Back on the wagon

So, one week since restarting the ketogenic diet and I've stuck to the plan. The first weigh-in was yesterday  morning. It's been a good week, I haven't been hungry, I've avoided snacking between meals and I've eaten very tasty, filling food. I even avoided tucking into the chocolates and biscuits and sweets in the staff room! And without throwing a tantrum! In fact, abstinence wasn't that difficult, this keto thing keeps hunger pangs at bay fairly effectively. There was a lot of fat though; butter, ghee, coconut oil, lard, full fat yogurt and olive oil. And cheese. Oh, and double cream. And mayonnaise ( home made!) And there's the fat in meat and eggs to consider on top of all that. Every morning I've had scrambled eggs in butter, apart from the weekend when I had eggs, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms fried in lard. Lunch was the previous night's leftovers and dinner was something from the plan, Italian meatballs, Asian stir-fry, rib-eye steak, chicken curry, tuna salad, chicken cob salad and salmon steaks. All very, very tasty!

Keto Veggie Moussaka. Yum!

The effects? Well, exercise became a bit tougher. I rode thirty miles on Friday and felt like I was cycling through wet cement that was hardening as I pedalled. I had no energy at all. Nothing in the legs. On the first climb I was gasping like a fish on the beach, I just couldn't make the bike go uphill as it should. I was bonking, the cyclists equivalent of hitting the wall. On Monday, I'd completed a similar ride with relative ease, and I was beginning to think that there may be something wrong with me. To be honest, there are many things wrong with me, too many to list here, but my legs generally perform as they should. However, this reduction in physical performance may well be down to the body adapting to burning fats as fuel rather than carbohydrates. According to Dietdoctor it can take weeks for the body to adapt. Hopefully the next long ride will be easier. There have been no other obvious side effects, apart perhaps from those associated with a significant increase in the consumption of cabbage, sprouts and broccoli.
So, what about the weigh in? By the start of the ride, which is now nineteen weeks away, I need to shed 50lbs in body weight. I am one week in and hopefully I'll have shed 2.5lbs over the last seven days to be on track. If I don't shed this weight, then my luggage and I combined will be too heavy for the bike, according to the manufacturers' specifications. So, am I on track? After all that fat, having not snacked between meals and having cut down on the carb consumption, I lost 10lbs! Got to be pleased with that!
I reckon I deserve that new bike now. (The boss says no!)