Anyone tried the Keto Diet?

[RecentChange]

You need carbs.. I don't get it why people think to take out the crabs..

 

If you feel hungry eat oatmeal (1 cup nuked or cook it on the stove in pot)

 

People are different. If I have a cup of oatmeal I am STARVING, just famished an hour later. More hungry than if I hadn’t eaten anything at all.

 

If I have a vegi dog (soy protein), for 100 calories I get 14 grams of protein, 4 grams carbs, pair that with half an apple – a 150 calorie “meal” that satisfies me for hours (so much I often forget about lunch, its 4 pm and I just ate mine – I wasn’t hungry till now).

 

A cup of oatmeal (plain) would have set me back 160 calories – but provide little in the way of protein. Works for some people, but I have learned I have to have a significant amount of protein (eggs, canned fish, soy products) with my first meal of the day.

 

As for taking out the carbs - I have never tried to do Keto or carb free (just doesn't sound healthy for my body) - BUT when you are limiting yourself to 1,100 calories a day, you need to cut carbs in order to still reach decent levels of proteins and healthy fats (both of which are filling).

 

I try to eat nutrient rich foods - while on calorie restriction, and that doesn't leave much room for things like oatmeal or bread.

[Gaeta]

I have breakfast at 6 a.m. I love oatmeal but a bowl of oatmeal will carry me to 9:30 am, no further.

 

This morning I had 2 hard boiled eggs and I started thinking of food around 11:30 so it carried almost to my lunch, that's great.

[GemmaUK]

I have breakfast at 6 a.m. I love oatmeal but a bowl of oatmeal will carry me to 9:30 am, no further.

 

This morning I had 2 hard boiled eggs and I started thinking of food around 11:30 so it carried almost to my lunch, that's great.

 

The protein thing definitely makes a difference to how soo n after you get hungry but recognising when you are full is what I found to be the key thing.

Yes, I do remember having to eat very bit on my plate!

 

I generally don't eat breakfast anymore (always used to) as I'm not hungry when I wake up, I will have food in at work though if I need it later.

If you have a microwave at work and a toaster scrambled eggs or poached eggs (made in a mug) are good options too.

 

Good luck with it Gaeta, any questions give me a shout.

 

 

ETA and a kind of disclaimer: Don't cut carbs though - still eat them, my suggestion here is a lifestyle change, not a 'diet'.

If you cut things out of your diet you won't be eating a balanced diet and if you feel deprived/missing carbs then there will come a point when you crave them and put lbs back on.

 

Protein is good for filing up if you want to quit having/needing snacks but no one should be cutting out carbs long term.

Edited October 31, 2017 by GemmaUK

[Blackened Heart]

I've done and am currently doing Keto. In regards to the keto flu, this is a result of an electrolyte deficiency. When you start keto and are restricting carbs, your body is going to lose water due to being unable to retain it as much (water retention results from carbs in your body, more carbs, more water retained). Thus, when starting the diet, you lose water along with electrolyte, thus the "flu" or rather headaches and feeling like crap. If you replenish this and also drink plenty of water, you avoid most of the affects of the "flu".

 

Now as far as the actual diet itself, one of the key benefits is hunger control. When you eat fats and protein, you stay full longer in comparison to eating carbs. In the end though, the key is watching your total calories. It isn't magical in where you can eat whatever you want. You can gain weight in any "diet" if you eat too much.

 

So really, the key is tracking how much you eat. It just depends what works best for you.

[Gaeta]

Is there really a difference between the Keto diet and Atkins diet? Both are based on depriving your body of carbs (fuel) so it feeds itself on your reserve of fat.

[SammySammy]

I’ve done Atkins. It does work as long as you do it. However, I’ve found simply eating lean meat, fruit, and vegetables while avoiding added sugar and refined carbs is just as effective and more sustainable for me. Allows me to have a much more “normal” diet and the ability to find something to eat no matter where I am. I felt much more restricted on Atkins and thus much less likely to be successful long-term.

[Gaeta]

This is my 3rd morning on low carb. I have experienced a dull headache yesterday but at the same time an enormous boost of energy. I usually got to drag myself out of bed and today I was up at 5h looking for something to do! Wow I hope that feeling will last lol.

 

I suffer from arthosis pain in my hips and left knee. When I cut all sources of sugar I am pain free.

 

What I dislike the most about low carb is the nasty taste in my mouth.

[Gaeta]

I fell off my scale when I saw I lost 8-lbs on my first week!! I must have carried around a lot of water weight. I feel great! I had 1 or 2 days of feeling bad but it passed. I am gonna tackle this one week at a time.

[dichotomy]

Lift weights.....and when you get tired....lift more....Look great and not have to worry so much about what you eat....

 

 

TFY

 

 

"You can out train a bad diet".

 

I am stronger and more muscular than any guy I personally know or work with at my age ....yet I am also overweight because I eat like crap these days. I have to go back on diet...ugh.

 

But to OP - a friend of mine swears by Keto - she dropped 50 lbs and changed all her blood chemistry from bad to good.

 

I can't do that drastic but I am trying to find a way to cut sugars and refined carbs way down - and portion control as well thats the hardest.

[Blanco]

I've done it a few times over the years. If you need to drop scale weight quickly, there's really no better method.

 

I didn't find it sustainable, though. And the weight comes charging back at that point, mostly because a good chunk of what was lost was just water weight.

 

For most people, a "diet" that severely restricts what you can eat is doomed to fail in the long-run.

[thefooloftheyear]

"You can out train a bad diet".

 

I am stronger and more muscular than any guy I personally know or work with at my age ....yet I am also overweight because I eat like crap these days. I have to go back on diet...ugh.

 

But to OP - a friend of mine swears by Keto - she dropped 50 lbs and changed all her blood chemistry from bad to good.

 

I can't do that drastic but I am trying to find a way to cut sugars and refined carbs way down - and portion control as well thats the hardest.

 

 

Well...you don't know me....we're out here...some of us, anyway....

 

As a heavily muscled/fairly low body fat guy, I spent a "binge" period of almost 11 weeks last year....Started Thanksgiving and ended some time in Feb of this year...I ate a ton of junk food, fried garbage, pizza, donuts, buttered bread, pasta, etc(stuff I normally never or rarely eat)...There were days my caloric intake was likely well over 10K... I did not alter my training regimen, though....Same intensity level and duration.. And my daily work level is active...

 

End of binge period...total weight difference?(-1)..Age at test...52..

 

I realize no two are the same, but a functionally fit and muscular body repels fat...That's not my opinion but known fact...

 

Anyway...Good job, OP...

 

About all I can say, and I am trying not to throw cold water on it, is that most "shock" type of diets will have short term positive effects...The issues crop up after a sustained duration...One of the most amazing(and also frustrating) aspects of the human body is its ability to adapt to its conditions..Its one of the main reasons people get discouraged...Its hard to keep things moving in the way you want them..

 

At the end of the day, though, this is why I always harp on the exercise part of the weight loss/body shaping equation...I mean, sure, anyone can lose weight if they starve themselves to death, but in order to live a healthy life, actually be able to enjoy a meal, and not create immense cravings, is to create an environment in your body where you become a furnace for what you consume...You can't do that by diet alone...The only way that's happening is by incorporating a solid training regimen...

 

TFY

[lana-banana]

Gaeta, I'm so happy for you! The other posters are right; as a means of dropping weight fast and improving your blood sugar, keto is the best way to go. It's also, as you're discovering, great for your mental clarity once you're over the initial hump.

 

Keto is not sustainable in the long term for two reasons: it's so, so restrictive and extreme that when you slip up you don't just slip, you crash, and it's ultimately not good for your heart. There's only so much full-fat dairy and bacon you can eat before your arteries hate you. But aiming to keep your carbs as low as possible is sustainable, and you can do it in a healthy way. Use walnut oil instead of butter or coconut oil. Eat avocado instead of bacon. Swap cashew milk for heavy cream. And go easy on the red meat!

 

I am fine at my current weight, but I go keto about once every few months just to refocus myself and enjoy the energy. My husband and I are completely dedicated to the low-carb lifestyle and it's not hard at all. Most of our meals are vegetarian with the occasional chicken and fish. We don't eat any bread, rice or pasta, but a few times a year we'll have lentils. Eggs are also a great protein source. We are both really serious cooks, which helps us with variety. Our one high-carb snack is popcorn. We don't beat ourselves up over once-a-year treats like my mom's cornbread stuffing or cake and have found we don't really miss them that much.

 

Congratulations on your success! Honestly, if you can avoid packaged foods, refined carbohydrates and sugar, you're 99% set for the rest of your life.

[Cookiesandough]

Can you bulk on this? Especially if you don't like nuts. I have tried high protein/fat and low carb diets in the past to see how I'd feel and I felt sick. I can't really eat much meat or I feel ill...nausea. I wonder if it has to do with what your recent ancestor's diet was like? I don't think I could function without a lot of carbs. I feel lethargic. I have to eat 3 large chicken salads to get as full and satiated as 2 slices of white bread or 1 bowl of rice could make me.

Edited November 14, 2017 by Cookiesandough

[lana-banana]

You can certainly bulk on keto if you eat in excess of your TDEE. Most people find fats too filling to really overindulge, which is why they lose so much weight. Carbohydrates are filling, but only in the short term, and they have the negative side affect of spiking blood sugar and contributing to long-term fat storage.

 

Keto stresses fat over protein consumption, which is why so many keto "recipes" are just random things drowned in cheese and/or oil. It's also why they recommend "fat bombs" of things like cacao butter and coconut oil to ensure you're getting the vast majority of your day's calories from fat. You could just buy a tub of cottage cheese or almond butter and try to get through it each week to hit your goals.

 

For what it's worth, if you are only trying to gain muscle (rather than the typical bulk-and-shred regimen) as a woman it's HARD. Unless you are going to commit to an extreme diet and training routine, don't expect to gain more than maybe a pound of muscle per month. When I was training my absolute hardest I averaged around a half-pound of pure muscle a month. I'm 110 lbs, so obviously any change for me would be smaller anyway, but anybody who says you can put on five pounds of solid muscle in the short term is lying to you.

[Cookiesandough]

Thanks, Lana. It is VERY hard...just gaining muscle. The only way I can 'bulk' as in get some junk in the drunk is to eat crappy foods and A LOT of it and still doesn't really happen. You skip a couple meals and you're back to square 1. You know how it is... I still would not want that. I want it to be healthy and muscle, not fat. I always shrink when I train, always. Become solid muscle, but smaller. Doesn't matter how much whey I supplement with. Even eating a LOT of avocados lol. I will try looking into fat bombs. That sounds like it might be useful. I do like to use coconut oil.

Edited November 14, 2017 by Cookiesandough

[d0nnivain]

The only plan that works is CICO -- calories in must be less than calories out. Until you get to a calorie deficit, you won't lose weight. You can lose weight on an unhealthy diet as long as you take in fewer calories then you expend. You might not feel so go without the proper macros but you will get skinnier.

[thefooloftheyear]

Thanks, Lana. It is VERY hard...just gaining muscle. The only way I can 'bulk' as in get some junk in the drunk is to eat crappy foods and A LOT of it and still doesn't really happen. You skip a couple meals and you're back to square 1. You know how it is... I still would not want that. I want it to be healthy and muscle, not fat. I always shrink when I train, always. Become solid muscle, but smaller. Doesn't matter how much whey I supplement with. Even eating a LOT of avocados lol. I will try looking into fat bombs. That sounds like it might be useful. I do like to use coconut oil.

 

 

It's about 80-90% genetics(what you can add in terms of muscle)....The "one pound a month" claim by the previous poster is absolutely ludicrous....There are pro male bobybuilders on juice that would be thrilled to achieve a consistent lb a month of lean muscle mass...Its not happening

 

You can get a good idea of your capability to put on muscle by the diameter of your ankles and wrists...Its not set in stone, but if you have very tiny wrists and ankles, its unlikely that you can put on much muscle mass..Same holds true for guys as well....

 

Someone your size could do all the right things, eat all the right foods and never gain more than 8-10 lbs of lean muscle mass in your entire life...

 

Be happy that you will likely remain petite without much effort for your entire life..

 

TFY

[Cookiesandough]

That's rough. I've been hitting the weights hard lately doing lots of squats and hoping to grow... but no. Yea ... someone strong could snap my wrists easily. I'm going to keep trying though. Eating more clean foods and lifting heavier weights can't hurt.

Edited November 14, 2017 by Cookiesandough

[Andy_K]

That's rough. I've been hitting the weights hard lately doing lots of squats and hoping to grow... but nope. Yea ... someone strong could snap my wrists easily. I'm going to keep trying though. Eating more clean foods and lifting heavier weights can't hurt.

 

It sucks but that's how it is... without chemical assistance at least. For me there's a 'comfortable maximum' I can achieve, and to get to the best shape I've ever been in, which is perhaps 5lbs of genuine muscle higher than that at best, I have to eat almost non-stop at over 3500 clean calories a day. I will never be able to get bigger than that.

[No_Go]

Why do you want to bulk up?? The thin figure that you describe is so feminine... You'll permanently lose this if you bulk up your muscles (if it is even possible for your body type).

 

On the keto stuff... Too many risks for few pounds down (that can be achieved in any other calorie-restrictive diet).

 

That's rough. I've been hitting the weights hard lately doing lots of squats and hoping to grow... but no. Yea ... someone strong could snap my wrists easily. I'm going to keep trying though. Eating more clean foods and lifting heavier weights can't hurt.

[GemmaUK]

For most people, a "diet" that severely restricts what you can eat is doomed to fail in the long-run.

 

Absolutely agree.

I'm a carb lover like Gaeta and cutting things out/going low on them just doesn't work in a sustainable way.

Switching up from Keto or any of the various diets I tried back in the days when I needed to lose weight was the downfall and I would always then put on more weight than I originally needed to lose.

 

I watched a really interesting show this last week called The Truth About Slim People - I am and have been a mixture of the two people in the show for a long time now.

There was a lot of seemingly 'little things' which hadn't even occurred to me in the show which have made me far more aware of why I lost weight and have maintained it all these years.

I work with two avid dieters whose weight goes up and down all the time and as they are getting older (one in her 40's the other in her 50's) both have over the last 9 years I have known them actually have got bigger, yet they diet for the majority of the time.

I heard about the show from one of them and her perception of it was totally different to mine - I found that fascinating. Partly because it reminded me of me all those years ago when I was stuck in the same cycle as they are now.

Both of them are also food obsessed which is exactly how I used to be.

Right at the point I changed my eating lifestyle that just went away - completely. The obsession went, guilt went all the comments or thoughts I used to have about 'being good' or 'take one day at a time' just all disappeared.

[lana-banana]

The thing about measuring "pure" muscle gain is that it's inexact. Water retention, especially for women, can really throw off your estimates for how much weight you have, and your body fat percentage (which is itself hard to measure accurately and prone to fluctuate) has to be fairly low for small numbers to be making huge differences. I was just trying to warn the previous poster against anyone suggesting she can make major bulking gains quickly, like bodybuilders tend to do. I have seen women recommend 5000-calorie regimens and obscene supplements to get a "speed bulk" and all kinds of garbage. It doesn't exist.

 

The philosophy of "eat real food, not too much, mostly plants" is a good rule of thumb. The problem is our connection to food and healthy eating, even eating at all, is so fractured. For example, I find that just having a screen in front of me while I eat all but guarantees I eat too much without even realizing it. And how many of us are able to avoid screens while eating?

[Cookiesandough]

Why do you want to bulk up?? The thin figure that you describe is so feminine... You'll permanently lose this if you bulk up your muscles (if it is even possible for your body type).

 

On the keto stuff... Too many risks for few pounds down (that can be achieved in any other calorie-restrictive diet).

 

I feel like anyone can be just thin with some effort. I more admire bodies that look like they've worked out. Toned and a little thicker and shapely is my goal. What do you mean permantly lose? I think any gains you get will go away once you stop binge eating at least that's been my experience?

 

 

I guess we want what we can't have.

[No_Go]

Being thin is easy, but having tiny wrists and ankles is just a genetic blessing. If you bulk up with muscle - you'd lose this. JMO but bulked up women to me do not look feminine, even if thin - like Jen Aniston or even Gigi Hadid - way too much muscle mass for a feminine look.

 

You'd bulk up with fat anyway as you age (even if you starve to stay stick thin, aging shows...). Adding muscle on top... IDK, just not my cup of tea.

 

But yeah, I guess this is just personal preference and we usually want what we can't have.

 

I feel like anyone can be just thin with some effort. I more admire bodies that look like they've worked out. Toned and a little thicker and shapely is my goal. What do you mean permantly lose? I think any gains you get will go away once you stop binge eating at least that's been my experience?

 

 

I guess we want what we can't have.

[No_Go]

The philosophy of "eat real food, not too much, mostly plants" is a good rule of thumb.

 

I agree here. But how is that statement jiving with the keto philosophy aka stuffing yourself with meat+fats?

 

I don't know under which circumstances acetone passes as a healthy substance... I'm not against keto for people wanting fast results, although eating a pint of icecream (and nothing else) per day will give exactly the same results (caloric restriction > weight loss)