Keto 2017 vs Keto 2016

Edit: Sorry in advance for the wall of text

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share some of my history with keto to give some insights to beginners or relapse victims and, hopefully, some inspiration as well.

So my keto life began on February 9, 2016. I weighed in at 243 lbs. I was disgusted. Along with that, I was looking back at pictures of myself at Christmas, and my freakin' stomach was looking huge. And the thing is, I don't even carry most of my weight in my gut. But there it was, hanging out like its own entity, enjoying the party.

But anyway, it's the same old story: I hit a weight I was uncomfortable with, and decided to make a change. I stumbled upon keto on a r/loseit post, and as I read into the science behind keto, I knew this was my kind of diet.

I did amazing, and over five months, I dropped 50 lbs. At 193, I was lighter than I'd been since before college. I started maintaining, and settled in at around 195. This continued until the end of the year. But then Thanksgiving hit. And it hit hard. I fell off the wagon like a pro, and in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I put back on half the weight I had lost. And though I knew I was gaining it all back, I refused to go on a scale, because I didn't want to see how badly I was failing. I always said that I would never slip up, and that keto was not only the solution to my weight problems, but also the perfect lifestyle change that I could keep up forever. And I didn't want to see the proof of my failure, so I avoided my scale.

So I basically went on an all-out, month-long binge. After Christmas, my eating did not improve, but instead of binging, I simply ate normal amounts of horrible food. I felt like shit the entire time, but still I didn't change anything. In the back of my mind, I knew that keto was still there for me, and any day I could hop back on and be right back at it. I knew I'd probably lose ten or so pounds in the first couple weeks. And I knew that I could get rid of the extra weight in only a couple months.

But that knowledge is what kept me in the dark. And that's what I want you to take away from this post. Don't think that you can recover easily after falling off the wagon. Especially if it's for an extended period of time. Because after a while on keto, you forget how hard it was in the beginning. You get used to the keto lifestyle, and you think it'll always be this easy, even if you slip up for a while and have to start again.

I guarantee, it is not easy getting back to it.

Now that I've settled into my second and hopefully permanent final round of keto, I can say that it took a lot of dedication to get back into it. Maybe even more than it did the first time. I had worked my way back up to 225, and since March 1st, I have managed to come back down to 215. So not only was it difficult to restart, but the weight is much less willing to come off this time. Which is just another reason to resist the temptations, and stick with keto.

For science, I'd also like to include some differences I've noticed on this round of keto versus my first time.

Last year, I had quite a few symptoms of the keto flu. I had headaches, muscle cramps, and tiredness. However, these symptoms came and went within a few days. This year, I haven't had any of those symptoms, fortunately. This may be because I was keto adapted for a good portion of last year, though I would've thought that returning to non-keto eating for about four months would've reset my body. I don't know, but maybe others have had similar experiences and can weigh in.

Also, the first time around, I didn't have the common bad breath or bad smelling urine issues. This time, I do. Very weird.

I just thought I'd add in these interesting differences for anyone who might be trying to get back on keto but is afraid to go through the flu again. It might not be the same as last time!

So yeah, that's pretty much it.

TL;DR: stay with keto, don't be weak like me and give in to the temptations, and you'll be fine. But, if you have reverted to your old ways and are trying to get back on keto, don't fear the flu, because it might be entirely different this time.