I made it through week one on the Ketogenic Diet! Twenty-three more days to go...Overall: Not bad! I am still motivated to continue the diet and it is getting progressively easier to reject carbohydrates. I have not had digestive issues all week! This is probably the longest I have ever gone without digestive issues such as bloating, heartburn, indigestion, etc. However, I did notice that sleep quality has dropped a bit. I am waking up more frequently throughout the night and have had more cold flashes than usual. It is like my body's having a harder time regulating internal temperature so I end up wearing more clothing or drinking hot beverages to compensate.Day 1: 146.6 lbs / Day 7: 144.2 lbs - 2.4 lbs lost. Stamina (slight increase), fatigue (slight decrease)Hunger (decrease), thirst (decrease)Digestive issues (NONE!) Cravings (minimal)Sleep (somewhat poorer)Cold flashesSports performance: not noticeably different. I did feel increased stamina and reduced fatigue during games but not to any extreme. I also noticed that I did not want as much water in between subbing out and playing. My sweating was also reduced. - It should be noted that it was relatively colder and rainier this past week compared to previous weeks. I could have misinterpreted my thirst and perspiration levels due to these factors. Weight loss: I lost 2.4 lbs this week! The weight loss on the keto diet is no joke. I did not experience hunger between meals. (I did not get "hangry" even once!) In fact, I had to force myself to eat sometimes, especially before soccer games. I only had cravings once (Day 4 for CAKE). I do not normally eat sweets so this was rather strange. I felt like this week could have been worse since I went into it thinking I would get the "keto-flu" within the week. The negative symptoms I did experience (headaches, nausea, cold flashes) were perhaps part of the transition into ketosis but they could have also arisen from dehydration or stress as well. I do not think I could have transitioned over to ketosis that quickly but it is possible. I was pretty active and healthy, to begin with. As an avid soccer player, my body was already efficient at burning carbohydrates AND fats, especially on the days I do doubleheaders. So there could be some metabolic overlap there already... Cicely Shankle is a Resident Nutritionist at the Alaska Center for Natural Medicine. To learn more about Cicely, click here.
