As a rule, I shy away from extreme diets or eating regimens. Atkins? Never heard of them. Whole30 diet? Wholly not going to bother with it. The Paleo plan? Some things are better left in the history books.
However, the simplicity of the ketogenic—keto for short—diet plan appealed to me, and I was looking to lose some weight ahead of a wedding I was attending.
Find out what happened when I decided to limit carbs for 30 days, including how I did it, my successes, challenges and results, and my lifelong takeaways about keto weight loss.
Read More: Ketogenic Diet 101: A Beginner’s Guide
How I Did the Keto Diet Plan
Four things that really helped me get started were:
- a goal
- a plan
- focusing on carbs only
- having a friend for accountability
I started the keto diet about one month before the wedding to try to lose 10 pounds. Since a low-calorie diet can produce a 1- to 2-pound weight loss per week, 10 pounds over four weeks didn’t feel extreme. If the keto diet plan was as great as had been touted, I thought 10 pounds would be easy.
Before I started, I spent several weeks researching the diet, following keto-focused Instagram accounts for inspiration, and creating a plan. I soon learned this last part was the most important thing for my journey.
I used an online keto calculator to set a goal for calories, carbs and fat. I mostly followed the suggestions, except for fat. The calculator suggested over 200 grams of fat each day. That’s tough to hit without loading ghee into my coffee or swigging some coconut oil before lunch. Can it be done? Absolutely. I just couldn’t get there. For me, the focus was on reducing carbs. I let the other pieces just fall into place.
I also asked a friend to join me as an accountability partner. She had tried the keto diet before with success, so having a guide for my myriad questions was a big help. It also helped keep me on track.
My Biggest Challenges on the Keto Diet Plan
Featured Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Zucchini
Eating Only 20 Grams of Carbs a Day Is Hard
The keto diet plan is a high-fat and low-carb (HFLC) diet. Although, I dare say that it’s extremely low-carb—you’re “allowed” to eat just 20 grams in a day, which is super low. Some people on keto follow a net-carb plan—you can subtract the grams of fiber from a food’s total carbs—which allows you to eat more carbs in a day. For my 30-day diet and the sake of simplicity, I stuck with total carbs.
As a rule, I aimed for 20 g each day—2 at breakfast, 5 at lunch, 3 for snacks and 10 for dinner. I found that if I aimed for 20, I’d land under 30. That was successful enough for me.
The key to hitting my number was to plan, plan, plan. I planned out all three meals, condiments and snacks on the weekends for the next week. If I knew what I was having ahead of time, I found managing the infrequent cravings and hunger pangs easier. I can’t stress enough the importance of planning for a keto diet.
The Food Is Repetitive
I ate a lot of bacon, cheese, eggs and meat—mostly steak and chicken. For a person whose eating philosophy is typically more plant-based and whole-food-focused, eating processed pork products every morning was definitely a big change.
This Can Be a Very Low-Calorie Diet
Keeping your carb count near 20 g reduces your calorie consumption too. Carb-focused foods can contribute a large share of calories mainly because we eat a lot of them. If you cut way down on carbs, you dramatically reduce calorie intake.
You would think with all that fat and protein that it would be easy to overdo it on calories. But some days, I struggled to get over 1,200 calories. Despite my goal of 1,800 calories, I fell short almost every day. That’s enough of a calorie deficit to produce weight loss, even without the low-carb count.
I Came Down with ‘Keto Flu’
The “keto flu” is a term you’ll see on keto blogs and forums. It was a real event for me, but not everyone will experience it.
As your body starts to rely on ketones from the fat you’re burning instead of glucose from carbohydrates, you may experience fatigue, mental fogginess and even irritability. My “keto flu” only lasted a day, and I never experienced the symptoms again once I passed it.
My Biggest Successes on the Keto Diet Plan
Featured Recipe: Soy Sauce Eggs
I Beat My Weight Loss Goal
While I set out to lose 10 pounds, I quickly surpassed my goal. I lost 10 pounds within three weeks and hit 15 pounds two days before the wedding.
It’s important to remember that when you are on a low-carb diet of any type, you will lose several pounds in the first few days. That’s because your body is dropping water weight. When I returned to typical eating over the wedding weekend, I gained 4 pounds because when I started eating carbs again the water weight returned.
I Had More Energy—but Not Every Day
While on the keto diet, I had a lot of energy, and I didn’t experience the typical mid-afternoon energy slumps. With that said, gym time was a bit of a challenge. Without carbs, your body has to burn fat for energy, which some days will leave you feeling drained during a workout because your body has to work harder to release the fat so it can be used for energy. That’s OK. Stick with it, and try again tomorrow.
I Learned to Be Very Creative in the Kitchen
Eating at a restaurant and keeping your keto status is almost impossible—and after asking the server to hold the onions from your chicken fajitas for the third time, you’ll never want to go into a restaurant again. Luckily, I consider myself an adventurous cook and love trying new recipes.
Of course, with a keto plan, your ingredient list is dramatically shortened. I scoured blogs, Instagram, Pinterest and other sources for reliable recipes, then put my thinking cap on and came up with several dishes I really enjoyed.
Write the recipes down, use a meal-tracking app like MyFitnessPal to record the ingredients and determine if a recipe works for you. It takes a bit more work than an average meal plan, but it’s worth it.
I Eat Less Sugar Now
You can’t eat sugar on the keto diet, and most of the no-carb sugar substitutes don’t work for me.
This isn’t to say that my cravings simply went away. In the first few days, cravings for a peanut butter cup, soda or even just a banana were strong. Here’s when having an accountability buddy really helps. When you go back to typical eating, you might find, as I did, that many foods you ate regularly are now just too sweet to finish.
Read More: I Gave up Sugar for 30 Days—Here’s What Happened
Lifelong Takeaways from My 30 Days on the Keto Diet Plan
I won’t be staying on a keto diet meal plan for the long term—I can’t eat that much bacon to keep it up—but I expect I’ll return to it several times a year. If nothing else, my monthlong experiment helped me eat less sugar and refined carbs.
It’s important that you check with your health care practitioner before trying this diet, as the keto diet is not for everyone. Certainly, there are plenty of people who should not try this diet, including if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, and those with blood sugar issues, heart disease and liver disease, among other conditions.
With that said, if you’re in good health and are looking for a weight loss jump-start, the keto diet might be the opportunity you’ve been looking for. I just hope you really like bacon.
Read More: 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting the Keto Diet