One Month of Keto Vegetarian
Here we are! Tomorrow is my one-month keto anniversary. Despite one night of drinking red wine, I have remained in nutritional ketosis the entire month. How do the numbers look?
Week 4 –
Weight lost: -5.2 pounds (Total: -17.2 pounds)
% Body weight lost: -2.11% (Total: -6.67%)
Inches lost (waist): -1.0″ (Total: -2.75″)
Inches lost (neck): 0.0″ (Total: -0.75″)
Sleep quality: 91%
So, 17.2# for the month and almost 3 inches off of my waist (where I carry most of my weight). I’m tracking a few other numbers as well; according to my scale, I’ve lost 1.5% body fat and gained 1.3% muscle. Those number seem to vary wildly based on my hydration levels, so it’s not a very accurate measurement. I try to record the average of the day before and after weigh-in to get the most reasonable number.
For comparison’s sake, I dug out 2 old spreadsheets I have from previous dedicated attempts at weight lost. My most successful started in 2009, when my starting weight was about 10 pounds heavier than this time, and I ended up losing 110 pounds over the course of a year. (Clearly, I gained most of it back!) It was a low fat diet that I maintained for about 3 years. In that first month, I lost 14.6 pounds (5.49%) – and that included exercise of 45-60 minutes per day, 4 days per week. Granted, exercise is great – but 8 years later when my metabolism is clearly slower and more screwed up than in 2009, a keto diet with no additional exercise earned me better results (17.2 pounds, 6.67%). That seems impressive to me.
The other data I’ve got is from 2013, also a low fat diet with exercise, and I lost 9.59 pounds the first month (-4.29%). Nowhere near as good as keto.
I’m still feeling great. I’m still loving what I eat. The couple weeks of skin breakouts I was getting have cleared up.
On the downside, I’m still having trouble keeping my electrolytes up. I don’t like (or won’t eat due to being vegetarian) many of the keto-friendly foods that have good magnesium and potassium values, so I’m trying to be conscious of eating more nuts and avocados, and not skipping supplements. And I’m definitely dehydrated. I’ve only been drinking tea and water with the occasional Powerade Zero, but I’m getting maybe 50oz a day. Since keto is a generally diuretic diet, I need to drink more. I can tell I’m not getting enough water.
Some info for the ladies (skip ahead, guys, if this stuff wigs you out) – I had my first period on keto this month. I’d been spotting the entire month (despite being on the pill), and when shark week came, whoa nellie… it was the heaviest I think I’ve ever had in my life. Totally out of the ordinary for me. However, I had zero cramping – none – and THAT is a dang miracle. I suffer atrocious cramps and bloating most months. I am hoping that when this one wraps up, the spotting will stop as well, and things will normalize.
I am extremely happy with the results of this way of eating so far!
Here are some of the things I ate this week. I only tried 1 new recipe – mostly repeats from previous weeks.
Cauliflower fried rice, avocado, and veggie meatballs
Leftovers from last week… cauliflower fried rice with half an avocado and veggie meatballs.
Shirataki noodle alfredo
The one new recipe I tried this week! Shirataki tofu noodles alfredo. This was supposed to be 2 servings, but I ate it all. Keto Connect has a great how-to on how to make shirataki noodles so that they aren’t slimy.
Veggie beef crumbles, scrambled eggs and veggie bacon
Breakfast for dinner. Keto Connect’s hemp heart oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and veggie bacon.
Taco salad…
Headbanger’s Kitchen peanut butter waffle with scrambled eggs
The Headbanger’s Kitchen peanut butter waffle with scrambled eggs.
Zucchini fritters, scrambled eggs, avocado, and Dubliner Irish cheese
Zucchini fritters with half an avocado, scrambled eggs, and Dubliner Irish cheese (so obsessed!)
Another delicious week, and a successful month on the scale. Here’s to the next! Cheers!
