Is Ketosis right for me?

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Tbaby1514
Tbaby1514 Posts: 216 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
24 year old female.
Have lost 54 lbs so far, but have plateaued.
1,540 calories per day, cardio exercise 3x per week.
Can't incorporate weights into my exercise yet. (doctor's orders)
No health/medical conditions.
Currently weigh 200 lbs.

Do you see any reason as to why I should NOT try this?
I don't know a whole lot about it yet, have read a few studies. Just wondering if anything stood out on why I shouldn't try this since my scale has stopped budging, before I starting researching the heck out of it!

Any tips on foods to eat/avoid would be great as well.
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Replies

  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
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    Don't avoid ANY foods. Especially poptarts, cheesecake and ice cream.
  • MelRC117
    MelRC117 Posts: 911 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I guess my question is, you've lost weight and know how to restrict calories, what seems appealing to keto?

    I low carb keto because I have a hard time with portion control. I also feel more full when eating higher fat and moderate protein. That's why I like it to get my calorie deficit. You still have to have a calorie deficit to lose.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Tbaby1514 wrote: »
    Do you see any reason as to why I should NOT try this?

    Yes. This isn't a long term solution. If you can't meet your calorie goals with normal food you're going to have hell keeping up with a near zero carb diet. All aboard the train to failure town.

    Just eat normal food and monitor your calorie intake more closely.
  • Tbaby1514
    Tbaby1514 Posts: 216 Member
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    MelRC117 wrote: »
    I guess my question is, you've lost weight and know how to restrict calories, what seems appealing to keto?

    I low carb keto because I have a hard time with portion control. I also feel more full when eating higher fat and moderate protein. That's why I like it to get my calorie deficit. You still have to have a calorie deficit to lose.

    I calorie count and exercise and my scale will not budge. I've tried increasing and decreasing my calories from the 1,540 per day and no results. I don't buy into meal replacement shakes, nor diet pills, so I thought this might be a reasonable way to start losing again.
  • Tbaby1514
    Tbaby1514 Posts: 216 Member
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    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Tbaby1514 wrote: »
    Do you see any reason as to why I should NOT try this?

    Yes. This isn't a long term solution. If you can't meet your calorie goals with normal food you're going to have hell keeping up with a near zero carb diet. All aboard the train to failure town.

    Just eat normal food and monitor your calorie intake more closely.

    I monitor my calorie intake as close as it can get. I weigh everything I eat and measure down to the 1/4 tsp any condiments I use. I don't have an issue with over/under eating, I'm just looking for a way to start losing again.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    The reason you aren't losing now is because your energy expenditure has lowered, and because you started at way too-low of a calorie goal you now need to lower it even further. That or recalculate your energy needs from a website like health-calc.com or exrx.net and calculate your NEAT (non-exercise activity) needs, subtract 20% from it, and then set that as your custom goal. Then log and eat back any exercise you do.

    Or if your exercise is consistent, include it into your calculation (TDEE) and subtract 20%, don't log and eat back calories because you're already doing that automatically every day.

    If you want adequate feedback as to whether your logging is being done poorly (e.g. using wrong entries, entries not using proper nutritional info, measure when you should be weighing, not eating back exercise calories, etc) then you need to open up your diary.

    Carbs are not why you are still 200lbs. It's all about calories.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    myheartsabattleground wrote: »
    Don't avoid ANY foods. Especially poptarts, cheesecake and ice cream.

    2nd, although you can avoid poptarts all you want. Those things are nasty, other than the top icing portion. Strudels are way better!
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
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    You mentioned you do Cardio 3x a week. How often do you change up your routine? Doing the same exercises over and over again will eventually stall weight loss because your body falls into a routine. It knows what to expect and therefore doesn't have to work as hard. Which means a lower calorie burn. Try revamping your exercise routine. I change up my routine about every 5 workouts. That way your body is always being challenged and doesn't know what to expect.

    Good luck!
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    OP--how tall are you and what is your body fat?
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    How long have you plateau'd? I hit a plateau around 208 for the longest time, finally seems to be going down (but have had quite a few "bad" days in the past little while so it has slowed) after I switched to a TDEE -20% (not just 1000 cal deficit a day). Feel free to add me, it seems like we have pretty similar goals (I work out a bit more so my calories are a bit higher, but not by much).

    No tips on what to avoid, because I'm a huge fan of moderation, but you could be eating some nasty foods in high quantities. Try opening your diary and you could get some tips.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    myheartsabattleground wrote: »
    Don't avoid ANY foods. Especially wine, cheesecake and ice cream.
    FIFY
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    edited October 2014
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    crazybookworm wrote: »
    You mentioned you do Cardio 3x a week. How often do you change up your routine? Doing the same exercises over and over again will eventually stall weight loss because your body falls into a routine. It knows what to expect and therefore doesn't have to work as hard. Which means a lower calorie burn. Try revamping your exercise routine. I change up my routine about every 5 workouts. That way your body is always being challenged and doesn't know what to expect.

    Good luck!

    I pretty much never change up my workout (didn't change it up 4 years ago either when I relied on exercise to lose weight, this time around I'm being smart and relying on diet to lose weight while relying on lifting for body composition) and I'm losing and did lose just fine. Lost 50+lbs doing the same cardio every week.

    But, exercise is not for weight loss anyways. So OP shouldn't need to worry about switching things around. The only thing she needs to worry about is updating her energy needs at her new weight with a proper calorie calculator.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    Fats make me not hungry and carbs make me fat so counting calories is not as important as the kind of food in my case I have figured out.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Maybe give it a go for a month and see what happens? Seriously, trying something out is the only way you'll know if it's for you.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    I say go for it and then report back!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    How much are you trying to lose. Weight loss slows down as you get closer to goal.

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    How much are you trying to lose. Weight loss slows down as you get closer to goal.
    This, and many more questions.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    myheartsabattleground wrote: »
    Don't avoid ANY foods. Especially poptarts, cheesecake and ice cream.
    Why?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    Fats make me not hungry and carbs make me fat so counting calories is not as important as the kind of food in my case I have figured out.

    Except it's alll about calories. So in essence you likely ate more calories when eating a carb-heavy diet due to the increased hunger.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    Fats make me not hungry and carbs make me fat so counting calories is not as important as the kind of food in my case I have figured out.

    Except it's alll about calories. So in essence you likely ate more calories when eating a carb-heavy diet due to the increased hunger.

    While your statement is not correct about "It's all about calories" I agree calories are a major factor. If you are eating a fat like medium chain triglycerides that gets ported to the liver and broken down into ketone bodies vs. sugar that can be stored means the type of calorie is no small factor either. This is the reason I selected coconut oil as the main fat in my diet several times a day.

    I ate more calories when I was addicted to sugar per the scales. I ate when it hurt to eat more. I wanted it mentally when by body just wanted to go and lay down.

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