My 28 Day Keto Challenge! with Rachel

Dana Taormina
Apr 18, 2018
3 min read

So you may be asking yourself what is Keto! In the words of Author, Keto Pioneer, and High Endurance Athlete, Primal Blueprint creator Mark Sisson, "Keto is a state of metabolic efficiency where you are able to burn stored energy in the form of body fat and ketones, and not be dependent upon regular high-carbohydrate meals to sustain your energy, mood, or cognitive focus." The Keto Reset Diet

Ok, So now what are Ketones?

Ketones are a source of caloric energy in the body that are used by the brain, heart and muscles in the same manner as is glucose (sugar). The Keto Reset Diet

Understand that you may go your whole life and never feel like you have achieved that balance with food you have always wanted. The high's and low's we all grapple with are so frustrating!

We tell ourselves, "don't eat that, then...ok a little won't hurt, I'll burn it off tomorrow when I work out". Its a war on food sometimes. A mental battle we often loose.

It is not about calories in, calories out. That theory has been long debunked....Let's focus on quality of food in, and the bodies natural ability to process nutrients for fuel, energy and focus, so that we burn fat.

Considering that I was Vegan for 5+ years, Paleo for 2ish years, and Gluten - Free for 8 years. I can tell you first hand that I have tried to find the perfect balance for Fat burn combined with regular exercise and have found nothing like the Keto Diet to deliver such unbelievable fast results in weight loss. And there is no catch. You eat the best Full Fat satisfying foods ever and feel absolutely amazing, and Not Hungry! Throughout the 28 days I did minimal exercise. In the last week alone I dropped 3lbs. I would venture to say I lost a few inches and roughly 7lbs. Which I find to be AMAZING!

Meal Prep has been extremely helpful in this challenge. Especially because I have a very busy schedule and I don't eat out. So grab and go healthy (at home) meal prep has been Key to success and staying consistent.

I noticed that my usual night time sugar cravings were gone! My need to have a snack during the day was gone as well. My brain hardly even worried about eating throughout the day. Which was great, because my focus was more on what I needed to accomplish during the day, rather then what I have to eat.

The Keto lifestyle by comparison to the Standard American Diet is very high in natural nutritious fats, moderate protein intake, and ULTRA LOW IN CARBOHYDRATES. But do not worry about missing Carbs, somehow they didn't even tempt me, I was over it. That was because the fat I consumed helped me feel completely satisfied.

I will follow up with more posts on what I ate, great recipes that my dear Friend Rachel and I prepared, and continue to prepare. We have created a buddy meal prep system. It has been awesome. Basically we each prepare several dishes each week to share with one another. When you are a busy person if you can find a partner it is not only time saving, but it is also so much fun!!

It takes the pressure off each day to create time to cook.

Please be aware that we do not take part in processed, low quality foods. During our meal preps we use high quality organic foods. And set time on just 1 day per week to prepare all the meals. We also do a recipe meal prep list for the week, so that we know what to purchase at the market, so we can keep our budget friendly. By sharing the cost we save money as well!

I will tell you that CHEESECAKE is 100% OK to eat on Keto! Hooray! Keto cheesecake might just be the best thing I have ever tasted! or Avocado Chocolate Mouse, Bacon, Full Fat yogurt, so may wonderful options to try. Rachel makes the mini cheesecake cupcakes, and at night I usually eat one with blueberries. It's like heaven in a plate.