Ketogenic-low carb diet??

You can manually track your cholesterol on here... I did for a couple of weeks to see what had the most but I always stayed under and remember healthy fats are good for you as well

I've done a great deal of research on Low Carb diets, not just googling, but a wide variety of papers. Don't worry one bit about your cholesterol. My father had dangerously high triglyceride levels, in three months of low carbs (moderate low carbs, he cheated a bit, but, ate right 70% of the time). His triglyceride's dropped from over 300 to the high 100, they cut his medications, and he got off two of his three diabetes medications.

Every body reacts to change differently. There are the known and the unknown with any dietary change. So take all opinions lightly and just find what works for you. Give ketosis a try and if it works, fantastic and if it doesn't...there are plenty of other ways to try to create a healthy lifestyle.

A co worker of mine follows ketogenic diet and it has worked fabulous for her, but it's not for everyone. I personally need balance and simply eat clean and it works for me. I too am a recovering sugar addict so I wish you the best of luck sticking it out. Hold strong and get past the first 3-5 days without the sugars and you will be amazed at how you feel. You won't want to mess up and reach for that sticky bun after that. Pinky swear

I've done low carb/Atkins-ish for awhile and it really is what I can stick to for a long amount of time. For some reason I don't binge eat like I do when I don't eat low carb. I've tried low cal and its very difficult for me to stick with it. You may experience the "low carb flu" so don't let that stop you if it's something you seriously want to try to see if it's something for you to get to your goals. I actually have the opposite, when I eat low carb I have more energy and alertness almost right away.

Good luck! You may want to find a low carb or keto group on MFP that you can join. You also may want to find some ketone strips. (I didn't use them my first round of low carb and had a lot of success but I use them now just to see where I'm at and if I need to cut my sugar/carb intake or if I knocked myself out of ketosis)

this is all I have for you ..Keto, Low Carb, IF, etc are not some magical diets that burn through fat….all they are is tools to create a calorie deficit..

You can accomplish the same thing with a calorie deficit, hitting macro targets, and working out. Sugar is not making you fat. Eating caloric surplus is. I just think it is not a good idea to label certain foods "bad" and then entirely restrict them.

Ask yourself this. Are you going to eat just about zero carbs/sugar for the rest of your life? I highly doubt it, but I could be wrong...

I agree with the first statement, but for some people it is what helps them create that calorie deficit. Its much more difficult for me to stick to low cal than low carb, others they can't imagine a day without a piece of bread. It isn't magic doing low carb and is so easy, but neither is low cal for many people.

Also, you don't eat zero carbs. Its low carb and as you continue you slowly add more carbs into your diet.

Just make sure you have urine ketone testing sticks and are willing to test for large amounts of ketones. I was an undiagnosed T1 diabetic for months, and, because my body could not metabolize glucose, in a way, it was like I was on a ketogenic diet. Over time, the ketones built up in my body, and I went into diabetic ketoacidosis less than three months ago.

There is a risk of going into ketoacidosis with a ketogenic diet. The urine ketone sticks can help in determining when you need to get to the ER ASAP.

I did very low carb/keto for a couple of weeks there. I lost quite a bit and managed to focus on that over the physical effects that worried me a little. I asked about acidosis in the Atkins group and the risks of it and was totally torn apart for it and told I was an idiot.
Reseearching it was difficult as a lot of medical thought seems to say keto can cause acidosis but lots of research saying it cannot and actually can cure it?

Left me very confused and I upped my carbs a bit to come out of keto as just wasn't sure anymore.

I've done low carb/Atkins-ish for awhile and it really is what I can stick to for a long amount of time. For some reason I don't binge eat like I do when I don't eat low carb. I've tried low cal and its very difficult for me to stick with it. You may experience the "low carb flu" so don't let that stop you if it's something you seriously want to try to see if it's something for you to get to your goals. I actually have the opposite, when I eat low carb I have more energy and alertness almost right away.

Good luck! You may want to find a low carb or keto group on MFP that you can join. You also may want to find some ketone strips. (I didn't use them my first round of low carb and had a lot of success but I use them now just to see where I'm at and if I need to cut my sugar/carb intake or if I knocked myself out of ketosis)

does anyone else think that a diet that gives you a 'flu' is a good thing? I never understood why people want to torture themselves to lose weight when you can just eat in a calorie deficit and work out/move more….

I suggest you do some reading about what the "low carb flu" is. For some people eating low calorie is torture. If it works for some people great. It doesn't work for everyone. Everyone knows that eating less and working out will get you to lose weight, but its a whole other thing to actually do it.
Do what works for you. She will do what works for her. If she tries low carb but it doesn't seem to help her cut her calories then she can try harder to limit her cals overall. I will continue to do what works for me. I'm not torturing myself.

right. so restricting whole food groups is easy, but eating in a moderate 500 per day calorie deficit is hard….sounds legit...

Seriously? If it was so "easy" and "legit" how do you think people gain weight in the first place? To each their own. Which seems to be a very difficult concept for you to grasp.

I've done low carb/Atkins-ish for awhile and it really is what I can stick to for a long amount of time. For some reason I don't binge eat like I do when I don't eat low carb. I've tried low cal and its very difficult for me to stick with it. You may experience the "low carb flu" so don't let that stop you if it's something you seriously want to try to see if it's something for you to get to your goals. I actually have the opposite, when I eat low carb I have more energy and alertness almost right away.

Good luck! You may want to find a low carb or keto group on MFP that you can join. You also may want to find some ketone strips. (I didn't use them my first round of low carb and had a lot of success but I use them now just to see where I'm at and if I need to cut my sugar/carb intake or if I knocked myself out of ketosis)

does anyone else think that a diet that gives you a 'flu' is a good thing? I never understood why people want to torture themselves to lose weight when you can just eat in a calorie deficit and work out/move more….

I suggest you do some reading about what the "low carb flu" is. For some people eating low calorie is torture. If it works for some people great. It doesn't work for everyone. Everyone knows that eating less and working out will get you to lose weight, but its a whole other thing to actually do it.
Do what works for you. She will do what works for her. If she tries low carb but it doesn't seem to help her cut her calories then she can try harder to limit her cals overall. I will continue to do what works for me. I'm not torturing myself.

right. so restricting whole food groups is easy, but eating in a moderate 500 per day calorie deficit is hard….sounds legit...

Seriously? If it was so "easy" and "legit" how do you think people gain weight in the first place? To each their own. Which seems to be a very difficult concept for you to grasp.

People who use MFP correctly only gain weight if they want to.

Ketoacidosis and nutritional ketosis are quite different. Ketoacidosis occurs with extremely high ketones AND extremely high blood glucose. Diabetics with poor insulin response who are not using supplementary insulin or who are using insulin incorrectly are most at risk for ketoacidosis

And your cholesterol may improve on a ketogenic diet. Mine did
beginning lipid panel - 12/27/11 --> last lipid panel 8/22/13
cholesterol - 207 --> 162
HDL - 37 --> 57
LDL - 136 --> 93
triglycerides - 169 --> 62

Lastly, I did not suffer "carb flu" and perform cardio (walk/jog/run, Zumba, swimming) and lift heavy.
I've found keto to be a lifestyle I can live with.

I've done low carb/Atkins-ish for awhile and it really is what I can stick to for a long amount of time. For some reason I don't binge eat like I do when I don't eat low carb. I've tried low cal and its very difficult for me to stick with it. You may experience the "low carb flu" so don't let that stop you if it's something you seriously want to try to see if it's something for you to get to your goals. I actually have the opposite, when I eat low carb I have more energy and alertness almost right away.

Good luck! You may want to find a low carb or keto group on MFP that you can join. You also may want to find some ketone strips. (I didn't use them my first round of low carb and had a lot of success but I use them now just to see where I'm at and if I need to cut my sugar/carb intake or if I knocked myself out of ketosis)

does anyone else think that a diet that gives you a 'flu' is a good thing? I never understood why people want to torture themselves to lose weight when you can just eat in a calorie deficit and work out/move more….

I suggest you do some reading about what the "low carb flu" is. For some people eating low calorie is torture. If it works for some people great. It doesn't work for everyone. Everyone knows that eating less and working out will get you to lose weight, but its a whole other thing to actually do it.
Do what works for you. She will do what works for her. If she tries low carb but it doesn't seem to help her cut her calories then she can try harder to limit her cals overall. I will continue to do what works for me. I'm not torturing myself.

right. so restricting whole food groups is easy, but eating in a moderate 500 per day calorie deficit is hard….sounds legit...

Seriously? If it was so "easy" and "legit" how do you think people gain weight in the first place? To each their own. Which seems to be a very difficult concept for you to grasp.

people gain weight for a number of reasons …Eating in a surplus, emotional eaters, just plain old lazy, don't care about what they eat, don't count calories etc…..

Once you realize that you have come to a point where you have OVEREATEN yourself to obesity and realize that you have to make changes is when you are ready to start making sustainable long term changes. All I am saying is that once you reach that point what sounds easier to you:

Option 1 - Restrica almost all carbs to the point where you have a "carb flu" and then continue to eat like 10% carbs for the rest of your life and label said food as "bad"…then get a urine stick so that you can check your pee to make sure you are in "ketosis"…


OR


Option 2 - Create a 500 calorie daily deficit, hit macros, and work out more more and eat 80% healthy and 20% whatever you want (pizza, ice cream, bread, etc)…

Whatever you choose is fine with me..I am just saying that I have been doing option 2 for six years now and have had great success with it...

Well seeing how option 1 isn't how I live my life and not an accurate way of how people live their how lives maintaining their weight on low carb, I see how someone would pick option 2. I actually did low carb for a number of months and once I was getting to my goal I just watched what I ate overall and stayed within 5 pounds of my lowest weight. The carb flu doesn't happen for everyone. It's also temporary so try to be a little more accurate on what keto/low carb diets are like for those who actually stick to it.
You might as well say "Just eat less cinnamon buns" to the OP. Which I'm assuming she already knows and why she is on MFP, however doing that is VERY difficult to her to actually do. The will power to stop after 1 or to only eat the portion for her to stay within her allotted calories may not be enough for her.

Going all-out keto might not be the best idea if you really love sugars. Try reducing sugars and starches in increments. You will only keep off the weight by changing your lifestyle: a month of keto and then back to normal will hardly do much good in the long run.

I was a carboholic and gave up grain, sugar and starchy vegetables at the end of June last year. You will probably go through what they call "Carb Flu" which is basically withdrawal. Mine lasted about 3 days. I've heard of people going through it for a week. The worst part for me was the screaming headache. Once you get past it you will be amazed at how better you feel. If you are on Facebook I recommend joining the "FatHead" page. There is SO much information on there. There are over 3000 people in the group from all over the world. A LOT of good stuff. I have read Wheat Belly and am currently reading Grain Brain. There are other FB pages you can like to get information and recipes in your news feed. Some of the ones I "liked" was Wheat Belly, Low Carbing Among Friends, Low Carb Eating, DJ Foodie. I actually started one just to store all of the recipes I want to try. I haven't lost a lot of pounds because I'm menopausal (TMI) and that hinders. The fact that I'm not exercising is another show stopper. I'm working on that but my energy level and all of my blood work has improved. I was pre-diabetic when I started this way of eating but not any longer. My advise to you is to READ, READ, READ. You will be empowered. Good Luck!!!!

I was a carboholic and gave up grain, sugar and starchy vegetables at the end of June last year. You will probably go through what they call "Carb Flu" which is basically withdrawal. Mine lasted about 3 days. I've heard of people going through it for a week. The worst part for me was the screaming headache. Once you get past it you will be amazed at how better you feel. If you are on Facebook I recommend joining the "FatHead" page. There is SO much information on there. There are over 3000 people in the group from all over the world. A LOT of good stuff. I have read Wheat Belly and am currently reading Grain Brain. There are other FB pages you can like to get information and recipes in your news feed. I actually started one just to store all of the recipes I want to try. All of my blood work as improved. I was pre-diabetic when I started this way of eating but not any longer. My advise to you is to READ, READ, READ. You will be empowered. Good Luck!!!!

The Keto Subreddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/keto) has a lot of good information, too. That's where I started.