 |
| People tell me now that I look MORE than 20 years younger. On the left is a picture from 1997 and on the right from 2017. |
I have been more or less on a ketogenic type diet for 2
years now. When I started the diet was more popularly called the LCHF diet (low
carb high fat). My daughter calls it the “man-food” diet because I eat a lot of bacon and ribeyes. I struggle at
times with chocolate but I can truly say that this is no longer a diet but a
lifestyle for me that I have very much enjoyed. Since I have started I have noticed a lot of
changes in my body and I wanted to note a few. Of course if you start eating
like this your results may be entirely different, but here are mine:
1. A1C Dropped
When
I started the diet in February of 2016 my A1C was a 5.7. It started falling
almost immediately and was a 5.1 within 6 months. The last time I measured it
was a 4.8. Big improvement.
2. Weight Dropped
I
literally seemed like the weight fell off effortlessly. I lost 64 pounds in 8
months and my weight has been +/- 2 pounds for the last year and a half. I have always struggled with my weight and
this is the longest I have ever kept any weight off in my life.
3. Blood Pressure Dropped
In
February of 2016 I was on blood pressure medicine and my blood pressure still
ran close to 140/85. I now am off of the meds and it is typically around
130/80. Not super, but a real reduction. When I was prescribed blood pressure
medicine originally 7 years ago it was 180/100.
4. Skin Tags Shrunk
The
skin tags under my arms have always kinda freaked me out. Well, some of them
just disappeared but others have shrank considerably.
5. Blood Vessels in my Toes Cleared Up
I
had lots of small blood vessels on my toes that had burst and were staining the
tops of my toes. I had asked my doctor about them and he did not seem concerned. He did say that they would not go away, ever.
But after the first year they cleared up!
6. Feet Quit Swelling
In
the evenings my feet and lower legs used to be swelled up and puffy. About 2
weeks after I started the keto diet the swelling went away and has not come
back.
7. My Skin Cleared Up
I
never had bad acne my I still had some pimples in places. It seemed that I
always had a bump or two on my chest and several “ingrown hairs” on my
legs. Well it is now a very rare event
for me to have any pimple anywhere. I figure the animal fat in my diet would
cause acne but it didn’t.
8. No More Gas
Let’s
just say that my wife quit having dreams that she was in a war zone! I couldn’t believe it but it is actually very
rare now for me to even pass gas at all. Trust me, my entire family noticed.
9. No More Heartburn
I
used to keep TUMS in my pocket, in my car, in my desk, and in my medicine
cabinet. Well there is part of a bottle in the medicine cabinet still, but I
haven’t needed them. Correction – I ate some (ok a lot) of chocolate at
Christmas and immediately needed the TUMS. As soon as I went back to keto, the heartburn
went away again.
10. Blood Lipids Improved
People
ask me, “Well what did keto do to your cholesterol?” and I get to answer “It
actually got much better!” My HDL went
up , my LDL went down, and probably most amazingly my triglycerides stabilized
below 100. For 20 years my triglycerides had been 600 or above. 6 months after
starting keto all of my lipid numbers were in range for the first time in my adult
life!
And
now for the one bad thing:
1. I Became a Choco-holic
I
used to kinda laugh at my wife about her affection for chocolate but I don’t
anymore! I lost my cravings for any other sweet but now I am an avowed choco-holic.
I can sense when there is chocolate within 50 feet of me…..chocolate bars sing
to me from the grocery store shelf……..I have actually eaten chocolate and hid
the evidence from my wife. She just laughs at me because she knows how it is. I
can go a month or two between binges, but then I will eat it every day for a
week. Oh well, everything can’t be perfect……
I
am not a doctor and I do not give medical advice, but I can say that I truly
believe that eating keto for the last 2 years has greatly improved my health. I
don’t ever plan on going back to a high carb lifestyle.
Comments
Post a Comment