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My Experience with Ketogenic Diet
Nutrition | August 13, 2015
I recently followed the Ketogenic diet (click on the link to learn more) for over 6 weeks and I wanted to give you guys my honest opinion and an overview of my own experience.
It wasn’t my first time doing Keto, however it was different from the first and second time I tried it. They say 3rd time is a charm, and it sure was this time around. Our bodies are really good at adapting and the more you do something, whether it be exercise or diet, your body becomes better and more efficient at dealing with the situation. In this case, I have noticed a huge difference in the rate that my body adapted to the high fat diet and using fat as a main source of energy, in comparison to my past 2 trials. It felt like my body was telling me: “oh, are we doing this again? I remember, and I can do better this time”. It took me only 3 days to get into Ketosis, however I was really diligent and followed strictly the jump start rules, I have posted for you guys.
The entire adaptation period took about 10 days, which is quite fast. Some people take as long as 3 weeks. These were the stages of my transformation to a burning fat for energy:
The first 3 days I was peeing every 10 minutes like a 4 year old, and had to drink a lot of water not to become dehydrated. Some people experience headache during this time, but I was ready. I was drinking a lot of water, had salt if I started to feel tired (mostly in the form of home made chicken broth), and I supplemented with Pottasium and Magnesium.
After the first 3 days I have already noticed an increase of energy that lasted the entire day. I didn’t feel like I wished I could take a nap during the afternoon, and despite how busy I was, I didn’t feel overwhelmed (we were in the process of moving into our new home, and I have a lot going on with my book, supplements, clothing line, ZGYM, etc.). I noticed my body started to appear slimmer, because my body was no longer retaining water. I have also noticed I didn’t feel any stiffness in the mornings, and my flexibility had started to increase noticeably. The only problem was the lack of strength I felt during my workouts. After doing a single push up I felt like like I had already done 20 reps. It’s the weirdest feeling to feel exhausted like that after doing a beginner-style workout, when you know you’re in really good shape.
I did not have cravings for carbs or anything sweet and I wasn’t experiencing hunger the way I normally do. Not that I normally starve or something, but in Keto I was just not hungry for hours on end. I had to remind myself to eat.
During the 2nd week my frustration with strength and endurance continues, however I am slowly seeing an improvement. I exercise daily so I notice even the slightest change in my performance. After 10 days, my stamina was back to where it was when my body was using glucose as the main energy source. That’s when I knew my body had finally adapted and it felt amazing. I was utilizing all the fat I was eating to generate energy for my brain and muscle activity.
After the first few weeks, besides having more clarity and having a constant flow of energy, from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed (which I expected), I was taken by surprise when I got my period and didn’t have any cramps! Normally I suffer 2 days every month from really bad to sometimes debilitating cramps that I can’t deal with. This time however, without taking pain killers, I had no cramps! Even though I did notice my energy was lower, I didn’t feel as exhausted as I normally do during this time of month.
I went off Keto after 6 weeks, after we moved to our new house. I didn’t stop because I had some uncontrollable cravings but because I just simply wanted to enjoy my glass of wine in the evening watching the beautiful sunset from our new back yard, I wanted to enjoy a bowl of cherries while sitting by the pool, and I wanted to prepare delicious salads with juicy peaches which are currently in season. It’s just the romantic in me that wanted all those things.
I believe the Keto diet is an amazing sugar detox and it’s worth trying especially if you need that sustainable energy throughout the day. This is helpful if you need to be really focused on important projects for your job or school. Fat has been proven to be a far better quality fuel than glucose and even though it’s not as widely spread news yet, you are going to hear more and more people turning to Ketosis mainly for health and energy purposes.
Remember, you have to give yourself at least 2 weeks for a complete adaptation. Some people left comments saying that this diet can’t be healthy if it makes you feel like a crap at the beginning. Well, that’s not true. Remember, that your body doesn’t like change. If you have ever recovered from an addiction to any harmful substances like cigarettes, alcohol or drugs, you may recall the horrible feeling of withdrawal. Your body was not happy, when you tried to quit, you felt horrible, and this is exactly why so many people have a hard time quitting the unhealthy habits. Sugar is the unhealthy substance you’re trying to quit, when you go into Keto. Of course it’s not going to be pleasant to go through sugar withdrawal. I used to be a chain smoker, believe it or not. I remember the headaches, anxiety, moodiness and constant coughing each time I tried to quit. I gave up a few times and the cigarette made me feel good again. How is it possible that I didn’t feel better instantly when I stopped smoking if it’s so much healthier for me not to smoke? It’s because our bodies hate change which makes any adaptation period uneasy to deal with.
After 6 weeks I stopped doing Keto and went back to earning my carbs with my workouts. I’ve maintained that lifestyle for almost 8 years and I’ve felt great and have gotten great results. Although there were a lot of benefits to being in ketosis, you have to be very strict and I don’t think it’s for everyone, all the time. It’s fine to detox for periods of time but I personally prefer to control my carb intake and enjoy the foods I love on a regular basis. In a sense, I’m a carb addict that controls her intake. I’m all about owning it, instead of living in denial. I believe I can stay fit and healthy following this lifestyle and live a very long life.
Unless, I get some horrible disease like cancer, if that happens I’ll go back to ketosis long-term. Research shows that cancer cells can survive only off of glucose and that Ketogenic diet has the capability to starve those cancer cells and heal people. I’m wondering why this information is not spreading already like a wildfire… If giving up sugar can actually save your life, why aren’t there more programs out there and information to help people do it? Oh wait, are those expensive cancer treatments making a lot of money for the big companies? That makes sense then, let people use more drugs and put them through chemo rather than letting them know that there’s a more natural and completely holistic solution that might save their lives. Here’s a great article about Dr. Fred Hatfield who had only about 3 months to live before he got introduced to Ketogenic diet and starved those cancer cell f**kers. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would instantly stop eating carbs and sugar if I was diagnosed with cancer. I mean, that’s a no brainer, right?
Private Member |
Thank you for sharing your experience, Zuzka! I tried the keto diet for 5 weeks just after you posted about it and I had tremendous results! My energy was incredible and I felt so satisfied with adding in extra healthy fats into my diet. I also was able to break through a weigh loss plateau and it has been very rewarding! I agree about having difficulty wanting a glass of wine and bowl of cherries in summer. I think it is a great short-term diet for a body detox/reset and major props to people who have the dedication to do it long term! For anyone looking for an alternative way to eat, I highly recommend carb cycling and a low gi diet.
Private Member |
Thanks for sharing….I do something similar – not sure if you heard of John Kiefer the author of CarbNite and Carb backloading. we are in ketosis for 6 1/2 days and on the 7th night we are then able to eat carbs so its like a cycled ketosis. I have been really enjoying it and have lost fat and my lifts in the gym have been increasing. My cravings are in check as well as my hunger and energy, I now eat 3 times a day where as when I was eating tons of grains I was eating 5-6 meals and I was always hungry. its just been great all around! I would encourage anyone to look into Kiefer’s work.
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I finally beat you..cause I follow in Keto diet for long term period. I don’t take sugar anymore. 🙂
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lake tahoe, nv, usa
You did beat me 🙂 that’s the ultimate No Sugar challenge.
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For me personally truth is that as soon as I switched my diet – from a Paleo one to a Vegan, starch-centered one – I ‘immediately’ dropped 2% of BF (that isn’t coming back until today ;)). And this, while eating a lot of rice (brown one) and beans, and also some fruit and veggies, as well as while diminishing a lot on overall fat(s) consumption.
Plus these days whenever I happen to eat something (like a cheat meal) higher in fat I just get sick, you know. My digestion goes so low / poor.
And really, healthy carbs aren’t something that our bodies have to ditch and recover from 😉
I believe (from my knowing!) that what ones body go-through while in Ketosis is not because of quitting sugar, but actually by having to adapt to the lack of it! 😉
I just don’t see why would someone choose, in normal environmental conditions, to eat fats as ones main macro., and if one thinks about it – where is fat in nature, like, easily available for one to eat it just like that, you see, anyway? Even when we think in terms of Evolution: it’s not like one easily finds nuts (not even thinking of olive oil 8-); eggs, butter, whatever) and has a way to unshell those and eat tons of it for energy / satiety while out there in Nature. Now, with carbs is much more easy for one to pick a fruit, or a root, and eat it just like that, peel and all. So from my understanding in terms of Evolution glucose is recognizable by our bodies (and muscles, there you go) as a natural source of energy. You eat it, you burn it. Just switch the macros: up the (good) carbs / starches and low the fats so your body doesn’t have to compete with both…
So it is not like you Zuzka, or anyone for that matter, is a ‘carb addict’. Is simply that those (carbs) are what our body thrives on! Talking about carbs in such a
way – control; addiction – is really dangerous and misinformative. Because you are probably thinking of our reality of TRANSFORMED, ARTIFICIAL foods and carbs – sweets, candy – but eating natural, whole food carbs is nothing more than… natural really! A completely different thing. What our body (and mind!) have a hard time dealing with (that meaning: resisting) is with all those unnatural treats that our intelligent, modern society created for food addiction, therefore, their profit…
They knew better: ‘carbs are ones body preferable source of fuel therefore, let’s get this people addicted to (bad) carbs’…
Actually what I heard of (according MD John McDougall) is that what actually feeds cancer cells is hyper-stimulus of the growth hormone. Because that’s what cancer is, really. Guess where / when such stimulus happens? (That’s right: concentrated, isolated animal protein. I’m not even talking about supplementation. I mean regular meat consumption).
Of course I’m not saying (I don’t even have the knowledge for that) that eating high-glycemic sugars won’t also feed those same cells. I’m just sharing different information for ones own wondering and knowledge / questioning.
All this being said, I can’t do nothing else but respect your OWN factual experience with ketosis (also because I’m a respectful person by principle; and even more because I admire YOU and respect YOU in particular), and thankfully you’re a wise person and do everything in balance (back to some other foods) 😉
P.S. – Did you use to be a smoker Z? Hard to believe indeed! 🙂
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
I want to thank you for the article and sharing your experience with us. Id like to share mine too if thats ok. You did a short comment on epilepsy in your previous post.
I’ve had epilepsy for 20 years now, which has been under control with strong medication for 10 years, I am very fortunate that doctors have found a drug for me that works which means i can have a relatively normal life. I have done lots of research on the Keto/Atkins diet and IF as its proven (for all you critics out there 🙂 ) it aids epileptics in controlling their fits (and in my experience, thinking speed). There’s also actual proof that it can CURE epilepsy in young children if under very strict control but the older you get the less chance you have of curing it. If you go to epilepsy forum at epilepsy.org, there are stories upon stories of people’s experience with the Keto/Atkins for epileptics diet and how it has helped them.
My personal experience has been surprising, the way I describe how i feel in myself now to a non-epileptic is it’s similar to an eye test, when you don’t realise how blind you are until you are given new glasses to show the impact it has on clarity. The difference in thinking clarity is unreal. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to some people but its difficult to explain. The drugs i take for epilepsy are really strong but i have been able to reduce them which is amazing and also even though i have done well in life, the drugs do slow my thinking capabilities down. It was much worse when i was younger as the drugs really slowed me down and didn’t stop the fits. I am truly amazed how food can affect our health physically AND mentally, what is sad though is that this isn’t more widespread knowledge. In my OPINION you are right in your comment regarding the government and the money that comes from medication, it is the only way to explain how this cure has been hidden (it’s not shared by doctors even though they know about it) from millions of parents desperate to help their children. If my parents had known this could have helped me, if not cured, then my life would be very different. Its very sad to think about.
You always do research (even if people aren’t always happy with the depth of it) which i think is important. However its also important for people to remember its your viewpoint and not word for word scientific fact. This is just my personal OPINION, please research this detail for yourself if you find it interesting as there is tons of studies out there to go into more detail that could really help people. The likelihood is that you know someone with epilepsy (1 in 100 people) so it wouldn’t hurt to mention to them to look into it even if you don’t like the diet idea itself. For us epileptics, that won’t put us off!!!!!!
Zuzka, it would be fantastic if you could do an article for epileptics to do with exercise and the research behind the low sugar high fat diet because the diet for epileptics does differ slightly from the common Keto diet plans. (for example, the fat content is much higher and a fasting day is necessary) It would really raise the profile for people to look into how it could help them, or at least give it a try. BUT it must be advised that they should NOT come off their medication unless their personal neurologist advises it.
Love you girl!!!
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Also id like to add that epilepsy is not what most people would view is life threatening, however if you are crossing a busy road and have a fit during your crossing and a car hits you…can it be life threatening in scenarios like this? Yes. However most epileptics don’t like talking about their condition, it is common that we find it embarrassing to the point of not telling people we have it. I know this is not exactly fair on everyone else around us but its a fact for me that for a very long time i was scared how people would view me, as weak and not capable of the same things as everyone else. How do you bring it into conversation? “Hi my name is Sam, I live in London and oh I have epilepsy?”
Please forgive me for that however this has led me to be very independent, travelling the world for business purposes and viewed as very strong willed and confident by my peers. Now days I have overcome my fear of talking about it (obviously) and want to use my experience and situation to help others that are struggling to deal with their own experience.
So this diet and post Z has written, I cant comment on the cancer comments by her but its good as it really gives us the opportunity to talk about the benefits of exploring diet options in our lives. Again, the diet isn’t for everyone but has tremendous benefits for others.
It frustrates me to no end that even the numerous Nutritionists I’ve met don’t even know about the studies and successes of it. From my research for professional opinions, there are only 3 doctors in the whole of the UK that specialise in these studies (in private healthcare only) but there was recently a program on a main channel a few months back that was entirely focussed on success stories all based on the Keto diet.
Please don’t mock something just because it either doesn’t work for your lifestyle or you haven’t reaped the widely reviewed benefits of it when actually it can help people get off medication, which everyone would prefer to be off of.
Thank you for listening to me! x
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Zuzka, did you get that famous keto breath? I’m thinking about trying keto for 30 days but I’m a student and I’m terrified of having terrible smelling breath around my classmates, lol.
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I love that you posted this! I found you because I’ve been a strict keto-er for about a year now and have lost 20 lbs on the keto diet. But I miss a lot of carb rich foods! I wanted to find some sort of in-between diet. Still low carb, still higher fat, but with carbs allowed. I’ve been reading your site all day and can’t wait to try out your workouts (starting either tonight or tomorrow). And if some days I feel like being more “keto” then I still can (like on days I don’t workout). Your nutrition plan makes a lot of sense to me! I do have a question, though… If I do more than one workout a day (for example, I do your workout in the morning, and then I train at jiu jitsu at night), then do I get to have starches after both workouts?
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Wow I am so blessed to have stumbled upon this blog, Zuzke. I have been praying to God to help me in my weightloss journey and I have to praise him that this is an answered prayer. Also, I have discovered in one website that popular restaurants in US do low carb. What do you think Is it good to eat out? https://www.ketowiz.com/restaurants/
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lake tahoe, nv, usa
You can eat out if you’re well informed about low carb diet and know how to order when eating out. That looks like an interesting guide. For example I know I can go to pretty much any restaurant and order a chicken breast with Caesar salad without croutons and with a side of avocado. Or I can have scrambled eggs with bacon and avocado. You’ll have a few favourite options so that you can stay on track even when you happen to eat out. If your friends are having a burger and fries, you can have the burger salad wrapped and with side of roasted or steamed veggies. Go for mayo instead of ketchup. Always try to add a side of avocado if possible.