ketosis..whose with us??

CommandaPanda

I haven't read any of your posts yet, but I know this post is for me.

I've been Keto for 6 weeks now. I've also lost 20 lbs and 2" around my waist. At this point, I'd consider myself a Keto hero. I just finished reading Lyle McDonald's "The Ketogenic Diet", an awesome read for anyone currently on or considering taking up ANY variation of the Ketogenic Diet.

Blayzn10Tiffers

I haven't read any of your posts yet, but I know this post is for me.

I've been Keto for 6 weeks now. I've also lost 20 lbs and 2" around my waist. At this point, I'd consider myself a Keto hero. I just finished reading Lyle McDonald's "The Ketogenic Diet", an awesome read for anyone currently on or considering taking up ANY variation of the Ketogenic Diet.

Thank you, its always good to read success stories!! I guess mine is a crazy variation and far from the full Keto but I say its all inspiring!

jomckillop

There is no need to let your body go into dangerous ketosis, you can lose 2lb a week by eating 40-50 carbs per week.
Why torture yourself?

cfloresmt

keto diet is just awesome. Meat and cheese EVERYWHERE. I nearly lose 30lbs since starting just two months ago. Feel as best as ever, my blood tests are the best theyve ever been and I've hit 10% BF now too.

I just love it. You feel so satisfied and satiated after you eat. It is just so rewarding eating. I try to keep the carb intake to a minimum (<15gr on most days), get hungry only in my eating window and when hungry I get full up easily and get really satisfied. I never enjoyed food this much. Before the more I ate, the hungrier I got. Keto was an eyeopener.

I don't see myself enjoying pizza and pasta anymore. Fresh bread is always tantalizing, but I can live without that.

Keto ftw!

CommandaPanda

I haven't read any of your posts yet, but I know this post is for me.

I've been Keto for 6 weeks now. I've also lost 20 lbs and 2" around my waist. At this point, I'd consider myself a Keto hero. I just finished reading Lyle McDonald's "The Ketogenic Diet", an awesome read for anyone currently on or considering taking up ANY variation of the Ketogenic Diet.

Thank you, its always good to read success stories!! I guess mine is a crazy variation and far from the full Keto but I say its all inspiring!

I JUST finished reading through all of the posts so here is what I have to say in reply to everything I've read:

To get into Ketosis:
Pretty basic, anything below 100g carbs/day is considered low enough to get your body into Ketosis. However, everybody's body reacts slightly differently so you should adjust accordingly as most people practicing any variant of the Ketogenic Diet finds 30g/day is a sufficient enough goal to get your body into a pretty solid state of Ketosis. Reputable research has shown that the lower the carb intake, the quicker you will reach Ketosis (I can cite this if necessary but I'm being lazy).

When I first started, I set my goal to be around 50-60 or so carbs/day and that was enough to get me into Ketosis... As I made it through each week, I would slightly adjust my food intake until I made it down to around 30g/day. I would recommend this for beginners as well since it slowly introduces you into the diet.

I started off on the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD), which allows a carb load day once a week for 1-2 days. The first week or two I started this diet, I reached Ketosis within the first 2-3 days with heavy Ketone production. After weeks 4-5, coming off my carb load, it's taking me a really long time to reach Ketosis with no change in my exercise regimen.

Exercise:
It's highly encouraged that you incorporate some form of strength training in your routine. This will minimize the amount of muscle being lost from your general weight loss.

Cardio can also be supplemented, however (reputable) research has shown that low intensity cardio at around 65% max heart rate will enhance your state of cardio. High-intensity cardio, on the other hand, has shown to temporarily kick your body OUT of Ketosis and is recognized as being "anti-ketogenic" exercise. If you do decide to take up any sort of HIIT training, it's recommended that you immediately follow it up with about 10 minutes or so of low-intensity cardio (such as jogging, this would be a nice cooldown too).

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Now, it is said that you really shouldn't be losing any more than 2 lbs/week, and I've found that nearly impossible to do as the weight is coming off at such a rapid rate.

If anyone would like more info on Keto, please feel free to ask. I'm still working on my low-carb recipe book (pretty slim right now) but today I'm going to make an attempt at making low-carb cheesecake =]

CommandaPanda

Oh and the longer I stay on this diet, the more I start to lose cravings for super starchy foods. The thought of eating a potato kind of makes me feel uneasy... and I LOVE potatoes.

Pizza is still a weakness because of all that cheese. Since we can eat all the cheese we want to on this diet, it still makes my mouth water.

CommandaPanda

I haven't read any of your posts yet, but I know this post is for me.

I've been Keto for 6 weeks now. I've also lost 20 lbs and 2" around my waist. At this point, I'd consider myself a Keto hero. I just finished reading Lyle McDonald's "The Ketogenic Diet", an awesome read for anyone currently on or considering taking up ANY variation of the Ketogenic Diet.

Thank you, its always good to read success stories!! I guess mine is a crazy variation and far from the full Keto but I say its all inspiring!

I just checked out your diary. When I first started I would have 1 - 2 pieces of fruit per day. Now I don't really have fruit unless I'm treating myself. But I understand the whole chow hall ordeal. It's not like they give us too many options =P

You're doing well though, your carb intake is low enough so that you'll remain in Ketosis. Actually, the only critique that I do have is upping your fat intake. That's pretty difficult to CONSCIOUSLY do though. To get my fat up, I typically have some full-fat Greek yogurt with walnut pieces.

Loving your fiber intake! Actually, as you might already know, you can subtract your grams in fiber from your overall carb intake. So you consumed 16g of fiber today, meaning you should only count 47g of carbs today. Humans do not actually posses the enzymes necessary to breakdown/digest fiber to get any real carbs from it.

MaraDiaz

I've been in ketosis for over a month. It has its benefits. I'm definitely less hungry. I can walk past chocolate pudding, pastries, and candy any day of the month without having more than a mild twinge of longing now.

Although it's not a cure-all miracle for everything that ails me. I get cravings every now and then out of the blue (but before it was almost a daily thing). My allergies/asthma still prevents me from getting any exercise this time of year.

Also, I still plateau once a month as usual. Which is very frustrating, since I was losing 3 pounds a week until that dreaded monthly stall hit.

Well, I wanted a miracle, but I'll have to settle for substantial improvements.

cfloresmt

I've been in ketosis for over a month. It has its benefits. I'm definitely less hungry. I can walk past chocolate pudding, pastries, and candy any day of the month without having more than a mild twinge of longing now.

Although it's not a cure-all miracle for everything that ails me. I get cravings every now and then out of the blue (but before it was almost a daily thing). My allergies/asthma still prevents me from getting any exercise this time of year.

Also, I still plateau once a month as usual. Which is very frustrating, since I was losing 3 pounds a week until that dreaded monthly stall hit.

Well, I wanted a miracle, but I'll have to settle for substantial improvements.

you might want to consider intermittent fasting. Haven't plateaued once with it since starting it. Used to have a slowdown myself before. Makes your life much much easier once you get used to it too.

MaraDiaz

I've been in ketosis for over a month. It has its benefits. I'm definitely less hungry. I can walk past chocolate pudding, pastries, and candy any day of the month without having more than a mild twinge of longing now.

Although it's not a cure-all miracle for everything that ails me. I get cravings every now and then out of the blue (but before it was almost a daily thing). My allergies/asthma still prevents me from getting any exercise this time of year.

Also, I still plateau once a month as usual. Which is very frustrating, since I was losing 3 pounds a week until that dreaded monthly stall hit.

Well, I wanted a miracle, but I'll have to settle for substantial improvements.

you might want to consider intermittent fasting. Haven't plateaued once with it since starting it. Used to have a slowdown myself before. Makes your life much much easier once you get used to it too.

Thanks, I might try that. But I fear it's a cyclic female thing and if so I'm not sure it will help. Some of it is water weight, but it still throws me off every month like clockwork.

Edit- The wiki article also mentions this recommendation from a neuroscientist: I’m comfortable with saying that it’s healthy, it’s fine, to skip meals. The animal studies are very clear. ... I think it’s better to eat one meal a day than six small meals.

Actually, I often only eat one meal a day and it seems to work for me very well.

Akimajuktuq

Ketosis works great for me. Even though I had 49 grams of carbs (mostly from veggies), excluding fiber, yesterday, I'm going strong. For me, ketosis is healthy (many people confuse it with ketoacidosis) and I feel like superwoman when I am in that state. I have no negative side effects after the first three days, which is due to withdrawal from food addictions. For the first time in a long time, I was up and about until late in the evening. For me, there is no limit to how long I can be in ketosis. I just keep losing weight, feeling better, and NOT craving and overeating.

Akimajuktuq

Ketosis is an Adtkins Diet thing, where you count carbs and not calories. Seems to be the opposite of this program, however it is whatever works for YOU. I tried Atkins and lost 15 lbs in about 3 weeks time. My problem is that it wasn't a program I could live with.

I have finally found that I can alter my lifestyle of eating and lose weight and maintain it. I'm not doing anything drastic so I don't have to worry about going off the program.

it's not an "Atkins Diet thing" but perhaps many people weren't aware before that program became popular. Ketosis is a state of burning body fat instead of sugar. Humans are designed to be able to burn fat as needed and ketosis was a normal state, especially pre-agriculture times. Unfortunately, in modern times with an unhealthy simple carb diet, some of us benefit greatly from being in ketosis, both for weight loss and health.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Atkins diet, but he was on the right track. He missed the mark by not specifying early on that he meant to focus on unprocessed meat, and to this day, the program heavily promotes artificial sweeteners. I hear a lot of people say that this diet discourages vegetables; not so. Only the first two weeks have restrictions (but still 3 cups per day), then most of them are unlimited.

For me it makes sense to eat as close to what hunter and gatherers eat. No matter some of the people on here being disrespectful and condescending (I've only been here a day!) and telling me it's a "fad diet" doesn't phase me one bit. I know how I feel, I've studied nutrition (not just diets), and I live among people that are hunter and gatherers (Inuit). Unfortunately, they are now switching from an almost total protein/fat diet to a high processed grain and sugar diet, and, go figure, we are now seeing tooth decay, cancer, diabetes, low immunity, and nutritional deficiencies when these diseases did not exist before.

Akimajuktuq

There is no need to let your body go into dangerous ketosis, you can lose 2lb a week by eating 40-50 carbs per week.
Why torture yourself?

Ketosis is not ketoacidosis. Ketosis is a natural state that happens when we burn fat. I ate 49 grams of carbs yesterday, excluding fiber, and most of it was from veggies. I am still in ketosis and after four days of being back on track I am now feeling more energetic and healthy. Thank goodness.

It's really not "torture" to become healthier and lose weight. But don't take my word for it, there is lots of scientific research (I'm not talking diet books here, though many of them reference their sources). FOR ME, the torture was years ago when I damaged my body, mind, and spirit on the low fat/protein-fill up on grains nonsense. The mainstream nutritional advice still isn't great (low fat and unhealthy fat, while demonizing true healthy fats, and pro artificial sweeteners) but there is definitely some progress being made.

kaseysospacey

I've been in ketosis before. I lost a lot of weight- from 310 to 238 in maybe 4 months. I kept it off until after I had another baby and myy thyroid went crazy, but it has done that with all pregnancies and isn't related. I can't do that right now, because I'm brestfeeding my 7 month old, but after she is weaned I probably will go back to this. It isn't the "slow and steady" but my nutritionist and dr agree that once Im closer to goal that method would be better, but being so overweight its best to just get some weight off as quick as possible.

burkblondie

Please be careful because it's not good for your body in the long run!! Ketosis is super hard on your organs especially your kidney and liver!

Please read this article: http://www.livestrong.com/article/285086-what-are-the-dangers-of-ketosis-diets/

Akimajuktuq

Please be careful because it's not good for your body in the long run!! Ketosis is super hard on your organs especially your kidney and liver!

Please read this article: http://www.livestrong.com/article/285086-what-are-the-dangers-of-ketosis-diets/

There's a lot of articles out there for and against ketosis and I would check the sources, if they provide any. Ketosis is actually not harmful at all for the organs for MOST people. I'm not saying "all people". It is a very natural state for humans to be in because ketosis occurs when the body burns it's fat stores. That's the whole point of fat stored on the body.

I have done thousands of hours of nutritional research as well as observing the reactions of my own body. Ketosis is absolutely safe and healthy for ME and many people. Then Inuit people that I live with thrived on a diet that had almost no carbohydrates, even from plant sources. Now that more of them are eating a "normal" diet there is now diabetes, cancer, heart disease, tooth decay, nutritional deficiencies, obesity, etc. These diseases were unheard of previously and the only issues that they dealt with regularly was starvation. If a diet in healthy meat (I'm not talking wieners and bacon!) and animal fat (I'm not talking processed oils!) were unhealthy Inuit would never have survived in the Arctic.

thebrianmo

I lost about 135 of my lbs in 7 months while in a state of Ketosis, I was being monitored by doctors and a nutritionist though, I lost the rest of it by slowing reintroducing carbs and exercising my *kitten* off. The more you say no to the craving the easier it gets, be careful not to drink too much alcohol cause it can really mess with your liver. I am no longer diabetic or have high blood pressure because of ketosis.

That is simply awesome!!! Congratulations to you! Ketosis is the way to go for sure. Like you I am being monitored by doctors and nutritionists, but it's why I've been able to lose 53 pounds in 3 weeks and still losing. When done correctly, under medical supervision, it is extremely beneficial.

lindsy721

I LOOOOOVE ketosis!!

I decided to try the Atkins induction thing a few weeks ago... had like 2-3 days of tiredness (using up glycogen stores, I assume) but then on the 4th day... SOMETHING was different. I had energy like a crazy person. I definitely understand why people choose to do atkins for life. Though I don't think that's something I would personally choose to do. Ketosis is great!! I'm taking a break from it for a few days, having a night of indulgence at a party tonight, but next week I'll probably re-induce.

mzhokie

Why don't you check out the South Beach Diet.... it starts low carbs but after the first two weeks you add them back in. But it encourages lots of veggies and lean proteins. Your diet sounds very similar. I enjoyed reading the book because it explains a lot about how our bodies process food etc. Just an informative read. Also the food shopping list are great...... I would just take that list with me to the store.

ValkyrieFD

I haven been in ketosis for almost 7 weeks as it is the core fat burning mode for my doctor supervised VLC liquid diet program (Optifast). While I started to get energy back after about 4 days, I wasn't fully Ketone adapted until about 2 weeks in. That is when you REALLY feel amazing!