My parents started the keto diet during the summer of 2018. I know, right, a couple of trendsetters here. However, during this time I was a young 17-year-old, cross-country runner, on her way to becoming a big senior in high school. I enjoyed our pizza Fridays, potato wedges with dinner, and of course, bread. So, when those carb-loaded essentials slowly began to vanish from my kitchen, something was up.
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat regimen that, from my parent’s experience, can actually work for weight loss. By reducing the number of carbohydrates you eat and increasing your fat intakes, your body enters ketosis. During this metabolic process, you have fewer carbs in your body to burn for energy, so instead, fat comes in as the replacement–essentially burning through fat and dropping weight fast (if done correctly).
So for my parents, both around 50 years old, healthy adults, just hoping to lose some extra pounds, this new lifestyle was a fairly easy transition for them. All they had to do was replace the bread with cheese, the milk with heavy cream, and the cookies with chocolate fat-bombs. However, for me, a bread lover with a major sweet tooth, I wasn’t too happy with this new change in our diet. And to make matters worse, because I couldn’t give up my paninis and pizza but was still getting fed their keto dinners–you can imagine what a high-carb, high-fat lifestyle would do to you. Yet now as a 19-year-old who no longer runs cross-country and is a little bit more cautious of what I eat, I have somehow found a way for my parent’s wacky eating to fit into my diet.
After being sent home in March of my freshman year of college due to the pandemic, I figured I might as well join my parent’s eating habits. I mean that’s all they were making and I was too lazy to make my own food, so “if you can’t beat them, join them.” And to be honest, the transition was not easy. I was no longer eating sandwiches at lunch, forget about chips and crackers, and pasta didn’t even exist in our cabinet. So, nuts became my best friend. Cashews, almonds, peanuts, and any trail mix I could get my hands on to fulfill my salty snack craving. Soon I discovered cheese: sticks, blocks, slices, those babybel wheels–really any form that could fill me up when I started to get hungry. And of course cauliflower: the well-known gluten substitute that is a staple for keto-goers. Cauliflower rice, mashed cauliflower, cauliflower sandwich thins, cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower mac and cheese, endless possibilities to substitute your favorite carb-filled meal with cauliflower.
So even though my roommates question the strange ingredients I keep in our kitchen and I over examine the carbohydrate count on the nutrition facts, I enjoy eating keto. I found a way to satisfy all my cravings without the carbs, and even find myself with more energy after cutting out lots of processed foods. So if you are looking to switch up your eating, maybe give keto a try and let me know how it goes. Just trade in that bread for some cauliflower, those chips for nuts, and it will be a piece of cake–flourless, sugar-free cake of course! :)
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