I wanted to blog about this after I had lost 20 or even 30 kg, but that’s gonna take longer than expected, oops! I’ve hit a slump and need motivation to keep calm and keto on and I thought, what better way to do that than get it from myself?
The Motivation
My motivation for starting is that I was depressed because I wasn’t accomplishing any of my major goals in 2018. I realized that it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t reach them due to circumstances beyond my control. So I decided to accomplish something that was controllable – and that was my weight.
I had seen my friend Jek’s amazing transformation, so I decided to try his weight loss method.
I officially started keto diet on Oct 7, 2018, a Sunday, the day after I pigged out on a bowl of carbs for the last time ever. I actually didn’t trust myself to push through with it, which is why I never weighed myself that morning, and only did so a few days later when I realised that I could actually do it.
On day 2 of my diet, I went to a clinic for something I had prior to starting keto. The doctor tested my urine and panicked when he found ketones which weren’t there in my previous medical results. I was surprised that I showed ketones so quickly. And it was this that made me determined to continue.
Method for Achieving Loss
I’m on a lazy ketogenic diet which is a low carb, high fat method of eating.
Lazy means I don’t track my calories and macros because I know myself well – this would never be sustainable for me and I’d give up quickly. I needed something that I could do long term, so I just avoid carbs and sugar whenever I could.
This doesn’t mean that I just reduce them a little – that doesn’t work. Ketosis only happens if you take less than 20g net carbs daily. So I really don’t eat any rice or bread or noodles or starchy vegetables or fruits or sugary drinks most of the time.
However, I don’t cook all my own food, so I wouldn’t be able to control hidden carbs. But again – I’m looking for sustainability, and being able to buy food instead of cooking them (which I don’t enjoy) was important for me.
Always do what works for you, because in my experience, if something is too hard to do – which cutting carbs already is, by itself – then you won’t be able to do it long term and you’ll just gain all the weight back again.
I’ve tried a lot of things before: intermittent fasting, diet pills, south beach, calorie counting, master cleanse, drinking meal replacements – but lazy keto is the only method that I have been on for this long, and the one that I lost the most weight from.
It’s actually not so hard once you get used to it. There are a lot of low carb recipes on the internet, you can make a low carb version of pretty much anything, even desserts and pizza. You’re allowed to eat fat, so you feel fuller than being on any of the low fat diets, and don’t feel as deprived.
Feeling fuller also makes it easier to add intermittent fasting into the mix once in a while. You will lose more weight if you do them both at the same time. I couldn’t do it that often because I found it difficult to do due to my work schedule, but I tried to do it whenever I ate too much carbs and needed to get back into ketosis quickly.
How Much Weight Lost
Before I started keto, I had already slowly lowered my sugar and carbs intake, like testing if I could handle coffee without sugar, etc.
I lost 2 kg from a month of that, then I lost 9 kg from keto in 4 months, so that’s a total of 11 kg. Since then I stalled because I became very lax about it. 😅
I also measured myself because I know the scale can’t be trusted. I lost 13 cm (5 inches) from my chest, 10 cm (4 inches) from my waist, and 12 cm (4.5 inches) from my hips.
I went from barely fitting a UK 18 size to a UK 16.
Difficulties Encountered
The first week is hell. Actually the first three days were fine, and I thought, hey, this isn’t so bad, I can’t believe how easy this is – and then boom – keto flu. I got headaches and the shakes and felt so dizzy, to the point that I wondered if this was worth it.
Luckily, some nice soul on tumblr told me to stick it out because it would all go away in a few days. She was right!
I am now glad it happened because it is one of my motivations for staying on – after going through that misery, I never want to go through it again!
The cravings for sweets disappeared in a few days, so that wasn’t an issue at all. The issue was socialization. Society is always celebrating occassions with sweets, so it was really hard to say no to people at first.
But every single difficulty encountered is worth it for the results that came out of it, and I will always recommend this way of eating to anyone who will ask me about it.
Tips
I’ll end this by giving three tips that helped me stay on the diet – or as Keto purists prefer to call it – way of eating.
(1) Have a Plan
Before jumping into this, it’s a good idea to do some research first, to know what you’re getting into and to make sure you do it right. The Keto Subreddit and RuledMe are the two main resources I used, as well as Jek’s tips. You can get some ideas of what to eat from my Instagram (@deecoded) – I saved down highlights titled “Keto” on my profile.
After reading, stock up on supplies – not just keto-friendly food, but also stuff that will help you with keto flu, such as electrolytes and pink himalayan salt.
Then time your start such that day 4 – when keto flu usually hits – falls on a day when you don’t have to work or do anything important, because for most people, it can be quite a pain and you don’t want to give up when you’re just beginning.
Also, if you ever do succumb to cravings and eat carbs, don’t go, “ah f- it, might as well turn this whole day into a cheat day!” That used to be my mentality. What happens then is that too many days become like that and I end up falling off the wagon completely. If you fall off, quickly get back on.
(2) Surround yourself with supportive people.
Even though I never insist on choosing keto-friendly restaurants whenever I’m out with friends, the best of them have taken it upon themselves to make sure that there’s meat for me to eat, at the very least.
I’m actually touched at the effort they go through for me even though I never ask them for it, like deliberately picking a different present for me while everyone else’s is sweets, or cooking pasta separately from the soup so I could have some too.
While at the end of the day it is still your willpower that you have to rely on when everybody else is sharing the cake, it helps when nobody is giving you added pressure.
It is also good to find people who have the same goals as you. If you don’t have them in real life, you can join Facebook and Reddit groups, and follow hashtags on Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr. But usually, once you start losing weight, other people will want to join you.
(3) Have Visual Reminders of Your Goal
Hang an article of clothing that is one size smaller on the back of your bedroom door, or somewhere you can see it all the time.
It is important to choose one that is just one size smaller – and not your ultimate size goal – so that you won’t feel like it’s impossible to reach. The moment you fit in that clothing, replace it with a smaller one, and so on.
It also helps to find a motivational quote or your “thinspiration” and use it as your phone’s wallpaper so you would be reminded of your goal each time you use it.
Measure yourself weekly or bi-weekly and write down the results in an app or on a Google Doc in your phone, where it is always accessible and something you can easily look at to remind you of how far you’ve come. There are weeks when you won’t lose at all (especially when it’s shark week for ladies), and it really helps to have that on hand!
If this has inspired you to take up the ketogenic diet, good luck! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on any of my social media accounts below, I’d love to help!
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