During our last podcast I confessed — that sounds so ominous, doesn’t it? — that I had started the Keto diet a couple days before. Originally, I wasn’t going to say anything because this seems to have become the latest in a long string of fad diets. (Atkins, anyone?) I mainly wanted to keep quiet about it because I was afraid I would quit after a couple of days and look foolish. I figured if I did have some real success with it, THEN I would share the juicy details so we could all be in Ketosis and suffer bad breath together. But I went ahead and opened my big mouth because that’s just what I do. I share.
So first thing I did was buy the Simply Keto book by Suzanne Ryan. I bought it because Living with Landyn said she was using that book to do Keto and I want to do everything Living with Landyn does. I’m oddly obsessed with her, which my poor husband can attest to because he has to go to bed with both of us every night. (I have to check her Instagram Stories before lights out.) The thing about Landyn is, she’s skinny as a minute. And while I don’t believe she needs to lose a single pound, who am I to judge when a woman thinks she needs to drop a couple to feel better about herself. I’m not the one looking at her backside in the 3-way mirror of a dressing room realizing that I should’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on back there before now. Wait…..that was me. Yes, the truth is, I looked at MY backside in the 3-way mirror of a dressing room before we went on spring break and I was appalled by what I saw. At home, I see myself naked from the front and from the side and I convince myself that I’m not looking too bad. But that 3-way mirror is a reality check for your backside and mine was a real ego killer. I left that dressing room with a big dose of the truth and now I have to face the consequences.
So I bought the book, read it during spring break, came home and loaded up on pretty much everything Suzanne recommended, only to throw away about half of it today because I can’t eat it fast enough. But I HAVE eaten more avocados this week than I’ve consumed in my entire life, and I’ve actually put “fat bombs” made of pure butter and cream cheese into my mouth because I was told to do it. Now I didn’t go out and order the recommended pin-prick blood tests to track whether I’m ketosis or not. I figured if I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, I’d be in ketosis, dang it! Why torture myself with needles? But here’s the result after one week on Keto…..
I’ve lost NOTHING. I do believe my belly is a little flatter because I’ve lost some belly bloat but otherwise, the scale hasn’t budged.
In Keto’s defense, I have NOT stuck to it religiously, not by any stretch of the imagination. I haven’t had anything I’m NOT allowed to eat, but I’ve had a lot of what I AM allowed to eat. This apparently doesn’t work well in Ketoville. Who would’ve thought you can have too many fat bombs?? But in my defense, who knew a ball of butter and cream cheese could be so delicious…And yes, while vodka is allowed, I skipped over that “in moderation” part this weekend. Hey, we were without the kids and we had a couple date nights! I wanted vodka!
I think I’m going to stick it out a little while longer, mainly because I’ve bought a bunch of Keto stuff I still have to eat. But I’ll be honest, the only thing that has truly ever worked for me is counting calories. And the easiest way to do that — for me, at least — was with the MyFitnessPal app. That’s how I dropped about 15 pounds for my wedding and fit into my off-the-rack, fit-in-it-or-else dress. But I had a specific goal in mind with a target date to go with it, and THAT was the difference between me sticking to it religiously and not. I just don’t have a do-or-die motivation in my life right now to drop 10 pounds. Well, maybe if I walked around with a portable 3-way mirror I would….But 10 or 15 pounds isn’t the end of the world….even though I do have a couple pairs of pants I’d like to get back into this summer.
So that’s the Keto diet for me so far. I wouldn’t call this a success story, but I am seeing how it’s making it a lot easier for me to just say no to carbs. So let’s consider that a win, shall we? And now I think I might go celebrate with another fat bomb.
Hi Kelly, short and sweet I started this in January. So still new to it. Not a veteran at all. But I have learned two things. It takes 3 weeks of strict keto to become "fat adapted" and also you can't watch the scale. I started this like "let's loose 60 pounds!" But as I researched more and more, I realized that it's more about getting healthy. I've lost 37lbs since Jan 11. And went from a size 13 to a size 6 most of those inches, I lost in Feburary. Give it three weeks of a good try. And I do this on a strict budget. I eat what I can and don't eat what I'm not supposed t…
You are too funny and totally explained my Exact 3-way mirror experience. After months and months of the hubby going almost all in Keto and me finding as many carb alternatives as I can, (cloud bread, tons of spaghetti squash and seaweed pasta), I too finally succumbed to cutting back on the carbs. But Only cutting back. I read labels and measure as much as I can. Finally started exercising consistently and there is some difference. I’m not losing still but I’m noticing muscle where there used to be flab and am not gaining. My advice: veggie and fruit carbs are good and cut back on all the others!
HI Kellie! Huge fan! forget about the Keto whatever. What about some PHO???!!!
Linda Nguyen
Hey Kellie,
I've been doing a low carb high fat, mostly vegetarian diet and counting calories and have lost 9 lbs. in 3 weeks. The game changer has been drinking 70 - 90 oz of water per day. I stay full, don't snack and barely want anything for dinner. It's true what everybody said about drinking a lot of water but could never stick with it before. Good luck.
Hi Kellie!! Huge fan of course. My husband is a tall guy and foodie. He started Keto last year and has lost 70 pounds. But he is a man. lol. Keto is very strict. If you go off at all it kicks you out of Ketosis. Even if you eat nuts etc. you can only eat a small dose. I tried this diet or way of living but only eating 20 carbs a day just made me so cranky. That is so strict. Maybe try doing lower carb like 50. I bet you will lose weight. Also, some people who do KETO don't count net carbs. So much info but hang in there. Tweak a few things. My husband also…