My Keto Diet Disaster: 2 kg Lost, But at What Cost?

If you're reading this review, chances are you're hoping to lose weight, just like I was. I'm about to share my not-so-great experience with the keto diet and why I'd advise you to think twice before jumping on the bandwagon.

A bit about me.

I've never been overweight. I'm 5'6" tall, and until I was 27, I could eat whatever I wanted and still weigh a comfortable 120-125 pounds. I felt great in my own skin, rocking dresses, shorts, swimsuits, and never feeling self-conscious.

2015. Weighing in at 125 pounds

2015. Weighing in at 125 poundsFast forward to my 27th year, when my life took a drastic turn – I got pregnant. The awful morning sickness I experienced lost me 5 pounds in a month, and by the end of my first trimester, I was down to 110 pounds. That was the last time I felt good about myself. And then things took a turn for the worse...

As I entered my second trimester, morning sickness finally subsided, but a fierce appetite for sweets took its place. Of course, I knew I needed to be mindful of my diet, but it's easy to gain a few kilos, and it's a whole different story when it comes to losing them. My family history isn't exactly helping, with my mom and grandmothers all carrying a bit more weight than average, but I still managed to put on some extra pounds. I arrived at the hospital weighing 72 kg, which is a whopping 22 kg more than my pre-pregnancy weight. A few months after giving birth, my weight stabilized at 66 kg, and that's when things got really tough... I tried to get back to my usual 55-57 kg, but it just wasn't happening.

2024 year. Weight 66 kg

2024 year. Weight 66 kgI've been eating normally, with a bit of extra sugar, and my weight just keeps going up. I try to cut back, but it's like I'm stuck in a rut. Honestly, I'm mentally drained from all these ups and downs. I've always felt confident and comfortable in my own skin, but these extra 66 kg are making it hard for me to feel that way. I rarely look in the mirror, and when I do, I call my belly a 'life preserver' – it's not exactly a pleasant sight.

That's why I've been trying to get back in shape, and my latest attempt is a keto diet.

My starting weight is 65.950 kg.

Day 1: Starting weight 65,950 kg.Keto Diet

I'm no stranger to keto eating. I won't go into too much detail, but the main principle of Keto is all about consuming proteins and fats, with carbs making up only 5-10% of your daily intake. When your body runs out of carbs, it starts burning fat, and that's when the magic happens – you lose weight. It seems like every other coach and blogger out there is offering their own keto challenge. They create meal plans, set up chat groups, and try to find like-minded people, all in the name of weight loss. I wasn't interested in buying a challenge, but my friend convinced me to join her on the keto journey.

I prepped for two weeks, but it wasn't until I saw the results after 10 days on keto that I was sold. The swelling on my face went down, and my double chin disappeared – all within 10 days! I was hooked.

I followed the meal plan from my friend's challenge, but I didn't enjoy it. The recipes were too complicated, and I had to spend all day cooking and buying expensive ingredients. I ended up making my own keto recipes from the internet, which I'd then share with my friend for feedback. I was new to keto, and she was doing it for the second time, so we worked together to get it right.

Diet

I had to cut out carbs and sweets from my diet for a week before fully committing to keto. The hardest part was resisting my usual dinner after 8 pm. I'd come home from work late, exhausted, and my appetite would kick in just when I needed to stop eating.

Prepping meals wasn't the problem – I tried to cook and portion out food for the next day. But the constant worry about whether I'd have enough meat to last the week was a real stress.

Breakfasts were usually eggs, scrambled or fried with a bit of bacon or butter, served with cucumber, a fresh salad, and a splash of 20-33% cream in my coffee. That's basically what my breakfast looked like.

Breakfast. Scrambled eggs, cucumber, fried pork, cheddar cheese, coffee with 20% cream

Breakfast. Scrambled eggs with bacon and cucumber.Breakfast. Hard-boiled eggs, cucumber salad with cabbage, cherry tomato, and olive-avocado dressing, and hard cheese.Breakfast. Hard-boiled eggs, hard cheese, and iceberg lettuce salad with cucumber, dressed with olive-avocado oil.Lunch and dinner were pretty similar. It was usually pan-seared meat, pan-seared fish, or baked mackerel. The sides were sautéed zucchini, eggplant, or a salad of fresh veggies. With my packed schedule, I cooked for a few days at a time.

Lunch/Dinner Veggie saladLunch/Dinner Baked chicken in the oven with mayonnaiseIt looked pretty complete, to be honest.

Dinner. Pan-seared chicken, braised eggplants, and an olive-avocado salad.There were times when I just didn't have the energy or time to cook, so my go-to food was 9% cottage cheese, 20% sour cream, and shaved truffle.

9% cottage cheese, 20% sour cream, and shaved truffleBy the way, for anyone on a diet who can't resist sweets, these little treats are a lifesaver. I only found them at Magnit, their private brand. They're almost sugar-free, just fats, making them perfect for a keto diet.

Sugar-free truffleI measured my ketone levels in my urine every day using Ketonix-1 strips, comparing the results to the scale on the packaging. By the second day's lunchtime, I was in ketosis – my strip was a deep red color.

Measuring ketones in urine using Ketonix-1 stripsThese strips helped me keep my diet in check, ensuring I stayed in ketosis. I wasn't overindulging, but it was nice to have that extra peace of mind.

Measuring ketones in urine, using Ketogluco-1 strips

Measuring ketones in urine, using Ketogluco-1 stripsOkay, now let's talk about the real deal – my experience and why I ended up leaving the keto diet so quickly, despite seeing some results. I'll break it down day by day, like a personal diary.

Day 1

Today was my first day on the keto diet. I had a hearty breakfast, and by lunchtime, I wasn't hungry at all. I felt great, energetic, and nothing hurt. I was feeling pretty normal.

Day 2

It seemed like my body was adjusting to the new diet, but by lunchtime, I was hit with some nasty diarrhea. My stomach was bloated, and I didn't feel like eating at all. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, which actually gave me some energy, but getting to the bathroom was a challenge. I was drinking all sorts of meds to help with the diarrhea, which only worked a bit. It wasn't until the evening that my digestive system calmed down. With this kind of stomach, I was hesitant to eat, and my appetite wasn't great either. To make matters worse, I was extremely thirsty and couldn't keep up with drinking water. I ended up drinking around 2.5 liters of water throughout the day. While it's normal to drink a lot of water on a keto diet, it was still a bit of a struggle.

Day 3

Another keto day that was just not my friend. After the brutal diarrhea, something weird started happening. I got this awful breath, I was embarrassed to talk to anyone, even myself, and it just felt really uncomfortable. My body was constantly craving water, and after that, I couldn't run to the bathroom fast enough. It was like my bladder was working like a conveyor belt, constantly flushing out water...By evening, I was over it and just didn't want to deal with anything. Instead of feeling energized, I was exhausted, weak, and irritable, and all I wanted to do was curl up and take a nap, and finally leave the toilet alone.

Day 4

This was the first day I was seriously worried about my health. Waking up in the morning, my head was spinning. I had no appetite, and I only ate a small breakfast out of obligation, which was enough to feel satisfied. After a short walk, a headache kicked in, and my state was just awful – I didn't know how to get myself together and work a full day on my feet in that condition.

I have vasovagal dystonia, and my blood pressure is always low, often 90/60, 100/70 is the max. But because my body lost so much fluid, my blood pressure dropped even further, to 85/50. No matter how hard I tried to boost it with coffee, painkillers, or coffee, nothing worked. I was constantly exhausted, and it felt like I was being shaken from side to side, moving on autopilot...I really wanted to give up on this whole thing, but after weighing myself, I saw that the weight was coming off, and my ketone levels were showing a dark red strip, so I felt bad about quitting...

Day 4: Measuring ketones in urine with Ketogluco-1 strips

Day 4: Lost 1.1 kgI have to admit, a friend kept telling me it's normal to feel this way at the beginning, that it's just a keto flu thing. Okay, I thought, I'll keep going.

Day 5

Ugh, this feeling was back - headaches, dizziness, low blood pressure. And to make things worse, I started experiencing constipation...I was drinking liters of water, but I couldn't go to the bathroom like I used to. I just wanted to sit or lie down, I didn't have the energy to walk. My sleep improved, but waking up in the morning was a struggle. Where was that energy and motivation everyone was talking about? At night, I took my kid to their activities, and I just sat there staring at nothing, feeling like the carpet was moving in waves...I was shocked, was I hallucinating?...But, I kept going.

Day 6-7

Not much to say, it was all the same...I didn't even think about food, but my condition wasn't improving. I kept telling myself it was just a keto flu and that it would pass soon, and I'd feel great. My legs started cramping, and I got muscle spasms, despite taking magnesium and B6 from day one.

Day 8

This was the scariest day. I woke up feeling just as terrible as I had the day before, but by evening, I started to get a little relief. I was gasping for air and had no idea what was happening. My head was spinning and I felt like I was suffocating. I struggled to make it through the workday, desperate to get outside, but nothing changed. I was still struggling to catch my breath. Seeing me like that, my husband was terrified, and everyone around me was too. Luckily, there was a pharmacy still open at 10 pm, and we rushed to buy some Salbutamol. Even though the maximum dose is two puffs, I ended up taking four, and it took me about 30 minutes to finally feel like I could breathe. In that state, I reevaluated my life and realized I'd had enough of the keto diet. I was 64.00 kg that morning.

But I'm not going to torture myself anymore. This was a tough experience, and I wouldn't recommend experimenting with your body like that to anyone. This diet isn't for everyone, especially those with liver, pancreas, or gallbladder issues – eating that much fat is strictly forbidden.

I lost 2 kg, and the difference is noticeable in terms of volume.

My 8-day keto diet results

My 8-Day Keto Diet ResultsAfter 8 days on keto, I switched back to my regular diet on day 9.

Day 9: Ketone levels in my urine using Ketostix-1I stopped keto due to health concerns. I don't want to gain back the 2 kg I lost, so I'm still avoiding carbs, sugar, and bread. When I started eating rice, quinoa, and whole grains again, my headaches and dizziness subsided, and my blood pressure returned to normal. I'm convinced that keto isn't for me. However, my shortness of breath persists, and that's worrying me. I'm carrying an inhaler with me and plan to see a doctor soon. I've never experienced anything like this before. I lost 2 kg, but I've gained a mysterious health issue. I'd advise everyone to approach diets and nutrition with caution - the consequences can be serious.