GOOOOOOO AFTER-FREAKIN-NOOOON! How the hell are you doing? Take a moment to think about it. Truly think about how you’re doing. If you’re feeling good, kicking ass, KILLIN THE GAME, awesome. Keep it up. If you’re not feeling any of those things, you gotta change something.
Switch it up. Spend some time figuring out what is in the way and remove that thing. Maybe it’s your job that is throwing things off. Been there. Change the job! Maybe you’re not getting enough exercise. Hit the gym! Maybe that special someone in your life isn’t so special anymore. Get rid of them! You’ll both be better off!
Anyways, you get the point. You ought to feel good! This is the only life you get, don’t waste it feeling crappy about your situation!
Alright Porter, enough preaching. Okay, fine. I’m good.
HOWEVER, the concept of feeling good brings me into my topic for this beautiful Thursday. I come to you today with a little update on my Keto diet trial. If you read the post from Monday, you’ll know that I have been trying the Keto diet this week.
Four days in, and in short, I FREAKIN love it.
I have never, in my entire life, said that about a diet. Never. And I have tried countless diets. Truly, countless. I have hated, pretty much, every single one of them. I do not hate this one. Oddly enough, I am truly enjoying it EVEN THOUGH it is keeping me from some of my great loves, namely pizza, pasta, cheeseburgers, fried foods, etc.
It is just amazing, and I am not saying that as a bandwagon Keto fanboy, that is not what is happening here. If I hated it, and believe me I wanted to, I would tell you. I can promise you that I would not hold back if I didn’t enjoy it, because I truly didn’t expect to.
I have compiled a list of a few reason why it has made such a positive impact on me and why I am enjoying it so much.
1. Weight Loss
It is no secret that millions of people have used this diet primarily for weight loss. That is definitely one of the reasons why I am trying it and it is not disappointing so far. Obviously, any drastic drop in weight right away is going to be mainly water-weight. That being said, after three days of following the diet, I weighed 5 lbs. less this morning than I did when I started.
5 lbs in three days. Now, like I said, that is almost all water weight, but it is weight loss non-the-less. Another reason why this is a huge X in the pro column is because people who truly NEED to lose weight, such as myself, need to see some kind of immediate change.
That number on the scale can impact your day drastically and it is important, especially when starting a new diet or nutrition protocol, that there is some sort of obvious impact. To wake up after day one and see 3.5 lbs. off of your weight is a HUGE encouragement.
It gives you something to set a goal for. You start to look forward to weighing in and in turn you start to enjoy the process of losing weight!
So pro number one is weight loss. 5 lbs. so far and shooting for another 40-50.
2. Energy
Wow. Just FREAKIN wow. This is a big one for me. This is something that I read about, and sort of expected, but I could never have truly guessed what this diet would do to my energy levels.
I have a stupid amount of energy, but the really amazing part is that I have a STUPID amount of energy late into the evening, all the way up until I go to sleep. Before the keto, I would grab lunch around noon and I generally ate something that was either fried, wrapped, or drenched in sauce.
I would then return to my income gig for the second half of the work day and IMMEDIATELY when I sat back down in my chair after lunch I would feel lethargic, heavy and exhausted. I would feel like that for the rest of the damned day.
I would get home and plop down on the couch because I felt too tired to do anything productive. Laundry would go undone until I absolutely HAD to do it because I was out of clothes. Dishes wouldn’t get washed until the sink was full. The gym could always wait until tomorrow.
I just had no energy and felt pretty awful all the way around, so the rest of the important things in my life were suffering. I had to force myself to do anything productive.
In the last three days, I have not had a single crash. I have had top notch energy from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. I get home from a full day of work and I am bouncing off the freakin walls. It’s insane and I am loving every second of it.
All the other things in my life that need to get done, are actually getting done. I am being productive and improving every single day because I have the energy to make it happen.
I could keep going about this one, but you get it. Number two is energy. Off the charts.
3. Loving the Food
It may be very tough for some, but following this diet is not hard for me in the slightest. I am eating eggs, meat, vegetables and keto-friendly snacks like pork rinds and nuts. I’m LOVING it.
First of all, I am a meat lover anyways, so putting down a bunch of ground beef, steak, chicken and bacon is like heaven on earth for me.
Not a huge veggie fan, but I do like broccoli, salads and carrots so I am eating a lot of that stuff. This also forces me out of my comfort zone so hopefully I can find more veggies that I enjoy and different ways to prepare the ones I don’t!
The snacks are just dumb. I love pork rinds. Granted, I never really ate them until now, but they are awesome! To me, it is no different than eating potato chips except that they are carb/sugar free and they are high in healthy fats. You can even make cinnamon pork rinds that taste like churros!
I have never been a huge nut fan, but I am sitting here munching on almonds, pecans and walnuts and I am enjoying them! I don’t know why, I am just loving the damn things, so I choose not to question it.
These staples aside there are so many recipes out there. You can make all kinds of snacks and sweets while still sticking to the protocol. It is, hands-down, the most flexible diet I have ever tried and it is because of that, that so many people have been able to stick to it and find success with it!
4. Water Intake
I am drinking a ridiculous amount of water and for me that is saying something. I routinely drink a gallon of water a day, however, it is tough to get all of that down. By the end of the day I am usually forcing water down.
For the last three days I have been drinking at least a gallon and a half of water without thinking too much about it. Maybe to some that isn’t a lot, but for me that is a hell of a lot of water to be drinking, mindlessly, throughout the day.
I won’t go into all the specifics, most of the benefits of a higher water intake are universally known, so I’ll just say aside from the frequent bathroom breaks, that has been pretty awesome as well.
5. Zero Cravings
Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and my mom had everyone over for lasagna and cake. Two of my favorite things in the world. My girlfriend and I took steaks over for our food since we can’t have the carbs. I felt ZERO remorse in not being able to eat lasagna and cake.
This is still baffling me. I couldn’t have these things that I love, yet it didn’t bother me in the slightest.
I have heard mixed reviews on cravings while on this program, but for me, so far, I have had none. No sweet tooth, no pizza calling my name, nothing and I am a carb guy through and through. No cravings whatsoever.
That is just insane to me, but I am not mad about it! It is going to make sticking to it a hell of a lot easier if I’m not constantly thinking about all the things I can’t have!
Being that this is already one of my longest posts I will cut off the pros right there. However, in the spirit of being completely transparent, there are a couple of cons that I have found with this protocol as well.
1. Brain Fogginess
This is something that many have reported when first staring the diet. For me, it only happens in the morning. I will say, I get up pretty early most days, around 4:45am. However, for some reason it is taking me extra long to wake up.
Even after a cup or two of coffee, I still have a sort of haze going on, like I am still waking up. This is not something that normally happens, so I have to believe it is being caused by the change in diet. I presume this will come to pass once I am officially in ketosis and my body has truly switched to running on fats instead of carbs.
2. Pricey
It is no secret that eating well is no a cheap thing to do. One reason why it is so easy to go get a cheeseburger at Mickey D’s is because its $1. To make a cheeseburger at home with quality meat and ingredients would cost ten times that at least.
That in mind, to go to a steady diet of quality meat, fresh produce, and healthy fats (lots of nuts which are expensive in their own right) it does start to stack up pretty quick on the old grocery bill.
In short, the diet is amazing and I am truly enjoying every second of it. As someone who has tried and failed countless diets, I am finding this one extremely easy to stick to. I am enjoying it and seeing many benefits immediately.
If you are looking to switch things up, I definitely recommend giving this a shot! I will post periodic updates as I go and maybe a before and after comparison once I reach my goal!
Alright, that just about does it for me today. I know posts have been a tad light this week, sorry about that! However, this post is the length of two normal ones so I get a pass on that! I hope whatever you are doing today it is going well and that you are KILLING the week.
Almost done with the week, don’t let off the gas now! Stomp on that thing! And stomp hard too. Keep up the good work, I’m with you!
Tyler Porter Books 