My 30 day Ketogenic Diet Challenge – Part 2: Daily Journal, Week 1
This post is my daily journal from the first week of my 30-day Ketogenic Diet Challenge.
Read My 30-day Ketogenic Diet Challenge – Part 1: Getting Started to start at the beginning of this journey.
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Each day, I describe what I ate, what I did for exercise and fasting and also about my mood and energy levels.
Day 1 – Off to a great start
I got up a 6 am, splashed water on my face, did my morning routine and had my 3rd morning of BulletProof coffee with coconut oil.
I fasted until 12:30 pm and had a spicy lemongrass soup from Freshii for lunch. I swapped out the rice noodles and added in some edamame and broccoli.
I had a Vega Protein shake for a 3:30 snack to finish off the work day.
For dinner, I had a vegetable stir fry bowl with olive oil, garlic, peppers, bean sprouts, broccoli edamame, onions and vegetable broth. Added in some Sriracha sauce for some heat and it was a tasty and filling low-carb dinner.
Went for a one hour walk with the family, did a few sprints to keep the heart rate up and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
I snacked on some almonds, cashews and pumpkin seeds around 8 pm and stopped eating after that to make sure I could fast for 16 hours and went to bet around 11 pm.
Day 2 – Take two
Day 1 was a success and I felt great about reaching my goals for the day. I got up a 5:45 am, splashed water on my face, did my morning routine and had my 4th morning of BulletProof coffee with coconut oil.
I have been refining my morning routine lately adding in more journaling about the day before and about the day ahead as a way to reflect and reinforce my goals, what I am grateful for and just my thoughts at the moment. Will keep this up in addition to providing updates on my Keto Diet challenge.
I am really liking the intermittent fasting. (fasting between 8 pm and 12 noon)
I find that I’m not that hungry in the morning and that I don’t struggle as much as I thought I would with not eating.
I’ve observed in the past that when I do eat at say 8 am regardless of what it is, I’m hungry again 2 hours later and then again even more hungry at lunch. I find the more I eat, the more my body craves more food. Intermittent fasting is helping me reduce my caloric intake by almost 1000 calories a day and my energy has actually increased.
For lunch, I ate some steamed veggies and tofu and some mixed nuts. Vega shake around 3:30 and for dinner, I ate another giant bowl of mixed vegetables in a broth and olive oil. It’s actually quite filling and satisfying.
For an end of day snack, I had some mixed nuts around 8:30 and went to bed around 11 pm.
Day 3 – Going strong
I was a bit hungry this morning but stuck to the fast until 11:30 am. Had a Freshii kale and quinoa miso salad with tofu.
No afternoon snack but did have a Vega shake around 4 pm.
Dinner was at a sushi restaurant but ate Gommae, tofu, and edamame.
Overall I definitely feel less lethargic by not eating bread, pasta, and rice. I’m feeling satiated and not overly hungry.
Day 4 – Getting used to this
Woke up a bit later today feeling refreshed and ready to go. Friday’s I take a bit easy so I can hang out with my kids throughout the day. I had my coffee, did my morning routine and I continued with my fast until 11:30.
I had a huge salad for lunch and then has a Freshii Kale salad for dinner and nuts as a snack.
I find it’s getting easier to make the right food choices and I feel much less bloated and lethargic than I do when I’m eating more starch.
Day 5 – Five days in and feeling great
My morning routine is starting to stick and my habits are forming. This keto thing is not as hard as I thought it would be. It’s Saturday so we headed up to the mountains in Squamish for the day.
I still fasted until noon and had a vegan raw pad thai from the Green Moustache for lunch and it was very delicious.
Saturday night I ended up cheating a bit and had a slice of bread but immediately regretted it and got back on track.
Because I’m doing this keto diet and only eating plant based protein, I am finding it challenging to not eat as many beans. Need to work on figuring out more ways of consuming proteins and fats.
Day 6 – Week one, almost done
It’s Sunday and did my fast until noon, made some vegetable soup for lunch and a giant salad for dinner.
Like most nights, we went for a walk after dinner to get some exercise and spend some time with the kids. was a great end to the week and was proud of the progress I made so far.
My biggest struggle is still stopping snacking at night or after my last meal. This will be my focus in the 2nd week of my journey.
Day 7 – Seven in and feeling thin
I got up a 6 am, splashed water on my face, did my morning routine and had my BulletProof coffee with coconut oil.
I fasted until 12:00 pm and had a salad I brought from home for lunch. I had a Vega Protein shake for a 3:30 snack to finish off the work day.
Last night, I had shirataki noodles for the first time with pasta sauce and I really enjoyed it. So much so that I bought two Miracle noodle Kitchen
Summary of the first week of my 30-day Ketogenic Diet Challenge
My first week was great.
I’m very happy with my progress so far. I’ve managed to stay true to my goals and eat as low-carb and high fat as possible.
I’ve also managed to stick to my intermittent fasting all week. I finding that the fasting is working well for me. My energy levels are better in the morning compared to when I would eat breakfast and a mid-morning snack.
As for the low carb diet, I definitely feel less bloated and more energy.
My goal for the next week is to find more meals that I like for dinner. I bought a spiral slicer after I had the vegan Raw Pad Thai on Day 5 and want to start making more foods like Zucchini pasta.