New to Keto...quick questions
angelajmrn
Posts: 63 Member
I am new to the LCHF eating plan. I am struggling but getting better at food choices. The first week was the hardest but it is getting little easier
My question is: My MD suggested this way of eating and I am on board with it. However, not only does he want me to limit my carb intake to 25-50 grams daily but also to keep my caloric intake down...1200 daily. This seems almost impossible and I think that is why I am struggling. I have been doing a lot of research on line and everything states I should be eating at least 2000 calories a day. I am working out hard 5 days a week for 1 hour.
Any thoughts on this? Should I increase my caloric intake?
I also read somewhere that if a food is high in fiber (at least 5 grams) you can subtract that fiber from the carb count to get a more accurate carb intake. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks,
Angie
My question is: My MD suggested this way of eating and I am on board with it. However, not only does he want me to limit my carb intake to 25-50 grams daily but also to keep my caloric intake down...1200 daily. This seems almost impossible and I think that is why I am struggling. I have been doing a lot of research on line and everything states I should be eating at least 2000 calories a day. I am working out hard 5 days a week for 1 hour.
Any thoughts on this? Should I increase my caloric intake?
I also read somewhere that if a food is high in fiber (at least 5 grams) you can subtract that fiber from the carb count to get a more accurate carb intake. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks,
Angie
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Replies
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You can subtract the fiber from the carbs to find your net carbs. 1200 calories is not a lot for the average size person. What are your stats? If you are meeting your macros, you shouldn't have to stress too much about total calories. What do you have your macros set to?0
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I am 5'3 and 244#. My MD says I need to lose 50 # in 6 months or I will need to go on cholesterol meds. I have tried everything under the sun. I was eating healthy (1200 cal) a day and working out 60 min/5 days a week for 6 weeks and didn't lose a single pound. He wanted me to try this ketogenic plan so that is what I am trying to do. It has been 1 1/2 weeks now and it is getting a little better. Trying new things. Still making mistakes.
Remind me what the macros are again? I have my stuff set at 15% carb, 60% fat, 25% protein with 1400 cal.
Thanks for responding. It is hard getting used to this. I am having some sugar cravings.0 -
While 1,200 sounds low, it is a place you can start. I like the 1,400 you're currently doing better. If you find you're losing weight steadily at 1,400 and are too hungry, then up it a little. You have to find an amount that works for you. If you're eating between 25-50g of carbs, I would not subtract fiber. If your goal is to be under 20g of net carbs a day, then I think you should subtract fiber. For a ketogenic diet, 25g-50g seems like a gross carb count and not a net carb count.
15% carbs would be 52.5g a day in carbs at 1,400... much too high. You should be closer to 10% or even better, 5%.
25% protein would be 87.5g a day. That's a decent amount. You could probably go a little higher. I wouldn't go too much lower. You can move some grams of carbs into protein.
60% fat would be 93.3g a day. That's a decent start. You can also slide this up a bit in exchange for the extra carbs.
When it comes to keto, it is grams and not percents that matter.
The sugar cravings do pass. I hesitate to warn you that it can be quite a while before they do. The only way to speed it up is to be very strict about avoiding artificial sweeteners, sugar-alcohols, and processed foods. Even doing that, it can take a while.0 -
I am 5'3 and 244#. My MD says I need to lose 50 # in 6 months or I will need to go on cholesterol meds. I have tried everything under the sun. I was eating healthy (1200 cal) a day and working out 60 min/5 days a week for 6 weeks and didn't lose a single pound. He wanted me to try this ketogenic plan so that is what I am trying to do. It has been 1 1/2 weeks now and it is getting a little better. Trying new things. Still making mistakes.
Remind me what the macros are again? I have my stuff set at 15% carb, 60% fat, 25% protein with 1400 cal.
Thanks for responding. It is hard getting used to this. I am having some sugar cravings.
You also might want to look over the threads on cholesterol in the low carb and Keto groups. There is a lot of good resources by people that actually studied the science on it and the science isn't showing that cholesterol meds. increase life expediency in women at all.0 -
Eat more, 1200 seems to be very low especially if you are hungry. The only thing you should worry about cholesterol is HDL and Total Cholesterol/ HDL ratio . Also it might be easier and better to stop working out for 2-4 weeks and let your body adjust to using fat as primary fuel over carbs.0
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I am 5'3 and 244#. My MD says I need to lose 50 # in 6 months or I will need to go on cholesterol meds. I have tried everything under the sun. I was eating healthy (1200 cal) a day and working out 60 min/5 days a week for 6 weeks and didn't lose a single pound. He wanted me to try this ketogenic plan so that is what I am trying to do. It has been 1 1/2 weeks now and it is getting a little better. Trying new things. Still making mistakes.
Remind me what the macros are again? I have my stuff set at 15% carb, 60% fat, 25% protein with 1400 cal.
Thanks for responding. It is hard getting used to this. I am having some sugar cravings.
That isn't really for your doctor to decide without your input, and if he says it down the road, I'd get a second opinion. Anyway, you may very well notice substantial improvement in your numbers from keto (my improvement was very significant), as well as the weight loss, but 1200 would put you in a rather excessive deficit.0 -
Take a look at my profile, there is a list of references at the bottom that you need to scope out. There is a learning curve here but it is sooo worth it!
Congratulations on taking control of your health and that doctor sounds like a keeper!
Zooty :flowerforyou:0 -
Thanks for all the help. It is a learning curve. It was a compromise between my MD and I. He wanted me to start cholesterol meds now and I asked for 6 months to lose some weight. I am afraid to not work out for 2-4 weeks because I am really in a groove right now and once lost it is hard for me to get back into it.0
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You absolutely do not need to workout to lose weight. And I would stop working out if I was you, especially while your body gets used to a new fuel source. It's widely touted as the best idea to not workout while you are working on becoming fat adapted. I haven't worked out at all and I've lost over 60 pounds in the last 9 months, getting closer to goal!
The general guideline seems to be 60/30/10. I find I do better at 75/20/5 and Intermittent Fast at 22/2 5 days out of the week. And it seems that most women that I've read on several discussion boards I've looked at even seem to do better with 80/15/5.
Also, you should probably take measurements, even if you don't lose the targeted 50 pounds but can show inches lost to him as well it might help prove your case against the meds. Your doctor is not your boss, you are your doctor's boss, you pay them for advice and guidance, you do not need to take anything that they suggest, it's up to you to put into your body what you do or don't want to. All medication does is treat a symptom, not the cause. If you dedicate yourself to health and wellbeing all your markers will come down and you will feel better.
Concentrate on whole, single ingredient, unprocessed foods and maintain your caloric goals while hitting the proper ratios for your personal experiences and things should fall in line.0 -
I wouldn't stop working out personally if you've got a good habit going already. However, do realize that it can take 8-12 weeks to become fully fat adapted and during this time you won't be able to go as hard as you could before. But that will come back and you'll be able to do as much or more on keto as you could before. You don't need the exercise to lose weight, but its great for your overall health so as long as you have reasonable expectations I see no reason to stop, but recognize that you probably will have to slow down a bit at first.
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ <-- This is probably the best macro calculator out there for keto. I would see what it recommends for a 20% calorie deficit and start from there.
If the calorie calcs are recommending 2k calories for weight loss then I would seriously reject the idea of limiting yourself to 1200 calories. Keto is sustainable long term in part because you never need to feel like you're on some restrictive diet where you're hungry all the time. Eating fat will fill you up. But severe calorie restriction will just make most people feel like crap.
I would say the same thing about the "50 pounds in 6 months or else" goal. Some people lose tons of water weight on keto at the start and then the fat just flies off and the weight loss doesn't ever stop until goal weight. That doesn't happen for everyone. Some people stall. Being active is better for you, but messes around with water weight on a day to day basis so you are sometimes losing inches without losing pounds. So my advice is to learn about macros, starting with the keto calculator, and learn how to eat pretty close to your macros on a consistent basis. Be extremely strict with carbs, never, ever go over your carb count, and you'll learn as you go on the rest and it will be just fine. If you consistently eat right, you will lose weight. Instead of stressing over a strict weight goal, just work on improving your lifestyle, on working in this way of eating with your existing activity, and things *will* improve. What happens if you lose 35 pounds in 6 months? Is that a failure? No way!
You can search here, or on reddit's keto and ketoscience forums (http://reddit.com/r/keto and http://reddit.com/r/ketosceince) for cholesterol topics. It comes up very frequently.0 -
Were you hungry when you were eating 1200 calories or just frustrated at the lack of movement on the scale? I found that eating 1000-1200 calories while eating LCHF worked best for my weight lost of about 11 lbs per month, but I was not hungry at all. I lost 98 lbs in 9 months by eating mostly keto. I tried to keep my sugar down eating at most 1/2 apple per day with protein sometimes. Most of the time, I just ate fatty proteins and salad.0
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I recommend you read, read, read. Start with Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore and even Cholesterol Clarity also by J.M.
Also check out http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/ Excellent forum all about Keto. Lots of smart folks on there and no judgement.0
