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They Don’t Tell You Everything in the Handbook!
I expected to lose weight when I started the keto diet almost three years ago. I spent a month researching it thoroughly before attempting it, so I assumed I knew everything there was to know about it. However, there are always things beyond scientific facts that frequently fail to make their way into scientific research. You know, the little surprises that come with the expected outcomes. Here are a few examples of those things.
- I lost a lot of weight fast.
I knew I was supposed to lose weight, but after trying and failing for years with conventional dieting, I was still a bit shocked when the pounds started coming off. Before keto, even 5/2 fasting (not eating two days a week) hadn’t caused me to lose any weight. On keto, I lost 55 pounds in about six months until I was skinny again, going from 246 to 191. I was losing ten pounds every month! While that might not be as fast as we’d all like, it’s still pretty fast. In half a year, I’d lost so much weight that I had to buy a bunch of new pants (luckily, I had kept some of my old ones that I just couldn’t part with).
- I wasn’t hungry while losing weight.
In fact, I have never been less hungry in my life. One of the things we all dread about trying to lose weight is the hunger that accompanies eating less. If you’ve tried regular calorie-restriction diets, you know what I mean. But with keto, I experienced the exact opposite! I was eating about half of the calories I normally ate, but I was never hungry. I actually had to make myself eat sometimes to make sure I was getting enough protein. There’s a whole explanation involving insulin, fat cells, and satiety hormones, but I’m not going to go into the scientific details. I’m just commenting on surprising experiences in this article. Suffice it to say, this is the only diet I’ve ever come across where not only is hunger not a problem; it’s nonexistent.
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- I only eat twice a day.
Prior to going keto, I ate four times a day (sometimes more). I was always hungry every four hours or so. And I got hangry sometimes too! I don’t anymore. My experience of hunger completely changed after going on keto. I started eating only twice a day, breakfast around 10 am and then dinner around 6 pm. This wasn’t something I’d necessarily planned on doing, but I just didn’t feel that need to eat all the time. Even now, after losing my excess weight, I still only eat twice a day (I’m still on keto). I still eat plenty of calories (2500–3000/day), but I can have a big breakfast and go eight hours until a big dinner, then go 15 hours until breakfast the next day.
- I have energy all the time.
Here’s what I mean by this. Prior to keto, I woke up hungry. The first thing I did in the morning was eat. After going keto, I don’t wake up hungry anymore. Not only that, but I can have a cup of coffee and then lift weights before having breakfast. I don’t need a meal to fuel my workout. Even skinny people have sufficient stored fat to make it through a workout. I was pretty shocked by this! I could work out just as hard as before but without having eaten for fourteen hours. I couldn’t even think straight before eating breakfast until keto, let alone lift weights.
- I don’t really miss carbs.
The gist of the keto diet is to replace calories from carbohydrates in your diet with calories from fats. But I loved cinnamon rolls, macaroni and cheese (homemade, not that boxed stuff), biscuits and gravy, and I even made my own wheat bread. How was I going to get along without them? Easily enough, it turned out. While I can’t eat everything I like, I do like everything I eat. Instead of toast with my eggs, I’ll have bacon or sausage. Rather than a potato with my steak, I’ll have a 1/2 pound of broccoli. It’s been almost three years since I went keto, and I get along just fine without all those foods I’d eaten before. Now that I’ve lost all of my excess weight, I will go out to eat once a week and have whatever I want. Hell, I had a giant piece of chocolate cake last week! But then I went right back to strict keto and didn’t blink.
(I’ll tell you one thing I don’t miss at all: that big old spare tire I was dragging around.)
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- I pee a lot.
I only bring this up because it’s probably about twice as much as previously, so you’ll notice it. This one I’ll explain so nobody gets freaked out and thinks something is broken. When you go keto, your body excretes sodium at a faster rate. The scientific term is natriuresis. Your body accomplishes this by urinating more frequently. In fact, this is the cause of the so-called keto flu. I drink a cup of water with a 1/4 tsp of salt when I get up in the morning and before dinner to make sure I have enough sodium to keep my nervous system up and running smoothly. Don’t worry about the extra salt; it won’t be with you for long!
- My bald spot filled in.
It’s true! I had that whole male pattern baldness thing starting, and I was on my way to looking like Friar Tuck with that bald spot forming on the top of my head. I cut my own hair at home with clippers, and I use a handheld mirror to see what I’m doing in the back. I had been cutting my hair shorter and shorter over time to make the bald spot less noticeable. So I was flabbergasted when after a couple of haircuts I noticed that the spot was becoming less noticeable all on its own! It’s still a little thinner than the rest of my hair, but I’m now able to let my hair grow a little longer in the winter without worrying about a glaring bald spot.
So, these are some of the things you don’t necessarily hear much about keto but can expect should you give it a go. Luckily, these surprises are mostly of a pleasant variety (other than the increased bathroom visits). In the nearly three years I’ve been on the keto diet, I haven’t had any reason to regret making the change. I lost weight, stopped feeling hungry all the time, have plenty of energy, and even got some of my hair back!
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