Post-keto reflections

I stopped the keto diet after 21 days. I could have gone longer, honestly, but one evening I just... did...not...feel like doing it anymore. It was a strange feeling; if you look at my first two weeks keto diary, I was genuinely loving it! I could say I was tired of the restrictions, but we had a lot of fun experimenting with carb-substitutes. I felt healthy and energetic, but preparing (and even thinking of what to prepare) was a bit of work. Anyways, at least I got one thing I really wanted to gain out of the experience - a love for salad. The night I ended the diet, I had a few pieces of mini-stroopwafels to go with my tea, and that was it.

How did I feel over the next few days?

1. The very next morning, and every morning after that, I woke up with a grumbling stomach. I was hungry! During keto, that never happened; I'd be able to not eat anything at all until after 1pm. I guess that's the truth about sugar/carbs - they keep you full only for a short period of time.

2. I felt a little bad; I felt like I failed especially because I said I'd go for a month, and gave up one week before the end. Nuri kept reminding me that keto is not meant for everyone. I cheered myself up by reminding myself that I didn't give it up because I couldn't resist carbs. In fact, I thought that the carbs I'd miss the most would be pasta and potatoes, but it turned out to be bread! One of the first things I had after the keto was a plain baguette! I didn't attack the chocolates (oh because I've learnt to appreciate 80%+ dark chocolate!).  So it wasn't that something tempted me out of it. 


When it comes to food, I'm not addicted to anything. There's only a certain amount of sweets I can have per day before my head hurts, and as much as I love pasta I cannot eat it everyday.  Could I say keto made me feel like I had to be addicted to healthy, and I just didn't like that feeling of being addicted to something? Perhaps a little part of me just didn't like the box. I've never tried being a vegetarian or vegan, and I've never tried to remove something completely out of my diet before, so this was very new. Although I got used to it, I guess knowing that I can eat healthy made me feel that it was okay to go back to normal, trusting that I would continue to make healthy choices every now and then.

3. Nuri is still on his keto diet. Like I mentioned in the first week's diary - he has done this many times, so it's very easy for him. It doesn't mean we now eat completely separate meals. I've learned to love salad, so I'm still content joining him in eating only salad on days he opts for that.  Most times we have the same main dish (eg. once we both had baked salmon, another day we had pork stew), and I ate it with jasmine rice, while he made himself his cauliflower rice! It worked!

I remember many months ago when Nuri was on keto, I used to be very stubborn about it. For example one time we went out for a barbecue and I made a really delicious potato salad for the potluck. I insisted that he tried it, even just a spoon, but he refused and remained streadfast, and I might have gotten a little upset! Now that I've tried and understood how the diet works, I've learnt that you can't just have a small spoon or sugar/carbs in the middle of the diet because it will affect the ketosis. So these days I no longer insist; I understand his diet a lot better now! Going on keto is a commitment, and I've gained a lot of respect for it now and Nuri's healthy choices of eating.

4. Just because I'm off keto, it doesn't mean I only opt for carbs. While on keto, I learnt a great deal about nutrients.  Checking the nutritional facts on food packages is indeed something new that I've learnt, and I'm very grateful for that.