A majority of people wish to have a “shredded” body that is toned all over with a six-pack.
When motivated individuals decide it is time for a change they tend to either seek a gym membership or choose a strict diet, like ketogenic, in order to change their body style. The more successful ones choose both and are strict on both sides of the scale.
Ketogenic or “keto” is a diet that helps people to reach their fitness goals by losing weight and getting toned. The keto diet is a proven way to lose weight by avoiding foods high in carbohydrates.
So, sadly, no pasta and bagels, foods that are extremely difficult to stay away from in Jersey. The foods allotted will have very low or little to no carbohydrates, such as meat and vegetables. The diet also encourages the intake of foods high in fat, like nuts and avocados.
I personally went on this diet last summer and I aimed for less than 20 grams of carbs per day. This was an extremely hard goal, some days I could not stay at 20 grams and would intake around 50 grams instead.
Along with the diet, I would also go to the gym religiously at least six times a week. Once one sees progress in the mirror and the formation of the body going in the right direction, it is hard to cheat or stop.
I woke up early and went to the gym before work every weekday and sometimes during the weekend too. After my workout, I would go home and eat two to three scrambled eggs, bacon and sometimes an avocado and a protein shake too.
The eggs supplied the protein, the bacon and avocado supplied the high fats. The avocado only added a few carbs to the meal.
After my first meal, I would then drive to work where I worked construction from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm. For snacks, during the day I would have nuts, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, cheese and maybe some good deli meats.
I would only have about 30 minutes for lunch so I would pack a chicken caesar salad, some berries and often times a handful of nuts. All consisting of low amounts of carbohydrates and included high amounts of fat and protein.
My dinner meals would sometimes change but I would typically have two bacon cheeseburgers with no bun and broccoli or asparagus. Other nights I would change up the meat to a few hot dogs with no bun, chicken, steak, or fish and add other types of low carb vegetables.
That summer was a strenuous one with handling a new diet, early morning gym lifts, and two online summer classes. I had no time for a social life my sole focus was bettering myself. I would wake up, go to the gym, eat, go to work, come home, shower, study, eat dinner, and go to bed just to begin the cycle again.
The keto diet was successful for me but when I started school again and broke out of the cycle it was hard to maintain the definition on my body. I continued to hit the gym in between classes but did not continue this restrictive diet.
The keto diet produces real results but it is not sustainable unless you continue the diet for the rest of your life. This is the problem with these fad diets they are so difficult to maintain.
Once you reach your weight goal or body goal you feel as if you can return to a normal diet but you will soon enough find yourself back where you started.
PHOTO TAKEN by Hunter Goldberg
