As a rule, I shy away from extreme diets or eating regimens.
Never heard of them.Whole30 diet?
Wholly not going to bother with it.The Paleo plan?
Some things are better left in the history books.
But the simplicity of the ketogenic diet planketo for shortappealed to me.
I soon learned this last part was the most important thing for my journey.
I used anonline keto calculatorto set a goal for calories, carbs and fat.
I mostly followed the suggestions, except for fat.
The calculator suggested over 200 grams of fat each day.
That’s tough to hit without loadinggheeinto my coffee or swigging some coconut oil before lunch.
Can it be done?
I just couldn’t get there.
For me, the focus was on reducing carbs.
I let the other pieces just fall into place.
I also asked a friend to join me as an accountability partner.
It also helped keep me on track.
For my 30-day diet and the sake of simplicity, I stuck with total carbs.
The key to hitting my number was toplan, plan, plan.
Each weekend I planned out all three meals, condiments and snacks for the next week.
I can’t stress enough the importance of planning for a keto diet.
So despite my daily goal of 1,800 calories, I fell short almost every day.
That’senough of a calorie deficit to produce weight loss, even without the low-carb count.
It was a real event for me, but not everyone will experience it.
I lost 10 pounds within three weeks and hit 15 pounds two days before the wedding.
That’s because your body is dropping water weight.
With that said, gym time was a bit of a challenge.
Stick with it, and take another crack tomorrow.
Luckily, I consider myself an adventurous cook and love trying new recipes.
With a keto plan, your ingredient list is dramatically shortened.
It takes a bit more work than an average meal plan, but it’s worth it.
This isn’t to say that my cravings simply went away.
Here’s when having an accountability buddy really helps.
If nothing else, my monthlong experiment helped meeat less sugarandrefined carbs.
I just hope youreallylikebacon.
