Year of Challenge, End of Keto

Today is the last day of the Keto diet. I had a check in at the middle of the month, but I wanted to follow up.

I had some struggles early on with the coffee, Charley horses and the Keto flu, but by the middle of the month I was feeling good. Since then, it hasn't been too bad. My main completes is that the bulk meals I made get tired after the third day. If I make sure I am not eating the same thing for brunch every day that is helpful. I generally rotate an egg dish, a tuna dish and an avocado smoothie.

One of my go to easy meals is a quesadilla, but I can't have tortillas, but last week my roommate made a mayo chipotle sauce. I would post a recipe but she just mixes the chipotle sauce and mayo to taste. I love spicy food, so I made a quesdilla with cheese fried as the "tortilla" on the inside I put shredded chicken and cream cheese. It wasn't as good as a quesdilla, but it did have a satisfying crunch and the sauce was great.

Keto Meal

I also made some stuffed peppers, with pepperoni slices, cream cheese, and shredded cheese. This was a very satisfying meal, and the bell peppers were sweet tasting. I haven't really craved anything sweet, but when I ate it, it lit up that area of the brain.

There was one thing that I ran into in the last two weeks that I hadn't before. The first was the constipation. I didn't notice, but I do have hemorrhoids sometimes, and they were getting angry. I have metamucil, but it has a lot of carbs. I was unsure about using it, I looked it up online, and it seems to be kind of mixed about whether or not to use it. But I decided to having a glass once and a while was worth it. So I have probably had three glasses in the last two weeks. The results were worth it. I still go longer than normal between movements, but it's not so painful.

As I mentioned, I haven't really had sweet cravings, but I do sometimes want the texture and taste of bread or dough. I said the other day that my first non-keto food would be pizza, but those thoughts are fleeting. I don't actually feel like I want to waste my first non-keto meal on pizza. That being said, I am not sticking with keto in May.

I will continue to fast in the morning. I fasted during Keto as it is a technique in getting into ketosis, but I wasn't as aggressive with fasting as I was during January which was the month of intermittent fasting. During January I only eat during an 8 hour period, for Keto I just skipped breakfast, and ate lunch at around noon. I don't generally snack, especially at night, but I didn't have a rule to stop eating after 8 pm. Unless it is a special occasion, I will continue fast in the morning. It is easy and I think it is benefiting me. My weight at the beginning of the year was 175 (I'm 5'7") and my weight today is 160. It fell to 165 after January (intermittent fasting month) and stayed around it was between that and 170 until March and this month dropped again. So I think the intermittent fasting has helped reduce my weight. 159 is a normal weight for someone my height, but I would like to get down to 135-150. That is the weight I have been most comfortable with the last time I was there was January 2017. So, I don't feel like it's that difficult of a goal. Additionally, I believe if I continue to fast, I wouldn't yo-yo as hard when I go back to a normal diet in May.

A few other takeaways....I will think more about how many carbs I'm getting and what kinds of carbs. I will also not go back to eating low or no-fat foods. If someone wanted to give keto a try for a monthly challenge then it is doable, but I think it would be difficult to main the lifestyle over the long term.

Starting tomorrow I will be getting up at 5 A.M. I know I can get up, but it will be interesting trying to fill the time between then and starting work. You might see my blog posts in the morning.