Thoughts on Keto?

Been doing it for a few months now and love it. Started it because of a medical condition and this is the first thing that has helped me lose weight ever (am about to be 27 this weekend, first started dieting around 8...not a typo). For me this is a lifestyle change, not a diet - while I may not adhere to keto my entire life, I do see myself eating low carb forever. The keto community is very strong on all social media and everyone I've come across that actively lives it loves it.

Please do some more research though before starting - it is low carb, high fat, moderate protein. "High protein" will knock you out of ketosis as your body will still produce glycogen from eating too much protein. Here is some recommended reading: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq



ETA: The first thing it helped me with, even before weight loss, was terrible sleeping habits. Cured 4 years of awful insomnia in a week.

I like it Getting to eat fried eggs and bacon without feeling guilty and actually losing weight feels pretty dang fantastic. I've lost my weight so far without any exercise. I highly recommend it!

I love it. I've been steadily losing weight and don't feel deprived even though I'm eating at a deficit. This was not the case when I was doing the usual low-fat high-carb.

I've lost weight on low carb/keto before, but I attribute the weightloss to a calorie deficit that was a consequence of that diet. In other words, low carb to me worked like a crutch or gimmick, a formula to accomplish a deficit without feeling like that's what you're actually doing.

The reason it didn't end up being successful for me was because the idea of eating eggs and bacon and whatnot, while exciting at first, soon became nauseating. The very sight of any protein made me feel ill.

That's the same for every diet out there though. I've heard so many times "be careful, or you're going to gain that back!" Mostly from people with failed Weight Watchers attempts, and failed low fat diets. If you go back to old habits, of course the weight is going to creep up again. I've failed myself, 3 different times in the last decade not being careful so it does have to be a life change. Every diet needs a deficit to work and keto is helpful to lessen cravings and keep you satisfied.

I've noticed my sense of taste has changed. The stuff I used to love tastes awful now. Terry's chocolate oranges! Way too sweet. Won't be sad if I never have another slice again. I don't even bother with "cheat meals" because I know it's not going to taste the same as I remember. Plus hearing stories of people regretting it have scared me off. Apparently the digestive system does not take cheating very lightly! But I've been able to replace those old loves with new ones. Like fried brussels sprouts covered in cheese, bacon fried cabbage, parmesan chicken wings, pork rind jalapeno poppers and 85% dark chocolate. My favourite dessert is taking some heavy whipping cream and some cream cheese and whipping that up with some cinnamon, no sugar caramel syrup and English Toffee stevia. I don't even know what to call that, other than freakin delicious.

Also pinterest is awesome for new food ideas. It doesn't have to be all about bacon and eggs. Some are awful (I'm looking at you Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies) but it's fun to experiment anyways

ANYWHOSIES, give it a try for a month and see how you feel. It was scary to me at first (carbs are in everything!!) but I did it, and I'm still going strong 8 months later. I think this is the longest I've ever stuck to anything and it's the most weight I've ever lost in one go!

I love eating LCHF you stay full all day with energy great Lifestyle.

The biggest thing I noticed with this diet after cutting out bread was my skin. even though I'm not on this diet anymore I will only have bread as a treat once every few months. Even a small amount plays havoc with my skin. After reading this reminds me how healthy I was but restricted to eating at home. Think I might give it ago again thanks for the web link.

Keto has been the only thing that has worked for me! I discovered I am very sensitive to carbs/sugar dips and spikes so this way of eating really rocked my world. I could barely drop a few ounces a week counting calories and I was always hungry. Now I count calories easily because I am full and am consistently going down about 2 pounds a week on most weeks. It has healed some general medical issues as well and like the person below stated: my skin! Omg my skin! lol It finally looks great!

Follow a WELL FORMULATED ketogenic diet. To get over the initial brain fog and grossness I suggest drinking a TON of water and taking potassium and magnesium supplements. Since a keto diet makes your flush out electrolytes like a maniac replacing magnesium and potassium is essential, especially at first.

Check out Maria Emmerich's work/books and her recommendations. When I first tried keto I didn't think about a well formulated approach and I had constant heartburn and lower GI issues but when I adjusted my eating and supplements the second time around it was magical. Good luck!

I started low carb in January and I have never felt better.

I am considering trying something like this, but when u say Low Carb, how low are we talking about? what % macros do you use?

trying to play around with my macros as the moment and work out the best ratio

I'm new to Keto (2 weeks), but after doing some research, I've set my macros at 70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carbs, but this can vary a little. I try to keep my carbs under 10%. I eat 1400 calories a day, and have lost 8 pounds so far in 12 days.

Honestly I gave low-carb (Ketosis) a legitimate try recently.

I spent about 6 weeks at under 20 net carbs a day.

I was tired, sluggish (that energy boost everyone else gets, didn't happen), foggy minded, weak, constantly hungry, famished, hangry and emotional the entire time.

It was miserable.

And, I got sick, truly sick, and missed two days of work, for the first time in years.

20 net carbs is not enough for me to take in the fruit and veg level my body thrives on.

I've seen it do "miracles" for others, but my body doesn't jive with it's chemistry.

I went back to normal Paleo (which is still pretty low carb) but I've been really enjoying bananas, mangos, and sushi!

I love not caring less if I go over 20 carbs and my keto stick is clear than I feel sluggish for days because I just couldn't live without another serving of veg. That's kind of like intentionally dieting yourself into sickness.

Good luck!

Do what works for you.

PS I lost 0 weight in keto. I truly believe what I did lose was water weight because I started in the 180's, ended in the 180's, and I'm still in the 180's. Lots of suffering for 0 progress.

6 weeks at 20 carbs is not necessary. I never did any induction phase or anything like that- just set my macros to 50 net carbs and went from there. Now, I aim for 50 but if I hit 100 a couple days a week I dont' worry about it.