YouTuber duo the Buff Dudes, aka brothers Brandon and Hudson White, regularly challenge themselves to new diets and workouts on their channel. They recently went on a low-carb, high-fat journey when they attempted to go keto for six whole weeks, with the goal of adhering to the diet as closely as possible to achieve “full ketosis.” But they soon found that being strictly keto is a lot harder than it first sounds.
“The first two weeks were pretty rough,” said Hudson. “My main problem was really just making sure that I kept under the designated number of carbs; about 20 to 30 grams a day.” One thing that he discovered is that even protein-rich foods like nuts contain low amounts of carbohydrates, so if you’re snacking on them throughout they day, that can take you over the allotted carb level and out of keto. “You don’t realize that they can very quickly add up,” he said. His solution was to use a calorie tracker app like My Fitness Pal.
And while he had a great time indulging in fats such as butter at first, he admitted that he felt “damn greasy” as a result. “I just feel like it’s coming out of my pores all of the time,” he said. “It gets everywhere; on our kitchen counters, on our tablecloth… I’ve become a greasy guy.”
Brandon already had some experience with a zero carb diet, having done it when he was a teenage bodybuilder. “It worked wonders, I got super shredded,” he said. However, that was a long time ago and he had to readjust: his advice to anyone trying keto for the first time is to listen to your body, as everyone’s system can react to a new diet in different ways.
For instance, Brandon upped the amount of protein in his diet as the six week challenge went on, until he was eating almost equal amounts of proteins and fats as that was what made him feel better. As he honed his keto shopping skills, Brandon also became much more cognizant of the carbs and sugars that are present in foods that you might not expect —and noted that reducing his intake of both helped him maintain his energy levels without that post-meal crash.
Brandon said that, as someone who enjoys meats and fats, he found that going keto suited him and his schedule, and that it really helped him burn fat and build muscle. However, he also said that “it’s not really that sustainable to have that low a carbohydrates all the time,” and is now finding healthier sources of carbs to include in his diet.
Hudson incorporated intermittent fasting into the challenge, starting the day with a workout and then having one massive calorie-heavy meal for lunch, which then kept him full throughout the rest of the day. He became visibly leaner due to the diet, having slimmed down from 212 pounds to 207 pounds—but by the end of the full 45 days, he personally found that while he lost weight, he also lost muscle. He concluded: “Even though I would like to remain low-carb, and try to keep sugar as absolutely low as possible, I do love carbohydrates.”
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