30 Days on the Ketogenic diet – but not a strict ketogenic diet. If you havent read – my aim with my diet experiment to find a lifestyle diet. I was not in proper ketosis for 30 days, I was in and out of ketosis. Some days I was out of ketosis for days. If I went out for dinner with loved ones I did eat carbs, I did drink(more than usual actually) and I did have a hangover pizza now and again. So you can say I wasnt truly on the ketogenic diet, but I do not believe most people can stick to a strict ketogenic diet. Unless they don’t drink – I think that’s the major obstacle to the ketogenic diet. Or doing a competition prep.
I loved being on this diet. And I would recommend for anyone to do it. As I learned a lot about my eating habits. There was pretty much no sugar cravings and I learned the proper feeling of feeling full. I can tend to overeat time to time. Usually on carbs. Or even just a normal meal. But when I was eating keto, I didn’t do it once! Even if I had a carb meal during the weekend. And in all honesty I havent over-eaten since. I now know when my body say its enough. And I that have always been one of my biggest issues with food.
The reason for this is as simple – could you ever think to over eat on just fats? Say for instance cheese, until you feel bloated? It’s not the easiest.
Below I’ve posted a before and after photo. Unorganised of me I took the photos at different times of the day, and that clearly have a different effect on definition and the overall quality of the pictures. I might look a bit more muscular on the before photo. As this is taken in daylight. But I got fairly lean during the 30 days. Even though it might not show as good on the photos. Lesson learned for next time.
Difficulty: Very easy to follow. Although meal prepping is adviced as very hard to find keto friendly food for lunch etc.
Cost: CA170 pounds. CA 5.6 pounds a day.
Overall feeling: Always satisfied and no cravings.
Training comments: Got stronger, leaner and increased a bit of muscle mass.
Weight loss: Ca. 2 kg – however it looked like more in the mirror, but I think my muscle mass increased a bit.
Dina Celina 
Ketosis has been one of the best implementations I’ve made into my lifestyle. It’s difficult in terms of longevity but in my experience restricting carbohydrates and controlling insulin is much more important than achieving ketosis per se. Occasionally dipping out if it isn’t a problem. I’ve used it achieve next level performance and health. Would recommend it to everyone.
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One of the issues I have with proponents of ketogenic diets is the assertion that ketosis will lead to improved athletic performance, when the evidence says exactly the opposite. If you have read anything Alan Aragon has written on this matter, you will know that individuals in ketosis burn more free fatty acids as a result of fat ingestion, and also more intramuscular triglycerides – however, their athletic performance is also compromised as a consequence. This is because keto-adaption leads to decreased pyruvate dehydrogenase activity, which results in an impaired ability to break down glycogen, meaning that when you need to ramp up intensity, you can’t. Basically you will bonk, hit the wall, or whatever phrase you choose to describe an inability to perform.
This is why Ethiopian distance runners don’t give credence to nonsense they can read on the internet about ketogenic diets improving athletic performance. They stick to their 70% carb diet and break world records.
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In my opinion there’s still a lot of research to be done in this area. Personally I’ve not experienced any loss in performance during my ketogenic periods and have actually managed to improve. There have been professional gymnasts doing the same on their high volume and intensity routines aswell while at the same time improving body composition and strength aswell. The same applies to endurance sports. It’s just that the people who would reap the benefits have to go through a loooong period of adaptation.
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If you could post links to the RCTs showing that ketogenic diets improve athletic performance, I’d be keen to review them.
And whilst you’re at it, go tell Ethiopian elite athletes that they are doing it all wrong, and all they need to do is shovel coconut oil down their throats for months and months.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21595961
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So aggressive Ross!
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