What is the keto diet?

The keto diet is a low carbohydrate diet originally designed to help alleviate epilepsy. It puts your body into a state called ketosis where your body stops using glucose for energy and instead switches to using fat for fuel.

How does it work

The diet is modified so that the macro ratios reflect a low carb approach. The numbers vary slightly but I aim for under 20g carbs a day with a moderate amount of protein. My ratios are currently 13% protein 2% carbs and 85% protein.

Why am i doing this

There are various reasons why im doing this i have listed these below

• metabolic switching between fat and carbs
• fat adapted
• burning fat for fuel
• ketosis benefits
• mental health
• lower insulin spikes
• autophagy and real time recovery
• (almost) limitless clean energy so for 7kg fat = 63000 calories which is roughly 21 days of constant fuel
• health benefits

Keto Tips

Some tips ive picked up along he way

1. Double cream – for the bad days believe me its worth it
2. not focusing too much on fat more on delicious healthy low carb meals then looking for healthy fats to add later on, i’ve too many times weighed out lots of fats into the cooking process and the food has turned out disgusting. Instead i prefer to cook a leaner meal then top up any fats using healthier methods such as drizzled olive oil, aged cheese, double cream (my favourite), bullet proof coffee. For example a healthy chicken salad with olive oil, cheese and a double cream dressing or even a glass of double cream with berries for desert. In contrast i have done a boiled saucepan of 100ml of olive oil/coconut oil with some beef and cream and it was the worst tasting thing I’ve ever tasted.
3. Vary your diet substantially instead of buying a bag of carrots buy just 1 and pick maybe just 1 of another 10 or even more low carb colourful vegetables. Always pick he smallest portions when purchasing for example 2 chicken breasts and maybe buy a small pack of white fish or a healthy can of sardines. Its a great way to vary your weekly meal plans and make the diet interesting and easier to stick to (its not as easy as i thought it was going to be)

Some negative experiences

1. The need for beer – mind tricking me into looking for water + glucose – instant energy
2. Heavy sugar cravings – more than carb cravings
3. fatigue – weak all over
4. lots of urine
5. loss of water weight around 2-2.5kg for me
6. some possible loss of muscle mass probably due to inefficient metabolic switching
7. depression down to lack of carbs which is a serotonin/dopamine enhancer
8. a very rough few days of what i think was very low sodium/electrolytes

The positive experiences so far

• ability to fast for longer without cravings
•  eating has become more of a pleasure as time goes by especially by learning to vary my diet as mentioned above
• Forcing me to learn about nutrition and cooking methods to ensure i get well balanced meals
• loosing belly fat
• Skin has become amazing even though its early days my skin feels silky and smooth nothing like before.
• Psoriasis has had some progress but largely down to steroid foam ive used i expect this to take up to 1-2 years to cure my entire skin system as the psoriasis was quite bad – i see it as a window into how healthy my gut is
• some real clarity focus and concentration although this is still early days and my body is still adapting

Adaption timeline

17.11.2025 Day 0 – started tapering

1.12.2025 day 14 stopped tapering entered true keto <20g carbs per day

08.12.2025 Day 21 in the middle of fat adaption – eta another 7-14 days until i begin to see some real results

11.12.2025 Day 23 Was in bad way the last couple of days – seems that due to my ileostomy i cant hold down keto like the average person would due to not taking on enough water through my large intestine. Essentially im loosing more water than the average person which is making the diet dangerous. Science of keto.

12.12.2025 Day 24 onwards ill be abandoning the original keto plan and now turning to a longer taper to give my me and my body longer to adjust this way i can prepare myself for the transition whilst giving my body time to adapt into it. So ill be starting to aim for around 90g per day of carbs and see how i get on.

14.12.2025 Day 27 I actually had a breakthrough i pestered deepseek for maybe the 100th time on my depression and fatigue and it gave me a real understanding. It told me that all my life id been using food specifically carbs and sugar and when i went cold turkey my mind was actually struggling with this because it didnt have its emotional cushion/dopamine fix to look forward to to keep it sedated and keep the feelings at bay. When i understood this i felt so much better i finally understood why i was feeling this way. I got up this morning got back in the gym. Im still on mostly keto but have allowed myself up to 50g carbs for now. Next challenge will be switching to plant based keto i hope this will transition over the next few weeks. Thanks to my brother in law for giving me a nudge ;0 – thanks bhaskar.

20.12.2025 Day 33 gym sessions have perked me up a bit but i was feeling rough. feeling some green shoots but nothing what i was hoping i would feel like. The diet isn’t robust enough to carry me through the days currently chugging cream just to balance out the macros I’m on 300-600ml double cream a day. I’ve gone off oil completely i completely abused it to early.

Conclusion

This is a working progress and i encourage you to come back in a few months and see how ive progressed on it. I hope for the vegans out there to make a move onto a low carb vegan diet one day too.