In this vlog, Julia (Speaker A) chronicles a two‑week self‑experiment with a ketogenic diet undertaken to alleviate persistent right‑side stomach pain. After eliminating protein powder, dairy, and receiving an inconclusive ultrasound, she and her family decided to cut carbs and sugar, hoping the diet would “clean out” her stomach. She explains her motivations—prioritizing health over weight loss—and outlines her informal approach: no strict macro tracking, aiming for low‑carb, high‑fat meals sourced mainly from the Low Carb Love channel and Costco. The video showcases a variety of keto meals and snacks (granola, coconut clusters, crackers, keto bombs, peanut‑butter fudge bars, various nut butters) and describes how family participation reduced temptation. Julia discusses the impact on her workouts, noting reduced energy and light‑headedness likely due to carb deprivation during the adaptation phase. She reports subjective health improvements: less nighttime stomach pain, better sleep, and an overall feeling of being healthier, though she does not intend to adopt keto long‑term. The narrative reflects on her evolving relationship with food, the importance of moderation, and the lesson that cleaner eating is sustainable. The video concludes with gratitude to viewers and a promise of future content.
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So we kind of just failed the keto challenge. The last thing I wanted was to go on a diet. I promised myself that I would scratch the word out of my vocabulary once and for all. But for the past few months now, I've been getting this sharp pain in the right side of my stomach, almost like cramps, and it's just been making me feel super uncomfortable. At first, I thought it was because of protein powder, so I cut that out completely, but the pain still wouldn't go away. Then I thought it was because of dairy, maybe I was lactose intolerant, so I cut that out, but the pain still wouldn't go away. And so I went to to the doctor, they did an ultrasound, but they didn't find anything. Or at least I'm assuming they didn't find anything because I never heard a call back from them. So then I was like, you know what, I'm still getting this pain and I'm just— I'm not gonna sit around and just hope for it to just disappear out of nowhere. So I started self-diagnosing myself, researching and trying to find out what the issue was. And then my dad told me maybe we should go on a keto diet, cut out or at least reduce carb and sugar intake for a couple weeks to see if that would do anything. He said that this way it could help clean out my stomach and bring it to a healthier state. Now, while I'm all about promoting balance and not restricting any food groups, at that point I was willing to do anything to fix whatever was happening with my health. So for the past 2 weeks now, I was on a keto diet, and in this video you guys are going to see some of my favorite meals and recipes that I had, as well as I'll just briefly share, yeah, my experience with it. So hopefully you guys enjoy. Also, this is a what I eat in a week, or at least the closest you guys will get to what I eat in a week. So hopefully you guys enjoy. It's been a while since I've filmed these type of foodie videos, so yeah, let's get started. Hello! Let me preface, I didn't go on the keto diet because I wanted to lose weight. While weight loss was all I ever chased, now being and feeling healthier is what I'm prioritizing over looking thinner. To be quite honest, if it wasn't for my stomach pain, I wouldn't have gone on this diet. I want to be able to enjoy all foods in moderation. I love oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, pasta, chocolate, and I want to be able to eat all those foods without any fear. But I guess I still don't know what moderation looks like because I feel like I was consuming way more carbs and sugar than my body could take in. I've noticed that ever since stopping calorie counting, I became a lot less mindful with what I was eating, and that's not good. I stopped listening to my body and I began eating everything I craved, everything my mind craved. Now don't get me wrong, it's so important to honor your cravings and to treat yourself, but too much of everything is also bad. Sometimes holding back and saying, "Does my body really need this food right now?" is also good. Now this perspective is coming from someone who has pretty much healed their relationship with food, so if you still feel like you haven't, then maybe this video is not the best to watch for you. For everyone else, I hope this video can teach you something about the keto diet and everything it entails, or at least you'll get to hear my experience with it for 2 weeks. I actually filmed a keto challenge back in 2019 when I first started this channel. Rewatching it, I'm just cringing at myself. I was just such a weird child. Now, this keto challenge was supposed to go on for 2 weeks, but I ended up cutting it short because of how challenging it was. But it was only hard because I didn't have a good enough reason to do it other than for content. Now I'm going into it with different intentions. I want to improve my health and content is just secondary. To quickly summarize, a keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet where instead of producing glucose, the main type of sugar in the body, it relies on ketones, which is a type of fuel the liver produces from storage fat. In a keto diet, your nutrient intake should consist of 70% fats, 25% protein, and 5% carbs. Whatever that means. I didn't pay attention to those numbers at all. I also didn't track. As long as I wasn't eating loads of sugar and carbs, that's all that really mattered for me. I wasn't super strict with this whole process, and I'm sure there were many days where I went over my carb intake unintentionally. When it came to meals, I was a bit nervous at first. I didn't think I'd have a lot of options, but surprisingly you can find a lot of delicious low-carb, low-sugar recipes on the web. My favorite website and channel I looked at for inspiration and recipe ideas is Low Carb Love, All her meals look absolutely stunning and they're all pretty simple to make. Besides, we are going for simplicity here because I would rather not spend hours in the kitchen. So definitely check out her channel for some really fun recipes to make. Was this keto diet challenging? To be honest, not really. It was actually a lot easier than I was expecting it to be. And even though I'm not going to make this a lifestyle, I could really see myself eating keto for the rest of my life. Just kidding, just kidding, that's not happening. Not going there. Don't like the keto diet, but, um, For the 2 weeks, it wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be. I think it's because my whole family was on it as well. There was no temptation for me to reach for cookies, chocolate yogurt, or make myself some oatmeal because those foods were out of my reach. Did I miss all those foods? Of course I did, but because everyone else was eating the same food I was eating, I didn't really have any— this, yeah, this temptation to reach for those foods. Even though the main goal of this keto diet was to fix my health, I also just wanted to make it as fun as possible. I didn't want to eat the same boring old meals every single day. I just, I wanted to use this as a chance to learn how to bake better and cook better and learn how to create fun recipes because it's actually been a while since I've to spend my time whipping something up in the kitchen. So it was a lot of fun, and this keto diet definitely opened me up to a lot of new meals that I'm going to continue having even after going back to my usual diet. So, so high I could feel the wind coming me down, and the thought of your embrace What's up, you guys? So, little intermission. I want to show you guys some of the keto snacks I've been eating throughout the 2 weeks. These snacks have been keeping me going. They've been satisfying my cravings, and they've been really great alternatives to the snacks I would normally eat outside of keto. So I have this box right here with all the snacks. So let's, let's just get started with the little haul. My battery just died, but we're back and rolling. So where were we? So the first snack I have is this— or not a snack, a breakfast— is this keto granola. I've loved putting it into my coconut milk cottage cheese, um, smoothies. And then I also have something similar, it's like granola too, but these are called keto coconut clusters. And then I have these crackers. And then another snack called Keto Bombs, they're pretty bomb. My favorite flavor is this chocolate one. And then I've been eating a lot of, a lot of peanut butter because thank goodness I'm able to have peanut butter on keto. Guys, if someone were to ask me my favorite food, I would say peanut butter. That's it. Like peanut butter, eating peanut butter with a spoon, the best thing ever. Especially crunchy peanut butter. Now, Linda Sun actually introduced me to crunchy peanut butter. I've seen her eat in her videos and I'm not turning back. Like, I was always eating just smooth peanut butter, but guys, crunchy is just top next level. Let's see how much is left. There's not a lot left. I could just eat this with a spoon right now. The smell! I'm obsessed with any nut butters. I have this cashew butter too, and then I also have been really loving this nut and seed butter. And to top off my peanut butter obsession, I have loved making these peanut butter fudge bars. I just want to eat one right now, it's so good. Delicious. So yeah, this is my quick little keto snack haul. Most of these I got from Costco. Costco is just the store to go to. But yeah, let's just, let's move on, let's continue This video. Now let's talk about working out on the keto diet. Was I more or less energized? I definitely think my physical performance was affected because I'm eating all around fewer calories, especially fewer carbs. I found my performance level dropped. Here I did a Lilly Sabri workout, and usually I find her workouts super easy. I can do the moves without stopping, and unlike Caroline Girvin, she's definitely on the beginner-friendly side. But for some reason today, I was struggling to complete the workout with full effort. As you can see, I looked kind of exhausted. I had to pause many times because I was feeling a bit lightheaded during the workout. My prediction is I was carb deprived. We already know that carbs are an important energy source during exercise. Ensure that the muscles receive adequate amounts of energy. And so because I didn't have carbs in my system, I also didn't have that burst of energy. I of course wasn't surprised by my reduced performance because I did read that when you first begin the keto diet, these limitations occur because your body is adapting to using fat for energy instead of carbs. So it's normal to feel this way. So we're done the keto challenge. It's been a hell of a journey. It definitely went by super quickly. 2 weeks. I thought I would fail after the first day. I definitely had the willpower, which I'm super surprised because usually I have no self-control when it comes to food. I feel really great. I feel healthier, definitely. I don't know if this is just all in my mind, but I do feel a lot better. I am getting a lot less pain in the stomach, in my stomach, especially when I go to bed, because previously whenever I went to bed, whenever I would lie down, I I would just feel that pain and it would be just so hard for me to fall asleep. But now I'm getting less of that. I'm glad I went on this keto diet because it definitely taught me a lot in the process. And now I'm realizing that, you know what, I can go days and weeks without having lots of like, quote unquote, junk food or going out or eating pizza. I could do that. It's not that hard. There's so many alternatives and so many recipes, delicious recipes recipes, so many delicious foods you can eat that make you feel good mentally and physically. So I'm definitely going to be eating a lot cleaner from now on. So yeah, thank you so much for watching this video. Hopefully you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you guys in my next video.
