WHY ARE YOU DOING THE KETOGENIC DIET AGAIN, EMILY? I THOUGHT YOU WERE AGAINST CRASH DIETS!
I have a bachelor's degree in Exercise and Wellness, I'm a certified personal trainer, and I've spent many hours working as a health coach. I know all the science behind nutrition and health and I can explain it to anyone. However, for some reason my own health continues to evade me. I've been having GI problems since August of 2013 (cramping, nausea, bloating, fatigue) and I've been to doctors and specialists and chiropractors and naturopaths and no one seems to have a solution. I eat healthy (according to everything I've learned in school) and I exercise regularly. I drink lots of water. I get lots of sleep. Why does my digestive system hate me so much?
I had considered the possibility that I had celiac disease but my doctor ran the test and it came back negative so I moved on. On Monday, however my Grandma introduced me to a book called "Grain Brain". It's by a neurologist who claims that many people are sensitive to gluten without having celiac, and how carbohydrates are damaging our brains. Woah. I looked up some of the research studies cited in the book and it seemed to me that all the evidence he gave for his claim was pretty sound. Then I read his proposed diet plan for healing both the brain and the gut and realized it was basically the ketogenic diet.
What?
I've already done that before!
I went back to this blog and read my post from October 20, 2012:
"Ayayayayay!!! LAST DAY OF THE EXPERIMENT! And I must say, this has
been a very successful experiment. I have gained so much from following
this diet over the last thirty days. Motivation, focus, self-control,
confidence, will-power, happiness, energy, peace, excitement, stability,
you name it, I've got it thanks to this project. Yay I am so happy that
I've discovered something so amazing! Seriously this has changed my
life. I finally feel like I have found not just a diet that works but a
lifestyle that I am capable of living. I'm excited to eat some of my
favorite cheat foods tomorrow of course but I am confident that I will
continue to follow the principles I've learned from this diet for the
rest of my life. I never want to go back to the way I lived before :)
Best thing about this diet:
surprisingly,
not the weight loss...I would have to say one thing I have benefited
most from by following this diet over the last thirty days is mood
stabilization. I have never been so peaceful and happy in my entire
life. None of this up and down, good times and bad, get high then crash
junk. I feel like I have been functioning on a consistently exalted
level :) I even think more clearly and about more significant things. My
mind has officially been blown, and i give this diet SIX stars!"
How did I feel so great on such a restrictive "crash" diet?
Well the answer is blood sugar stabilization and a lack of gut-irritating toxins.
So I guess a combination of past experience and new-found science knowledge has motivated me to try the ketogenic diet again. I don't know how long I'm going to do it. A month or two maybe. I really just want to find a solution to my distress, and I think this might be it.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The end
First of all, I apologize for not finishing my entries for the last four days of the ketogenic diet experiment until now! I haven't blogged in a while and to be honest, once I went off the diet my life sort of fell apart (seriously!) and I didn't really have time to finish the posts.
But today is a new beginning! I discovered while being off the ketogenic diet for about a week and a half that I liked my life MUCH BETTER while on it. Yes, I did get to eat anything and everything I wanted for that short period of time, but it wasn't worth the heck I put my body through. I was miserable and tired and stopped working out and even my hormones went crazy. agh. A week and a half of poor nutrition can really mess up your life!
But today is a new beginning! I discovered while being off the ketogenic diet for about a week and a half that I liked my life MUCH BETTER while on it. Yes, I did get to eat anything and everything I wanted for that short period of time, but it wasn't worth the heck I put my body through. I was miserable and tired and stopped working out and even my hormones went crazy. agh. A week and a half of poor nutrition can really mess up your life!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Day 26-30
October 16, 2012
Perfect day. I ate a huge salad, cheese and turkey sandwich, carrots and peanut butter, and a two cheese sticks I think. I'm trying to get back into ketosis after my little cheat yesterday so i stuck to strict protein and fat today. The carrots were probably pushing it though. Oh well. Had a great workout and didn't feel super tired afterwards :) 4 days left!
October 17, 2012
I'm starting to run out of things to say. If you have questions about the diet, message me! I will be happy to answer any of your questions or even just have a discussion with you, I LOVE talking nutrition.
(these are copied from my paper journal)
October 18, 2012
Okay I need to watch myself. I keep making silly choices like eating a little bit of cake or icecream when I'm offered, and even though it doesn't knock me out of ketosis, I'm worried because I have progressively gotten more and more lenient when it comes to this diet. I understand that my self-control has improved and therefore I am able to do stuff like just eat a little bit of something and put it down, but I also need to realize that I am still human and still very capable of throwing my self-control out the window without knowing it. I'm going to try hard to keep the "small cheats" to a minimum these last three days.
October 19, 2012
Not much to report today. Although I will say I have been experimenting more with low-carb recipes. Like pizza, yum. I'm starting to feel like I should write a cookbook or something. I love using almond flour and flax seed meal (so much fiber!) instead of regular grains that are full of carbs, gluten, and so genetically modified that they aren't really even healthy for humans anymore. Okay that may be a matter of opinion but still, I've seen a lot of research that supports it. Plus I can't think of a better way to get my daily dose of fiber than through pizza made with flax meal!
October 20, 2012
Ayayayayay!!! LAST DAY OF THE EXPERIMENT! And I must say, this has been a very successful experiment. I have gained so much from following this diet over the last thirty days. Motivation, focus, self-control, confidence, will-power, happiness, energy, peace, excitement, stability, you name it, I've got it thanks to this project. Yay I am so happy that I've discovered something so amazing! Seriously this has changed my life. I finally feel like I have found not just a diet that works but a lifestyle that I am capable of living. I'm excited to eat some of my favorite cheat foods tomorrow of course but I am confident that I will continue to follow the principles I've learned from this diet for the rest of my life. I never want to go back to the way I lived before :)
Best thing about this diet:
surprisingly, not the weight loss...I would have to say one thing I have benefited most from by following this diet over the last thirty days is mood stabilization. I have never been so peaceful and happy in my entire life. None of this up and down, good times and bad, get high then crash junk. I feel like I have been functioning on a consistently exalted level :) I even think more clearly and about more significant things. My mind has officially been blown, and i give this diet SIX stars!
Perfect day. I ate a huge salad, cheese and turkey sandwich, carrots and peanut butter, and a two cheese sticks I think. I'm trying to get back into ketosis after my little cheat yesterday so i stuck to strict protein and fat today. The carrots were probably pushing it though. Oh well. Had a great workout and didn't feel super tired afterwards :) 4 days left!
October 17, 2012
I'm starting to run out of things to say. If you have questions about the diet, message me! I will be happy to answer any of your questions or even just have a discussion with you, I LOVE talking nutrition.
(these are copied from my paper journal)
October 18, 2012
Okay I need to watch myself. I keep making silly choices like eating a little bit of cake or icecream when I'm offered, and even though it doesn't knock me out of ketosis, I'm worried because I have progressively gotten more and more lenient when it comes to this diet. I understand that my self-control has improved and therefore I am able to do stuff like just eat a little bit of something and put it down, but I also need to realize that I am still human and still very capable of throwing my self-control out the window without knowing it. I'm going to try hard to keep the "small cheats" to a minimum these last three days.
October 19, 2012
Not much to report today. Although I will say I have been experimenting more with low-carb recipes. Like pizza, yum. I'm starting to feel like I should write a cookbook or something. I love using almond flour and flax seed meal (so much fiber!) instead of regular grains that are full of carbs, gluten, and so genetically modified that they aren't really even healthy for humans anymore. Okay that may be a matter of opinion but still, I've seen a lot of research that supports it. Plus I can't think of a better way to get my daily dose of fiber than through pizza made with flax meal!
October 20, 2012
Ayayayayay!!! LAST DAY OF THE EXPERIMENT! And I must say, this has been a very successful experiment. I have gained so much from following this diet over the last thirty days. Motivation, focus, self-control, confidence, will-power, happiness, energy, peace, excitement, stability, you name it, I've got it thanks to this project. Yay I am so happy that I've discovered something so amazing! Seriously this has changed my life. I finally feel like I have found not just a diet that works but a lifestyle that I am capable of living. I'm excited to eat some of my favorite cheat foods tomorrow of course but I am confident that I will continue to follow the principles I've learned from this diet for the rest of my life. I never want to go back to the way I lived before :)
Best thing about this diet:
surprisingly, not the weight loss...I would have to say one thing I have benefited most from by following this diet over the last thirty days is mood stabilization. I have never been so peaceful and happy in my entire life. None of this up and down, good times and bad, get high then crash junk. I feel like I have been functioning on a consistently exalted level :) I even think more clearly and about more significant things. My mind has officially been blown, and i give this diet SIX stars!
Day 25
October 15, 2012
OMGSH I HAVE FIVE DAYS LEFT!!! I AM AMAZING!!!
haha :) seriously tho, I haven't been this proud of myself in a loooong time. Today I decided to designate as a cheat day because I have been two weeks without one and I think I really needed it so I could push through these last five days. Anyway I didn't really even cheat all that much. I ate most of the things I normally would but then at FHE had a doughnut and some small cookies, later a few peach rings. I felt sick afterwards. I didn't even want any more. This is really starting to become a permanent lifestyle
OMGSH I HAVE FIVE DAYS LEFT!!! I AM AMAZING!!!
haha :) seriously tho, I haven't been this proud of myself in a loooong time. Today I decided to designate as a cheat day because I have been two weeks without one and I think I really needed it so I could push through these last five days. Anyway I didn't really even cheat all that much. I ate most of the things I normally would but then at FHE had a doughnut and some small cookies, later a few peach rings. I felt sick afterwards. I didn't even want any more. This is really starting to become a permanent lifestyle
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Day 24
October 14, 2012
Fast Sunday. I was actually kind of glad to fast this time. I ate a lot last night so I knew I would be fine going without food for a while today. My tummy didn't even grumble until 4pm and then I made quinoa sushi with my leftover ingredients from Friday at ate it with a friend. We had to use these little tiny nori sheets that weren't even big enough to roll, so we ended up just making tacos out of them. I fried up some bacon and we put quinoa, cream cheese, green onions, shrimp, wasabi, and bacon in our little nori taco shells. It was AMAZING. We decided to call them "shacon tacos" (suSHi-bACON tacos) haha. We are so clever. I was okay with eating the quinoa because I added up the carbs and since I had been fasting all day it wasn't even close to putting me over my daily limit. Yay for fast Sundays. And yay for quinoa sushi. I can't wait to start eating it all the time. But I never would've discovered it if I hadn't been on this diet :)
Fast Sunday. I was actually kind of glad to fast this time. I ate a lot last night so I knew I would be fine going without food for a while today. My tummy didn't even grumble until 4pm and then I made quinoa sushi with my leftover ingredients from Friday at ate it with a friend. We had to use these little tiny nori sheets that weren't even big enough to roll, so we ended up just making tacos out of them. I fried up some bacon and we put quinoa, cream cheese, green onions, shrimp, wasabi, and bacon in our little nori taco shells. It was AMAZING. We decided to call them "shacon tacos" (suSHi-bACON tacos) haha. We are so clever. I was okay with eating the quinoa because I added up the carbs and since I had been fasting all day it wasn't even close to putting me over my daily limit. Yay for fast Sundays. And yay for quinoa sushi. I can't wait to start eating it all the time. But I never would've discovered it if I hadn't been on this diet :)
Day 23
October 13, 2012
I got in an awesome workout this morning cuz I knew I was going to be able to take a break tomorrow! Yay. Well, a break from working out lol not my diet. But I'm starting to realize that the two really do go hand in hand. I went to beto's with a friend and got a taco salad and it was SO nasty. This was one time when I really wished I could have tortillas. I miss Mexican food. Anyway besides that things were pretty normal. Not much to report today.
I got in an awesome workout this morning cuz I knew I was going to be able to take a break tomorrow! Yay. Well, a break from working out lol not my diet. But I'm starting to realize that the two really do go hand in hand. I went to beto's with a friend and got a taco salad and it was SO nasty. This was one time when I really wished I could have tortillas. I miss Mexican food. Anyway besides that things were pretty normal. Not much to report today.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Day 22
October 12, 2012
So today I ate really well all day because I knew my friend's birthday party was tonight and I wanted to be able to join in with the cake and ice cream without going too far over my daily limit. Anyway I planned to eat a lot tonight, but I ended up having way less than I planned. Usually it seems like if I plan to cheat I go ALL OUT, and stuff myself with crap because I know I won't be able to have any of that good stuff tomorrow. But I didn't do that. I had a half a piece of red velvet cake, a couple sips of punch, a couple sips of hot chocolate, and two small scoops of ice cream. I didn't even get sick afterwards! haha I am amazed by my new-found self control :) also I made quinoa sushi today with a friend. SO YUMMY. I wouldn't eat it all the time because even though quinoa has a lot of protein (it's the only grain that is a complete protein actually) it's still a grain, which means it has carbs. But I will probably start using quinoa a lot more when my official thirty days are up. I've gotten pretty good at being able to eat small amounts of carbs without falling out of ketosis, so I'm just gonna keep adding small amounts into my diet so I can get more out of my workouts, but keep burning fat :)
So today I ate really well all day because I knew my friend's birthday party was tonight and I wanted to be able to join in with the cake and ice cream without going too far over my daily limit. Anyway I planned to eat a lot tonight, but I ended up having way less than I planned. Usually it seems like if I plan to cheat I go ALL OUT, and stuff myself with crap because I know I won't be able to have any of that good stuff tomorrow. But I didn't do that. I had a half a piece of red velvet cake, a couple sips of punch, a couple sips of hot chocolate, and two small scoops of ice cream. I didn't even get sick afterwards! haha I am amazed by my new-found self control :) also I made quinoa sushi today with a friend. SO YUMMY. I wouldn't eat it all the time because even though quinoa has a lot of protein (it's the only grain that is a complete protein actually) it's still a grain, which means it has carbs. But I will probably start using quinoa a lot more when my official thirty days are up. I've gotten pretty good at being able to eat small amounts of carbs without falling out of ketosis, so I'm just gonna keep adding small amounts into my diet so I can get more out of my workouts, but keep burning fat :)
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