I think I have a unique way of applying the ketogenic diet. I’m a 32 year old male software engineer, I’m currently 192lbs, ~19% body fat. I’ve been able to maintain this weight Since October 2016 ± 2lbs. I weigh myself and record it every Thursday. With my current diet plan every week I will generally get up to 198-200 by Monday morning and drop back to around 192lbs by Thursday afternoon.
The evolution of my 4/7 ketogenic diet (4 days on, 3 days off every week)
Throughout my life I’ve always been a heaver guy, nothing too extreme just overweight.
Pre May 2016 - I’m generally healthy, but most of my bio-metrics measurements are starting to creep in the wrong direction (5.7 AIC). I know I need to get healthier but just don’t do anything about it. Diets in the past have never stuck more than 2-3 months.
Late May 2016 - 243lbs
This was the final tipping point for me. I was developing sleep apenia over the last few month and my wife wanted me to get a c-pap machine. I tell her no way, I’m going to lose some weight and get healthier. I’ve been a .NET Rocks listener for a long time and on some episode Carl turned me on to the 2ketodudes podcast. So I started listening and after getting through the first few episodes I realize it is a perfect fit for me. I don’t have any diagnosed disease yet that I needed to cure, I mostly liked the diet because I knew I could get behind the food and love cooking. So I start keto right away, tracking all my food and keeping carbs under 30g a day, most days under 20g.
Mid June - 229lbs (down 14lbs), all signs of sleep apenia are gone! I never saw a doctor about it, but 2-3 times a month I was waking myself up gasping for air. Typically it happened right as I was about to fall asleep I was like I’d forget to breath for a few seconds.
Early August 2016 - 209lbs (down 34lbs), this is when I noticed my weight loss was slowing down a little bit so I start doing 19/5 intermittent fasting Monday - Thursday only eating after work. At this point I was only 9lbs from my goal of 200lbs but I decide to change my goal to 190lbs. I also quit tracking my food because I’ve got a good idea about what I’m allowed in a day.
Early October 2016 - 191lbs (down 52lbs)… Oh shit, I’m at my goal, now what? At this point I don’t want to lose any more weight but I’m really enjoying the benifits of I.F. This is where my weekly cheating starts. I decide that I’m going to allow myself Sundays every week completely off the diet and eat whatever I want. This timing works out really well because of all the football parties my wife and I like to attend and throw (GO PACK GO!). I also decided to start lightly working out, very lightly. I’m only working out 2-3 days a week spending 15-20 mins on an elliptical machine. I typically work out right before my IF eating window starts.
December 2016 - Still 192lbs (down 51lbs). This seems to be working… So I start allowing myself off the diet Friday - Sunday every week. At the same time I also intensify the exercise a little. One of the weekly workouts is replaced with a pretty intense weight training (I’m still sore after every workout). And this is what I’m still doing today.
Disclamer - I don’t necessarily cheat every day I’m allowed, if it is convenient to eat keto I generally will, but if we go out to eat with friends I’m fine splitting a pizza and having some beers. You also have to realize that on those 3 days a week off, I’m much more conscious of what I’m eating and I’m definitely eating a lot less than I was pre-keto.
All comments, questions, and concerns welcome.
Rob