One month, 2 stone (nearly) lighter…

Well what I can say is that Keto really is neato! I’ve now been a Keto concert for a month and seen a 2 stone weight loss (nearly…26lbs so far)…but…not without a few treats along the way. Included in this has been birthday dinner & drinks, 4 days skiing and eating and drinking all the carbs, and a dinner that included pasta and mucho vino!

Anyway what I’ve learnt along the way is that sticking to the Keto lifestyle will show a continued weight loss but weighing in daily although good when the pounds are falling will also give you a slightly less motivating morning when they have stayed the same for a couple of days. But…sometimes this can spur along the need for a little macro flipster as I like to call it…basically an excuse to eat all the carbs! Kind of gives your body a little shock and then when you go back into keto life the pounds seemingly start coming off again (granted you might have put a pound or two on when you tried to eat your own body weight in pasta and sandwiches…but still).

Anyway my top tips after month one if you’re going to do Keto are:

1. Get a carb and macros manager app…might seem boring but really starts to help you work out what you’re putting in and helps you realise where all those secret net carbs are hiding. I use Carb manager but MyFitnessPal is another popular one.

2. Fat bombs…look them up, buy a book, find recipes sweet or savoury…these little bundle of fatty joy will help sort you’re macros at the end of the day when you’ve found yourself eating too much protein. Fat is really hard to get your head around consuming enough and within your daily cals so these little Fat Bomb beauty’s will help keep you on track usually for 200kcals and under.

3. Olives are a mans best friend…like fat bombs olives are full of good fat…keep these little rascals in the fridge and throw them into anything…or keep a good quality bottle of its liquid sister Extra Virgin Olive Oil to hand and add a couple of table spoons into anything (beware cals of olive oil though).

4. Beware spices…as an absolute spice master I previously added lots of dried spices and the whole trinity of garlic, chilli and ginger to most dishes. The advise now is to do in proportion and just have a butchers in a carb manager on the volumes you are using. This is probably a piece of advise that only applies to a few but you will be fine and food is still spicy and delicious (see my Keto curry recipe…I’m still perfecting so is a dish in development).

Bisons Keto Curry with Barenaked Rice

5. Fasting is a thing…if you can hold off the temptation once a week for an extended period of time then a little bit of light fasting keeps you on track (also probably helps shrink your tummy so smaller portions just become the norm).

6. If you love eggs bite the bullet and go Burford…If you’re going to start eating eggs daily or at least a few times a week as a delicious and filling part of a meal or star of your breakfast, my advise is to buy quality eggs and Burford Browns really are the cream of the crop. Once you’ve tried them you won’t look back you egg snob you!

7. Water…it’s advised in every diet and life in general but do yourself a favour and try and squeeze plenty of the wet stuff into your day. I usually end up making up for it in the evening. Also whilst not ideal, most diet drinks are relatively Keto friendly but there are mixed reviews on them. Personally I love a sparkly little tin of diet delight but do beware some of them are hiding the sugar so keep an eye on the nutritional info before sipping.

8. When dining out…have a sneaky ore look at at the menu online. This way you can navigate it without having to get your phone out to check carbs and can maybe even pre build out a couple of things you might have to see how they stack up.

9. Carb replacements are awesome and keep you feeling like you’re getting your fix. My top two have been Barenaked products (tried the noodles and rice so far) and Lo Dough. Check out these bad boy Pizzas…recipe to follow:

Anyway…I think that’s it for today but I’m going to be following up with recipes and more snaps of some of the epic dishes I’ve developed. I’ll update on progress and how this little diet comes along. I don’t think I’d choose it as a permanent lifestyle which I know a lot of Keto peeps do, but I will eventually when at my goals transform it into something more manageable as I love my veggies too much.