The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever by Mark Sisson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I think I’m of an age that I need a hard copy of something, a book, to guide me rather than just being able to rely on the internet. And so it was that when deciding to try out the keto diet, I wanted to get a reference guide. There are too many books on keto out there, but I thought this one would do. And it did, for the most part.
One of its points of difference is that it goes into the science of the diet extensively. But here’s the thing. I’m a pretty literate science reader, and I’m not sure that I actuallly trust everything that is said here. There is a lot of contradictory information up online about the keto diet, so you’ll have to make your own choices, but along with what seems to be fairly reasonable and factual stuff, there’s definitely just the author’s general health advice thrown in, his favourite tips. How to know what is actually part of the diet, and just a generally good idea (like getting good sleep)?
The tone of the book, though you’d be used to it from other diet and health books, is tiringly enthusiastic, but I am just not convinced that we become lean, mean fat-burning machines. The keto diet helps us consume a lot less calories, and then when we are burning more calories than taking in, we lose weight. Still, being on the keto diet made me feel energetic with a nice clarity of thought. My body and mind felt healthy. In a month, I lost 3 kilos (almost 7 pounds), which is about what I was aiming for.
One last gripe and one last compliment. Unlike most diets or books, this book, confusingly, is about a 21-day diet to PREPARE yourself for going keto. It makes a big deal about this. If you are going on a major lifestyle and diet change, I think this will be helpful and useful. But for me, I just wanted to get onto the damn keto diet, thank you very much, and this wasn’t the best book for that. On the other hand, the 100 recipes in the book are a good introduction to the keto diet. We haven’t actually tried many of them; it’s been more inspiration and example for how to cook, but cauliflower rice is a revelation and OMG those green tea tahini bites. If you are considering the keto diet, there are so many delicious things you can eat on it, that it really makes the diet doable (and often pleasurable).
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