My Keto Experiment

I’m at it again guys! I decided this time to go Keto for a few months. Listen, I love to experiment on myself with all these fad diets and different workouts. It helps me to fully understand what works for my body (a woman’s body) and what doesn’t. Is it hard on my system? Absolutely! But it’s worth it in the end so that I can also better understand my clients.

So, this time I went Keto, and I’ve got to be honest — it was dirty Keto, meaning — I didn’t really stick to it all that well. Over the course of the summer I tend to eat horribly and slack on my workouts. Between birthdays and vacations, warm summer nights, and fishing trips, it’s seems to be the time of year for me to eat more ice cream, down a few too many whiskey’s, and just all around eat like crap and not workout as intensely.

Checking In

After I completed my last round of Keto however, I went to have some blood work done because I just spent the last year doing several months on Carnivore, then several months just eating real foods, then several months doing the MEC diet, then several months doing Keto. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t messing up my body and increasing my chances of severe illness and disease by doing all these different diets. The last thing I want is to end up in a bad spot health-wise trying to decipher all these diets.

Much to my surprise, all my blood work came back excellent! I was kind of shocked to be honest. My cholesterol, my HDL, LDL, triglycerides, my blood sugar levels, everything was well within of the ideal ranges. My HDL is high, my triglycerides are low, my FBS levels were low, my cholesterol was spot on. How can this be? I’ve been eating saturated fats, red meat, dairy…. everything they say is bad for you!

Keto Foods

We all have an idea of what Keto is and the types of foods to eat. For those who don’t know, the gist of it, it is simply this: Low carbs (little to no sugar), high fats, and proteins.

So what does that mean? Well, if you’re a meat eater, then it means eating plenty of chicken, fish, pork, beef, lamb, venison, elk, moose (whatever you can get your hands on), as well as certain dairy, nuts, seeds, and lots of olive oil. I want to make a note on dairy: I’m very partial to lactose-free dairy because lactose is a milk sugar.

I actually drink unsweetened almond milk (not cow’s milk) and I eat lactose-free hard cheese daily.

So what’s off the table?

Well, pretty much all processed foods (including the Keto friendly processed foods, don’t be fooled, almost all processed foods are bad for you) So anything that comes in a box or a package that can sit on a shelf for more than a few days without going bad is off the table in proper Keto. Bread and pasta are also off the table, as well as anything with sugars in it (this also means most fruit flavored yogurts are also off the table because they are jampacked with sugars).

Most fruits are also off the table because of the high carbs (sugar = carbs, even in fruit, sorry folks). And just the same is to be said for most veggies. They are also off the table as well due to high sugar content.

Sounds very restrictive, doesn’t it? Well, I can tell you that, with a little imagination, it’s not. You can still eat things like keto peppermint chocolate mousse, keto bagels, and cream cheese, and Keto berry pavlova. All these foods are delicious, quick, easy to make, and healthy to consume! Plus you can eat bacon and eggs, steak, Keto crack chicken, and so many other delicious meals that will keep you full and not leave you feeling hangry and miserable.

What Is It Good For?

Keto is often used to help with weight loss. Because carbs (sugar) are the leading cause of obesity, when we eliminate them, we often see a significant reduction in weight. But Keto is not just good for weight loss. According to several studies, Keto is also good for controlling and reversing metabolic syndrome.

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

According to the American Heart Association “Metabolic syndrome is a group of five conditions that can lead to heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other health problems.” The five conditions they refer to include:

• A large waist girth.
• A high triglyceride level.
• Reduced HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels.
• Increased blood pressure.
• Elevated fasting blood sugar.

According to one study, “Approximately 1 in 5 Canadians has metabolic syndrome.” This is approximately 19.1% of the population. This number is even higher in the USA where the CDC suggests “the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is estimated at 32.4% in the United States”.

These numbers are scary. Essentially, what these numbers tell us is that the food we are eating is killing us, and now it’s been proven that a Ketogenic diet is a means of correcting this issue.

So, now that summer is over and things are settling down. I am beginning a new keto (a clean keto) diet for 4 weeks with a workout program. I will be tracking this on both my Facebook and Instagram pages starting on October 18th 2021 and ending on November 21st 2021. At which point I will post a blog about it like I did with My Carnivore Experiment. So stay tuned! I can’t wait to see what progress will occur over the next 4 weeks!

In the mean time, if you’re curious about Keto and would like to book a consultation with me to discuss if Keto can help you, please click here to book a consultation.