My (Almost) 2 Weeks Keto Diet

Let me start off by saying, this diet is hard as hell and this is coming from someone who was able to quit smoking cold turkey years ago.

Figuring what foods to eat and continuously checking my carb count was like solving a daily algebra problem.  Worse is when my wife and kids enjoy their Pasta Aioli and pizzas and wave around their ice cream drum sticks.

You want to try and test your willpower?  Step into my kitchen while you’re on a diet.

What Got Me Started on Keto

240!!!  That’s pounds not kilos and I’m only 5’ 11”.

That was the weight that forced to me to take the initiative to lose some of my jiggle.  Despite working out, I managed to gain over 20 pounds in part due to my stupid eating habits and my lack of self-control.

I’ve never been ridiculously overweight.  I work out but no matter how much I lifted, I still saw an “old man’s” body in the mirror.  I had a slight case of man boobs and my stomach was literally bulging and what’s worse, I could feel the internal (visceral fat) pushing against the bottom of my rib cage.

I’ve tried doing HIIT (High Intensity Impact Training) like the Insanity program but I could only do that twice or three times a week if lucky.  If you’ve ever tried that program, you know how brutal it is.  The warm-ups alone are enough to knock me on my rear.

I also started Crossfit training but the results were slow and I wanted to get rid of my fat quickly.

I researched a number of diets and based on the options of food, Keto appeared to be the most realistic. Based on what I’ve read, it appears Keto would target my internal fat the quickest.   Besides that, I had a number of friends who followed it and had rapid results.

I updated the post each day so each entry will appear as a daily journal.

Note: You’ll notice I didn’t post pictures until a few days into my journey because I didn’t really anticipate noticeable results.

Day 1 (Tuesday)

So, I completed my first day of Keto. I started off my weight at 241.3 lbs according the digital scale.

I went about my day like any other; working and exercising in the afternoon. I didn’t do much else.

I don’t typically eat breakfast so my meal(s) didn’t start until midday.

Here’s what I ate:

{Lunch}

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• String cheese
• Celery sticks with cream cheese

{Dinner}

• Steak
• Vegetable soup with one of those mixed frozen vegetable bags from Costco

My wife and kids got to enjoy garlic bread and mashed potatoes but I was surprisingly able to manage my self-control.

My weight at the end of the day: 241 lbs.

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Got up and took the kids to school.  I started working and actually made myself some brunch.

I also did a little Crossfit training in the garage: clean and press – 5 x 5s and 5 x 5 front squats.

{Brunch}

• Spam and eggs

{Snacks}

• Celery and cream cheese
• Pistacchios

{Lunch}

• Deli meat rolled with cheese

{Dinner}

• Chicken with vegetables

My wife and kids enjoyed a bed of rice with their dinner but once again I was able to fight off any temptation.

My weight at the end of the day: 239 lbs.

Day 3 (Thursday)

Nothing different occurred today other than the food(s) I ate.  My wonderfully, supportive wife bought home groceries that were keto friendly.  How great is she.

{Lunch}

• Tuna salad

{Dinner}

• Grilled salmon with salad

My weight at the end of the day: 236 lbs.

Day 4 (Friday)

Just ignore the gross toenail.  

Ok, now it’s starting to get a bit difficult for me.  I didn’t anticipate the psychological adjustment I would have to go through. I love food and having these kind of restrictions are starting to take its toll.  It’s hard to focus on my work.  Watching my family indulge in some of my favorite foods doesn’t, either.

{Lunch}

• Scrambled eggs and spam

{Snacks}

• String cheese
• Celery sticks with cream cheese

{Dinner}

• Avocado, bacon, and cheese salad

To my surprise, I’m dropping weight relatively quick.  I hopped on the scale and it was flashing 233 lbs.!  I thought that this must be a fluke so I positioned the scale and sure enough, it flashed 233 lbs.!!  That’s 8 lbs. in 4 days!!!  Now, that’s’ motivation enough to keep this diet going.

My weight at the end of the day: 233 lbs.

Day 5 (Saturday)

This was another difficult day for me.  Weekends are pancakes, eggs, and hash browns for the kids and hash browns are one of my favorites.

Took a day trip and went whale watching with the family.  Fortunately, there were plenty of keto friendly menu items at the restaurants we went to.

{Breakfast}

• Omelettes with cheese and vegetables

{Lunch}

• Tuna salad

{Dinner}

• Oysters, Shrimp, Sand Dabs, and vegetables

I don’t know what happened this day.  I would’ve thought with all of the walking we did, I would see a more significant drop in weight.  I’m not complaining, however.  As long as my weight keeps dropping, I’m content.

Weight at the end of the day: 232 lbs.

Day 6 (Sunday)

I actually felt ok today and I didn’t have any cravings.  My wife bought some coconut chips for me as a snack which initially tasted horrible.  However, the more I sampled it, the more I seemed to enjoy it.  I don’t know if my taste buds are out of whack but the more I ate it, the more I enjoyed it.

I went to the gym midday and worked out my legs.  Front squats, machine leg press, leg extensions, and leg curls.

{Breakfast}

• Another omelette with eggs, vegetables, and crushed bacon

{Snacks}

• Coconut chips
• Pistacchios

{Lunch}

• Deli meat and cheese rolls

{Dinner}

• Steak and vegetables

I don’t what happened today.  I felt good and my workout(s) were good but for some reason, I gained a couple of pounds.  A little disappointing to say the least.

Weight at the end of the day: 234 lbs.

Day 7 (Monday)

I don’t know if it’s psychological but it seems like I can feel the diet working.  I don’t feel my stomach protruding as much as it did.  I still have a gut but the visceral fat appears to be burning away which is fantastic!!

One significant downfall that I’m encountering is that my strength has gone down.  It may be the initial stages of the infamous “keto flu”.  An approximate 20% reduction on squats and a ridiculous 30% loss on my dead lifts.  That’s a significant drop.  I don’t what is happening but I’m hoping it’s temporary; otherwise, this is going to be a very short diet.

{Lunch}

• Chicken salad

{Dinner}

• Vegetable soup

Weight at the end of the day: 233 lbs.

Day 8 (Tuesday)

I’m loving this.  Since I’m not a nutritionist or a dietician, I don’t know if this is healthy but it’s certainly working.  They say you initially start to lose water weight but I have been maintaining my hydration since I started.  As I mentioned previously, I have a bit of internal (visceral) fat and I can feel my stomach “deflating”.

{Lunch}

• Fish and vegetables

{Dinner}

• Protein burger(s)

Weight at the end of the day: 231 lbs.

Day 9 (Wedensday)

I went through the same routine today.  Work, gym, and spent some time with the kids.  Once again I fell short of my max.  This time it was with chest and arms.  I dropped about 10% with chest and about 5% for arms.  Now, I’ve confirmed that keto definitely has a negative effect on my strength.  I don’t know if it’s temporary or it’s due to the drastic weight loss but I’d like to make this a long term choice.  However, if it has such a drastic effect on my strength training, I think I’d rather enjoy what I eat and intensify my fitness regimen.

{Breakfast}

• Hard boiled eggs

{Lunch}

• Deli meat and cheese slice rolls

{Dinner}

• Leftover protein burgers from the night before

Weight at the end of the day: 228 lbs.

Day 10 (Thursday)

All diets require some sort of commitment and so does strength training.  I hate to lose one or the other but if I had to choose, it would most certainly be the diet.  Despite being such a short period of time, ditching such a restrictive diet would be a relief.

I worked out today and once again I found myself struggling.  I feel fatigued and my strength isn’t there anymore.  Research indicates these are all but a few of the side effects one can expect but since I’m so close to reaching my ideal weight, I think I’ll suffer through this diet another week.

{Lunch}

• Rotisserie chicken with homemade garlic butter

{Dinner}

• More Rotisserie chicken with the garlic butter and vegetable soup

Maybe the butter wasn’t such a great idea.  My weight has gone up to 231 lbs.  Odd considering the minimum amount of carbs in the ingredients I used for the garlic butter.

Weight at the end of the day: 231 lbs.

Day 11 (Friday)

Not exactly sure how this happened.  Unless I pooped a significant amount, I don’t know how I lost so much weight in one day.  I did, however, feel really fatigued.

{Lunch}

• Egg Salad

{Snack}

• Nuts

{Dinner}

• Cod with Garlic Butter and vegetables

 This was a turning point for me.  I went to the gym and realized that my strength was gone.  I was now struggling with weights that were relatively easy for me just a couple of weeks ago.  I don’t know if it’s temporary but I’ve decided to slowly increase my carb intake.  I’m done with this diet.

Weight at the end of the day: 227 lbs.

Final Results of My Keto Diet

So, here’s my before and after:

You can’t really tell but if you look closely at my old man’s body, you’ll notice that my stomach is slightly leaner.  Yay!!  

And that’s without photoshop!!

Simply put, the Keto diet works.  I started with an initial weight of about 241 lbs. and ended up weighing around 227 lbs.  That’s a weight loss of 14 lbs. in 11 days!  Not bad.  I know a percentage of that is water weight but I feel better telling myself it’s all fat.  At least it looks and feels that way.

I’m really pleased about the quick weight loss but at the same time, I’m extremely disappointed about losing my strength.  I knew there was the potential to lose some of it but I didn’t anticapte anything this extreme.

By my estimates, I lost about an average of 30% of my overall strength.

I wish I would have known this was going to happen going into this.  I probably would’ve stuck with HIIT and CrossFit.

I’m no spring chicken.  Regaining my strength isn’t easy for me anymore.

Oh, well.  Lesson learned.

If you want or need to lose weight fast, Keto will do it for you. 

Be prepared to sacrifice some of your favorite foods.  I didn’t realize so many of the foods and drinks I enjoyed were loaded with carbs.  

Juices, hash browns, pastas, and the worse part was eliminating bread.

I’m like Oprah.   I love bread so that was an adjustment.  

Just know that it’s going to take a little will power but if I can do it, believe me, so can you.