Lots of facts to tell! I’ll try to pinpoint every step we took, every observation we did, so that this post could be useful for others:
- We didn’t go cold turkey. We started with three week of hormonal reset, then two weeks of generic low carb regime and finally keto. That’s likely to be the reason why my husband (who was 30 kg above the ideal weight) didn’t suffer the adaptation phase at all. Me (6 kilos above the ideal weight)? Well, I had 2 weeks of keto flu, the version with muscular pain and general fatigue. So, keep in mind…everybody reacts differently!
- We read a lot, we watched many videos. There is a bunch of science in consciously changing from the recommended-by-everybody-everywhere low-fat regime into keto, and it helped (still does) in the rainy days. Now this is my first suggestion to the friends who ask: if you want to do it, do some study first.
- Let’s talk about food now… you know, we belong to a culture that can discuss about food while eating food and thinking about the food that will come. So, FOOD. Our cupboards now contain very non-Italian stuff: coconut oil, avocados, exotic nuts, very expensive flours, etc etc, but it’s ok, we learn new tastes, new ways of cooking. The daily percentage of fats is always between 65 and 75, but it’s sometimes difficult to decouple fats from proteins; we discovered the beautiful world of keto baking (Keto Bread Bakers Cookbook, Elisabeth Jane) and now it gets better: it is real food, not just fat bombs, it helps reaching the right macros percentages, it’s great when we take trains or airplanes, and it fulfills my inner baker! We are rigid about the little fruit, no cereal, no starchies, and (of course!!) the no sugar rules, but we loosen our grip with vegetables. I cannot stand restrictions on vegetables, that’s my limit.
- We started to go to a gym three weeks after going keto.
- The effects we observed…well, it’s a long list here and weight loss is not the main one, although in six weeks my husband is at -9 kg (despite 10 days in Japan, where keto is very difficult!) and me at -2 kg, not bad.
- our digestive systems are born again, meaning regularity, no bloating, no gas, no thrushes and even the ability to digest some food that was barely tolerated in the past (cauliflower in my case)
- people told us that our skin is getting better everyday, but I cannot see that
- my urinary system is born again too; I had a lot of problems…just gone
- my menstrual cycle is adjusting, but I didn’t have the usual VERY bad days before the period
- my mood ups and downs? I’m not saying that they are gone, but they are much more manageable than how they were. Also less mental fatigue and more mental sharpness
- my husband found again the satiety sense, while I found again the hunger sense. Yes, he used to eat three times what he needs, while I used to eat just because, without feeling hungry. Keto has restarted my metabolism!
- I spent 5 days at my family’s place and it is not possible to say NO to family, so I had everyday, once a day, some extracarbs: a icecream, a slice of pizza here, two bites of cake there. I got some thrushes, but my body resisted very well
and we go for other 6 weeks and then see
hope this can be useful for other newbies