Soooo Confused about Ketogenics

Patttience

Okie DOkie, i'll have a go but it would help to know how many carbs you are allowing yourself every day.

When i did my 2 month experiment with low carb first i did 100 carbs a day then i went down to 40 carbs a day becuase i wanted to experience the ketogenesis part. I only lasted two weeks.

I was vegetarian at the time but had to go pescatarian ot make it work .

Anyway I never found it difficult to work out meals. If you are using a wide variety of foods that you are "allowed" then it should not be difficult.

I used to make a lovely spanish fish stew with fish, onions, tomatoes, olive oil for instance.
It was a while ago i must add so i find it hard to remember what i was eating off the top of my head but you could good low carb menus and i'm sure you'd find plenty.
It was fun to cook with cream and cheese and butter.
I also used soy milk instead of cows milk.
When i was eating 100 carbs, i ate a lot of lentils and legumes.
I made a delicious dessert with fresh strawberries and marscapone. This one is to die for. Just combine them in anyway you like. That's all you have to do.
Also i ate firm tofu. And recently i have just discovered you can crumble it and mix it through with vegetables.
Nowadays i have found a way to make smoothies with silken tofu but i use fruit to make it yummy so i don't know if it would work for you on a low carb diet.

When i started, i read one of the Atkins books. I did not consider it necessary to follow his ideas exactly but i could see what he was getting at and i could also identify some of the things he left out.

One of the key issues that is rarely discussed with any low carb diet is that when you come off it, if you come off it quick, you will very quickly regain some weight. This is just water weight so you should be prepared for it and not automatically think you are on a runaway weightgain train. Its just the water that is automatically going to be held in your body now that you are eating more carbs. Carbs and fluids go together.

That said, if you don't make a fairly quick readjustment of the types of foods you are eating, you will rapidly regain not only the weight you lost but also the fat. When you come off low carb, you have to cut back on the fats you've got used to eating. There's a ratio between fat and carbs. The more carbs you eat, the less fat you need. The more fat you eat, the less carbs you need for energy. Of course fat has more calories than carbs so you must be careful.

Nuts are one of the tricky ones becuase they are nutritious and healthy but you still have to cut back when you come off low carb.

Another thing when you start, you need to pay attention to adding more salt in the beginning so that you can keep your hydration up. If you don't do this you will get headaches. The headaches are only caused by dehydration. When you go low carb, you do lose a lot of fluids. Have a salty drink at least once a day until you start to feel yourself balance out and put a pinch of salt in your meals. Salt followed by liquids will fix your headaches almost instantly.

The quick kick to weightloss that comes with low carbs diets is not a long term difference. All the studies show that over the longer term, say a year, maybe less, there is no difference in weightloss between low carb and higher carb diets. That said, i think it is an interesting and worthwhile experiment.

tomatoey

I haven't tried keto, but with those ingredients, I'd go for French stuff, like most of the mains out of Julia Child's cookbook (or the cookbook of someone less conscientious, maybe), minus the starchy sides. (Although, there is usually flour in the sauces, and sometimes wine etc. I've never cooked with almond flour, maybe it's ok?)

Or, I'd get an indoor searing grill, and have grilled steaks, chicken breasts, chops, salmon or Greek-style skewers (lamb, shrimp, chicken, etc, marinated in lemon with salt) with tzatziki, over a massive salad with avocados or nuts.

Or stir-fries, thai etc. (not sure about the marinades, though?).

yarwell

I don't think the bottom part of this picture is accurate at all, the density of fat and muscle are not that much different

yarwell

JanGraceyDAlessandroStinson wrote: »

What I asked for was help with the meal/menu plans. It's not as easy as it seems. No, it doesn't list "minimal" veggies. The top thing on the list are leafy green veggies, other veggies low in carbs (like turnip which I love), some recommended fruits and things like avocado, greek yogurt, seeds and nuts. And yes, meat and butter, neither of which I have eaten much of for years. (Truthfully? The amount of fat makes me gag.)

So what I'd like is not discouragement from people, but a little help.

I have a feeling I won't last long here.

Here's some ideas

Bacon and egg for breakfast, one or two whole eggs, one or two rashers of bacon. Black coffee. If you like white coffee try one of the milk alternatives - almond, coconut etc - or cream.

Fish with salad for lunch. About 4 ozs of fish or a tin of sardines / tuna / whatever with a leafy green salad with the odd tomato or pepper.

Steak or burger for dinner. 4 ozs / quarter pound of ribeye, sirloin etc or a burger made from 20% fat minced/ground beef. Steamed brocolli (3 oz / 80g or so) fried green beans (same) and half a fried onion.

Dessert - up to 4 ozs / 100g of raspberries or blueberries with 2 or 3 tablespoons (45ml) of double / heavy cream or 75 ml of higher fat greek yoghurt. Sprink a teaspoon or two of chia or linseed / flaxseed on top.

Snacks ? if required, 10 almonds or walnuts or macadamia nuts. An ounce of hard cheese. Beef jerky or similar. A few olives etc.

Traveler120

JanGraceyDAlessandroStinson wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

A ketogenic diet is simply one that's very low carb to keep you in ketosis, and involves eating mainly eggs, cheese, butter and meat with minimal veggies. It's unhealthy, completely unnecessary and pointless unless you want to spend the rest of your life debating whether you should eat a potato or a banana to avoid going out of ketosis. Or routinely peeing on a ketostick to see if it's purple enough.

Don't bother with it. Eat whole/unprocessed foods. Avoid junk/processed food. Exercise.

I have no intention of peeing on any stick nor debating eating a banana or potato. Banana would win hands down (simply like them more than a potato).

My point was, you can't eat either one on a ketogenic diet. Most fruits are not allowed. Even strawberries and blueberries will be sugary enough to kick you out of ketosis. Tubers like potatoes are obviously out. All these are perfectly healthy and nutritious foods. The only veggies allowed are leafy greens.

So if you can see yourself getting through life without eating delicious and nutrient packed fruits, grains, tubers, legumes and other starchy veggies, in the name of a diet, then go for it. Limiting your food variety and therefore nutrition is not a good long-term or short-term strategy, especially when you don't have to. Again, it's unnecessary for weight loss. Just take the easy way out and eat whole healthy foods you like, manage calories in/out and you'll be fine.

AlabasterVerve

Traveler120 wrote: »

JanGraceyDAlessandroStinson wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

A ketogenic diet is simply one that's very low carb to keep you in ketosis, and involves eating mainly eggs, cheese, butter and meat with minimal veggies. It's unhealthy, completely unnecessary and pointless unless you want to spend the rest of your life debating whether you should eat a potato or a banana to avoid going out of ketosis. Or routinely peeing on a ketostick to see if it's purple enough.

Don't bother with it. Eat whole/unprocessed foods. Avoid junk/processed food. Exercise.

I have no intention of peeing on any stick nor debating eating a banana or potato. Banana would win hands down (simply like them more than a potato).

My point was, you can't eat either one on a ketogenic diet...

Yes, you can. All of your "points" are wrongheaded opinions and it's tiresome to read the same misinformation over and over again -- no matter how well intentioned you may be.

kshama2001

Orphia wrote: »

It sounds like you're just looking for another in a long line of crash diets.

That's not what you need.

You need a sustainable way of eating for life. That's where MFP can help.

Set a goal, log and weigh all your food and don't go over your calorie limit.

When you get to the right weight, set your goal to maintaining, and keep logging to stay the same weight.

Repeat until you have great caloric awareness. You can use MFP to tweak your fluctuations occasionally.

Don't make changes you can't stick with for life. You'd still need to stick to your calorie limit on a keto diet. Why put yourself through keto flu and deprivation needlessly?

Hope this helps. And can I just say, I love your OP! You've got a nice way with words, and it was a pleasure to read!

Another vote for a body recomposition (maybe someone will provide a link) plus the above.