Starving on Keto!

thelittleinu

Are you on this for a health reason or for weight loss? I did this (high fat keto) for a while for a seizure disorder/migraines and it really helped, but even with THAT I couldn't stick to it. I try to keep my carbs low-ish, but yeah. I can't imagine anyone doing this for weight loss.

I am just doing this for weight loss. It's not too difficult except for being hungry all the time!

Marla64

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

tigersword

The only carbs I get are from vegetables, I think. I don't eat any sugar, bread, rice, pasta, cereal, or starchy vegetables.

lower your carbs to between 75g and 100g. They are too high. You could go lower, but I don't know if it is necessary. Then adjust your protein for your lean body mass, and the fat will be what is left. That should fix it. The carbs are making you crave.

Did you read her diary? She's eating under 50g carbs per day.

Marll

The only carbs I get are from vegetables, I think. I don't eat any sugar, bread, rice, pasta, cereal, or starchy vegetables.

Looking back a few weeks on your diary I can give you these suggestions:

Light salad dressing - Stop using that, go full fat. It will taste better and won't have the hidden sugars in them that most "lite" products do.

Meatless burgers? - Stop eating processed veggie goop. Eat a real burger, you need the fat to succeed on a keto diet

Fat free cheese - Don't even bother with this stuff, it's highly processed and gives you none of the good aspects of cheese, including the fat

Balsalmic vinegar - Actually pretty high in sugar/glycemic impact. Avoid it and go for standard oil and vinegar dressings or ranch and ceasar dressings.

Anything with wheat in it - You have to avoid this for success. Even if it's only occasionally, generally it's too much.

stacygayle

I eat low carb and I eat 1800 to 2000 calories a day. I have been losing 2-3 pounds per week and I'm usually never hungry. I also drink a lot of water during the day. I could never eat 1200 calories and be able to function. I stay hungry all the time eating 1200 calories so I eat more so I don't stay hungry but I also walk and do other activity throughout the day to keep up the burn so that 1800 calories will work for me. When I wake up in the morning is the only time I'm hungry. I also eat every 3 hours to keep my blood sugar stable. I have hypoglycemia and if I eat simple carbs my blood sugar crashes an hour after eating to around 55 -60 and I feel really bad. That's why I decided to go low carb and my doctor recommended it to me too.

tigersword

Are you on this for a health reason or for weight loss? I did this (high fat keto) for a while for a seizure disorder/migraines and it really helped, but even with THAT I couldn't stick to it. I try to keep my carbs low-ish, but yeah. I can't imagine anyone doing this for weight loss.

I am just doing this for weight loss. It's not too difficult except for being hungry all the time!

Waste of time, honestly. Ketogenic diets don't lose fat any faster than any other diet. You just lose a lot of water weight doing keto.

Also, at your height and weight, you don't really have that much weight to lose, you have a BMI of 23. You should be focusing on strength training and body recomposition, not weight loss.

Marll

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

WRONG. Go back to the doctor and get the correct explanation. Ketosis/lipolysis and ketoacidosis are two completely different metabolic processes which share only the same by-product and unfortunately similar names. The state of ketoacidosis is due to wildly high blood sugar and a failed pancreas, whereas ketosis is the result of the body manufacturing glucose to prevent low blood sugar.

So to be clear: you simply cannot get into a state of ketoacidosis by eating low-carb. In fact, even Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics cannot enter into a ketoacidic state by eating low-carb. You can only get into that state by consuming too much high-glycemic food and producing little to no insulin to stabilize this out-of-control-high blood sugar (or by being so insulin-resistant that the insulin does no good... and low-carb eating fixes insulin resistance).

Marll

Are you on this for a health reason or for weight loss? I did this (high fat keto) for a while for a seizure disorder/migraines and it really helped, but even with THAT I couldn't stick to it. I try to keep my carbs low-ish, but yeah. I can't imagine anyone doing this for weight loss.

I am just doing this for weight loss. It's not too difficult except for being hungry all the time!

Waste of time, honestly. Ketogenic diets don't lose fat any faster than any other diet. You just lose a lot of water weight doing keto.

Also, at your height and weight, you don't really have that much weight to lose, you have a BMI of 23. You should be focusing on strength training and body recomposition, not weight loss.

I don't agree with your take on ketogenic diets, but I will agree at her height and weight some weight lifting and body sculpting would be more in order than weight loss.

angng

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

Ketoacidosis and ketosis are not the same thing. Not that I think that ketogenic diets are generally a good idea for people without some compelling reason to be on one.

Marla64

I didn't mean to imply that she could go into keto-acidosis....simply that ketones in her urine ARE NOT a good thing.

Losing weight is not worth getting sick over.

tigersword

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

Ketosis =/= Ketoacidosis. Those are two very different conditions. Ketoacidosis is dangerous. Ketosis is perfectly normal, and happens anytime your body is fasting in fat burning mode, between meals, while sleeping, etc. A ketogenic diet just manipulates blood glucose to keep the body in a state of ketosis more often. The thing is, it does that by burning the dietary fat eaten, it doesn't actually burn any extra body fat than a non-ketogenic diet does. Strictly speaking, it's a purely personal preference as to whether someone wants to eat a ketogenic diet or not in general, but deciding to do it "just to lose weight" is a waste of time.

angng

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

WRONG. Go back to the doctor and get the correct explanation. Ketosis/lipolysis and ketoacidosis are two completely different metabolic processes which share only the same by-product and unfortunately similar names. The state of ketoacidosis is due to wildly high blood sugar and a failed pancreas, whereas ketosis is the result of the body manufacturing glucose to prevent low blood sugar.

So to be clear: you simply cannot get into a state of ketoacidosis by eating low-carb. In fact, even Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics cannot enter into a ketoacidic state by eating low-carb. You can only get into that state by consuming too much high-glycemic food and producing little to no insulin to stabilize this out-of-control-high blood sugar (or by being so insulin-resistant that the insulin does no good... and low-carb eating fixes insulin resistance).

This.

TheFunBun

I thought the entire point of a keto diet was so you didn't have to count calories, and then had to walk the tightrope of slowly increasing your carbs at the end for fear of gaining it all back?

I would eat like a -monster- on a keto diet.

PMFarina

I would just like to say be careful! just because a diet is in a book or becomes a fad doesn't mean it's safe. Ketoacidosis is not healthy! it can actually be fatal depending on the extent. Yes, your body changes it 's metabolism to burn fat when it doesn't have enough sugar but increased ketone bodies make your blood more acidic. It's a survival mode the body goes into when it thinks it's starving and could cause death. People with type 1 diabetes can have problems with this when they don't have enough insulin to take glucose (sugar) into their cells for use. Diabetics with eating disorders also use this method (under-dosing insulin) to try and lose weight. so again... its is not good for your body. I don't mean to sound bossy here, I'm just saying you might want to do a little research before you put your body through something that could have long term consequences.

Chood5

It's a high - fat diet, which means you don't feel full, like when you eat meat or veggies. But, you reach your calorie count faster. I would switch diets.

So eating low fat foods will keep me feeling full?

Marla64

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

When your body burns fat and muscle for fuel instead of sugar LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, the byproducts are toxic-- ketones. Any person with any sense will tell you that's NOT A GOOD THING.

You came here for advice. I advise you to abandon this nonsense and eat a sensible freaking diet. 1200 calories in and of itself isn't so bad. But for heaven's sake, not to mention YOUR BODY'S sake, please eat sensibly.

Ketosis =/= Ketoacidosis. Those are two very different conditions. Ketoacidosis is dangerous. Ketosis is perfectly normal, and happens anytime your body is fasting in fat burning mode, between meals, while sleeping, etc. A ketogenic diet just manipulates blood glucose to keep the body in a state of ketosis more often. The thing is, it does that by burning the dietary fat eaten, it doesn't actually burn any extra body fat than a non-ketogenic diet does. Strictly speaking, it's a purely personal preference as to whether someone wants to eat a ketogenic diet or not in general, but deciding to do it "just to lose weight" is a waste of time.

yes, I do see that-- thanks. I seem to remember a friend of mine having to put his epileptic daughter on a ketogenic diet, now that we're discussing it. He was trying to control her seizures, and doctors suggested it. She was miserable, and her growth was positively stunted. She was maybe 12 or 13 at the time. It was a horrible existence.

I'll stay on record as believing this to be madness. I personally have hurt myself by dieting like a dope. While my doctor says I'm not responsible for crushing my thyroid, I know that eating 1200 calories, and training for a half marathon without eating back my exercise calories surely didn't help. My thyroid died, and my weight came back on, on a 1400 calorie diet.

This is for life, people-- it's a journey, not a destination. Sure, you can eat like an idiot and put your body into ketosis-- but can you sustain that forever? Lose your weight sensibly, in a way you can live with for the rest of your life.

This is your public service announcement.

tigersword

Are you on this for a health reason or for weight loss? I did this (high fat keto) for a while for a seizure disorder/migraines and it really helped, but even with THAT I couldn't stick to it. I try to keep my carbs low-ish, but yeah. I can't imagine anyone doing this for weight loss.

I am just doing this for weight loss. It's not too difficult except for being hungry all the time!

Waste of time, honestly. Ketogenic diets don't lose fat any faster than any other diet. You just lose a lot of water weight doing keto.

Also, at your height and weight, you don't really have that much weight to lose, you have a BMI of 23. You should be focusing on strength training and body recomposition, not weight loss.

I don't agree with your take on ketogenic diets, but I will agree at her height and weight some weight lifting and body sculpting would be more in order than weight loss.

Ketogenic diets lose weight faster in the short term, because cutting out carbs leads to a reduction in stored muscle glycogen. Muscles store about 2 pounds of glycogen (sometimes more or less) when full. Glycogen takes 4 parts of water to one part of glycogen for storage. So when you cut carbs, and your body exhausts the 2 pounds of glycogen in your body, you also drop 8 pounds in water weight. This is why people who go on ketogenic diets always seem to lose 10 pounds or so seemingly over night. It's not fat, it's water and glycogen. In controlled conditions, eating similar calorie and similar protein levels, ketogenic diets don't burn any more fat than non-ketogenic diets. And then when you lengthen the trial out to 6 months to a year, the non-ketogenic diets catch up with the water and glycogen loss (less body weight requires less glycogen storage) and shows equal total weight loss to non-ketogenic diets.

10KEyes

Okay-- I'm sorry, I'll chime in here, although I almost never, ever come to these threads.

I have to ask-- what in the world are you thinking? You're looking for ketones in your urine as a GOOD thing? My daughter is a juvenile diabetic, and was in the hospital near death due to diabetic keto-acidosis-- in short, ketones in her urine. Her body couldn't burn sugar, so it turned to fat and muscle to survive.

Type I diabetics cannot do Ketosis, it is very dangerous. I believe it has to do with the Ketones (sugar) building up and having no insulin response causes an overload of ketones which is very dangerous. Ketosis shouldn't be a problem for a person who has a healthy insulin response. If the system is broken, then yeah, there is a problem.

Bdde

I am doing a version of this keeping my carbs at 30 g or less and getting them from veggies. I love it so far. I don't feel bloated, I'm energized, and never feel hungry. I honestly feel like i finally found what works for me. I hate bread and rice makes me sick but i was still eating them because i wanted to eat something along with my proteins. Eat more good stuff. Your body is asking maybe begging you for food so eat. Just dont binge on the bad stuff like chips and french fries!

Good luck!

10KEyes

but can you sustain that forever?

You make a good point, sustainability is vital. I find that my non-grain whole foods/meats diet is quite sustainable and because I eat plenty of veggies, meats, and fat, my diet is naturally lower carb than many.