How I feel after 1 week on Keto
So.......after toying with the idea of trying the Ketogenic Diet or "Keto" for short for about 3 weeks or so I finally decided to take a leap of faith. I've been stuck at a weight loss plateau for the past 6 months or so. I've read the books, watched endless youtube videos, and joined a ton of Facebook groups on this form of eating and I decided to take the leap of faith. Since this diet has been told to help PCOS and thyroid imbalance sufferers ( AKA me ) I figured if it helps: awesome! If not: then it's ok I'll just go back to pure low carb.
For those of you who haven't heard about Keto before, it's described as being similar to a low carb diet, but focuses on ingesting foods aiming for the body to produce ketones in the liver. Ketones can then be used as energy vs. the usual glucose. It’s common to hear this diet referred to by a few different names – ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat (LCHF), etc etc etc. When you eat something high in delicious amazing carbs, your body will produce glucose and insulin. Glucose is the easiest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy so that it will be chosen over any other energy source. Insulin is produced to process the glucose in your bloodstream by taking it all around the body. Since the glucose is being utilized as a primary energy source, your fats aren't needed and are stored (serious sad face). Typically on a normal, non carb restricting diet, the body will use glucose as the main form of energy. By lowering the intake of carbs, the body is induced into a state known as ketosis.
So since I am winding down on week 1 I decided not to wait until I saw results from this form of eating but to chronicle the way it makes me feel.
As of this moment:
I have not lost any weight, which I have read is to be expected.
My energy levels are the same from what I can tell.
I do feel like my quality of sleep is getting better. Since I work nights I sometimes struggle with getting 8 straight hours because I'll randomly wake up during the day. This week I've had errands and such to run so I've been getting about 6 hours of sleep each day. Even though this is not as much as I would like, I feel like I'm more rested than I normally would be.
I'm happier - I'm convinced this is because of all the bacon, cheese, and butter I'm eating. I mean - who isn't happy with cheese? Communists - that's who.
I've realized it's not easy eating enough fat. I figured this would be a cake walk ( pun intended ) but it really isn't. Originally I was using my fitness pal to track my overall calorie, fat, protein, and carb intake but it wasn't really giving me a good picture of where I was. I downloaded The Keto Diet app because of its stellar reviews. So far so good. I signed up for a 3 month subscription for $5.99 - which is expensive in my book, but I like the simplicity of the app and figured it was worth knowing I gave this 100% and not just winging it. I can just wing everything else in my life like usual.
So in a nutshell, I can see some positive changes even this early on in my Keto journey. I'm really excited to explore this new form of eating and see if it not only aids in weight loss but with my other health issues. If you're interested in starting a Keto diet also, I recommend consulting your doctor before going on a fat rampage. It's always better to be safe than sorry!
Let's see what next week holds! 😘
Xoxo,
Alexandra
