Home Diet Plans (Guest Post) I Tried the Keto Diet: 10 Weeks, 28 Pounds Later

(Guest Post) I Tried the Keto Diet: 10 Weeks, 28 Pounds Later

A guest post this week from the one and only Mia Kumagai. After a surprising amount of questions from friends and coworkers about her experience of the keto diet, I encouraged (slash blackmailed) her into writing her first ever blog post.

It was amazing to see the effort she put in and the results speak for themselves. Look out for:

  • The initial high-effort actions she took (like the purge) to minimize relapses in the future
  • The systems she put in place to substitute “willpower” once the initial excitement decreased (like the morning coffee and meal prep)

Enter Mia.

 

Oh jeez. My first real blog post. My first dip into the world of fitness and wellness influencers ‘gramming artfully swirled adaptogenic lattes and pansy-sprinkled cauliflower rice bowls. Only a few days away from preaching the benefits of healing crystals in your daily meditations. Just kidding. I think.

I can barely remember the last time I wrote something besides an email or Powerpoint deck. I’m a little nervous. But then again, I don’t think I’ve ever lost 28 pounds in 10 weeks, so here goes nothing.

And this should go without saying, but I am not a medical professional, and this post is not meant to be a substitute for professional care. This post is based on my personal experience. As always, do your own research and speak to a medical professional before making any major changes to your diet or lifestyle.

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis, in which your body uses fat rather than glucose from carbs as its primary source of energy. When you stop supplying your body with carbs and sugar, your blood sugar and insulin levels decrease, and then your body starts to look for an alternate source of fuel – fats – and burns that for energy. When your body burns fat, it produces ketones. Without ketones, you’re not in ketosis. Therefore, the ultimate goal of the ketogenic diet is increased ketone production. Besides weight loss, there are an absurd amount of other benefits – mental clarity and increased cognition (OMG LIMITLESS), improved physical endurance and energy, appetite control, lower blood pressure, disease prevention, and IBS relief, just to name a few.

While on the keto regimen, sugary and starchy foods are completely banned, and food intake should primarily be high in healthy fats, and only moderately high in protein (as excess protein can be converted to blood sugar in the body). A rough guideline is about 5% energy from carbohydrates (the fewer carbs, the more effective), 15-25% from protein, and around 75% from fat.

TL;DR – why did I do the keto diet? Keto = bacon, cheese, butter = a-okay. So let’s do the damn thing.

The Good

I started the ketogenic diet around mid-March after seeing my already skinny (sorry) boyfriend drop 15 pounds in a month on the Tim Ferriss’-approved slow carb diet. While the monotony of repetitive meals and the finger-pricking ketone blood meter didn’t totally appeal to me, it did introduce me to the ketogenic diet/lifestyle that sounded more than just doable, but kinda fun. It helped that when I started researching it, several wellness-types and celebrities had preached its benefits: LeBron James, Kirsty Godso, Dominic D’Agostino for the fitness set; Alicia Vikander (ugh girl crush), Kourtney Kardashian, Halle Berry, and even Jersey Shore’s Vinny Guadagnino – now self-rebranded as the “Keto Guido” – for the ENews/thotty set. No shade.

So after snapping out of a five-hour black hole of keto blogs, forums, Pinterest recipes, Instagram accounts, infographics…I was ready. I purged my fridge and pantry of all banned substances: pasta, bread, rice, quinoa, oats, legumes, fruit (sob), potatoes (double sob), and ice cream (hysterical wheezing triple sob) – burning my ships, so to speak. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, right?

I went to Whole Foods to spend half a paycheck (okay maybe not that much, but I definitely spend more on food and groceries now than I used to) on my new staples of exogenous ketones, MCT oils, grass-fed butter, grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught fish, xylitol, almond flour, above-ground vegetables, heavy cream, and full-fat cheeses – all low-carb ingredients, with healthy protein and fat levels. I loaded up on fail-proof snacks like Moon Cheese, nori sheets, biltong, bone broth (thank you Instant Pot) six-minute eggs, and fat bombs (essentially fat-loaded snacks with the sole purpose of helping me reach my now higher fat intake requirements, which also taste like chocolate chip cookie dough *drool*).

I caved and bought the Precision Xtra Blood Ketone Meter despite my hatred of blood because, well, I’m a competitive freak who needs data and rules to keep me on track, and knowing that I couldn’t cheat my way with delusions of ketosis was the only way I could even possibly succeed. By measuring the ketone levels in my blood 1-2x a day, I could also gauge my keto success through another dataset beside my weight. I first felt a little sketchy pricking my finger with a lancelet at work to drip onto the blood meter, but it became weirdly addicting and fun – I started looking forward to measuring my ketone levels and tracking them. I used the Senza app to track every single (gluten-free) crumb that went in my mouth, mostly because it’s one of the few keto apps that also lets you track your ketone levels (manually) along with food intake, weight, and carb/protein/fat levels. The Keto Diet Tracker is another popular one as well.

My normally lazy ass had to become a meal prep freak, cooking at least a few days’ worths of meals at a time, to make sure I could never slip. I figured as long as I had some form of keto-friendly food in the fridge ready to go, I couldn’t fuck it up. My fridge has never been so full, let alone while on a diet. At any given moment it looks like I’m feeding a family of five instead of one relatively petite Asian female. But I really think that was what kept me on track and helped me stick to my new routine.

A normal day of meals looks like:

  • Breakfast:
    • Ketone latte: basically an Americano with Perfect Keto MCT Oil Powder, either unflavored or chocolate (gives it a nice mocha-ish taste for variety). I went through a few bottles of Bulletproof MCT Oil, but that stuff gave me some crazy stomach burbles – the powder has been much better for me. I used my new diet regimen as an excuse to buy my first coffee grinder for my favorite La Colombe coffee beans, especially since I drink this coffee every day. I just dump the hot espresso (two shots), a few ounces of warm water, and a scoop of the MCT oil powder into a blender, whirl it up for creamy frothy goodness and enjoy. This I have every morning without fail.
    • Egg puffs: I am not and will never be a morning person, so grab-and-go options are the only options. I just make a batch of these bad boys every Sunday and grab one to munch on my way to my car. Easy.
    • Pizza eggs: more of a treat-yoself breakfast, since I don’t particularly want my cholesterol to go off the charts, but in a moment of pizza-craving weakness I made this and it was pretty damn delicious.
    • Everything bagels: yes, you read that correctly. Based off the internet-famous “fat head dough” named after the Fat Head movie that essentially refutes the Super Size Me documentary and some of the lies around obesity and healthy eating (it’s an entertaining documentary, but like most nutrition documentaries, not without its controversy and own discriminations), it’s made of mozzarella and cream cheese, almond flour, and egg – and can serve as a basis for most dough-based baking hacks. Pizza crust? Fettuccini? Cinnamon twists? Crackers? Want it bad enough? There’s probably a low-carb hack for it somewhere on the internet.
  • Lunch: I used Diet Doctor as a starting point for a lot of recipes until I got more comfortable experimenting with recipes and using the Senza app (or any of the other nutrition calculators available on the internet). Some favorites:
    • Loaded cauliflower
    • Bacon-wrapped halloumi cheese on salad 
    • Taco salad
    • Keto meatballs
    • Garlic shrimp zoodles
    • Or, as I got a little lazier and keto meal prep became a little less exciting, weekday lunches became some variation on my standard desk lunch salads making sure I had a decent mix of protein (chicken cooked in ghee, jammy six-minute eggs), fats (avocado, bacon, or cheese), greens (usually kale, but any dark leafy greens are good) and homemade salad dressing without sugars, and of course skipping any legumes, crispy things, and fruits.
  • Dinner: not too different from above, but just a few other recipes I enjoyed:

On my first day of ketosis (around day 2), I hit 0.6 mmol/L, which falls in the light nutritional ketosis range. As I mentioned earlier, having the blood meter was huge. Knowing how my ketone levels changed over time and with different levels of carbohydrates and proteins let me know if I on the right track, or if I needed to tweak what I was eating. While experts have different opinions on optimal ketone levels for weight loss goals, a general suggestion that I followed was:

  • < 0.5 mmol/L: not in ketosis
  • Between 0.5-1.5 mmol/L: light nutritional ketosis. A good effect on your weight, but not optimal.
  • 1.5 – 3 mmol/L: optimal ketosis and is recommended for maximum weight loss.
  • Over 3 mmol/L: not necessary. Will achieve neither better nor worse results than being at the 1.5-3 level. I did hit really high levels of ketosis after a longer fasting window (see below) and some Bikram yoga – just to see if I felt any differently, but the benefits weren’t really there for me to maintain this.

Within three days, I was in optimal ketosis (2.9 mmol/L). Again, this was just my personal experience – getting into ketosis this quickly isn’t always the norm. I think it was the MCT oil powder, Bikram yoga (exercise will help to get into ketosis), and pretty aggressive carb cutting that worked for me. Did I mention I started keto the weekend I got back from a two-week trip to New York City and Italy?

The Bad

The keto flu is real. There’s enough about it on the internet for me to just skim the details of this, but basically, when your body starts adjusting to these new carb restrictions, you can expect brain fog, fatigue, headache, irritability, dizziness, etc. Not fun. Good news? It only lasts a few days, it’s not the real flu, and it’s nothing a few extra ounces of water, bone broth, or ketone lattes can’t fix. But still annoying.

Intermittent fasting: this was a really weird one. Not because of the difficulty of it, because it actually ended up being easier than I expected, but more of the social implications and reactions.

Intermittent fasting isn’t as scary or starvation-y as it sounds: it simply means that you go a certain period of time without eating — usually between 12 to 48 hours, to be exact — which is called a fasting window. You can adjust the fasting window to the hours that work best for you, such as “19/5” (19 hours of fasting and 5 hours eating), or “21/3” (21 hours fasting and 3 hours eating) – don’t forget to count hours of sleep as fasting, that adds an easy 8-10 hours that you don’t even notice!

While on the keto diet, adding a fasting window can kickstart your body into ketosis – either sooner, or at higher levels. It also helps to balance blood sugar levels (which can improve focus, concentration, and memory), promote natural detoxification, and improve nutrient absorption. It’s great stuff. Whether you decide to do it every day, once a week, or twice a week is up to you – do what makes you feel best and listen to your body. I did it about once a week during the work week, intentionally picking a busy meeting-filled day where I would barely have time to even think about food.

But explaining to friends and coworkers that you’re not eating today will get you a lot of raised eyebrows and concerned questions, no matter how much science knowledge you drop. Especially if you’ve shed a few noticeable pounds.

Overall, expecting to continue your previous social life while doing keto is pretty unrealistic. While pure spirits like whiskey, brandy, cognac, vodka, and tequila contain zero carbs and are permissible, alcohol is known to slow down weight loss and metabolism levels. I cut out alcohol entirely, which was relatively easy because I already hate the taste and also get the Asian glow super easily, but having to explain myself at every social function got pretty annoying. I remember having a pretty aggressive freakout at a potluck party where I a) wasn’t drinking and had to explain myself upwards of five times b) couldn’t eat anything there, because for some reason we had brought carb-loaded pabellon arepas instead of bringing something I could actually enjoy c) was definitely PMSing. Bad combo. Do not recommend.

The Ugly

Here’s the shit that I definitely did not see coming with this whole keto thing.

Dealing with all of the comments on my size: certain personal comments on my body FREAK. ME. OUT. I’ve been hovering around my new current weight for about three weeks now, and I still get multiple comments a day. Obviously a “you lost so much weight!” or “you look great, how did you do it!” comments here and there are welcome, even encouraging (I mean hello I lost half a Hadid sister, I deserve my props!)…but some just got weird and invasive. People poking my tummy or hips, telling me I “need a bacon fat smoothie”, or “you’re way too skinny, you need to stop!” make me just cringe all over. And I don’t hide it. I know it’s (generally) coming from a well-meaning place, whether complimentary, concerned, or whatever, but I don’t think that makes it okay to judge my personal appearance, especially in the workplace. Not to mention that these comments are adding pressure on me to not regain, which I know will naturally happen to some degree if/when I choose to stop doing keto.

On that note: I have no idea what to do now. I’ve hit my goal weight, so I guess I could quit keto, but now I’m a little afraid of carbs. The idea of freely eating pizza and pasta freaks me out, now that I see what cutting them out can do. I’m considering paleo, and I’m soooooo excited to add fruits back into my meals, but I’m in this weird gridlock and can’t get myself out. I’d like to maintain where I am, weight-wise, but if I gain a few pounds I’d be okay with that. Any ideas?

Clothes: yeah, nothing fits properly anymore. Probably should have seen this one coming, but still worth mentioning. I already wore my clothes circa Olsen twins in the 2000s before I lost weight, but now everything looks like a damn Chico’s muumuu. I don’t want to get rid of my “old” clothes juuuust in case, but isn’t that essentially planning for failure? WHAT DO I DO?!

Final Thoughts

For me, keto is the shit. 10/10 would do again. To actually change my lifestyle, I need rules, measurable success, and cheese. Keto has all of that and then some.

Physically: I feel great. My energy is good, I have definitely noticed a lower appetite and fewer food cravings, and while my IBS hasn’t been reduced, I’m still crossing my fingers for that. It’s also domino-effected other healthy routines back into my daily life: I’m back to Bikram yoga on the regular, cleaner/organic eating (for the most part), cooking and knowing what goes into my food and where it comes from, and just caring more for what goes into my body.

Emotionally: meal-to-meal, day-to-day, I don’t feel deprived at all. I can eat until I’m full, snack on cheese and charcuterie, and even hack my way around some keto berry mousse or keto chocolate hazelnut spread if I’m having a sweet tooth craving. The alcohol thing doesn’t bother me at all, but the restaurant thing is something I’ve been figuring out – instead of impromptu dining-out, I just have to spend a little more time Googling restaurants, checking out their menus, and figuring out what I can and want to eat before I get there. Steakhouses and seafood restaurants are surprisingly great options (just skip the sauces, potatoes, etc), I can still hit up most of the gluten/diet-restriction friendly all day cafes that I so love, and my favorite sashimi is still completely a-okay. I haven’t lux-brunched in a while – restaurant pancakes/toasts/biscuits with endless mimosas are pretty unhackable – but I’ve started finding other ways to spend that money and two-hour window (longer if you count the next day’s hangover) that make me just feel goooood – yes, even better than any food coma. Tui-na massages? Steam rooms and saunas? New yoga classes (trying my first acro yoga class soon)? New yoga outfit? A new dress? Splurging on that flower bouquet at the farmers market? Adding on that extra ten-minute foot massage at my pedicure? YAAASSSSS!!! #treatyoself

And real talk, losing 28 pounds in a healthy, sustainable (I hope) way just feels empowering! What else can I do now? Get a six pack? Get me some Michelle Obama arms? Maybe even…get a booty?! Stay tuned…

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(Guest Post) I Tried the Keto Diet: 10 Weeks, 28 Pounds Later (Guest Post) I Tried the Keto Diet: 10 Weeks, 28 Pounds Later Reviewed by Health And Fitness on June 06, 2018 Rating: 5

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