Good looks: The Keto Vitamin – Week 3

Starting week 3 of the Keto Lifestyle doesn’t feel a whole lot different now from week 2. I actually get up each day and wonder what changes I might see that day. It’s fairly rewarding no matter how small they are. Without a doubt, I personally feel this has been the easiest diet I have ever done. I’m not saying it would be for everyone. Some people just can’t cut down the carbs, would find the whole fat thing too much or don’t want to lose that sugared treat you can have on other plans. But in my opinion I feel this is one of those lifestyle changes you can make and stick too. Plus you see the rewards! Dare I say I’m actually enjoying it? Enjoying the food choices (They are NEVER boring) and the feeling of being healthier too.

So What’s new?

Well starting week 3 I still have a stinking cold. This started half way through week 2 and I won’t say it wasn’t challenging. I went without a lot of medications to make me feel better because of carbs! A Lemsip max strength drink is 5g carbs did you know? That’s 1/4 of my daily carbs gone! And throat lozenges LMAO! Soothers were about 5g carbs a sweet or something stupid! I too paracetamol/Sudafed and just tried to get on with it. But it was hard.

So what’s changed in Week 3 on Keto?

Cold aside I think things are still changing for both Mark and myself. I keep looking at my face and noticing my chin is more ‘cut’. I have had that dreading ‘under chin hang’/double chin almost a while now. But started to notice my chins getting that pointedness again. Random I know but I’ve stopped contouring my jaw line so I can see it more.

I’ve included a picture, it’ll be good to look back on and see more changes as this is still over my first goal of being under the 100kg. Excuse my red sore nose I still have the cold here. And especially ignore my yellow ‘Jeez girl you hair needs sorting’ hair and roots. I’m really hoping this week I do drop under the 100kg and reach my first goal just so I can sort it out!

Mark has noticed his stomachs flatter than before. He’s still having to adjust his belt on his jeans frequently. We dug up some of his older jeans, combats and shorts that he hasn’t been able to get into for a long time. Almost all of them are now wearable, but some are a little tight. A big accomplishment I fell though, showing just how well he is doing.

Mark has also noticed he doesn’t get out of breath as much. Which is a huge thing! Also he isn’t as achy in his joints and his moods improved. He’s also sleeping better and has a more defined jaw line. For once in his life he isn’t scared, nor dreads the scales. In fact I’d go as far as to say he looks forward to it. The cravings have gone too, which as I said in Week 2’s post for Mark the whole lack of sugar was really hard.

So how’s those side effects going?

Mark has constipation, not terrible but he isn’t going as often. Other than that he’s not had any side effects really. Friday (Coming to the end of this week) Mark had what I could only describe as keto flu for a day. This was down to dehydration though. For the whole of Saturday and Sunday I was the hydration police and made sure he was drinking more. The effects soon diminished. So it’s safe to say he hadn’t been drinking enough and has learnt that lesson the hard way.

My side effects…. Well, I went from going frequently on the toilet to nothing. In fact it took me 4 days to actually go. I wasn’t bloated though, nor had cramps. It really was the strangest thing! I’m still having issues sleeping. I just don’t stay asleep and wake at the oddest of times (Usually between 2-4am) where my body thinks its time to get up. This means I am tired quite often. Although I also have an ‘energy’ where I want to do so much in the day. So it’s a bit of a losing battle.

Both of us are still Gold members of the ‘Peeing frequently’ club. Guess that’s not going to change anytime soon.

What you been eating this week?

We actually eat a lot of the same meals, but it never seems to get boring. Our current favourite which also seems to get a happy full tum are…

Keto Chicken Cauliflower Alfredo

Keto Cheeseburger

I’m beginning to stomach avocados a bit more now. I always have to eat them with something. So like with the Keto Cheeseburger I’ll kind of eat them with the burger. Or in a salad, I’ll eat it with an egg. Its not the taste as I don’t feel they really taste of anything, more the texture I dislike.

I think the strangest thing is we both seem to have ‘Eyes bigger than our stomachs’ syndrome. Often I’ll make something and think, ‘I’ll be hungry after eating that‘ or, ‘That’s never going to fill me up.‘ We couldn’t possibly eat the amount we used to now. I used to think nothing of cooking up 3, maybe 4 chicken breast fillets for us. Or even 500g Steak Mince. Yet those portions would last at least 2 meals now each! It shows how much we were over eating before or just indulging. We didn’t need that amount of food at all.

Are you trying anything new?

Actually Tom on Instagram mentioned Intermittent Fasting. This is something I’d read up on before and kind of already did unintentionally. The only thing was my first morning coffee was always with Almond Milk. Tom had mentioned that it could really boost the weight loss and help. So after Mark did a little reading we decided to try the 16-8 fast. So we now only consume our calories between 12pm and 8pm each day. Outside of those hours (in the other 16 hours of the day) we only have non calorie drinks. So, herbal tea or black coffee. And of course water (Still or sparkling). We have only started this today (On day 6 of our week 3) so next week will tell if its helps or not.

So get to it, how much have you lost?

Mark’s definitely got the whole weight loss thing down. I know I say this a lot, but I’m so proud of him. At the end of week 3 he has lost 5.7lbs. So in these 3 weeks he has done a total of 25lbs! He is so happy and has every right to be. Sticking to this diet at first wasn’t easy for him (He never cheated once and ate only what I told him he could). But he can see its clearly paying off now!

My weeks loss isn’t as great. I mentioned earlier it was the time of the month and she strolled in smack bang in the middle of this week and hasn’t left yet. So, I got the period bloat which I always get. Still, As always I’m not letting this discourage me! My total loss for this week is 1.3kg or just short of 3lb. Which brings my totals to 5.8kgs or 12.8lbs.

Onwards and upwards, let’s see what week 4 holds! I’ll be back again next Friday when I post these weekly posts to let you know how we are both doing. Whether good or bad!

-Mel x