How to lose weight on the keto diet

I got married in Malta in July 2017. I prepared for two months beforehand with the keto diet and lost 7kg on the best day and 4 kg when I finally waited for her at the aisle. In a nutshell, I think that my changes of habit that came with going on the diet had a bigger impact on my weight loss than the diet it self. This can possibly be said for all diets which you find out there. As long as you stick to them, they work. If you stuff your face, they won't. This post will discuss my favorite foods during the time, my greatest weaknesses and the habit changes I implemented.

Habit changes

The most impactful changes I made were intermittent fasting and bulletproof coffee as a habit which replaced breakfast. A bulletproof coffee with a table spoon of butter and coconut oil comes in at 219 calories. If you then cease from eating until one o'clock you are already ahead in the diet department. I found that the coffee with the additional fat from the coconut oil and butter kept my craving in check until after lunch. I then would usually have the next item on the list when I was at work. For me, this worked.

Some might question whether you can work out with this little nutrition in the mornings. I personally got stronger while preparing for my wedding and moved up my beltless personal records for the squat, bench press and deadlift on the juggernaut method. Again, I mainly attribute this to the changes in behavior rather than the diet itself. Still, the keto diet was a great enabler on that road to self-improvement.

Yum salad

The yum salad, which you can order in Dublin from Foodie nearby National College of Ireland would make my work lunch. Ingredients:

200g Rocket
100g Grilled chicken breast
1oz goats cheese
25g Chorizo
0.5 Avocado
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar reduction
1 fried egg

The chorizo and goats cheese is being heated up in a pan to your liking. Same with the egg. This is one of the most delicious salads I have personally eaten and it is easy to reproduce at home. On the macros site, you will get 29g fat, 14.7g of carbs and 29.1g of protein with this. When you are really hungry you can add an additional egg.

Nuts

Almonds, Cashews, Pecan and Walnuts replaced and helped my cravings for sugar at work in form of kinder Buenos and other sweets which can be gotten for free out of the vending machine. It is hard to adapt at first, especially in the first week. Afterward you will not feel the need for sugar as much anymore. In addition, I found that reducing stress and finding better coping mechanisms helped more with avoiding sugar. You will find that sugar and coffee consumption are usually triggered either by boredom or by stress. For me, it was emails in which my requests to serve the client was denied for corporate benefits. This had a tendency to drive me nuts. To reduce my downtime I would sip a bit of water, eat 2 to five nuts and place chewing gum in my mouth to avoid munching through a whole sack of nuts.

Strawberries and Yogurt

While still not ideal this was my go to fresh dessert at home after a long day. Strawberries have a lot of vitamin c and they are also fresh. With a full fat yogurt you can also contribute to your daily fat goal to reach ketosis. This was my swap option for butter and jam toast. My worst enemy on any diet when I get the munchies after dinner in front of the television watching Game of thrones.

Bacon and eggs

If you go on a keto diet you better like bacon and eggs. We had a lot of bacon and eggs in the lead up to our wedding for the keto diet. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, please consult a doctor and a food blog which especially focuses on the diet like this post from keto motive. I personally think that going keto while being vegan can be very tough.

Corn flakes

Corn Flakes and bran flakes are some of my favorite foods as I think they are easy to make and comforting when I need a sugar fix. Just what the doctor ordered after a big fight with my wife or some devastating news in the post. While they are great, a bowl of bran flakes already brings you over your daily allowance of 30g of carbohydrates to stay in keto. Well, at least on the schedule that I was on. To avoid this from happening I moved the cereal boxes from the top of the fridge into the cupboards. Out of sight out of mind. Your stomach craves what the eye sees.

Jam and butter toast

Another one of my major enemies is jam and butter toast. I don't know about you but jam and butter toast make me really happy. That might have something to do with the fact that my granny used to serve it with tea in her little kitchen when I was a child, whenever I visited her. One of my most futile mistakes in the diet department was to upgrade our toaster from a two slice to a four slice toasting monstrosity that churns out four 172 calorie diet weapons of mass destruction at once. If you want to avoid eating this, ban the toaster from your kitchen or at least get one that makes it as hard as possible for you to get a proper slice toasted.

Conclusion

The Keto diet, just like any other diet, works as you stick to it. Compared to Atkins and Slimming world it was the most successful approaching for dieting in our household in terms of results and ease of use. The biggest impact on my weight loss was not the diet it self, but the habit changes that came a long with it. I limited my portions, skipped meals, ate less processed and more healthy foods, limited access to unhealthy foods and tracked my calorie intake against a goal I set which was suitable for my height, age, and activity level. These techniques were the main drivers of change and whatever diet helps you best to achieve that to make you feel good about yourself should be your go to. It just so happens that you actually can eat some nice stuff on keto as fat carries taste.