I will do a longer post soon, but it has been very successful and my key findings so far are:
- I just don't get hungry, freakishly so
- I haven't had cravings or any desire to cheat
- Whilst I have restricted carbs, I have in no way calorie restricted my diet as a whole - I eat as often and as much as I want
- I have lost five or six kilos in as many weeks
- I have more even energy with no sugar crashes
- Whilst it hasn't been a joy, I have exercised, probably as well as I could before
- I experienced low energy in the early stages but not massively so, and no 'keto-flu'
- I have enjoyed eating food, and have been cooking a lot more
- I get to eat things like bacon, cream and cheese for breakfast
- I see no reason to stop (the greatest compliment a diet can receive!)
Here is a brief summary of each day, mainly a food diary but with some other observations:
Day 1:
Skipped brekky, which I think will be the default. Drunk coffee, which you aren't really
supposed to do. Massive salad with
mackerel, nuts and avocado for lunch.
Half a day in and feeling fine (obviously).
Day 2:
Another salad, and a very nice king prawn, spinach and
courgette concoction for dinner. All
quite filling but I was getting hungry by bed time. Also, had a very slow run
home from work.
Day 3:
Working from home so went a bit OTT on the egg and bacon for
lunch (only four eggs, but 11 rashers of streaky bacon). Dinner was asparagus, broccoli an
burgers. Also realised I can eat cheese,
so did. Overall not exactly healthy in the traditional sense, but kept the
carbs low and the fat high.
Day 4:
Another salad for lunch and a really delicious smoked salmon
creamy courgetti (courgette spaghetti) dish made by Holly for dinner. Had a small pud of plain yog and a few
raspberries. Then rather a lot of cheese.
Day 5:
Tricolore salad for lunch but Parma ham instead of tomato.
Concocted a very nice chicken, aubergine, courgette and cauliflower bake.
Probably mostly through the improving power of cheese. Didn't run home.
Day 6:
Smoked mackerel and egg for breakfast. Smoked mackerel is
good! Dinner was prawn, bacon, Pakchoi, spinach, mushrooms and cashews. Not bad
either. Finally, an almond milk vanilla milkshake with a dash of agave syrup.
Not a good day otherwise, Willow has driven me nuts. Running low on blood sugar
probably hasn't help my temperament.
Day 7:
More smoked mackerel with a avocado and feta scrambled
egg. Dinner was roast lamb with spinach,
pine nuts and broccoli. Temperament a bit
better, probably mostly because we got out the house.
Day 8:
Feta in the usual avocado, nut, spinach and dressing salad.
Then for dinner some chicken with Stilton inside and courgette with hummus and
feta (and some considerable heat). Plus
the now usual milkshake. Really enjoying
the food but suspect I need to lower the protein to get myself into ketosis.
Day 9:
Back to tricoloure for lunch and had a few dry roasted
peanuts too. Sausages,, cauliflower
mash, mushrooms and spinach for dinner.
Then a milkshake. Back is aching
but don't suppose I can blame the diet for that.
Day 10:
A lot of bacon and some egg for lunch. Smoked too, so that’s
probably not good. Then for dinner,
smoked mackerel and broccoli. Plus milkshake.
I think very low in carbs and probably just about okay on protein. I hope.
Day 11:
Smoked mackerel, spinach, nuts, avocado and dressing for a
stink-out-the-office lunch. Dinner was
chicken, courgette, spinach, pine nuts and pak choi with cream - another pretty
decent but completely made up dish. My
ketostix testing strips arrived. No sign of ketosis. Plus milkshake (must stop
that).
Day 12:
A few peanuts and a creamy coffee in the morning had me not
finishing my tricolore at lunch. This evening I had the keto dream of super
cheesy cream sauce on bacon and cauliflower. Sure enough at tonight's test I am
well on the positive side. Of course, being in ketosis is very different from
being keto-adapted but I am definitely on the right track.
Day 13:
Climbed today and although pretty bad I did enjoy it.
Scrambled egg with spinach and feta for brekky. James was staying with us so
had fancy dinner of asparagus and Parma ham then scallops, chorizo and apple
with mash (cauliflower for me). Berries and cream for pud. Zero alcohol! In
mild ketosis but it's no good thing to peeing tonnes of ketones so that is
good.
Day 14:
Bacon with avocado and feta scrambled egg. And smoked salmon
courgetti for dinner. Did the seven mile forest and although it started bad it
got much better. Forearms seized up,
maybe from the cold air coupled with the climbing yesterday, very odd.
Day 15:
Such was my lack of hunger at work today I only ate some
peanuts and a creamy coffee. Dinner was prawns, aubergine, mushrooms, broccoli,
nuts and cream. Slow run home but feeling alright, ish.
Day 16:
Tricolore for lunch and a nice fish curry with cauliflower
rice for dinner, plus milkshake. Mildly
in ketosis when I got home from work, and heavily only an hour later - it
changes quickly it seems.
Day 17:
Bit of a fat day, at least on paper. Started by finishing
some leftovers, then had bacon and a lump of cheese. Then had my usual
milkshake with the addition of some cocoa. For dinner had a baked thing of
aubergine, courgette, mushroom, mince and cheese. Seemed to be out of ketosis
this evening - too much protein?
Day 18:
Too many peanuts had me thinking I'd ruined my macros but in
ketosis this evening. Lunch was last night's dinner. Dinner was parmesan
courgette 'fries' and roast chicken, feta and avocado salad. Plus some yog and raspberries.
Day 19:
Chicken, asparagus and cheddar for lunch. Dinner was a very nice,
and very high fat, celeriac carbonara.
Day 20:
Tricolore for lunch and a chicken pie with cauliflower mash
for dinner . Wandering around the woods knackered me out, but then it knackered
everyone.
Day 21:
Went out for lunch and was forced to have chicken wings as
the only compliant offering. Pretty good though. Then salmon, cauliflower,
spinach and avocado for dins. Seven mile forest run felt pretty draining but
okay and didn't feel hungry despite no brekky.
Day 22:
Leftover pie for lunch and an enormously gluttonous
cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake. With bacon and mushrooms. And cheese. So
much cheese. Too many calories today but must have ticked the fat ratio.
Day 23:
Leftovers again, so definitely fatty. Then moussaka made by
Holly, decarbed and fattened! Ordered
some books on this lark and started reading 'Why we get fat'.
Day 24:
Chicken soup for lunch, creamy but must be pretty low
calorie. Leftover moussaka for dinner.
Made vanilla fat bombs too - macadamia, butter and coconut oi, so super
calorie dense.
Day 25:
Tricolore for lunch, which I have realised is a little high
in protein. A piece of fat bomb and a lump of cheese. And later off to Jamie's
Italian before a midnight cinema trip, it looks to be the best of the bunch for
keto at Westfield (wouldn't have expected Italian).
Day 26:
Soup made of only broth and cream for lunch and a four mile
run in evening, slow but okay. Leftover chicken pie and cauliflower mash for
dinner. Must be well under calorie today but yet to feel hungry.
Day 27:
Out for coffee this morning so while others had a croissant,
I had a scotch egg. Breadcrumbs but surely not much. The egg with feta and
bacon foe lunch and a prawn courgetti thing for dinner.
Day 28:
Scrambled egg for breakfast. A very late lunch of chorizo, spinach,
cream, cheese - this was after watching everyone at the cafe eat as choices
were too limited for me. Stilton chicken with asparagus spinach gruyere cream
for dinner. Dense.
Day 29:
Chorizo scrambled egg for lunch after a grim but faster
seven mile forest run. Pork shoulder, broccoli and creamy spinach for dins.
Also had some berries and yog and made some vanilla milkshake ice lollies,
notionally for Willow.
Day 30:
Tricolore for lunch again due to lack of time and
imagination. For dinner we had Indian. I opted for chicken saag in the hope it
is basically chicken, spinach and oil. We shall see.
Day 31:
Bacon and mushrooms in cheese and cream for brunch -
traditionally a heart attach on a plate, but now science says not so much. Milkshake. For dinner cauliflower cheese and
two sausages - sausages were surprisingly un-keto, but think I escaped.
Day 32:
16 hour working day on the elections yet ate only a cheesy
avocado salad, two sausages and some leftover cauliflower cheese. Still not
really hungry! Amazing turn around.
Day 33:
Bacon and mushrooms cheese cream for brekky and smoked
salmon courgetti on Friday night. Damn, I love that breakfast invention.
Day 34:
Omelette for breakfast.
Attempted BBQ for dinner with steak, halloumi and courgette - finished of
on frying pan. And milkshake, added cream cheese for extra fat.
Day 35:
Calorie bomb central today.
The bacon and mushroom cheese brekky. Cauliflower and mushroom cheese
bake and chicken with Stilton for dinner. Plus another 'cheesecake' milkshake,
a bit odd.
Day 36:
An odd leftover lunch of an egg and some cauliflower cheese.
Sausages, cheesy spinach and salad for dinner. Very tired again for some
reason. No sign of ketones but can't imagine I am out of ketosis so perhaps
adaptation is well underway and I am using them all up.
Day 37:
Another odd mix of leftover sausage, avocado and mozzarella
salad for lunch. Chicken, spinach and avocado and feta for dinner. Back showing
ketones.
Day 38:
Tricolore for lunch and for dinner, fish, cheesy spinach and
cauliflower. Plus yog and berries. Showing ketones again - hoped I would get my
head around some reason, but perhaps it's all just rhyme.
Day 39:
The lamest lunch yet, more as a product of an empty fridge
than anything, a lump of cheese and a boiled egg. Meatballs in creamy mushroom
sauce for dinner.
Day 40:
Scrambled egg for breakfast, bacon and mushroom cream cheese
for lunch, and finally got around to having pork scratching (motorway service
station food wasn't really an option.
Day 41:
Bacon and mushroom cream cheese at the campsite for
breakfast - James was impressed. Two
boiled eggs on the hill for lunch, not that I was very hungry. Dinner was chicken and spinach cream
cheese. A real test of the diet today -
280m or so of rock climbing and a walk to, essentially, the summit of Great
Gable. Felt fine.
Day 42:
Scrambled egg and avocado for breakfast and a sausage
casserole with courgette, broccoli, cheese and cream for dinner. Another full day climbing.
Day 43:
Bacon and cheese, only, for breakfast. Nuts for lunch. And
bbq steak with some broccoli for dinner. This will be my last daily note and it
seems right that it ends with me breaking my whisky abstinence, such is my
faith in me having adapted. So I survived some strenuous exercise, and have
survived whisky!
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