Welcome to day 3 of The Keto Cut - a series that will follow my daily routines as I cut for the summer on a ketogenic diet. These posts may not be for all of you as they are intensely focused on fitness and nutrition. Health is one of the most important parts of my life and I take it very seriously and I figured I would share my experiences and daily "logs" with all of you who may also be interested in this topic.
4 Key Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet:
Hey Everyone! A lot of questions have been pouring in about the benefits of a ketogenic diet and why exactly I decide to eat this way. There's a lot of reasons for eating no-carb and they can vary from person to person. The 4 benefits I'm going to talk about here are benefits that I've directly felt for myself and I've seen that many other people also find the same benefits online.
- Weight Loss
- Mental Clarity
- Appetite Suppression
- Skincare
(1) Weight Loss - This is an obvious benefit of eating no-carb. By eating ketogenic, many people can see rapid weight loss for a variety of reasons. Carbs are an easy way to indulge in a ton of calories in a relatively short period of time. Just think of how many calories you can eat worth of candy and you can see how the ketogenic diet can help you cut back on many unnecessary eating habits that cause you to gain weight. I've also found that I have better workouts when I'm deep in ketosis - the best explanation I've found for this is that my body is able to utilize the fat stores on my body more efficiently.
Being in ketosis means that your body breaks down both dietary fat and stored fat on your body and utilizes it for energy. It turns out that your fat stores hold significantly more energy on your body than your glycogen stores in your muscles. This means that a no-carb athlete who's well-adapted to ketosis can have a far larger "energy bank" than a "carbed-up" athlete.
Just imagine your energy stores as being like a battery - your fat stores may have a battery capacity of "200" while your glycogen stores may only have a capacity of "20".
(2) Mental Clarity - Ketones are one of the most efficient sources of fuel for your body and your brain. When you're eating no carb, you also have less spikes and irregularity in your blood sugar levels which can lead to a sustained level of focus throughout the day. Have you ever notice that you feel really tired after eating a huge meal that's loaded with carbs? Do you feel like you need a nap after eating like that? This feeling is caused by a spike in blood sugar that is normal in a carb-loaded meal, but abnormal in one that is carb-restricted.
(3) Appetite Suppression - This is also likely due to the significant energy that's available in our fat stores. By using this energy to run our daily lives, we are able to have less cravings to eat more and more food.
(4) Skincare - I have a lot of friends that have skin issues and bad acne. I also suffered from some of these isssues until I went on a ketogenic diet for the first time. I noticed that eating no-carb signficantly increases the clarity of my skin and makes it look much better even within the first few days of starting the diet. This time around is no different and after just 3 days I already see a significant improvement in my skin, people have already commented and said my face looks really pristine :)
Day 3 Log:
Weigh-In:
| Start Weight | Goal Weight | Weight Lost |
|---|---|---|
| 198 | 173 | 2.6 |
| Today's Weight | Fat Mass (%) | Body Mass BMI |
|---|---|---|
| 195.3 | 25.2 | 27.2 |
Workout:
Push Day (chest, tricep, shoulders):
Flat Bench Press:
185x5 - 4 sets
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
70’s x 8 - 4 sets
(Superset 1) Ez Bar Anterior Delt Raises:
60lb bar x 8 - 4 sets
(Superset 1) Dumbbell Lateral Raise:
22.5’s x 12-15 - 4 sets
(Superset 2) Tricep Pushdowns (Cable + Rope):
35 x 12-15 - 4 sets
(Superset 2) Overhead Tricep Press (Cable + Rope):
20 x 12-15 - 4 sets
Decline Chest Press:
180lbs x 8 - 4 sets
Cable Chest Fly Machine:
70lbs x 15 - 4 sets
What I Ate Today:
| Meal | Food |
|---|---|
| 0 | Coffee with 2 TBSP MCT Oil |
| 1 | 4 Eggs, 2 Slices of Cheddar Cheese, 4 oz deli turkey |
| 2 | 8 Oz Chicken, bamboo shoots and broccoli cooked in 2 TBSP Coconut Oil |
| 3 | 8 Oz Ground Beef, Mixed Vegetables cooked in 1 TBSP Coconut Oil |
| 4 | 3 Servings of Mixed Nuts, 1 Avocado, 2 TBSP MCT Oil |
Here's the Question of The Day, don't forget to post your answers in the comments!
QOTD: Do these benefits sound like they can make a great impact on your life? Have you ever experienced these benefits on a ketogenic diet, if you've done one before?
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave your thoughts below and I look forward to seeing you in the comments!
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