For the last six months, I've been eating a strict ketogenic diet. This means basically no carbohydrates. More specifically, I have been trying to achieve a state of "nutritional ketosis" where my body runs on ketones - a fat-derived source of fuel - instead of glucose. Here are four reasons why I've stuck with it.
Reason 1 - It's enjoyable.
Fewer carbohydrate calories mean I'm able to enjoy fattier cuts of meat like steaks with butter. "Normal" foods taste so much better, and I'm finding the diet surprisingly varied, satisfying, and easy to stick with. I sometimes miss the sweets. But the side-effect of eating almost no processed foods or sugars also means my taste buds have adjusted to liking things like 100% dark chocolate and nuts.
Reason 2 - Stable energy levels.
The idea in keto is that your body taps into fat stores for energy. Even if you are quite lean, these are ample compared to rapidly depletable glycogen stores in the liver (the main source of glucose). Although it can take months for your body to learn to utilize the ketones effectively, I've had much less dramatic fluctuations in energy levels after an adjustment period.
My favorite example of this was a wedding I attended recently. There was almost nothing keto-friendly to eat. All I ate throughout the day was a few small blocks of cheese, and despite this, I felt really good. I wasn't "hangry" or irritable at all, where my pre-keto self would've been miserable. I saw similar benefits after long runs, bike rides, or climbing sessions where I wasn't desperate for food or craved sugar.
Reason 3 -No more brain fog.
I've found myself to have significantly increased mental clarity since starting keto. I don't get food comas or brain fog even after big meals, and this is probably because I'm not on the roller coaster of blood sugar levels around meals.
Reason 4 - It's accountable by nature.
Of all the benefits, this is probably my favorite and the reason I've only had one day off in the entire six months. I measure my ketone levels with a finger-prick test, and because I know that I have to stay within a target ketone range to reap the benefits, it keeps me honest.
The keto diet is one of these big decisions that remove a thousand small ones. It's much easier to simply not break the streak than to have to decide to be healthy every time someone offers you an M&M. It's a powerful design feature of the diet that paradoxically, is liberating in its constraint.