Vegetarian Keto Diet — A Myth or a Reality?

“Lose some weight or you won’t find a suitable partner”

OR

Sima Aunty from Mumbai would say “You need to compromise”

These are some of the overused sentences by the aunties in my society. Yes, I am overweight and honestly, I have been all my life. Finally, I decided to be extremely resilient and try out the keto diet as a vegetarian. Living in Mumbai, India; I opted for the keto diet with mainly indian dishes (Both North and South Indian) and on a budget as I am a college student.

Yes, I know it sounds impossible; and I won’t lie, it is difficult. I have completed almost 1 month in this diet (out of the 3 months commitment) and the results are mind-blowing. But before that, let me define keto in simple terms and certain rules to be followed.

Keto diet is known as the “Low-carb, High Fat” diet in simple terms. This means a person has to eat more healthy fats (Butter, Cream, Cheese, Almond, Walnut, Coconut Oil) and Protein (Eggs, Chicken, Paneer, Tofu) and reduce Carbs (Sugar, Bread, Refined Oil, Peanuts, Flour) that ranges from 20–50g per day. It is an extremely restrictive diet which is typically adopted in a short-term phase to gain quick results.

As a vegetarian based out of India on a budget, the challenge of sticking to this diet was amplified as the consumption of meat was out of question. However, I did a lot of research and categorized the ingredients regularly used in my household into a “Keto:Yes/No” list. Once the categorization was done, the next step included Grocery Shopping. It is extremely important to prepare the meals based on your checklist and account for small snacks which you may need during the day. I had made some hygiene/ ground rules for myself as well.(Highly recommend to do yourself based on individual capacity)

While traditional keto diet calls for calculating macros for consumption and tracking them through the day, I decided to instead completely avoid keto unfriendly food and eat every meal until I was full. In short, I didn’t plan to track my macros OR have any kind of portion control.

July 15th, I embarked on this journey of Keto Diet. The first two weeks were a period of adjustment where I ensured I filled my body with keto-friendly vegetables (Spinach, Cauliflower,Cabbage, Ladies finger, Coconut), dry fruits, cheese and water. At the end of two weeks, I took a cheat day. It is important to follow the diet for at least 2 weeks in the beginning to get your body into ketosis (Fat Burning Mode) and lose weight quickly. This period also helped me understand my body better. For example how hungry do I feel,what fills me up etc. Although the first couple of days were hard, at the end of it I felt fresher and more energized. There was a visible glow on my face and I was more motivated to work.

With this article, I wanted to share that although Vegetarian Keto is hard, it is equally effective. Please find my Before/After picture. I am looking forward to continuing this for the next 2 months and see more drastic changes.

Do share your keto experience with me in the comments. Would love to hear what worked for you and what didn’t!

Kindly note that this will be a part 1 of the Vegetarian Keto Series that I will be discussing about. I will discuss in detail my meal plans, the intake of food and calories in upcoming blogs.