Exec-On-The-Go Diet: A Year Later
It’s that New Year’s resolution time again, and I know many of you will be considering making dietary, fitness or mental changes to your lives. As you think about those adjustments, consider this a suggestion or reminder or both: go keto.
A year has passed since I originally posted “The Performance Diet for The-Exec-On-The-Go”, and I wanted to give an update on how it’s going — especially given that most diets lose steam or die entirely just weeks or months after they begin. To get straight to the point: I’m still on it, and thriving on it better than ever.
I’ve actually now been doing a modified ketogenic diet for 2 years, and see no end in sight (I call it “modified” because I’m aiming for the 4:1 ratio of fat to protein while consuming no more than 50 net carbs daily, but I’m not obsessed about it and sometimes happily miss those marks with the occasional cheat meal or day). One of the most important aspects of any diet is sustainability, and this diet has proven more than sustainable. In fact, it’s improved my quality of life in multiple ways, so there is no desire to stop. And when I do those occasional cheat meals or days, I immediately feel worse, so getting back on the keto train is practically automatic — my body craves it.
As noted in the original post, I started doing keto not to lose weight, but rather to explore some of keto’s other benefits, primarily boosting energy and mental performance. I’ve sustained the diet because those objectives continue to not only be met but greatly exceeded. In spite of growing a year older — 55 years old now — my body and mind are operating at peak performance levels.
Mentally, I feel as sharp as ever, with perhaps the greatest capacity to focus I’ve ever had (which is saying a lot for an ADHD dyslexic!). Physically, I’m stronger and in better shape than I’ve been in years. Of course, I’m nowhere near the peak athletic performance levels of 2–3 decades ago, but it’s all relative: I feel amazing for my age. Another benefit of keto is reduced inflammation throughout the body. The many effects of inflammation are hard to explain, but I understand it profoundly when I do decide to eat excess carbs: I immediately feel slower and more lethargic. As soon as I’m back on keto, just as immediately, I feel better all around.
Lastly, while not my specific goal, there’s the added benefit of weight loss too. In my case, this meant losing a few pounds, but also resulted in much lower body fat. The other amazing aspect of my weight loss and body fat reduction is that this has occurred despite working out less the past year than any year in my entire life. Over the past year, I have been doing a de-conditioning experiment to see just how little I can work out, at lower intensity levels, and still maintain optimal fitness (I’ll write a separate post on how I’ve optimized max fitness benefit with least time investment later).
Is keto right for you? All I can do is offer my testimonial: low carb, high fat, moderate protein works fantastically for me and many more people. Perhaps it will help you explore the dietary, fitness or mental changes you would like to make this year.
