Keto Changed My Life

Dealing With Setbacks

I indulged in some sugar filled treats this past Christmas after a 2 year streak off going without them. I had small pieces of cake for my birthday each year, but literally no other added sugar items during that time. I often try to remind myself that much like an alcoholic I am still a sugar addict that needs to abstain at all times! Ever since Christmas I have been cycling between binges. I’ve gotten to nearly a two week period of being back “on” my diet before the cravings come calling. At this point I know I have to go back to a strict keto diet again.

Since last summer of 2020 I have been experimenting with a low carb/high fat diet. It follows a lot of the same ideas as keto while allowing a higher carb count to include more high carb vegetables. I enjoy weightlifting which benefited quite a bit from those extra carbs as well. The problem is those higher carbs get inflated fast when I decide that I also need to eat a couple brownies as well. I had completely forgot how much a sugar rush can affect me. The crash afterwards is the part that does so the most.

I’ve been letting this setback win the last few months. It has really been letdown for me, but I can’t have the highs without the lows. I’m rededicating myself today with a 30 day challenge to eat a keto diet. I’ll let you all know how that goes in daily updates!

If you are beginning keto and feeling as overwhelmed as I did there is a link below to get some help with easy recipe’s.

https://bit.ly/2PauzXq

Eggs, Sardines, and Steak

I was used to eating pretty much whatever sounded tasty at the moment. That included Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, donuts, candy bars, and anything chocolate. I never counted calories, knew about macros, or considered how the food was affecting me. Although, I did feel guilty about the overall look and feel of my body. That craving for sugar just kept me torturing myself to get a fix

Looking back, I was bloated all the time. Passing gas just happens after you eat, right? I love chocolate which made ready made desserts like candy bars a huge weakness. Now, after eating keto, eating processed foods in large quantities means a terrible stomach ache. Which makes skipping cheat meals fairly easy! I just have to remember that those few seconds that I’m taking that bite are not worth the hours of pressure on my stomach I would deal with.

“There were heavy moments of defeat…”

Eating a Ketogenic diet was extremely overwhelming those first few months. I had my macros, and a journal app to track my food. I stressed over every meal trying to figure out which items had X amount of carbs. Spending hours looking at recipes was my new hobby. There were heavy moments of defeat any time I accidentally cheated. I remember feeling terror one meal realizing that I had mixed whole milk into my scrambled eggs….which yeah isn’t a big deal. Finally, I decided to pick 3 proteins to build meals around, make them as tasty as I could, and to start spending my free time on anything not keto!

Getting to the point………..Eggs, Sardines, and Steak. I have 3 main meals a day. Breakfast is 4 fried whole eggs in a tablespoon of butter, 2 slices of cheese, salsa, and a butter coffee w/ MCT oil. This breakfast is what I’ve pretty much had since last September, other than tweeking the number of eggs and cheese. For lunch, I mix 2 cans of skinless and boneless sardines, 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, and a liberal amount of spicy mustard into a sardine salad. This meal is so easy to make which for me is huge when cooking for yourself. Finally for dinner I have around a pound of steak or ground beef. I prefer the steak since it seems much easier to find a steak that has good natural flavors. Most of my carbs for dinner come from either bell peppers, or brussel sprouts.

I know it sounds boring. The thing is the meals always taste great, I have virtually zero bloating, and tons of energy. Planning for the grocery store is easy as well. The simplicity is the main draw for me. As well as knowing that I’ve met my calorie and macro goals each day without needing to journal.

Do any of you have meals that you have on a regular basis?

Zach N.

Why Should you read this?

I’m a Keto enthusiast
I have great hair
Learn from my mistakes
Give me feedback
Help me figure out what to do next

I grew up as an extremely skinny kid not breaking 160 pounds at 6’1″. After High School I was put on Xanax due to panic attacks. The weight started stacking up fast, and by the time I was 29 I had cracked 250 pounds with little to no muscle. A brief 4 months of motivation brought me into the local LA Fitness which got my weight almost down to 220 pounds. I then got a girlfriend which was my main reason for being in the gym, so why go back?!

I ballooned up to 270 pounds, experienced increased panic attacks, battled depression, and lost my girlfriend within a year. After struggling to drag myself into work for several years, I finally cracked. It started by calling in saying I was sick just to take mental health days. Soon I was no longer leaving the house. In the end I lost my job as well. At 35 years old I had no hope, and no plan.

It all sounded like snake oil…

The first time I heard the term Keto, I was browsing Youtube for tips on how to play a video game. I was 36 years old, living with my parents, and getting fatter every day. The infomercial was for some type of Keto supplement. The claims were that by cutting your carbohydrate intake to 50 grams or less a day you would enter a fat burning state called ketosis allowing you to drop tons of pounds of fat. It all sounded like snake oil similar to any other diet fad. Not to mention my diet at the time consisted mostly of fast food, desserts, and soft drinks.

With few exceptions I have been eating a Keto diet, or as close to Keto as I could since September 1, 2018. By December of 2018 I was down 20 pounds weighing 235. By the middle of February, 2019 I cracked 200 pounds. It is no longer a “diet” for me. I am so thankful for having found it, and want everyone to feel this good in their own skin.

That’s it for my first post. I look forward to meeting some kindred spirits.