I love food, plain and simple. When I walk past an ice cream shop, I have to stop and get a cone. Remember when Oprah said in her Weight Watchers commercial that she “loves bread?” I felt that.
So, you may be asking yourself, “why is someone who loves bread and ice cream trying the keto diet?” Great question. Let me explain.
As many people know, having a serious love of food can often lead to problems with eating. I certainly have had my issues with moderation and I’m 100%, without question, addicted to sugar. I’ve heard a lot about the keto (ketogenic) diet over the years and how it has helped people not only lose weight but break their sugar addiction and give them more energy.
I’ve never been a dieter and firmly believe in intuitive eating, but I’m always down to give something a shot. I decided to try keto for two weeks to see, firstly, if I could do it, but secondly, if it would help beat my sugar addiction. I’m not necessarily trying to lose weight (though I wouldn’t mind losing 10 pounds), but I more so wanted to see if this diet is all it’s cracked up to be.
Rules of the Diet
The rules of the keto diet are pretty simple. I’m allowed to eat roughly 20 net carbs per day, but because carbs are in pretty much everything we consume, that’ll add up quickly.
And, while I can’t avoid sugar completely (sugar’s in everything), it’s a big no-no. Keto is also a high-fat diet, which means I can pack my meals full of cream, butter, and oil. It sounds counter-intuitive, sure, but I’m willing to go along with it.
I also want to preface this journey by saying I’m not counting every single calorie going into my body. While I’m doing my best to make sure I’m staying under the allotted 20 net carbs per day, I’m not obsessive about sticking around a certain number of calories.
Alright, let’s get into my first week.
Day 1
Breakfast: I wasn’t very hungry, so I had an avocado and a cup of coffee. Avocados are a must on the keto diet because they’re packed with so many healthy fats.
Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese, plain and simple. While most diets urge you to avoid cheese, the keto diet encourages it. I’ll be honest, it’s hard to remember I can’t have bread. Or sugar. Or anything I usually love to eat.
Dinner: Eating on the go, so I grabbed spring rolls, veggies, and a meat and cheese stick. I also ate a DELICIOUS keto cookie for dessert. I’ll probably be buying 10 more so I can have one every night (kind of joking, kind of not).
Day 2
Breakfast: Keto breath is REAL, y’all. I’ve read about people having a weird taste in their mouths after the first day on the diet, but I did not expect this. Alright, I’m starting the day with coffee.
Lunch: I wasn’t very hungry for breakfast, so I ended up having an early lunch of eggs with tuna and avocado. Where’s my bread? I miss it.
Dinner: Instead of cooking at home, I grabbed a keto-friendly bowl at Chipotle. No rice, no beans, no corn, but I didn’t feel guilty adding cheese and sour cream!
Day 3
Breakfast: I’m definitely paying more attention to what I’m putting into my body today. My mouth still tastes weird, but it’s not as bad as Day 2. For breakfast, I kept it simple with coffee, eggs, tuna, and avocado.
Lunch: I had a late breakfast, so I had some meat sticks and carrots for lunch to hold me over until dinner.
Dinner: After a long day I was strangely craving a big bowl of veggies. I sauteed some broccoli, spinach, and Brussels sprouts and added some turkey meatballs. Finished off the night with a keto cookie.
Day 4
Breakfast: No more weird taste in my mouth this morning, hurray! For breakfast, I had coffee, smoked salmon, and cream cheese on cauliflower thins, eggs, and my trusty avocado.
Lunch: Turkey with cheese and carrots. Very boring, very bland… I still miss my bread.
Dinner: I decided to mix things up and grabbed a poké bowl on my way home. Instead of rice as my base, I had zucchini noodles and made sure to load up on salmon and tuna.
Day 5
Breakfast: Cauliflower thins with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Oh, and of course coffee.
Lunch: Kept it simple midday and just went for turkey and sliced up bell peppers.
Dinner: For dinner, I ate veggies with lots of cheese and meatballs. Also had a keto cookie for dessert. The biggest struggle so far is how monotonous this diet feels. I miss pasta.
Day 6
Breakfast: I woke up today feeling really good, I’m not thinking about the bread or the sugar I’m not having. I had coffee, eggs, avocado, and sausage patties around brunch time.
Dinner: Decided to be a little bit fancier and cooked up some salmon with a side of veggies.
Day 7
Breakfast: Last day of week one! Went simple for breakfast and ate what I had yesterday — eggs with cheese, avocado, and sausages.
Lunch: Turkey slices with bell peppers
Dinner: I was feeling lazy so I dumped a bunch of things into a bowl and ate it — broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, pepperoni, turkey, and cheese. It did the job.
Thoughts After Week 1
I’m not going to lie, the first part of the week was really tough. I found myself struggling to not grab the bread in the cabinet or the soda in my fridge.
But, as the week progressed, it got easier and I do feel like I’m not craving sugar the way I once was. I’m staying fuller longer and don’t snack as often. All in all, it’s been a good week. Let’s see if I can keep it up for week two!
