Benefits Noted This Week

My energy levels felt great during my first official week of Keto; day to day energy and mental focus have been excellent, as have my energy levels for sustained endurance activities such as jogging. Focusing on my carb and protein totals has been beneficial, and forces me to make smart food choices. For example, I have noticed that Keto compliant snack foods, such as pork rinds or cheese crisps, may put me over my daily protein limits. With this being the case, I am not going to include snack foods which are easy to overeat during week 2, and see if this helps my protein intake.

Challenges This Week

Adjusting to consuming 20 grams of total (not net) carbs takes FOCUS! FYI-Net carbs is a measure by which you start with total carbs, and subtract dietary fiber and sugar alcohols to arrive at “net carbs”. For example, Chia seeds have 12 grams total carbs, 10 grams of dietary fiber, and therefor 2 grams of net carbs per serving. In the spirit of this Keto experiment, I am counting and recording total carbs each day.

Another challenge was a family wedding, and weekend trip to Vermont. While this was a happy occasion and truly wonderful experience, it was a challenge in the sense that I needed to do some serious pre-planning to help me stay on track. Weddings are typically times for eating, drinking, and being merry, and can easily get you off a Keto diet plan if you are not careful. If you are thinking “couldn’t you just give yourself a ‘cheat day’, and have some flexibility?” Well sure, I could, but I chose not to sacrifice the progress I am making during my adaptation phase of this plan.

Some pre-planning and routines that helped me meet this challenge of a Keto wedding weekend included:

1. Committing to keeping my sleep routine during the weekend away (and keeping my 3 year old son’s schedule as close as possible, goes hand in hand).
2. Packing Keto supplies and snacks for the weekend.
3. Planning (roughly) what/where I would eat each day, look at what would be available.
4. Committing to not drinking alcohol, but still having a wonderful time and enjoying the celebration and scenery.
5. Committing to exercise/move everyday of the weekend.

Keto Tips of the Week

Coconut oil, grass fed butter, and salt in coffee is my first tip of the week. This has helped me feel peak levels of energy in between my meals, and also not feel hunger cravings. Important to note, when you drink any caffeinated beverage, you MUST stay hydrated with water.

Another tip for the week, do not supplement with protein if eating Keto, you can easily achieve the moderate amount recommended from dietary sources. Supplementing may actually put you over the recommended moderate intake. Now, if you are trying to do vegetarian or vegan Keto (which is possible to do) perhaps you may look into protein supplementation at that point.

Finally, listen to your body. If you find that 20 grams of carbs is not working for you, adjust your intake. If you need more dietary fiber, eat more dietary fiber. Try different (real) foods and fat sources, and see which ones agree with you and/or you like the best. This post series is my experiment, it is definitely not one size fits all.

Let’s Talk About It [Video]

Meals

A few notes on meals:

1. “Coffee” always means black, unless other additions are noted (such as coconut oil, or grass fed butter).
2. I will list any beverages consumed which are not water, or seltzer water.
3. Periods of fasting always include plenty of hydration with water.
4. “Greens powder” is a powdered green vegetable supplement I take for vitamins (Keto or not), it has around 6 grams of carbs (4 grams are dietary fiber), and 4 grams of protein per serving.

Sunday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 10:30 am: (Mix together) 1 serving nut butter, 2 spoons coconut oil, 1 serving hemp seeds, 1 serving coconut flakes, 1 cup coconut milk to drink.

Total Carbs: 14 grams

Total Protein: 20 grams

Around 11 am: Black coffee.

Around 6 pm: Bunless Burger from 5 Guys with 2 Beef Patties, Bacon, Cheese, Pickle, Lettuce, Jalapeno Peppers, Grilled Mushrooms, Mayonnaise.

Total Crabs: Around 5 grams

Total Protein: Around 48 grams

Daily Totals: Carbs 19 grams, Protein 68 grams

For day 1, I was able to easily be within the moderate protein range, and just barely stay below 20 grams of total carbs. Based on how I have been eating before starting Keto, I am not worried at all about staying moderate protein during this Keto experiment…20 grams of carbs in a day will take focus.

Monday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 9 am: Coffee with 1 spoon coconut oil, 1 spoon grass fed butter.

Around 10 am: Iced green tea with ginger and lime.

Around 11 am: Hot green tea.

Around 1 pm: 1 serving Coleslaw with cabbage and cale mix, chopped garlic, sliced hot pepper, bacon.

1 Gyoza filing burger patty.

2 fried eggs.

1 Bowl Miso soup broth.

Total Carbs: Around 10 grams.

Protein: Around 40 grams.

Around 5:30 pm: 2 egg omelet with 1 serving cheddar cheese, and greens powder. 8 Olives, 2 seaweed snacks.

Total Carbs: 10 grams.

Protein: Around 30 grams.

Daily Totals:

Carbs: 20 grams.

Protein: 70 grams.

Tuesday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Coffee with 1 spoon butter, 1 spoon coconut oil, salt.

Around 9 am: Iced green tea with lemon and ginger.

Around 4:30 pm: Can of salmon with salt/pepper, and 2 spoons melted grass fed butter; bowl of Coleslaw with green powder, avocado, 1 serving cheddar cheese; 8 olives; 2 seaweed snacks.

Evening: Cup of Herbal tea.

Meal (and Daily) totals:

Carbs: Around 22 grams

Protein: Around 65 grams

Wednesday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Coffee with 1 spoon butter, 1 spoon coconut oil, salt.

Around 9 am: Iced green tea with lemon and ginger.

Around 5 pm: Bowl of coleslaw with greens powder, 1 serving cheddar cheese; 2 fried eggs cooked in grass fed butter; 1 can sardines, 1 can herring; 1 avocado; 8 olives; 2 seaweed snacks.

PM: Herbal Tea.

Meal (and Daily) totals:

Carbs: 24 grams

Protein: 72 grams

Thursday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 8:30 am: Coffee with 1 spoon butter, 1 spoon coconut oil, salt.

Around 4 pm: Keto shake; cheese crisps, 4 Olives.

Total Carbs: 6 grams

Protein: 38 grams

Around 6 pm: 10 oz prime rib; thick cut slab bacon, asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, green beans.

Total Carbs: 14 grams

Protein: 70 grams

Daily Totals:

Total Carbs: 20 grams

Protein: 108 grams

Of note, I overshot my protein today for the first time, but managed to keep carbs in the range. I could have planned my snack protein content a little bit better to give dinner out more flexibility…lesson learned, I am not sweating a delicious steak dinner too badly 😉

Friday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 9 am: 2 cups coconut milk, coffee with 2 spoons coconut oil.

Total Carbs: 2 grams

Protein: 0 grams

Around 1 pm: 2 cups coconut milk, 1 serving Brazil nuts, 4 servings pork rinds, 2 servings shaved coconut 🥥.

Total Carbs: Around 14 grams

Protein: Around 40 grams

Daily Totals:

Carbs: 16 grams

Protein: 40 grams

Saturday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Coffee with coconut oil.

Around 12 noon: 1 cup coconut milk, 1 serving shave coconut, 1 serving hemp seeds, 1 serving Brazil nuts, 2 servings pork rinds.

Total Carbs: 13 grams

Protein: 36

Around 4 pm: Wedding buffet, cheese and vegetables appetizer; prime rib with sides of carrots, salad, asparagus.

Carbs: Around 10 grams

Protein: Around 50 grams

Daily Totals:

Carbs: 23 grams

Protein: 86 grams

Favorite Meal of the Week

Exercise Log

Sunday

Mowing the lawn, around 2.5 miles, around an hour total time. Additional 2 miles of walking at work.

Monday

Morning stretch and foam roll, 50 minute walk, around 2.5 miles total.

Tuesday

Deadlifts: 205×3, 225×3, 255×2, 255×1, 255×1, 205×3,3; Ab wheel roll, 6 sets of 6-8 reps, pull up bar hangs.

Wednesday

Morning stretch and roll, run 4.9 miles, 48:04, improvement from last Friday, same route.

Thursday

Pull up: 5,6; total gym row: 10, 10; concentration curl 20 lbs 10, 10.

Friday

Around an hour of running and walking, hilly terrain in Vermont.

Saturday

Waking, around an hour, hills again (Vermont).

My compliance grade for the week

My compliance grade (out of 100%) is going to be based on the following factors each week:

1. Staying at or below 20 grams of total carbs per day
2. Staying at or below 90 grams of protein per day
3. Eating real food, no processed food or alcohol

I give myself 100% for no processed food (sugar, grains, oils) and no alcohol, which I am very impressed with and proud of. As an overall Keto compliance grade, I am going to give myself a 90%. This number is based on going over carb daily limits, and protein daily limits a few times. Although I did go over my limits on certain days, it was never by a significant amount.

Important to note again that I am not measuring my Ketones, so I am not able to truly grade myself on Ketosis. Thanks so much for following along and your encouragement, comment with any thoughts or questions, see you next week!