Curious about Keto~What to really expect

hotphoenixrising
hotphoenixrising Posts: 9 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! Not new to MFP but "new back", with the same 10 pounds I came to lose the first time....(except I think its closer to 14 now :neutral: ). I have a very hard time losing and am toying with trying Keto. I have to admit it scares me a little. In addition to fearing the commitment (which I can get around) is wondering what the "exit strategy" is as I don't think I could do this for life. I assume low-carb/whole grain is the next step but would love to hear from anyone who has done this transition and was willing to share some of their experience with it. Also, I'd love to know what a "typical" day of food looks like for people who work and are often on the go....lastly, I realistically can commit to about 4~45 minute +/- workouts per week, with walking lots (I'm a teacher and often walk my dog) as bonus exercise. Many thanks in advance. Best wishes to you all and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Replies

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited November 2016
    I'm going to be honest with you, and this isn't an indictment against keto. If you're already wondering whether you can do it and are hoping to develop an exit strategy, it is probable that this way of eating isn't for you. You'll never last on it. (And that latter is not an indictment against you! :) )

    I didn't either, so I'm not judging. I am so much happier now. I eat medium-ish carb (probably 120-150 grams...that's just how it works out; I call this "medium" as it is in no way low carb but is apparently considerably lower than the average plate, at least in the U.S.), within my calorie goals, and I include enough protein to make myself happy - something I had to tweak. Again, though, that's just a range, not "under number X and I'm dead, over number X and I'm golden."

    I used to belong to a low-carb forum. There were various types of LC there. "Name" ones and others. ;) Seriously, so so so few people were "lifers" on there. And it's not as if there's really any one specific eating plan that knocks it out of the ballpark and is "the" plan, but...the only thing I've seen really work with any sort of consistency at all is to eat less than one is expending. What, specifically, is eaten within that range is a matter of preference, dietary restrictions, and personalization.

    And, happy Thanksgiving to you too! I'm excited. Going to cook tomorrow. :)
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    Oh yes, forgot to mention, here is the link to the main low carber forum group here in MFP. It's where most of us Ketophiles tend to hang out:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/discussions/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

    So request to join and then maybe lurk to your heart's content...?
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Atkins might be a good place to look if you want to try keto but then transition to a low carb or moderate carb lifestyle. The phase 1 plan is basically a keto style plan and then phase 2 and 3 add in more carbs.

    I went keto and found it worked well for me so over a year later I am still doing it. My carbs are slightly higher (20-50g rather than below 20g per day) but I feel better with low carbs so I keep them low. I'm afraid I can't help with transitioning. I just ate more food so my carbs came up with it.
  • hotphoenixrising
    hotphoenixrising Posts: 9 Member
    Hi @LAWoman72 @ladipoet and @nvmomketo ! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday, (however you chose to spend the days;) and thank you all so much for your feedback. All well appreciated and helpful in making this decision (or not). I do think I'll start with an Atkins (or the old South Beach Diet) as I fully agree thinking about transitioning before starting is certainly a flag! (LOL @ myself) thank you for inviting me to join the Keto group and I think I will as I am interested in seeing what others are eating and finding a low-card plan "I can live on and with" best wishes to you all!
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    hotphoenixrising wrote: »
    Hi @LAWoman72 @ladipoet and @nvmomketo ! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday, (however you chose to spend the days;) and thank you all so much for your feedback. All well appreciated and helpful in making this decision (or not). I do think I'll start with an Atkins (or the old South Beach Diet) as I fully agree thinking about transitioning before starting is certainly a flag! (LOL @ myself) thank you for inviting me to join the Keto group and I think I will as I am interested in seeing what others are eating and finding a low-card plan "I can live on and with" best wishes to you all!

    Good luck and good health to you!
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited November 2016
    your so new and youve failed in the past why are you jumping into another diet like this...just do CICO....no exit strategy needed...Personally i eat very high carb and iv lost weight just fine by just CICO and a little walking
  • xmarye
    xmarye Posts: 385 Member
    edited November 2016
    I tried LCHF (20g of net carbs a day) and really liked it at first. I lost 35lbs in 2 months (had about 60lbs to lose) and felt on top of the world, but at that half-way point through my weight loss I wanted to start being more active and found that I couldn't sustain such low carbs (you need energy to fuel your workouts); that's when I started reintegrating carbs. I meant to do it the right way and slowly... but ultimately failed. I now realize that this whole LCHF was more of a way to avoid dealing with my carb addiction (sweets and such) then learning to deal with the underlying issues and finding a balanced way of living, which caught up to me in the end. I now kinda struggle mentally even more with including carbs into my diet, but I'm starting to shift my perspective to a more healthy relationship with ALL food groups. I did learn throughout the process though so all isn't lost!

    On the same subject, I would say that if you are interested in the principle of low carbs, you might want to research carb cycling, which is a more reasonable way of controlling carbs according to your activity/rest days.

    Good luck on your journey oxox

    PS. You might find this video interesting as well as the rest of their channel. This couple has lost 130lbs EACH and I like watching their grocery hauls, meal preps and ''what I eat in a day'' videos.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDOKMv4F-c&index=93&list=UU9H0jn1nFVZwW2_O0zq9Eiw
  • bfitgirl
    bfitgirl Posts: 138 Member
    I do believe that deficit is the only way to lose weight however I think myself macros can play a role in how you feel in changing the way you eat. I've done low carb and lost body fat quickly while keeping muscle, thought it really was the answer but after about 18 mths just wasn't sustainable for me, I was fairly miserable to be v honest, developed some good/bad tags on food and I really missed having a guilt free meal once in a while. I am now on a more even macro of 30p 40f 30c which seems more workable for me in that I can indulge in carbs occasionally if I want and still balance it in my weekly allowance. I did take 4 years to figure this out
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    xmarye wrote: »
    I tried LCHF (20g of net carbs a day) and really liked it at first. I lost 35lbs in 2 months (had about 60lbs to lose) and felt on top of the world, but at that half-way point through my weight loss I wanted to start being more active and found that I couldn't sustain such low carbs (you need energy to fuel your workouts); that's when I started reintegrating carbs. I meant to do it the right way and slowly... but ultimately failed. I now realize that this whole LCHF was more of a way to avoid dealing with my carb addiction (sweets and such) then learning to deal with the underlying issues and finding a balanced way of living, which caught up to me in the end. I now kinda struggle mentally even more with including carbs into my diet, but I'm starting to shift my perspective to a more healthy relationship with ALL food groups. I did learn throughout the process though so all isn't lost!

    On the same subject, I would say that if you are interested in the principle of low carbs, you might want to research carb cycling, which is a more reasonable way of controlling carbs according to your activity/rest days.

    Good luck on your journey oxox

    PS. You might find this video interesting as well as the rest of their channel. This couple has lost 130lbs EACH and I like watching their grocery hauls, meal preps and ''what I eat in a day'' videos.

    That video is ... not very good. I thought she was high for the first 30 seconds on the video. LOL Then she discusses how LCHF will break your metabolism because your body forgets how to handle carbs. She then says how she was tired and moody on a LCHF diet which she said they did wrong (because they just dropped carbs and didn't increase other foods - a VLCD. Plus the symptoms she described were that of an electrolyte imbalance.

    LCHF isn't for everyone, and keto levels of low carb may appeal to even fewer people, but that video has a lot of misinformation and should not be used as an teaching tool to base a diet on.
  • xmarye
    xmarye Posts: 385 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    xmarye wrote: »
    I tried LCHF (20g of net carbs a day) and really liked it at first. I lost 35lbs in 2 months (had about 60lbs to lose) and felt on top of the world, but at that half-way point through my weight loss I wanted to start being more active and found that I couldn't sustain such low carbs (you need energy to fuel your workouts); that's when I started reintegrating carbs. I meant to do it the right way and slowly... but ultimately failed. I now realize that this whole LCHF was more of a way to avoid dealing with my carb addiction (sweets and such) then learning to deal with the underlying issues and finding a balanced way of living, which caught up to me in the end. I now kinda struggle mentally even more with including carbs into my diet, but I'm starting to shift my perspective to a more healthy relationship with ALL food groups. I did learn throughout the process though so all isn't lost!

    On the same subject, I would say that if you are interested in the principle of low carbs, you might want to research carb cycling, which is a more reasonable way of controlling carbs according to your activity/rest days.

    Good luck on your journey oxox

    PS. You might find this video interesting as well as the rest of their channel. This couple has lost 130lbs EACH and I like watching their grocery hauls, meal preps and ''what I eat in a day'' videos.

    That video is ... not very good. I thought she was high for the first 30 seconds on the video. LOL Then she discusses how LCHF will break your metabolism because your body forgets how to handle carbs. She then says how she was tired and moody on a LCHF diet which she said they did wrong (because they just dropped carbs and didn't increase other foods - a VLCD. Plus the symptoms she described were that of an electrolyte imbalance.

    LCHF isn't for everyone, and keto levels of low carb may appeal to even fewer people, but that video has a lot of misinformation and should not be used as an teaching tool to base a diet on.

    Well that's just your opinion. She's just goofy and she's always that way. I personally think she's pretty real and down to earth. It really does cause a shock to your body when you cut out carbs for a while to then go back to it, anything that you do in such a drastic way to get drastic results must result in drastic repercussions when you make your body go from one extreme to the other and then back just as fast as you got into it; which often happens with high carb diets. The story thereafter explains how hard it can be to maintain high activity levels while cutting out carbs, which is basically the best source of energy to fuel activity and repairing muscles. They now carb cycle to fuel their intense workouts. She does mention say she thinks she could have made it work better, and that it might work for some people, but that SHE thinks it's not sustainable long term or suitable if you're someone that works out at high intensity.
  • THEMEAT1981
    THEMEAT1981 Posts: 1 Member
    Congratulations on your weight loss.

    It can take longer than 8 weeks to become keto adapted.
    Assuming you have a WELL FORMULATED ketogenic diet (70-75%fat 20-25%protein 5%carbs)..and are eating enough YOU DID NOT and you know that.
    if you want to work out hard on low carb you got to eat your calories.
    you can't severely restrict your intake and expect to perform.
    That's what screws you up.
    if you have carbohydrate intolerance (carbs make you fat) wouldn't you think if you just started eating tons of them thay would make you fat agian.
    not counting the water weight you would gain back.
    The idea is to increase them slowly to find your tolerance (where you don't get fat agian)

    Thank you for sharing YOUR EXPERIENCE AND THOUGHTS

    EVERY ONE reading this. ...
    she is right it's not for everyone

    IF YOUR GONA TRY IT DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DO IT RIGHT

    Thank you
    Ps YouTube

    Peter Attia.......Dom D'Agostino......Jacob Wilson...... Steven Phinney ......Jeff Volk.....Robert Atkins......



  • Eternitii
    Eternitii Posts: 18 Member
    Started this past Monday and am already seeing results! I definitely feel like this sustainable because there are so many options it's almost like you're barely limiting yourself add me and we win and lose at the same time
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