Contents
The editor was on a fashionable diet for a month and honestly talked about all the pros and cons.
Ketogenic (keto) is a low-carb diet. It is also high-fat and moderate-protein. With its help, the body enters a state of ketosis, in which the main source of energy is not carbohydrates, but ketones – an alternative source of fuel for the body, which is formed as a result of the breakdown of fats. This is the main idea!
I chose the keto diet primarily for her diet: 70-75% of food is allocated to the share of fats, 20% is allocated to proteins, and 5-10% of carbohydrates. And secondly, because it is not just goji berries that suddenly became popular for weight loss or some other “magic” diet, but a proven way to get rid of extra pounds.
In addition to this plus, this diet is used for therapeutic purposes: while following the keto diet, blood sugar levels decrease, so doctors often recommend it to diabetics; it also helps to increase mental performance, improve concentration. And since 1900, a similar diet has helped treat uncontrolled epilepsy. In general, as you can see, a very cool track record!
Realizing that on this diet I would not have to chew bread and drink kefir with an apple day and night, I quickly decided to try it on myself.
Before the diet: preparing for an overweight fight
Before the planned event on burning hated fats, I consulted with a doctor and a nutritionist, and also passed many tests. There are desperate girls who independently prescribe diets and experiment with the body without the supervision of at least a nutritionist. I’m not one of those. And I advise you not to be your own doctor! Even the best diet in the world can be harmful, and we are all for healthy weight loss, right ?!
Start given: initial weight and condition of the body
Before the diet, I weighed 60 kg. After giving birth, I weighed 70 kg and for a long time could not return to my former and beloved 55 kg and clothing size M. And the news that Kim Kardashian on a keto diet dropped a good (or not!) 30 kg after the birth of a child, inspired me. As the nutritionist assured, in a month I will get the coveted figures on the scales.
They gave me a list of prohibited / permitted foods, made a diet, a meal schedule and gave me other C.U. It turned out that the diet has both pros and cons.
Pros of the keto diet
1. Blood pressure normalizes and insulin levels drop to a healthy level.
2. The appearance of the skin is improved. It does this by decreasing carbohydrate intake and increasing fat intake.
3. Vigor and a surge of energy appear. But here’s a remark: in the first weeks on the new diet, I did not feel any rush. On the contrary, there was lethargy, irritability, fatigue. The doctor explained this by the body’s reaction to changes in nutrition.
4. No need to sit on boiled breasts alone. The menu is delicious, the diet dishes did not require any special culinary efforts.
5. Efficiency! I did lose my 5 kg and achieved the desired size M.
Cons of the keto diet
1. Imbalance in the diet. Still, mothers from childhood taught us to eat everything, but in moderation. And rightly so, it is important for health to receive fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Lack of any of these components can negatively affect the body. There are forbidden foods in the keto diet that I really missed. More on that later.
2. Bloating and constipation. Protein and fatty foods are known to take longer to digest. From this, such consequences are unpleasant. To get rid of bloating, I did add some vegetables and fruits to my diet. After that, it became easier.
3. Reduction of the previous volume of physical activity. Since this diet lowers the level of glucose in the blood, the overload of the body can manifest itself in the form of dizziness, nausea, drowsiness, loss of attention, concentration. For a working person, these are unpleasant consequences. Find out,
4. The need to take vitamin complexes. Even the keto diet is not ideal, and what you have to give up on the diet needs to be replenished with other forces. The doctor prescribed me a complex of preparations containing a wide range of water / fat-soluble vitamins and minerals.
5. Side effects such as hair loss and skin irritation. This is not so for everyone, but in the last weeks I began to notice that there is more hair left on the comb than usual, and a small rash appeared on the skin.
What do they eat on a keto diet?
In short, meat! And it made me very happy! I sat on many diets, including those where the meat could not even be sniffed. Therefore, keto has become a little gastronomic expanse for me. It is allowed to eat fish, beef, pork, chicken and other poultry, even lamb. And also eggs, cheese, fatty dairy products such as cream, butter, olive and coconut oil, herbs, olives, nuts. Of the vegetables, aerial ones are permissible – all types of cabbage, celery, cucumber, zucchini, spinach, avocado, where can we go without it! Berries include raspberries, blackberries, and other low-sugar berries.
After 2 weeks, the nutritionist allowed a little garlic, onion, eggplant and quite a bit of tomatoes to be added to the diet. I don’t think we need to talk about water! You need to drink it a lot, even more than the prescribed 2 liters per day.
What shouldn’t be eaten?
Since the main idea of the diet is to reduce the consumption of carbohydrates, then, accordingly, you cannot eat grains – bread, cereals, pasta, rice and others; starchy foods: potatoes, legumes, soy; many fruits and berries – apples, bananas, oranges and others; honey and syrups.
Diet results and personal findings
As I said, I saw the cherished 55 kg a month after the diet on my scales! For me, keto has become my favorite diet. Still: in the morning you can have a cup of coffee with cream and cinnamon, dine with vegetable soup with spices, salmon steak with herbs and salad from different types of cabbage, drink tea with a slice of cheese … These are delicious and my favorite products. The feeling of hunger did not follow me, as it did on other diets.
Of the difficulties: you can’t eat breakfast until you feel hungry. Again, returning to the settings from childhood, we were taught to eat tightly in the morning, because it is not known how the day will pass and whether we will be able to eat well afterwards. Of course, when you go on a diet like this, you cannot ignore the regimen. But situations are different. One day I went to work without having breakfast, of course. There was a small accident on the road, and I had to sort out the situation for a long time. There was nothing with me from food, at some point I began to feel my legs give way and darkness appears in my eyes. At that moment, without thinking twice, I grabbed the Snickers, which had been lying in my glove compartment for a month.
The second difficulty was eating without side dishes. I really wanted potatoes, bread, even some kind of porridge, although not to say that I love them. Carbohydrate starvation affected, and, despite satiety, baked goods appeared everywhere!
The third difficulty is the minimum consumption of vegetables and fruits. To be honest, I failed this point of the diet a little and at a certain point I began to introduce apples, oranges, grapes into the diet myself in order to normalize the digestive tract. I told the nutritionist about this later. I didn’t swear much, but it’s better to warn him about such moments.
And the fourth is the inability to eat sweets! I am a terrible sweet tooth, and the keto diet in this regard is an executioner for me! Sugar cannot even be added to drinks, only a substitute in the form of stevia was allowed. There was a lack of something tasty for tea. The feeling that I wanted something sweet did not leave me even for a day.