So I can’t STFU about keto, so the below is what started as a sentence or two explanation of my experience of keto in response to something that turned into a blog post, so I decided to cut my comment short and post it here.
I started the last week of January, I’ve gone from 268 to 233, and that’s falling off the wagon several times (sometimes intentionally for special meals/travel) and getting back on it. I’ve also been doing some moderate weight lifting using the 5x5 routine and intermittent fasting (watch videos by Dr. Jason Fung on YouTube) when I start to plateau or I’ll carb shock my body with something super sugary if the weight loss tapers off for several weeks (bro science behind why I think it works, but it works for me, some people think it’s terrible). Also, while whiskey is okay, it seems to slow my weight loss because it has calories and slows metabolism, makes you retain water when you’re recovering, etc, so I drink less and am about to try something called LyteShow that helps. The other thing I get sometimes is Halo Top ice cream, which Publix, and surprisingly Walmart sells, which believe it or not is keto friendly ice cream (if you only eat a 1/4 cup and are super low on other carbs that day) that uses primarily sugar alcohols and dietary fiber mostly in place carbs or artificial sweeteners.
I am also a big fan of bullet proof coffee I either make with ghee (TJ or Amazon) or unsalted kerrygold butter (CostCo or anywhere) and coconut oil (TJ’s in WS) or MCT oil (GNC) in a blender in the morning with coffee I brew at home (french press personally), I don’t advocate buying the “BulletProof” brand stuff as it’s super pricey, but I actually love the official bullet proof brand coffee beans and have an Amazon dash button for it on my profile, but any coffee that you like works. TJ’s sells coconut oil in 1 tbsp packets to mix in your coffee (again in W-S). I’ve also baked some Keto bread (Keto Connect recipe) this week, and it’s really good.
Suffice to say I love it, and even when I reach my goal weight I probably will stay on it, at least most of the time. I’ve noticed a lot of benefit from the mental effects and side effects I’ve experienced (better skin/less eczema/dandruff, steady mood state, more alert/focused so drink less caffeine or don’t have the 3pm slump. I also have sleep apnea, but I’m less stuffy and have an easier time breathing now (this might be partially due to the weight loss), but the few nights I’ve forgotten to utilize my CPAP mask my wife commented I didn’t snore, and I wake up with less grogginess.
On the whole carb shock thing. This for me, sort of resets everything and gets your body back into that initial keto phase because as it gets used to the amount of ketones it needs to produce, it doesn’t produce them as abundantly making it harder to lose weight as fast, so a carb shock I’ve found on occasion, lets me cheat and this is bro science but I think it knocks my ketone production back into high gear when I carb shock then starve my body of carbs again and it starts over producing ketones when the carbs go away. There is some controversy and bro science as to whether it actually works. All I know is I will sit at the same weigh for weeks, I’ve drank a milk shake and burger with bun at Burger Batch in W-S (burger batch milk shakes are amazeballs), went back on keto, and lost 3-4 pounds from where I was stalled, and then kept going again with a 1-2 lb loss a week and done it a few times since then when I’m sitting in the same 1 pound range every morning for more than a week. It has to be one meal it has to be weeks apart from the last time, and it can’t be a day or several days, and sometimes going carb heavy makes you sick (I’ve found avoiding grains for carb shock and using sugar for my carb shock doesn’t make me sick to my stomach/intestinal cramping). Some people it doesn’t work, some people fasting does it, you kind of have to figure it out. There is a whole thing about European genealogies being used to a carb heavy summer diet and fat heavy winter diet, and I can go on about keto for a ridiculously long time.)