Get to know him!
- 5 ft 11 in height
- Male
- 35 years old
- Keto-ing for 2 months
- Started at 235 lbs
- Lost 26 lbs so far
- Wants to hit 185 lbs
- Prefers a “Meat, Veggies, Fish, Nuts” diet
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Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I’m the father of 2 young boys that has been on parental leave for the past 9 months. I just recently returned to my job as a call center manager. In my younger years I was a gym rat and an athlete throughout high school and continued participating in Muay Thai, basketball and volleyball rec leagues for several years afterwards. As active as I was, I also am a typical gamer during my down time who ran on sugar, Cheetos and Nos.
Habits & Mindset
What motivated you to try keto?
Now that I am a father, I have a lot of less time for the gym and other sports. Anytime spent gaming and snacking was really beginning to catch up to me. I began to notice that my clothes were beginning to become ill fitting and that I was now sitting at 235lbs. Like anyone who has been any type of athlete at some point in their life, I got back to my routine cardio & weights but with no real change in my diet. I saw only minimal losses and my weight just was yoyo-ed. Soon, I stopped going to the gym or running and accepted my fate that I was going to stay this way. That was until my wife began telling me about the results she was having with keto. I was very skeptical at first as I am an eater of all things and hate having to compromise taste for health benefits.
How often do you cheat on keto?
Being a parent on the go always provides me several opportunities to have cheat meals/snacks. I initially took advantage of this, but quickly began to adhere to the diet and meal plan, since the results outweigh the satisfaction of a sugary or starchy treat. I will say that at least twice a week I’ll have a donut or something of that nature with my keto coffee and have a cheat day a once a month.
How do you get (back) into ketosis?
Once I have a cheat day or go off the rails due to circumstances, as long as I have my keto coffee the next morning it’s not hard to get back on track. Often, the coffee alone sustains me throughout the day until I have dinner.
Do you track your weight/ketones/blood glucose/macros or anything else?
I am currently tracking my weight daily, but once my results start to plateau, I’ll begin to track my macros as I will start to add weight training to my routine.
How supportive were your friends & family when you started?
My wife has been the driving force behind our success. I wasn’t really posting anything or telling people about my diet until I compared my photos over the 2 month period that I have been on my keto diet. The response from my friends and family have been nothing but positive and it made realize how much of a change has already taken place over such a short period of time. This has become a great motivator for me to stay the course.
Has your weight loss ever stalled?
To date, I haven’t had a single week where I did not lose weight. Its surreal that in 35 years of working out and being physically active that this is the only time I’ve had results like this. With only a change in my diet and no exercise.
What other benefits have you noticed?
The benefits of this diet have really made an impact on my everyday life. I have had more energy for my kids and my stress levels seem to have diminished at work. I’m not burning the candle at both ends while living off of refined sugars to sustain me through out the day. Most importantly, I’m back to feeling more confident with myself and not being so concerned with my own body image. This has had a direct impact on my relationship with my wife as it’s brought back the spark in our love life since we have more energy at the end of the day for each other.
Did you encounter any obstacles to pursuing keto?
I’ve not had any real obstacles while pursuing keto. At first, it was my own skepticism about limiting what foods I’m able to eat. That was easily overcome because of the support of the community, since everyone is always busy coming up with new and better recipes that are keto approved.
Have you had any side effects to keto?
I have been blessed to not have had many side effects. For a ver short time period I felt muscle fatigue but increasing my caloric intake and the adding in supplements during that time really curbed the feeling of fatigue.
Food & Fun
What’s your typical day of eating look like?
A typical work day for me would go like this. Wake up at 6:45am. Keto coffee with 1 tbsp of each coconut oil, butter, heavy whipping cream, sugar-free flavour shots, and cinnamon at 7:30am. Roasted vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, S&P butter, garlic) with optional cheese and assorted protein at 12:30-1pm. Protien shake (vegan protein powder, unsweetened chocolate almond beverage, black coffee) around 7:30pm. Roasted vegetables or tofu in a Japanese-style curry sauce. We mostly cook all our own meals but have taken advantage of all you can eat buffets that are keto friendly.
What’s your favorite home-cooked keto meal?
Two of my favorite meals are 1) Not your cave man chili and 2) Almond flour Pancakes.
Chili:
2 lbs. Stew Meat
1 Medium Onion
1 Medium Green Pepper
1 Cup Beef Broth
1⁄3 Cup Tomato Paste
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp + 1 tsp. Chili Powder
1 1⁄2 tsp. Cumin
2 tsp Red Boat Fish Sauce
2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
Optional: If you like a more watery chili, add 1 Cup Coffee.
Almond Flour Pancakes:
2 cups almond flour
4 eggs
1⁄2 cup water (for puffier pancakes you can use sparkling water)
1⁄4 cup oil
1 teaspoons baking soda use baking powder if you prefer
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3-4 packets stevia
What’s your favorite restaurant meal?
Right now I am loving this all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ joint IGI. For a quick fix, getting a lettuce wrapped double teen burger from A&W is the business.
What’s your biggest non-keto temptation?
My biggest non-keto temptation would be sour cream & onion chips and Dim Sum…..I really miss going for Dim Sum.
Anything else you’d like your readers to know?
My biggest advice would be to test out recipes and listen to the community. Everyone has a different viewpoint and background, which opens a huge door to the keto culinary world. Stay the course. I was a huge skeptic but now I can’t do anything but promote keto.
