Is it worth my efforts, if I can’t keep to keto-carb level?

huango

Is it worth my efforts, if I can’t keep to keto-carb level?


So I aim for keto, in terms of ~20g net carbs.
Then I allow myself more carbs for most kinds of veggies, in large servings:
- Cabbage
- lettuce
- arugula
- cucumber
- sweet peppers
- cherry tomato
- green beans
- broccoli
(kinda like the Fighter Diet: fill up on high volume)

I’m trying to do this long-term, and I feel like the Keto-diet is too limiting.
I’m already cutting out 98% of all fruit, which I love more than ice cream.

I like to eat a lot (quantity) for such a short person.
So I want to fill up on veggies, instead of what I really want: potato chips, crunchy fried chicken, chocolate covered pretzels, and all that crappy stuff available out there.

Since I’m not doing truly keto (because I can’t get my fat high enough without increasing my carbs), I am still dealing with cravings.

-->> My question is whether it is I am wasting my effort with going lower-carb, if I’m not truly hitting ketosis?
The lower carb diet does seem to help me not eat over my calories
(most of the time, since I’m not finishing up a whole bag of kettlecorn popcorn).

appreciate your feedback since I know many of you are successful with keto long-term,
Thank you,
Amanda

-

Side note:
I volunteered at a fundraiser yesterday and one of the vendors gave me fresh kettlecorn popcorn, which is one of my top weaknesses. I was able to bring it home to my family and not have any.

Another vendor gave away 2-3 fresh oven-fire pizzas, and we were all starving, having worked almost 8hours without food, but I was able to drink my protein shake and head home for a dinner of chicken and salad.

LizinLowell

I'm not a medical professional, I'm just an avid low carber & my opinion is yes! It's totally worth keeping at it. Sounds like you are eating real foods & that is the main thing.

Regarding cravings, I would ask how long have you been at it because they could yet ease up in time.

Also I'm not sure I understand why you can't increase fats without increasing carbs? For example adding butter or oils to to the veg you are already eating would increase fats & perhaps aid in satiety with no carb increase. But it's not necessary to eat a ton of fat to be in ketosis.

Finally I wonder how much protein you are getting because that would also be a factor in curbing cravings. Also sodium helps with cravings I've found.

And congrats on staying away from the foods that won't help you reach your goals!

1thankful_momma

I second above statements

JohnnyLowCarb

If you stay within your calorie goal you don't have to be keto or low carb. These are simply types of way of eating that people gravitate toward to lose weight or maintain. They choose this woe because they can stick with it and reach their goals. If it is too restrictive for you find an alternate method.

retirehappy

Absolutely!!!

Have you read the launchpad info on the various LC plans?
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10348418/various-lc-programs#latest

The launchpad also has a thread of resources, the podcasts, videos, and books there are most helpful.

Members here eat a wide range of carbs, some 0, others eat in the 100 g or slightly higher range.

Being in ketosis is not necessary for weight loss.

Carbs trigger binge eating in a lot of people.

Fat is a good thing. Eat some carbs, moderate protein, and fat till satiety.

Just keep going. If you blow it at one meal, just get back on plan at your next meal.

Good luck on your Journey.

Violet_Flux

Just to put this in point form...

• You don't need to be in ketosis to be Low Carb.
• You don't (necessarily) need to be under 20g carbs to be in ketosis. (Some people get into ketosis at 50g.)
• You don't need to add extra fat to be in ketosis.
• You don't need to be in ketosis to lose weight.

I apologize if I missed it, but how long have you been eating low carb? It can take a few days to a few weeks for the other cravings to subside.

Well done with the willpower, avoiding the free treats.

GaleHawkins

A lot of good points are being made @huango.

We are all different and start at different points physically and mentally. I started losing my cravings for carbs in general two weeks after going off of added sugar and all forms of all grains but LCHF did not fix me overnight.

In only 30 days it was doing a good job of managing my body pain. IBS resolved fully six months in and has not returned for even one day for the last two years. The mental image of some high carb sugar based foods and how they tasted were kind of strong for the first six months but I could not hear them saying Reach Out and Touch Me.

At 66 my health is much improved since Oct 2014. After getting down to 205 +/-5 pounds from 250 I have maintained there for two years.

The last couple weeks I was down another belt hole and could better see muscles in my legs and sense my hands were thinner. These changes changed the scales for the first time this morning (203.6) so I expect I have started my drift down to 175 which make take another two years.

I do my counting by monitoring body weight. In Oct 2014 at the age of 63 rushing to my death I made a commitment to NEVER go on a diet again to lose weight after 40 years of yo-yoing weight.

Over the last month I have cut back to 1-2 teaspoons of coconut oil and eating $50 of nuts weekly but it was not a conscious decision on my part but just simply a change in my taste for them. Even when I was counting carbs to some degree I hung at around 50 grams daily where I stay in a state of nutritional ketosis of some level most of the time.

For the most part I have dumped a lot of medical myths after doing three years of heavy reading of research and booted the religion of dieting to hell.

My current focus is guided by asking the same question daily. Is this way of eating, moving or thinking increasing my odds of living to being 110 walking and talking the entire way?

If the answer comes back yes then I continue on track. If it turns out any of these factors are negative to me living to be 110 I stop doing it. I do know most often not planning to live is planning to die prematurely.

While I do not know when I will die I do expect my next 40-50 years to be more enjoyable than the first 63 years of my life.

Calories count but our way of thinking is the tail that wags the dog I have learned from many sources over the past three years.

It sounds and looks like you have your health going in your favor and best of continued success. Just benchmark yourself against your past self and not others.

kpk54

It's worth your time to continue on what appears (from your post) to be a way of eating that includes whole foods, higher than keto levels of carbs (if you find keto levels restrictive) and avoidance of "junk"/processed foods...if that is how you want to eat, it enables you to lose pounds if needed, allows for maintaining goal weight, doesn't cause cravings and keeps you satiated. Go for it!

As mentioned by most above: you do not have to be in ketosis to lose/maintain weight.

Have you made that trip to...was it somewhere in Asia??...that you mentioned months ago or is it still on the calendar? How did you do with changes in foods and wanting to enjoy and try the variety being offered? I think that was you who was going. Sorry if I have the wrong person.

Dragonwolf

Another vendor gave away 2-3 fresh oven-fire pizzas, and we were all starving, having worked almost 8hours without food, but I was able to drink my protein shake and head home for a dinner of chicken and salad.

Missed opportunity -- eat the toppings. Fat, protein, veggie carbs, without blowing your carb count way out of the water with the bread.

(because I can’t get my fat high enough without increasing my carbs),

Omelets with spinach and peppers and cheese and sausage. Butter on the broccoli. Cream or oil based dressings on your salad. Skin on your chicken (or trade the chicken in for pork, beef, lamb, etc). Make that protein shake with whole milk or half and half (especially if it's your only food when you're on your feet all day at an event).

Other than that, odds are you're just dealing with the learning curve. Stick with it, it'll take some time to work things out.

Share with us what you are eating and we should be able to help you tweak it.

cstehansen

The single most important thing is the quality of the food. By that I mean real food versus the stuff that comes in a box or bag (i.e. chips, bread, crackers, cookies, etc.). If you do this, you will almost certainly be low carb by default - not necessarily keto.

I completely understand the volume eating. I am not short, but I have always been a volume eater. When that was pizza buffets, it was not so good.

As for having enough fat, I also understand. Everyone is different, but protein is not as satiating for me as fat, so volume becomes an issue. One way I have incorporated more fat and more volume is celery with pimento cheese. I found some pimento cheese at Sam's Club that is 12g fat, 4g protein and 0g carb (in reality it is not 0, but less than 1) per 2 tablespoons. Celery provides some bulk, and the pimento cheese provides the fat. This also helps with the desire for crunchy that it sounds like you want. I think I may try replacing the celery with some of what you mentioned since that sounds like it could be good as well (in particular cucumber and broccoli).

The SAD is 50-65% carb. If you eat real food and not all the bread, cereal, pasta, etc., even adding as much of what you listed as you can stomach, it would be hard to get above 30-35% carb - at least in terms of net carbs since all those items have a fair amount of fiber in them. I am guessing the quantities of these you are eating would keep you even below that.

It is the sugar and processed carbs which cause the issues with insulin spiking leading to weight gain/retention. Eating raw most veggies will not cause any issue in this regard.

GaleHawkins

I have been a pizza scraper for over two years now.

For the last couple years I try to keep a supply of nuts in the car/office so when I get caught with only bad food choices I have sometime to grab. I do the same with tuna in olive oil.

Tried pumpkin seed for the first time the other day and they were AWESOME but I have not read how good they are health wise.

kirkor

GaleHawkins wrote: »

Tried pumpkin seed for the first time the other day and they were AWESOME but I have not read how good they are health wise.

They have a pretty bad omega 6:omega 3 ratio

Sunny_Bunny_

Eating very high fat IS NOT what makes keto happen. It's eating so few carbs that your body must make its own glucose. You could eat zero fat and very low carb, for example fasting... and you'd be in ketosis. So you do not have to eat boat loads of fat to be keto. The fat is supposed to come from your body if weight loss is your goal. If you don't have weight to lose, then yes, you'd have to eat more fat.


And



So even if you are eating volumes of the veggies you mentioned, I suspect you'd still be in ketosis at least a fair amount of each day as the fiber in those is a large part of their carb count and it cannot be made into glucose. Your body will no doubt have to make some of its own glucose.
All you need for keto is low carb. You only need to eat enough fat to provide an essential amount of fatty acids. You never have to add butter or coconut oil or hwc to a single thing for keto and if weight loss os your goal, you'd be better off limiting those anyway.

GaleHawkins

kirkor wrote: »

GaleHawkins wrote: »

Tried pumpkin seed for the first time the other day and they were AWESOME but I have not read how good they are health wise.

They have a pretty bad omega 6:omega 3 ratio

I will check that out.
Thanks

Chena83

@GaleHawkins I must first say, congratulate yourself for making it to this day this very moment of WOE because making the change from ANYTHING other than how we WERE eating (regaurdless of how many carbs you are currently eating) is an accomplishment all in itself. I have been on and off Keto for 3 years. This is the FIRST time I have went more than 9 days. Today is day 50. I have my days. For me....sticking to it is worth it because I am seeing REAL results. I have 5 kids and a husband who are ALL addicted to sugar. I just made them some peanut butter fudge and I did not touch it. I still have cravings only when I am low on sodium. I just completed my 1st 24 hour fast. It was a goal to see if I could and I DID. For me, again, sticking to it is worth it. I believe in energy and being guided. Only you and your energy know if it is worth it to stick to it. I know that you can do this. As in life we have good days and eeeee days so will our eating. I would HIGHYLY reccomend you make sure you are taking ALL, or most, of the suppliments needed to help your body with this new way of metabolizing.

Girl. ..you have this. Only you honestly know the answer to your question about is it worth it. If you stick to it, you will not be alone. Look at your wondeful friends who are helping you now. We got you girl and we will be here with you in your journey. YOU GOT THIS.

nvmomketo

You are eating good quality foods. Unless you need to be in ketosis for something, or lower carb for metabolic reasons, I wouldn't worry about it.

There are health benefits to low carb. If you feel good doing it, I would continue.

If your cravings continue, you may want to lower your carbs as an experiment but I would first raise your salt. Low electrolytes can feel like food cravings. Unless you are getting 3000-5000mg of sodium per day, you may have low electrolytes.

Good luck!

huango

Sorry for the drive-by.
Thank you so very much for your inputs.
I will get personal responses soon.
(work/end of school year/crazy time of the year).

--

kpk54 wrote: »

Have you made that trip to...was it somewhere in Asia??...that you mentioned months ago or is it still on the calendar? How did you do with changes in foods and wanting to enjoy and try the variety being offered? I think that was you who was going. Sorry if I have the wrong person.

Great memory!
Yes, we had an amazing 25days trip to China and Japan.
We absolutely loved Kyoto, Japan!!!

I lost about 3# even though we ate lots of treats (MUST try the Pablo cheese tarts) and rice and noodles. But we must have walked/hiked/climbed 4-10miles every day, while carrying a heavy backpack (water, toilet paper, hand wipes, etc).



Have about 4000 pictures to go through.

4/16/2017: Beijing Great Wall


--

4/11/2017: Huashan Chess Pavillion
This was quite a hike!
Didn't actually get *TO* the Pavillion (my son was recovering from a broken tibia and wearing an airboot, too risky to climb there)



Pablo cheese tarts:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pablo-心斎橋店-大阪市-中央区

kpk54

So glad you were able to make the trip.
Eek to this:
http://www.boredpanda.com/worlds-most-dangerous-hiking-trail-huashan-mountain-china/

dasher602014

And back to keto or low carb, I found this article helpful too.

http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2016/01/dont-be-a-ketard1.html

(Your photos are beautiful, thanks for posting!)

AlexandraCarlyle

kpk54 wrote: »

So glad you were able to make the trip.
Eek to this:
http://www.boredpanda.com/worlds-most-dangerous-hiking-trail-huashan-mountain-china/

The only way I'd be able to get my H up there would be in an urn.
Come to think of it, I wouldn't be uber-keen either.....

AlexandraCarlyle

I'd be slightly more keen on this.

But only slightly....