Ketogenic diet
After my short egg diet, I wanted to try another diet. In the process, I heard more and more often about the ketogenic diet. Especially in the bodybuilding area, this diet form is often represented. You should be able to lose weight and build muscle mass at the same time. So I decided to try this diet for 30 days and the timing was perfect. My mother, who has diabetes, was advised by her doctor to follow the ketogenic diet for 6 months. So we were able to support each other as we got started.
What is a ketogenic diet?
In the ketogenic diet, you try to avoid carbohydrates as much as possible. Unlike a low-carb diet, where you can consume between 50g and 130g of carbohydrates a day, the ketogenic diet allows you to consume a maximum of 50g of carbs. The goal is to bring the body into a so-called ketosis. This can take up to 5 days. In this state, the body changes its energy supplier. Instead of carbohydrates, the body gets its energy from fat. This means that the more fat you eat, the more energy you have throughout the day. The problem is that you quickly get out of the ketosis again as soon as you eat more carbs than allowed.
The preparation
There was really only one basic rule: Never exceed the upper limit of 20g carbs per day. Otherwise, I was allowed to eat anything and as much as I wanted. Strength training three times a week and some cardio were also mandatory for me. I wanted to do the whole thing for 30 days and reduce my weight from 101.2 kg to 90 kg.
Implementation
The first three days were the worst! All the time I was tired, exhausted and annoyed. I have never had so little energy. But this is supposed to be normal, because the body slowly adapts and enters ketosis. This time was the most difficult part of the whole diet for me. From the fourth day on, my body was in ketosis and I felt it. After each high-fat meal, I noticed an increase in my energy. As a result, I tried to eat as much fat as possible. It started in the morning with a piece of butter in my coffee.
On average, I ate about 2000 kcal a day. My diet consisted mainly of animal products. Meat, fish, eggs and cheese. From the second week on I made sure that I ate some vegetables too, but not too much. Vegetables have a few carbs, but given my limit of 20g, a bit too much. A cucumber, for example, has about 4g of carbohydrates per 100g. I did the diet completely without fruits, because fruits contains a lot of fructose and these are also converted into carbohydrates in the body. However, it was not necessary to limit myself so much and to do the diet without important vitamins, because the body gets into the ketosis state even with 50g of carbs.
In ketosis, the diet went smoothly for me. I noticed positive, but also negative effects of the ketogenic diet.
Disadvantages of the ketogenic diet
Cravings for carbohydrates
From time to time I felt a strong craving for bread and sugar. I could literally smell the surrounding carbohydrates.
Longer shopping
Shopping took much longer in the first few days because almost all foods have a lot of carbohydrates. It takes time to develop a feeling for where you can access without hesitation. Since animal products are generally more expensive, the keto diet hits the wallet hard. On average, I spent twice as much more on food. You also had to pay attention to the expiration date, because the products go bad faster.
Lack of energy
There were a few moments where I was just tired and sluggish. Especially when I had to skip a meal or just didn’t have enough fat in my food.
Bad breath
During the diet, I constantly had a kind of greasy film in my mouth. I also had to brush my teeth after lunch because friends often pointed out the bad smell. The other gases I produced did not smell like flowers either.
Celebrations
When you are invited to a birthday party where there is a sumptuous meal, it becomes difficult to stick to your specifications. You can usually find meat, but it has probably been processed or marinated with something that contains carbohydrates. I was invited to a birthday party once during that time, but I let the host know about my diet beforehand, whereupon I got something extra carb-free.
No variety
There was the same thing on the plate almost every day. There were different kinds, but it was always something from the animal. A bit of vegetables here and there, but otherwise always just meat, fish, eggs or cheese. This is also my biggest criticism of the ketogenic diet and also the reason why I didn’t want to last longer than 30 days. I had so much desire for fruit and vegetables in large quantities. Also bread and sugar and maybe a little break from everything that has to do with an animal.
Advantages
Eat as much as I want
Since there was only one restriction for me, I could eat everything without carbohydrates as much as I wanted. I ate as much as I could, until I was no longer hungry. Often I ran to the butcher and bought a pepper bite or a Mettwurst as a snack in between meals.
Feeling full
I noticed that the carbs-free food made me feel full longer, and I could go longer periods without eating.
Motivation
Due to the steady weight loss, I was permanently motivated. Every day there was a small success on the scale. I lost 2 kilograms per week! And visually I also saw success very quickly. I was able to reduce my waist circumference by 9 cm to 94 cm. Thanks to the strength training, I lost only 2 cm on my chest and nothing on my arms.
Yo-Yo Effect
In my opinion, the yo-yo effect was not present at all. Three months after the ketogenic diet, I gained 3 kilograms back, but that was only because I fell back into my old eating habits. I think that if I had eaten more consciously after the end of the diet, I would not have gained weight again at all.
Conclusion
I missed my goal of 90 kg. But to lose a total of 8.3 kg in 30 days I consider as a not so bad performance.
I was satisfied with this diet overall. I could always eat myself full, hardly had to restrict myself in everyday life, didn’t have to add up calories and still lost weight steadily. Combined with the strength training, I was able to lose fat while maintaining muscle mass. My mother successfully followed through with her 6 months of the ketogenic diet and was able to lose 6 kg without exercising.
I can recommend the ketogenic diet to anyone who wants to lose weight effectively and quickly. You should also love meat and cheese. However, you should make sure to include enough fruits and vegetables in your diet as well to avoid getting a vitamin deficiency. With 50g of carbohydrates daily, this should also work quite well.
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