Our Keto Journey - Day 19

Day 19 – 

So I’m totally doing what I said I shouldn’t do and I’m weighing myself daily, so naturally I have not lost anything for the past two days and I’m feeling frustrated. I know that all diets will have peaks and valleys as my body adjusts to this new normal. I guess this is even more reason why I need to workout daily to help my metabolism and burn all this fat I have.  

Once again I began my day with just some coffee and later in the morning I had a small snack of some pecans.  I am trying to concentrate on drinking more water to make sure I am adequately hydrated, and as my daughter likes to remind me, sometimes you might feel hungry when you are actually just thirsty. 

I went early to the YMCA and I did 20 minutes on the stationary bicycle and then 25 more minutes on the treadmill.  My ankle has been getting a little sore when I do the treadmill for too long so I am trying to make sure and keep variety. I also make sure to warm up carefully with some stretches and some ankle circles to help loosen those stiff ankle joints. 

I have been writing my blog each day in a word document and then pasting each entry onto my blog, along with added pictures. I have already written 29 pages so far.  I might actually think about releasing this whole story as an ebook in the future. I’m not really sure, but it is an idea to consider.  I know that many family and friends have commented that they are reading my posts and several people have talked about doing a similar diet. If my experiences could help other people that would be great. I read a few stories from people who have lost weight on the Keto diet and I thought it was helpful to hear about their experience. 

I know some people get angry when someone says, “I forgot to eat”. Like how could you ever forget to eat? But today I got so busy doing work that I looked up and realized it was almost 2:00 and I hadn’t really eaten anything, I also realized I was hungry so I headed to the kitchen. I used some leftover rotisserie chicken, which I cup up and then added some pecans, one cut up cheese stick and a small amount of cauliflower rice and mixed with mayonnaise, which came out as a super yummy chicken salad. I really like food with a variety of texture and this was crunchy and chewy and really tasted great; it filled me up. 

I do know that some people on the Keto diet do restrict their food intake to a certain eating window of time, like 10:00am-6:00pm or 12:00 to 8:00pm.  For me, since there are so few breakfast options I have found myself skipping breakfast, but it is not an intentional diet strategy. There is so much information out there are dieting approaches, and quite frankly most of them are not based on sound science, so I am hesitant to follow them. 

There is some great research on the Keto diet. I easily found two recent articles from Harvard and National Institutes of Health supporting the Keto diet as an effective means of weight loss (click on the links to read each one).

From Harvard:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketogenic-diet-is-the-ultimate-low-carb-diet-good-for-you-2017072712089

From N.I.H:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/

I did not find the same glowing endorsements for Intermittent fasting as a dieting approach, but there does seem to be some evidence suggesting fasting can be an effective weight management tool.   

According to the popular Keto website ruled.me.com, 

There are a few approaches when it comes to intermittent fasting.

§  Skipped meals. This is when you skip over a meal to induce extra time of fasting. Usually people choose breakfast, but others prefer to skip lunch.

§  Eating windows. Usually this condenses your entire macronutrient intake between a 4 and 7 hour window. The rest of the time you are in a fasting state.

§  24-48 hour cleanse. This is where you go into extended fasting periods, and do not eat for 1-2 days.

I am not particularly in favor of any of these methods, but the website does discuss how one of these options might help if you have stalled in your weight loss.  I don’t believe I’m there yet, but I have always believed that it is a good idea to restrict eating after 7:00pm or 8:00pm because late eating is simply calories that are not effectively burned off.  Somehow I envision eating and then going to sleep with all those pesky little calories rushing straight to my hips and thighs.   

For now just choosing healthy Keto foods and trying to incorporate healthy exercise routines into my lifestyle are more than enough for me.  

For dinner, I was actually still feeling a little full from lunch so I cut up a zucchini and made more of those delicious baked zucchini and Parmesan chips. It was perfect.  I have been finding some fun Keto recipes online, but right now it is so hot out, and the last thing I really feel like doing is a bunch of cooking in a hot kitchen. Phoenix summer can be brutal like that.

Spiralizer on Amazon

I looked online at a spiralizer, and I may decide to get one.  Having more healthy food options sounds like a great thing. 

For now we are continuing to do really well maintaining our Keto diet and making good choices with out food, even if we still longingly dream about chips and donuts.