I've no doubt that keto works.
Back in about 2002, I'd put a bunch of weight on, and in the end followed the "Atkins" plan for a couple of years and losing a serious amount of weight. I never weighed, but over a couple of years I dropped 5 UK dress sizes and felt much better.
From around 2005, various life things happened and I drifted away from keto. I suspect the keto regime had reset my system quite well, although my weight crept up it wasn't too bad. Then about 3 years ago I had a combination of an injury (fell over the cat and wrecked an ankle) and redundancy following an extremely stressful and difficult period in work. Upshot of which was I was no longer cycle commuting (in fact the ankle was so bad I struggled to walk more than 100 yds), was setting up my own business and had during the previous year grown to like a large glass of wine very evening to relax. You can see how this is heading- yup I quickly gained weight, way too much of it.
Three years on, I've given up the booze (only have a very occasional small glass of wine) and finally the business is starting to do OK. I am walking again on the dodgy ankle although it still aches in cold/damp weather. Weight has stabilised- but not reduced and I'd (re)developed no end of gut problems which put restrictions on how far I could walk if no loo available (that's really not funny). I was eating far, far too much in the way of crisps and sugary things again, and the bikes haven't been out for far too long.
So, as of 5 January I've gone back to low carb again. Basically starting with what was the "induction" phase of Atkins. As expected the first week was difficult, then during the second week improved rapidly. I've now got so much energy back...... appetite dropped....... and a couple of days ago I walked the furthest I've walked in a long while. I am actually peeing properly instead of retaining a lot of water and getting puffy ankles (yeah I know, puffy ankles not a good sign).
I'm quite pleased at how I've lost the sugar cravings quite quickly. Ironically I am eating more fibre and veg not less- I've rediscovered how much I like munching on a bag of raw spinach- and celeriac cooks much better in a pressure cooker. My first lot of home-made sauerkraut has come out well (it's great with salami), I've re-discovered green olives (in small quantities) and my new Kefir plant has started producing something decent; once fermented with kefir grains there's not a lot of lactose left in milk, in fact the grains need putting in fresh milk at least every 48 hours as their food- lactose- runs out and otherwise they will die. I use organic full cream milk to make the kefir- once chilled it's refreshing.
Other changes- well, I'd already planted up parts of the allotment to low-carb soft fruit- raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries and strawberries. My rhubarb is doing well and it can be cordialised without sugar (sweetened with stevia if needed) as a refreshing summer drink. I have seeds for various greens to plant this summer, and will be putting in far fewer beans or peas.
The thing that is really noticable a couple of weeks in is how much more energy I have, how much better I feel- I've lost the brain-fog I had developed. it was quite sudden- after about 10 days it was like a switch had been thrown and my brain woken up.
As for keeping it up- well if I'm totally honest with myself, I was feeling so bad that the change in how I feel and energy gain is so stark that so far motivation isn't an issue. Heading into summer will help as fresh greens and low-carb fruit are more available. I'm optimistic I can keep it up and get back to a healthy weight......
GC
