Several weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were talking about a topic I hold close to my heart: bacon. She happened to say that she believed if you ate as much bacon as you wanted, you would gain weight. I asked why? She said because of all of the fat. I said, well I guess there is only one way to find out: eat nothing but bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Realizing that may be a little extreme and kill the love for bacon, we decided to include eggs – as much as she wanted for each meal – for one week and see if she gained or lost weight. We decided she could prepare the bacon and eggs how ever she wanted. I said she would lose weight after 5 days, she said she would gain after 5 days. What was on the line? Bragging rights. However, because I thought it might be fun to see how it might affect me, I decided to do it as well.
Turns out the bet was made on a Saturday night, we had agreed to start on the following Monday, and she had awaken with cold-like symptoms and so she dropped out immediately. However, I continued with the diet as planned.
Monday morning was a treat: 4 hardboiled eggs and 8 strips of bacon, solid grease adhering to each strip. By the end of that day, I ate approximately 8 eggs and 16 strips of bacon. In terms of exercise, I did a moderately intense workout during the day and played basketball that night in a league game. Tuesday and Wednesday, a little smaller breakfast and my typical Crossfit workout that day.
On Thursday, I was too busy at work, therefore I did not get in a workout. However, I did notice that Thursday morning, I was less hungry than usual – 2 hardboiled eggs and 3 strips of bacon. I noticed my hunger decreasing in the morning and more so throughout the day. On Thursday, I also used a ketostick to see if I was in ketosis, and I had a positive reading.
Friday was another Crossfit workout and another day of bacon and eggs – approximately 6-8 eggs at this point and 12 strips of bacon for the day.
After five days of the bacon and egg challenge, it was time for the moment of truth and see who the Bet Winner was. And the scale said…(drum roll please…) I was down 6 pounds!
Reflection:
This was a fun experience but it did have some positives and negatives:
Negatives:
* Prep time for the bacon while on-the-go so often. I ate mostly hardboiled eggs and oven-cooked bacon because it minimized the smell throughout the house.
* A salty taste in my mouth which required a lot of water to minimize it.
* By Saturday, I had some noticeable acetone breath. My girlfriend had a serious problem with this. Keep the Altoids close.
Positives:
* My energy level did not seem to decrease throughout the 5 days as I had expected from reading about the “keto crash” that sometimes happens to people that have to adapt to a low-carbohydrate diet.
* It was easy to figure out what I needed to eat: bacon or eggs. I enjoyed the simple structure of the diet.
* I lost 6 pounds in 5 days and felt slim and trim.
I realize that this was an experiment of n = 1, but I did like how I felt and I did enjoy the experience. I’m not 100% able to put my stamp of approval on this and call it “Healthy” for somebody to live on, but it may be at least a good kick start on getting onto the path of entering a ketogenic diet. I may do it again, but for a longer amount of time and more breath mints for both my benefit and those I may speak to…just for kicks and giggles. 