Current weight: 268 lbs,
Total weight loss: 37.8 lbs.
Day 100 (part II): 37.8 Pounds Lost on a Ketogenic Diet
Yesterday was my Day 100! I wrote about some of the achievements I’ve had over the last 100 days, including a 37.8 pound weight loss, 47 inches lost and improved health. (Woohoo!)
During these 100 days, I have followed 8 guidelines that included a ketogenic diet and some intermittent fasting. Below, I go into a little more detail about how it went using these guidelines.
The 8 Guidelines: An Update on Day 100 (part II)
1. Use a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet. (Check!)
With the exception of a few days, I have successfully been on a ketogenic diet over the last 100 days.
This means that I have tried to limit my carbohydrates to less than 50 grams a day and to get most of my calories from fat. (This does not mean that my days were filled with butter and bacon…although I do love both!:)
Most of my fat intake was from things like olive oil, fish and animal meat, eggs, avocado, nuts and some dairy. But the bulk of my food by volume was generally low-starch vegetables. I have really become addicted to the big salad (a la Seinfeld)!
Since the beginning, here are my daily average numbers.*
- Calorie count: 1,400 kcal (this number drops to 1,100 if fasting days are included)
- % of calories from fat: 66%
- Daily carbohydrate intake: 44 grams
- Total fasting days: 27
* These numbers don’t include fasting days or about 10 days when I didn’t track my food or the few days off program.
Overall I felt really great on a ketogenic diet — with the exception of the first week or so which was a bit of a shock to my system. Eventually, it felt good to get rid of the unnecessary sugar and carbohydrates in my diet and to replace them with better, more wholesome food. For the first time in a while I felt really well-nourished. Like food was my fuel.
I mentioned above that there were 3-4 days that I went off program. Other than these few days (when my carbs were high!), there were a few days when I went over 50 grams of carbohydrates. Such as time when I had dark chocolate that had some fruit in it. This happened a total of 5 times, and the highest value was 93 grams one day. But, I was always in ketosis and my overall average values were within 50 grams and my urine ketones were regularly positive.
It may be that in the future, I can be more liberal with my carbs and still have some of the benefits of a ketogenic diet and nutritional ketosis. Something to investigate as part of this wellness endeavor!
2. Focus on real, nutrient dense foods. (Check!)
I have to say that I have done pretty well with this guideline. Maybe sticking to it 95% of the time?
I have found a trick: focus on foods that aren’t packaged. These foods often don’t have nutritional labels. This forces me to shop on the perimeter of the grocery store. I can’t remember the last time I ventured into the bright, shiny center aisles — to be sucked into a world of sugar, artificial ingredients and processing!
The only non-real foods I still occasionally have are:
- Artificial sweeteners, such as liquid sucralose. I still use this to sweeten my tea with cream in the mornings. I will also occasionally have other ‘diet’ drinks that have an artificial sweetener – like sucralose or erythritol. I know that this isn’t good, but I have to say that overall I’m having way less than I did previously. I think I’d like to eliminate this entirely at some point, but it may take time.
- An occasional Atkins cafe caramel shake or Atkins trail bar. I really like these, and sometimes they hit the spot when I have a semi-sweet craving. I’m wondering if these cravings will continue to decrease, as I hope they will. Something to keep an eye on.
3. Avoid diet sodas. (Check!)
Believe it or not (sometimes I can’t!), I have avoided Diet Coke and other diet sodas. Part of this may be because I feel accountable through this blog. But as mentioned above, a few times a week I still have diet drinks (not sodas) that are sweetened with artificial sweeteners, such as erythritol or sucralose.
4. Limit alcohol. (Semi Check!)
Oddly, this has probably been one of my biggest challenges and worst effort.
Don’t get me wrong – I am definitely drinking less than I did before. But, it has been hard to limit alcohol to once a week – on average, I have usually had some type of alcoholic drink twice a week.
Why is this one hard?
I’m not sure.
Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m limiting myself in so many other areas, that this is my freedom, my way to hold on to some of my ‘fun’ and my past. Maybe it’s a rebellion of sorts.
Or maybe since I’m a sugar/food addict, using alcohol helps me deal with not eating whatever I want. Maybe it’s trading one vice for another, which would not be good. After all, I have heard that alcoholics who give up alcohol often take up smoking.
Whatever the reason, I will try to focus on this one just to make sure I’m being as healthy as possible and sticking to this guideline as well as I can.
5. Incorporate some form of Intermittent Fasting at least 3 times a week. (Check!)
In addition to generally skipping breakfast, which I have been doing for the most of the past year, I have been able to incorporate all-day fasts as part of this wellness endeavor by following Jimmy Moore and Dr. Jason Fung’s fasting recommendations.
In fact, since the beginning I have done all-day fasts a total of 27 days.
6. Keep track! (Check!)
It has been a bit of a pain, but in addition to my daily weights, I have also been keeping track of what I’ve been eating to make sure most of my calories come from fat. As I mentioned above, my daily average calorie intake has been 1,400 kcal and 66% of calories from fat.
I have also been keeping track of my measurements, my fitness measures, and graphing my weight loss. Every so often when I’m discouraged, looking at these values definitely helped.
Keeping track helps me stay on track!
7. Not obsess over exercise. (Check!)
I haven’t worried about exercise.
Don’t get me wrong – I think exercise is incredibly important. It has tremendous health benefits and definitely should be part of any wellness endeavor.
I’ve done some exercise as part of my non-scale fitness measures, but beyond that haven’t done much other than a walk outside or on the treadmill once or twice a week. I really wanted to focus on changing my diet first. Focusing on a new diet and exercise program at the same time would have been too overwhelming.
But, I am starting to want to exercise more. And I was hoping that would happen. I think as I start to lose weight and get healthier, I will be more likely to exercise intentionally. And this is a good thing.
8. Learn to accept, forgive and achieve my best self. (Semi Check!)
I think I have been making improvements in this area, and this blog is a big reason why. It’s good to be held accountable to my goals and my choices.
These last 100 days, I’ve been able to reflect on my eating habits, the food and health choices I make, and the reasons that I make them.
I am starting to accept my best effort while striving to be my best self. For a type A perfectionist like me, this is a perpetual challenge. It is hard, but I constantly remind myself: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
I am not perfect. And that’s ok.
I am far from having all the answers. But I’m happy that I’ve started asking the right questions.
So what now?
Honestly, I’m not sure. I have done well over these last 100 days and am happy with my progress. But I still have weight to lose and health to gain.
I do believe that for me, this nutritional approach is best. The challenge, like with any nutritional approach, is sustainability. Can I make this a permanent lifestyle change? I hope so. Health is too important and life too short.
And I definitely don’t want to outlive my health.
For now – I will stick to these guidelines and continue to blog my journey as much as possible.
Day #100:
Current weight: 268 lbs,
Total weight loss: 37.8 lbs.
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