Hello my dearest friends!! Hope that this blog finds you well as we journey through January together !

For day 7 of my keto challenge, we have yet another strange eating schedule. This is because I worked from 12-8 pm on this day, causing me to miss a meal. I also noticed that I did not have much of an appetite on day 7, so my calorie count/overall food intake is quite low for this day as well. I will note however, that I was in no way intentionally calorie restricting, I simply was not very hungry, and was busy at work.

WHAT I ATE- DAY 7

BREAKFAST:

For breakfast this day ,my amazing fiance concocted a new variation of our morning green power shake . This version had all of the regular ingredients, as well as an additional cucumber. This made for a nice compliment to the flavor and texture, and kickstarted my nutrition for the day.

This day I did not take any additional supplements, as we do not take every supplement daily. For information on some of the supplements I take , check out my previous blogs featuring Lypo-Spheric Glutathione, MCT Oil & Trace Minerals, and Lypo-Spheric R-ALA.

LUNCH/DINNER:
This day I took my shift meal around 3:30 pm. I had the cooks prepare camerones apretalados (bacon wrapped shrimp with melted cheese)for me. This is one of my favorite items we serve at the restaurant, and I am so pleased that it technically fits into keto, albeit a bit high in protein. I did ask the chefs to prepare me sauteed mushrooms and onions in place of rice and beans, but they threw in a ton of tomatoes(not keto); I was not a fan of the overall flavor, so I did not eat those. I highly recommend checking your local mexican restaurant to see if they offer this dish, because it is DIVINE!!

When I got off work, I was very tired, and went to bed early without eating any more. I also did not drink any more water this day, so my water intake is pretty low, at only 64 ounces. This is an issue when I am working long shifts, as I tend to be too busy, or forget to drink enough water. I did have some lime juice in my water in the morning before work, to help me drink as much as possible before I left.

SUMMARY:
For day 7 , you can see that my fat/protein/carb ratios are a little bit off from meeting a standard ketogenic diet. Calories from fat account for only 57% on this day, which is quite a low number for this style of diet. Protein is coming in second at 28%, with carbs at a higher 16% of total calories. Caloric intake for this day comes in at only 946, which is undeniably low, but considering I missed a meal, I was not shocked by this number.

What I did find surprising was that despite being low in overall calories, Cronometer reflects that I met 81% of nutrition targets on this day. I have the morning green power shake to thank for that , as it is a great source of nutrition. However, it is worth noting that most values are not fully met, including fiber, iron, and calcium. These seem to be consistently low, so I will need to take special care to monitor these levels over time, and adjust our diet as needed.

On day 7 , I was low in both calories and water intake, as already mentioned. Total sugars for this day come in at a beautifully low 7g, with total carbs at a tidy 43g. Net carbs for this day would be 31g, as carbs from fiber do not count towards net carbs. Again on this day we are low in omega lipids, though it does not seem to be as much of a shortage as reflected on Day 6, even though I consumed much less food on day 7 . The bacon wrapped shrimp assisted with these numbers, so I will keep them in mind in the future when I notice shortages in omega lipids.

Vitamin levels for this day are not ideal. This chart gives a good reflection of why it is important for me to take my vitamin D supplement. Other categories are all over 50%, but could certainly use some work as well. With less total calories and no supplements for day 7, I was not at all surprised to find areas in vitamin nutrition that were lacking.

Mineral levels for this day also come in a little low, with numbers below 50% in iron and potassium. We do supplement our potassium with Nu-Salt at home, but I did not have any salted food at the house this day. Iron has been consistantly low, and is an area that I have been considering supplementing. The diet will need to be adjusted over time for optimal nutrition, as I learn and grow more through this experience.

Protein nutrition statistics for day 7 look excellent, despite this day being low in caloric value. I was able to meet or exceed every protein nutrition target, by simply eating the bacon wrapped shrimp. For me this really puts into perspective how litlte meat it really takes to meet cronometers ideal protein requirements. I do need to be careful not to eat too much protein, as I have read that trying to replace carbs with protein is a common mistake in this diet.

CONCLUSION:
After a week on the keto diet, I can already feel massive shifts in my body. From a clearer mind, to a longer attention span, more energy, better balanced emotions, smoother skin, and regulated hunger, the benefits of this diet seem endless. I have reduced my sugar intake drastically, transforming from a hyped up sugar-addict into a professional sugar-avoider.

While there were some rough days in the beginning, I did not experience many complications, and feel that I had a pretty smooth transition. I have had to adapt to the weird sweet taste in my mouth, but over time I am getting used to that. I do love how clean my mouth and teeth feel now that I am not constantly snacking on and drinking sugary items!

I found that by day 5-6 most of my sugar and alcohol cravings had subsided, leaving me with a steady, reliable stream of energy.No sugar means no sugar crash!!No alcohol means no hangovers!! My first week on the ketogenic diet was incredibly productive, and I felt inspired and very motivated to work on my goals! I hope the remaining 3 weeks on this diet prove to be just as smooth and efficient, with many more benefits!

There are a few downsides that I have found with our specific keto diet plan. One is that to meet optimal nutrition, the diet requires you to store a lot of produce; because produce does not keep fresh very long, this means many trips to the store. Even at the store, you may face issues with finding the foods that you need, or with them being ripe. This requires you to be very adaptable with your food choices, and necessitates a certain level of structure and meal planning.

Another potential downside of this diet is that the appetite suppression and normalization is very effective. Almost too effective. By day 7, I noticed that I was not experiencing hunger in the same way that I have in the past. Instead of a ravenous need for food, I discovered that I had very little interest in food at all. I was not craving food I could not have anymore , but I found that I was not craving food at all. This was a strange shift. Were I trying to lose weight I would not bat an eye at this observation, but I do want to make an extra effort to maintain my caloric intake at a healthy level .

I am very excited to begin week 2 on my keto journey! If you made it to the end of the article, leave a comment! Feel free to ask me any questions and I will respond to you as soon as possible :) Thank you so much for showing an interest in my blog and the content I create here for the Steemit platform! I appreciate all of your love and support <3

If you have any questions or comments, please drop them down below, and I will do my best to respond to you! Follow me here on Steemit to watch my full ketogenic transformation firsthand :) I would love to be your friend !!

Brightest Blessings!!
SO MUCH LOVE!!
Evening Star