or thought I knew, at this point was:
- A Keto Diet could be used for fat loss;
- Fat loss could be extreme and rapid;
- Ketosis was the name for the process of metabolising fats, and that ketones were produced;
- Ketosis could be measured with strips that you urinate on, which I knew as keto sticks. My mum had done some sort of Keto Diet using supplements many years ago;
- There were health benefits purported about eating ketogenically;
- Ketones could be toxic to the body.
Some of the things I read and heard in this period were:
- The “keto flu”, a condition featuring symptoms like low energy and headaches, which people report when making the change in diet.
- A Keto Diet created an altered metabolic state in the body, moving away from using carbohydrates as a fuel source to using fats as a fuel source.
- It can take some time for the body to adjust to a new diet
- People had likened the feeling of being in ketosis to having a stimulant like cocaine.
- Fat loss could be rapid. That you could “get ripped”.
- There are variations of the Keto Diet, and people that follow the diet have different levels of “strictness” with it.
- The diet involves consuming low amounts of carbohydrates (5-10%), moderate amounts of protein, and high amounts of fat.
- It can be difficult to remain in ketosis.
- Some reports were that the diet is not good to follow long-term, and others said it was safe to follow long-term.
Attractions & Fears
I was attracted to the idea of my body changing energy systems and burning fat, and also that it was rapid. After all, I am an all-or-nothing sort of guy, and who doesn’t want to reach a goal quickly?
I was scared of having to go through the symptoms of the “keto flu” – “what would it be like having to work with these symptoms?”, I worried. When I spoke to someone at work that I was wanting to do the diet, but was scared of the keto flu syptoms, they said to just push through it. And I thought they were right.
Cutting down on carbs meant not having dairy milk, rice, oats, beans, honey and sweet things – which I love – so there was fear around giving these things up. This would mean giving up my morning muesli and fresh fruit, which I have almost every day. And my morning latte. But I did like the idea of being able to eat all sorts of unprocessed fats, oils, cheese, cream, seeds, nuts, greens, eggs avocado and meat proteins. Through my online recipe hunting, I got an idea about what sort of meals I might eat on the diet. And also what sort of products to buy for the pantry.
The Lead-up
As I kept talking to others and mentioning that I wanted to try a Keto Diet and did online research, I guess I moved closer and closer to starting the diet.
During this time, I fought with eating sweet things moderately, and I found myself giving in and doing things like stopping at the bakery when I’d already had something sweet that day and buying a big piece of carrot cake; buying a 6-pack of icecreams from the supermarket because they were cheaper per piece; and eating almost a whole bag of licorice in one brief sitting when I said to myself I’d just have a few pieces.
My fruit was running out in the fridge at home, and I didn’t want to buy more if I were starting the diet. My muesli was also running out, and I was unsure whether to make some more (I make my own) because if I started the diet, I wouldn’t be eating it. I decided to make some more, knowing that it would keep.
I also had bonus points that I’d get on my Woolworths Rewards card if I did a shop of $50 or more in the next 4 days, so I felt like I needed to make a decision about whether I’d start the diet within that time, because I wanted to do a shop and claim those points (yes, I know, I’m a bit of a sucker for those points – more about that another time, perhaps).
I guess what running out of food and the desire to get some points provided me with, was a deadline. When I gave up smoking a few years ago, setting a deadline (a quit date) helped to start that too.
It was time to do a shop before my chance to get those points expired! And that shop would determine what sort of food I would buy. I decided to do a shop to buy some ketogenic food. I did a search online, and did a food shop.
I used information from these sites and other sites:
https://theketoqueens.com/beginner-keto-grocery-list/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101
I also did some google searches, like “is tuna keto friendly” for information, and got some inspiration by searching for things like “keto recipes” and “keto diet meal plan”.
I’d spoken to my friend Katie, owner of gym I go to, about the Keto Diet. She’s done it before, and recommended I get the phone app ‘My Fitness Pal’ and some scales to weigh food. I downloaded the app at some stage, it was called “Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal” on the Play Store. The app is advertised as free, so I was disappointed to discover that you had to sign up and it was a paid app to get the Carbs, Protein and Fat by Gram feature that I wanted as a tool for this diet, so I didn’t bother looking at it further. I checked it out again later, and there was a free 30-day trial period. Once I decided to do the Keto Diet (the day before I started the diet, when I did my grocery shop), I joined with the free trial period. I bought some electronic kitchen scales for about $20 from Woolworths when I did my first Keto grocery shop.
Stay tuned, more to come…
Experimenting with a Keto Diet 