Kicking into Keto

Will Keto Be My New Lifestyle of Eating?

Over the last 10 years, I’ve tried many different diets – high protein, low carb, caloric deficit. For the most part, on each of the diets I’ve tried, my goals were to build muscle and lose fat. While I initially achieved my desired results, I eventually plateaued and I felt like I needed something new or to mix things up.

About six months ago I did a 30-day high protein diet with great results. However, it was a pain in the butt to eat six meals a day. It wasn’t so much the amount of food I had to eat, it was having to prepare and eat every three hours.

Currently, the hottest diet around focuses on ketosis. Keto is another form of a low-carb diet, which many people, including close personal friends and family, have been very successful with.

With this new program and implementing intermittent fasting – eating two to three meals in a shortened period of time, I feel like I can accomplish my goals. As with any diet or lifestyle change, please make sure you research as much as possible before you try anything of this nature.

I’ve heard about ketosis diets over the last couple of years, but I never researched it enough to have it peak my interest. The main reason I’m trying it now is that I want to lose a little bit more fat. As we age it becomes much harder to lose fat, especially around the stomach region.

Currently, I’m 44 years old and my birthday is only a few weeks away. I figured I can try this for a few weeks to a few months and I should see some pretty good results. Who knows, if it fits within my lifestyle this could become my permanent way of eating.

I’ve watched hours of YouTube videos from Dr. Berg and Thomas DeLauer, not to mention all the other “experts out there”. There are tons of channels on YouTube and plenty of websites to research. I enjoy researching and learning what our bodies require for optimal performance and maintenance. I find it interesting to see the amount and what people eat when they are on this kind of diet in order to ingest the required amount of dietary fats required to meet their macros.

Developing a better understanding of how what you put in your body affects your mood, athletic performance, libido, inflammation, and overall health is fascinating to me. There is a lot of science behind it and once you get a better understanding of how the body processes food, it becomes a lot easier.

Growing up we were taught to limit fats, red meat, eggs and to focus on healthy grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Following the keto diet, I’m having to reteach myself pretty much all the things I once thought were correct.

The Spouse is on Board

During my previous attempts at dieting, I was more or less on my own. When you have a family with children it can be difficult to make a meal that satisfies everyone’s dietary choices unless you want to make a separate meal for each individual.  Your wife can be making chicken with broccoli and rice, but you’re only allowed to eat chicken and broccoli.

This time around my wife and I will be doing this together. We both started on the same day and are looking to not only lose some weight but also feel better overall.

To take some of the guesswork out of what we need to eat and how much, we both downloaded a low carb app from the Apple Store. This is a solid macronutrient calculator with a lot of other benefits. So far this app has saved us a lot guessing and frustration. I plan to review the app in the future. The kids, on the other hand, are watching us make all kinds of different or “weird” eating choices. We are not asking them to eat how we are eating, but over time hopefully, they learn to and pick up on some healthier eating styles and not ingest as much sugar. For now, kids will be kids.

Foods to Eat

What I’ve learned so far from my research is that I’ll be eating a lot more fat than I’m normally accustomed to. This runs counter to what I’ve done over the last 10 years when it comes to “eating right”. I think a lot of people are wary of the amount of fat they need to eat. It goes against everything we’ve been told in the past.

However, if you do the research you will see why it could be more beneficial to your overall health. If you dig in and really get into the scientific data and focus on what you’re trying to do, the results will follow.

Let me go over a typical day of eating for me. My goal is to start with an intermittent fast. That starts from your final meal the day before till you ingest any calories the next day. I’m aiming for a 16/8 hour window. So no eating for 16 hours and then an eating window of 8 hours.

Normally I’ll break my fast with a cup of coffee, 3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of Kerrygold butter.

My brunch/lunch will consist of two eggs fried in 1 tablespoon of butter, a strong serving of Swiss chard, four bacon strips and 1/2 of an avocado.

For dinner, I’ll include a protein, dark meat chicken, wild caught salmon, red meat or pork sausage. For my vegetables and greens, I’ll have some broccoli or asparagus with olive oil, cheddar cheese and then top that off with a salad with some pretty heavy fat no sugar dressing. I’ll round that out with plenty of water to drink – no sports drinks or sodas.

There are a lot of food options and tons of information on Pinterest and other websites. There are also tons of community and support groups with like-minded individuals who are happy to share recipes. As I go through this I will share all the different foods I’ve incorporated into my Keto.

You Still Need to Exercise

I will continue to work out 4 to 6 times a week. Most of my workouts consist of muscle building. I focus on one or two muscle groups per day. I will also start to include cardio by using the bike and treadmill. Any exercise I get outside will be a bonus. I honestly believe that exercise is the most important part of everything we do.

The main reason I workout these days is for mental health. It’s not so much about the body itself. It allows me to clear my head and focus more on my tasks at hand.

What I’ve shared above is just the basics of what I plan to do. I’m not claiming to be a nutritionist or dietitian and you should always do your own research to see if this is the right plan for you. Definitely, seek a health professional if you plan to proceed with this type of lifestyle.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the post below. I plan to share my experience to the best of my ability and hopefully help others get into shape or just feel better.

The end results will depend on a lot of different factors. If I can share some positive energy with you while feeling great on Keto than my goals will be met.

Please feel free to reach out with Any Questions.