Keto Katch-up

Eat Your Veggies, Source: Google

Who is ready for a late post about what happened on Keto?! ANYONE?!

If you read my initial post about Keto after the new year, you know about the ups and downs of the first week. But once you get past the first week? SURPRISINGLY EASY. As long as you do the Keto diet correctly (which can take some time, trial and error, see below), it's shocking how you don't miss the carbs; and really don't need to eat or WANT to eat as frequently as you may be accustomed. This may be a good or bad thing for you personally, I'm not advocating eating less. However, if you're like me, running around the city all day without time to sit down for a proper meal, it DOES help to save money and to avoid eating quick junk to keep yourself going throughout the day.

Read my first post if you'd like a body positive analysis on how you can play with modifying your own body without guilt or disordered patterns. I felt a bit heavy for myself, sluggish, and uncomfortable, so I decided to lighten up a bit without weighing myself more than a few times and allowing myself to stop when my body needed to. I won't apologize or defend this anymore in this post, because I think my first post covers that. I am not advocating regular dieting, weighting yourself more than is medically necessary, or striving to be anything other than your version of your healthiest and happiest self. Bottom line: body positivity means that we support marginalized bodies (I'm a fortunate person with a lot of privilege that area) and that we support the decision to do you want in your own body. Wear what you want, eat what you want, be how you want. Your body is YOURS and no one else's.

Back to Keto: I was shocked how I could have nothing but coffee until the evening and be completely fine (though it was FILLED with fat so I was still getting a bit of sustenance ). I would get home, feeling fine, (I would start to get hungry around 6 or 7 PM) and then start to make a giant feast that I would then eat for a couple hours. I think that can be hard on one's digestion, in general, but to be honest, I enjoyed it and it worked like a charm. I lost 10 lbs, mostly of fat it seemed (though I wish I had access to real scientific markers on this), I felt great most of the time, and I'd recommend it for anyone feeling a bit heavier than their body wants to be, or anyone in need of medical weight loss.

WHAT I LEARNED:

I highly recommend following these tips if you want to try the Ketogenic Diet:

1. Get enough fat. If you're someone that used to count calories and subscribe to the notion that butter is unhealthy, this diet may make you want to scream in fear. You need to get a TON of healthy fat all over the place. You need organic whipping cream in your coffee and tea, butter all over your vegetables, and cheese all over your protein. Fat is very important to stay full and maintain Ketosis (see original post for additional information). If you do not maintain proper ratios needed for ketosis, this diet can be very dangerous. Make sure to do a lot of research and the math needed to ensure that you're maintaining the necessary macronutrients.

I recommend your shopping cart looks like this: full of butter. Shot from the movie Butter, which I also recommend watching as inspiration for the amount of butter you need to eat. Source: Google. Butter.

2. Supplementation: YOU NEED SUPPLEMENTS in order to be comfortable on this diet: Not just coffee (though coffee and whipping cream with vanilla stevia and cinnamon is FIRE). I highly recommend:

*Taking a Calcium Magnesium (like Calms) supplement before bed, to help you stay regular and also not deficient in these minerals

*Purchase a sugar free or Keto electrolyte powder and drink it religiously. Dehydration is very common on Keto and very hard on your body.

*Consider purchasing cream of tartar and mixing it with your electrolyte powder once a day. It's very high in Potassium and you may need the extra boost depending on what formulation you go with (many electrolyte powders contain potassium, but it may not be enough. Your body is flushing out a ton of electrolytes and water with the ketones).

*Consider taking daily apple cider vinegar. There's different thoughts on this, but I LOVE what Dr. Berg has to say on the matter. He is one of the kings of healthy Keto, and a legitimate medical doc.

3. Do not drink more than 1-2 alcoholic beverages. I'm thinking about doing Keto for another month before I head to Miami this summer. The thigh chafing and sweating is out of control and these issues are better when I'm a little bit lighter. I'm thinking of Keto as almost a cleanse (though eating that much cheese is hard to imagine while cleansing, ha).

During my month of Keto, I went out for 4 drinks with friends (with dinner, tons of water, and a lot of time in between. It was a long night and typically on such "out nights" I drink twice as much with no issues), and the hangover was so bad I had to quit Keto the week after. YES I HAD MY FIRST WEEK LONG HANGOVER. I was literally dehydrated for a week, and I could not get back up over the hump, no matter how much water and electrolytes I drank. I was having muscle spasms, fatigue, and even facial cramps, which has never happened to me in my life. Take my advice: If you want to go Keto, do it right for a short amount of time (1-2 months) and stay away from the long party nights while you're on it.

4. Bone Broth is your friend: especially when you're feeling the transitions, or going in and out of ketosis. Having a pot of bone broth to sip on is incredible, especially if it's cold. The savory taste, water, and salt can make you feel like a person again when you've got the "Keto flu." I kept a crockpot going for week at a time and kept adding more water. When the week was up, I cleaned it, and then started over. It's really easy: I buy a rotisserie chicken, eat it, and then throw the bones in the water with a little salt and apple cider vinegar (to help draw minerals out of the bones). If you don't have a crockpot you can keep one going on the stove (just put it in the fridge every night).

5. Go easier on the workouts. A lot of people may disagree with this, but this was just my personal experience. I don't find ketosis to be sustainable and while I was on this diet, I felt VERY weak and shaky in the weight room. I'd go with lighter weights and higher repetitions during this time, if I were you.

6. Invest in a good mouthwash and breath mints. Ketosis makes your breath taste and smell WEIRD. Luckily boyfriend and I did it at the same time so we were smelly together :)

7. I touched on this in the first post, but I'll say it again. YOU NEED TREATS, especially if you're a person who gets periods. Find a Keto treat and TREAT yoself. I like to stay away from recipes where you can only have 1/4 of a tablespoon as your serving size as well. My friend makes keto chocolate mousse but I prefer diet soda with a fuckton of organic whipping cream in it :D, as you can have as much of that as you want.

Those are my tips for Ketosis! I hope it helps that you're able to use my advice. Comment if you'd like more low carb recipes! I usually follow a close to Paleo diet with regular treat days. :)