The keto diet has been gaining momentum for years now, with story after story of success. We challenged our family members to try it and see if it worked for everyone. So we get a keto review for men!
This is Our Brother’s Keto Story:
First time trying keto:
Beginning Weight: 190 LBS.
Ending Weight (after 3 months) 165 LBS.
3 years ago I did keto and LOVED IT!
I am 5.9” and my healthy weight with muscle is around 155-165 LBS.
I got married, and I maintained a healthy weight until we got pregnant with our first kid, then everything caught up to me.
By that time, I was weighing in at around 190 LBS. Most of that weight gain was in my stomach.
That’s when I decided to try Keto.
I dropped down to 165 LBS in about 3 months of doing Keto. Because I play recreational sports (Ultimate Frisbee and Basketball) I felt that it was hard doing low carb, especially on game days. So I stopped.
Second Time Trying Keto
Starting weight: 183 LBS
Ending Weight: 168.3 LBS ( 5 weeks and counting. I have 2 more weeks. My target is between 160-165 LBS)
I was always athletic in high school and college. I was very fast and physically fit.
Going to the gym and playing sports almost daily were just part of my normal life.
I made sure to have jobs that were very physically challenging or labor intensive… Now, with that, came the eating.
I ate whatever, whenever, however much I wanted… and I was always still hungry. Food was fuel, and I loved my fuel. Fast forward to being a husband and father.
I took on a much better paying job, a sales job, still going to the gym daily, only playing sports once a week, and still eating like I did in high school and college. That’s what did me in.
Especially as I got into my late 20’s.
Even after doing Keto the first time, I went right back to eating how I used to when I was younger, and yep, the weight came back over the course of about 2 years.
Now that I am almost 30, I have realized that for me to maintain this type of health, I need to be better. I can’t just eat how I used to.
I need to take care of my body so that I can continue doing the things I love as I get older. And I don’t have the time to do 2 hour Gym sessions. I don’t have the time to play sports every day. I don’t have the money to eat out every meal!
And I am not doing enough physical exertion to justify horrible eating habits and even if I was, I believe that over the next few years, it would still probably catch up to me!
Trying Different Diets
Over the last few years my weight has slowly risen again until I was back to 190 when Covid started.
I knew I needed to go back on a diet, so I decided to start doing “Macro” dieting and was just trying to stay under my calorie goals. I lost about 7 Lbs. Then flatlined.
I then decided to follow a program from V-Shred. And I loved the workout routines, but the Diet plan wasn’t my favorite. I lost 5 LBS, then got it back pretty quickly when I stopped doing it out of frustration.
I still play Ultimate Frisbee every week. But I started getting beat by these younger, fitter, faster guys. I knew that I couldn’t compete with them while weighing in at the weight that I was.
That competitive drive, along with the help of my friend, kicked me into gear for getting back into ketosis, and starting my exercise routine again.
When my close friend challenged me to do keto with him, I agreed right away.
I am never one to say “next week” I either do it now or never. It was the day before our Anniversary and I jumped all in on Keto (My wife still hasn’t forgiven me).
It has been about 5 weeks, and I am down 15 LBS.
Keto has been the only diet I can stick to thus far. All the others were frustrating in their own ways. Keto is much more peaceful.
Pros and Cons of the Keto Diet
I was sick at first. Usually the first few weeks on Keto are rough. In addition I have a REALLY HARD TIME WITH EGGS (egg fast review).
But now that I am in keto, I have noticed that when I am hungry, I don’t get HANGRY. Which is a big deal for me
I crave sugar significantly less now. Which is the same as when I did Keto before.
What to eat on the keto diet for men?
My wife and kids do not do Keto. Although my wife is doing no sugar, which is helpful. Usually we cook a main part that can be used for both Keto and non-keto eaters, then if I have to make small adjustments, I make those myself.
I have purposefully tried to cheat at least once a week, without going heavy carb excessive. So I still stayed away from grains and sweets. This seemed to work for me, but be careful, because it doesn’t work for everyone.
What I learned from this, was that I was staying in Ketosis while still having 50 carbs.
This time I dropped 10 LBS in almost the first 2 weeks. Then I flatlined. This is about the time I started testing my carb limit. I found that I wasn’t eating enough protein, electrolytes and carbs for my exercise routine. Once I started making 50 carbs my new threshold, I started losing weight again.
Eating Out On Keto
You can pretty much eat out whenever, and just check nutrition info, or do your best to limit carb intake. When in doubt, just have the protein. These are just a few of the places I’ve eaten at.
- Zaxby’s (Blue Cheese Zalad with Blackened chicken),
- Chic-fil-a (grilled nuggets with Chick fila sauce),
- In-and-out (double-double animal style protein style),
- Apollo Burger (Athenian Burger, no bun with their sweet potato fries – their SPF have no added sugars),
- Sizzler (Steak & Salad Bar),
- Carl’s Jr (Chicken Strips & bunless burgers),
- Wendy’s (Bunless Burgers),
- Papa Murphey’s (Keto dinner thing)
Eating keto doesn’t have to be expensive. It definitely can be if the “specialty foods” are worth it to you, but I found that eating keto didn’t cost more than my normal grocery run.
But speaking of Specialty Foods. These are the keto products I tried, and what I thought:
- Keto Bread – Amazing. (available at wlam
- Rebel Ice Cream – Great
- Keto Fast Meal Replacement Shakes (Premade) – Tasted good, but always gave me a stomach ache for several hours. Stopped taking them overtime
- Keto Fast Fat Bombs – Awesome
- Keto Cookie – Awesome
- Primal Kitchen sauces – Really helped me with the flavor Issues I have been having. I cannot say enough about this whole brand! everything is just gold on the keto diet.
- Keto Friendly Cereal – good initial taste, usually a bad aftertaste, or it tasted like sand. (If you want to buy good keto granola, check out this post!)
- Spaghetti noodle stuff – Watery, but overall not bad, it’s pretty chewy though.
- Keto Pancakes – Good
- Keto Chips – Still wanting to try
- Tilamook Jerky. The best!
Exercising For Men On Keto
I exercised 3-5 times a week. 30-60 minutes
For the first 2 weeks it was just weight training. 2 weeks ago I started adding in running 3 times a week. Averaging about 12 miles/week
Random Side Effect?
A development that happened this time that never happened before on keto.
– I had Covid-19 back in April. I didn’t even know I had it, I just thought it was a really bad sinus infection.
Then several weeks after the “sinus infection” was over, I noticed my sense of smell and taste was still off. I couldn’t smell my kids poopy diapers, or appreciate the taste of my favorite foods/smells.
I also couldn’t smell my own farts (I only found that out after I was at a friends reunion party and I let rip several dozen silent gases and was relieved when I couldn’t smell them!… And I just later found out that EVERYONE else could).
After finding out how the loss of smell is usually a side effect of the Corona Virus, I went and got tested for the anti-bodies, and I had them. Which suggests that I had Covid-19.
Fast forward to august 17th when I started the diet.
Once I got into Ketosis (took less than three days) the meat & protein I was eating started smelling/tasting weird! Almost a spoiled, burned, fumy, blue cheese.
At first I just thought it was part of getting into Ketosis. Everyone talks about “Keto-Breath” which I never had my first time around, and I did a lot of research to find out if that is it. But everyone said it goes away. Mine didn’t.
I came home from work and my wife made one of my favorite dishes and I thought she had burned dinner.
My sister came over to our house, and when she walked in she said “Oh my goodness, what smells so good!?”
Meanwhile I was wrinkling my nose and gagging almost the entire time. I couldn’t find anyone else talking about this. As far as I can tell, this is new, and maybe it’s just me.
But even after a 5 mile run the other day, I couldn’t eat dinner because of the smell/taste.
This is always. Every meal, every hour. Protein has a weird smell/taste. If anyone knows why, please let me know.
After I finish my first 6-8 weeks of Keto, I will likely stick to a low-carb diet, and test to see if there is a carb threshold that removes the smell/taste. Because even though I had covid, I didn’t have the meat issue until I went Keto. So my thoughts are maybe it is a low carb/ Ketosis thing.
Keto can help me keep and maintain my weight goals.
I love that I can keep a body that will allow me to be an aware and active father, husband, and partner. . . I also like it being just that much more attractive to my wife. She deserves a very hot husband!
