One Month of Ketogenic Diet – (including my Meal Plans)

I was stocking up our house with food in case we go on lockdown and people decided to panic-buy everything. I am ready to start my Keto journey and stocked up on my supplies. I am saying that if worse comes worse, if I cannot get hold of my supplies, I’ll eat what food we have.

Below is my actual Week 1 Meal Plan:

As I mentioned in my primer post, I decided to spread out my meals and add a time frame. For example, I eat my breakfast at 8 AM, a few minutes after I wake up. My lunch will be at 12NN, the snack is at 3:30 PM and dinner is at 7:30 PM. I eat an early dinner so I can do a 12hour fast between.

The first week is the hardest, but having a well-prepared plan helped. I was always hungry and having carb withdrawals. My breakfasts were heavy enough to last me till lunch. The hardest part was making it through my snack time. It felt like forever.

So what I did to take the mind off my cravings, I did some light exercises. I know it is not advised, but I wanted to make the most of it so I kept my exercise light. I did 15-20 mins sets of simple exercises enough to make my heart rate up and sweat a little. It worked for I was able to make it through snack time.

Macros on doing Keto Week 1

Early dinner means I have to sleep early. I know I’ll crave something if I stay up late. That system worked for me as the first week on Keto went on like a breeze. I was pumped and ready for the second week.

SECOND WEEK

I made a mental note of the dishes that I disliked and the serving portions. I was so strict on my carb count of 12g that my serving size suffered. Some serving sizes are like a joke, barely the size of my palm. Despite that, I still tried new recipes for the second week so I can build a database of meals I like on the Keto Diet.

Below is my actual Week 2 Meal Plan:

The second week turned out to be awesome! I had a lot of meals that were tasty and satisfying. An eating timetable helped me a lot for I no longer crave in between my meals.

I used Shiratake Rice and Cauli Rice as white rice substitute. The Asian in me wanted to eat rice at least for dinner. Shiratake Rice was my best option for it is 7cal with zero carbs. The only problem was the texture, it was a bit off for me. I tried Cauli Rice and it was a better alternative, though it gobbles up my carb allocation for the day.

Macros on doing Keto Week 2

One good thing that I noticed is that I already see some changes in my body. My tummy is no longer bloated! The shape of my body is noticeable. I continued doing light exercises, focusing on healing my post pregnancy tummy.

THIRD WEEK

The third week is now a bit harder. I keep on experimenting on new meals while balancing my macros and carb intake. I have used up most of the recipes that have fewer carbs in it, so I am now improvising and doing modifications.

One app that helped me track my macros is MyfitnessPal. It was easy to see an overview of my macros. Most of the dishes that I researched from different websites are also available on the app. It helped a lot with tracking meals.

Here is my actual Week 3 Meal Plan:

Macros on doing Keto Week 3

I carried over the leftovers from the previous week to this week which made it super easy to meal plan. There are still meh dishes and dishes that turned out awesome. I used shirataki noodles and shirataki spaghetti with these meals as well. I kinda know now how to work with the noodles, but not the rice. The noodles were amazing with creamy pasta dishes and soup noodles.

FOURTH WEEK

As I go in the fourth week, meal planning was starting to get harder and harder. The fear of stores closing down and people panic buying goods has taken its toll now. I was cracking my brains on how to come up with meals that are keto-friendly. Most of the goods in supermarkets are running low.

To make things a bit easier, I decided to introduce some comfort food. Also I sticked to some easy dishes from the previous weeks. I also upped my carb intake to 15g and introduced a few low carb fruits as well.

 

Here is my actual Week 4 Meal Plan:

Macros on doing Keto Week 4

I utilized the leftovers as usual. I am now in the hunt for a Keto Bread recipe that tastes nice. I have noticed that coconut flour on my bread made it more gritty and tasted more of like coconut macaroons. Almond flour still makes the bread a bit crumbly, but tolerable. I also used liquid stevia to toned down the eggy taste on my desserts.

TAKEAWAYS

Ketogenic Diet

I can say that the Ketogenic Diet is an easy solution if you want to lose weight immediately. I am aware that the first week gets rid of the water weight hence the amazing results. I still need to incorporate exercises to tone down my physique.

I can say that the Keto Diet helped me jumpstart my fitness goals. I badly miss fruits and other vegetables that are high in carbs. I also need my dose of Vitamin C in this time of the COVID-19 crisis.

Things I didn’t like

One thing that I hate during my Keto Diet journey was how I was super constipated. I was not shocked because my fiber intake was almost non existent. I mostly get my fiber on vegetables. I restricted them due to their carb content, and sticked with fats and protein.

There are some recipes and dishes that I didn’t like while doing the Keto Diet. I was experimenting with keto-friendly bread recipes and all of them turned out to be crumbly. If not crumbly, they turn out to be too eggy.

I also got sick with making cheesecakes. They taste fine, but the appeal eventually wore off. I am now experimenting with flan and brownie recipes.

The dishes I tend to make are all on the creamy side, which my husband disliked. So now I am playing around in making our savory Asian comfort dishes. I try to keep them as low carb as possible.

Things I liked

The almonds and cheese snack combo have been my favorite so far, It is easy and low carb. The abundance of good cheese in the region has its advantage.

I maximized the use of cabbage in almost all recipes. I liked cabbage better as compared to broccoli or cauliflower, and even salads. I loved roasted meats under sauteed cabbage or roasted kale. I also managed to like a nice cauliflower fried rice.

Having eggs for breakfast every day was also my favorite. Eggs have been a savior for me coz they keep me satiated through lunch.

Ketogenic Diet has helped me a lot to lose a few weight and see some results. I hated seeing numbers on scale for it is not an accurate measure. So far, after one month on the diet, I am quite happy with my results. I am still on the path to my fitness goals, Keto Diet has helped me jump start it. I have been on a strict keto diet for a month. In the succeeding months, I’ll do the Lazy Keto version and relax a little. I am adding fruits and vegetables, upping up my fibre intake. I will still avoid sugar as much as I can and eat whole foods as much as possible.