I say this already on my 4th day with little to no cheats, so I am confident that I can stick with it. This "diet" is call the Keto diet. It is actually growing in popularity now and my parents have been on this diet for quite some time with great results.
When my mom first started telling me about keto many moons ago I thought she was a little crazy, I mean aren't fats bad? Why would you want to eat MORE fats? But as she started to explain it to me it actually made sense. Watching my parents eat sausages and eggs covered in cheese for breakfast and prok rhines dipped in cream cheese dips has me thinking this was a diet I could get behind. However back then I didn't have the motivation to change my diet and I also just didn't completely believe it would work. But then my parents both lost more weight than I could believe possible eating yummy foods! So for the new year I decided that I was in.
What is Keto? Well, from a beginners understanding (read, I am still learning so this is just what I have gathered) it is a low carb, high fat diet. Low carb meaning under 20-25 NET carbs a day, (max 30) but 20 is optimal. High fat meaning (for me at least) close to 140 grams of fat a day. Now, everyone will need different macro counts, there is a calculator I will link below for you to find your own ideal macro information! My "perfect macros" are as follows:
Height: 5'1 Weight: 120lbs Activity Level: Light (trying to change that to a higher activity level but with keto (from the research I have done) its good to go ahead and choose a lower answer because the goal (for weightloss) is to still be at a calorie deficit. Meaning you still want to eat less calories than you burn so you can lose weight.
Daily-
Calories: 1600
Protein:75g (18% of my diet)
Fat: 141g (76%)
Carbs: 20
So this is "perfect macros" looks like. The last 4 days I have been experimenting, using an app called Carb Tracker that lets me input all of my foods and tracks it all for me so I can see where I am at. Since starting my diet on Tuesday (It is Friday now) I have done pretty well I think.
Tuesday rang in at 24 Net Carbs, 8g Fiber, 52g of Protein (14%), 129g of Fat(78%), and 1498 calories.
Wednesday- 19 Net Carbs, 32g Fiber, 113g of Protein (25%), 127g Fat (64%), and 1978 calories.
Thursday- 23 Net Carbs, 28g Fiber, 87g of Protein (19%), 138g of fat (69%), and 1776 calories.
There is definitely a learning curve to this diet. As you can see nearly every day I messed something up, Tuesday I had too many carbs (trying to use up my buffalo wild wings leftovers bc I didn't want to be wasteful!), Wednesday I somehow WAY overdid it on the protein and calories (whoops), yesterday was my best day yet but I still went a little over in my carbs.
However even though I have messed up most days I would still consider this to be an easy diet to follow. Avoiding carbs is surprisingly easy, I find that there are PLENTY of options for low carb food and snacks. They even have low carb tortillas so I can still have a wrap a day which is amazing to me. I genuinely do feel better besides being a little more tired in the mornings but I was warned that in the beginning while your body is still transitioning that could happen.
The MOST difficult part of this diet is counting macros. Eating low carb is easy but when you start trying to factor in calories and making sure you get enough protein and fat then you start having to get a little more choosy. However yesterday was my best day so far besides too many carbs and a little too many calories and I had my favorite foods so far! As long as you aren't a super picky eater then I think this diet could work for everyone, honestly the hardest thing for me so far is not eating fruit like I used to. No fruit, no oatmeal, no yogurt. However through all my research so far into this diet and watching lots of youtube videos from people who are on ketogenic diets I have become SO much more aware of what I am putting into my body! Who knew that yogurt was an inflammatory?! And don't even get me started on how your body processes carbs/grains. YUCK.
I am excited to see where this lifestyle takes me, so far so good and I feel like it can only go up from here! Every diet is going to be hard but I feel like keto makes so much sense and what other diet lets you have things like Big Mac Casserole and Cream Cheese Buffalo Wraps? Seems like a no brainer to me!
So here are some links that have helped me so far!
My favorite youtubers:
Katherine Michelle; she is great, she's young and in college like me and shows yummy keto options and talks about how she incorporates keto into her life on daily basis including roadtrips, on the go, all her daily meals, healthy meals, yummy meals, etc.! She also has A LOT of info on supplements which I haven't even begun to think about yet!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMAB_CuRxRNg-lmmirKDYww
Keto Connect; This is a couple that both do keto and they are so much fun to watch! I would say they are definitely on the healthier side, I am not quite on their level of eating a hard boiled egg and half a portion of almonds for a snack yet but I do enjoy watching them! They are a HUGE fountain of knowledge, they break down macros for meals really well and have taught me so much!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzRYivTpUQ0r2qPPjfLoQiA
Here is there website as well, I am thinking about enrolling in their course but I am going to wait a little while.
http://ketoconnect.teachable.com/p/keto-quickstart-course
And here is their 20 under 20 challenge for 2017!
http://ketoconnect.net/20under20/
THE MACRO CALCULATOR (Also by Keto Connect)
http://ketoconnect.net/calculator/
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