Results of Keto Dieting for a Month

On a weird whim, I started the keto diet about a month ago. It wasn’t terribly hard since I was sorta doing paleo for a few years. Keto is basically a stricter form of paleo dieting, where all sugar is removed and very little carbohydrates are consumed. Most calories come from most forms of natural fat, and some from protein.

Here’s a list, in no particular order, of what I ate: eggs, water, coffee, beef stock, avocados, meat (mostly beef and pork products, some chicken, fish, cold cuts), cheese (most any kind, full fat), heavy whipping cream, Stevia, hot sauce, sauerkraut, lettuce (romaine or a mix of a few kind), grass-fed butter or ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, full-fat yogurt, pork rinds (an ideal snack), broccoli and cauliflower, coconut milk, tomatoes, peppers, onions

Some of what I ate sparingly: nuts (no peanuts, mostly almonds and almond flour), seeds, small berries (blueberries, strawberries, etc)

Here are my observations:

1. I got the keto flu for about 3 days, but it probably wasn’t as bad as most people might get it. I didn’t eat all that much sugar to begin with, and it was the “good” kind: stuff from fruit, or honey, rarely processed sugar. I don’t buy too much into detox diets, but since there’s sugar in nearly everything and modern foods can be pretty addicting, it makes sense that you go through a withdrawal period when you forgo them.

2. I lost around 10 pounds and kept it off. I was already at a good weight, hovering around 10-11% body fat, but this really shifted it into high gear. Some of the weight was probably muscle mass, since I wasn’t exercising as much for a combination of reasons.

3. When I get hungry, I don’t get very hungry. It’s a mild hunger with none of the sharpness associated when you start getting really hungry (or “hangry”). I haven’t tried fasting yet but I want to see how long it takes without eating will deliver that unpleasant sharpness.

4. It doesn’t take much food to make me feel full, since most of what I eat is fat-based.

5. I don’t crave any sweet stuff, or breads or pasta. I mean, I’d like to eat a cookie, but I’m not desperate. I’m at a point where I’m indifferent to them.

6. Energy levels are fine. No different than when I was pseudo-paleo.

7. I fart a lot less. I can’t say I’m totally pleased with this, but I’ll take it.

8. I didn’t feel any of the silly placebo effects we joke about with high-fat diets. I didn’t feel my arteries harden, my heart didn’t struggle with pumping blood, no mild heart attacks, etc. The only thing I felt was slightly less bloated.

9.

I think I’ll continue doing keto, and I may try some fasting to see how my energy levels react, and to see how far I can go with it. I’ll post results after I do that. I also want to get biometric screening done while in keto to see if any levels had changed since the my last screening.