Ketogenic Struggle.

I'm on a Keto diet for sport performance and to keep off the menopause tummy in maintenance. Remember that it's net carbs you need to be tracking, ie total carbs MINUS grams of fiber. If you reset your macros to track carbs then make the macro next to it fiber grams it just makes it easier to figure out. After a week you should be feeling less cravings for carbs and generally more satisfied with your food. If you want menu ideas you can friend me if you like, or my diary is public - I don't mind lurkers, lol. I'd focus the carbs you do get from fresh veggies, plain greek yogourt, cottage cheese, and lower carb/higher fibre fruits like berries. It's just more satisfying that way and better nutrients than processed carbs.

Critcrittle wrote: »

busywaterbending wrote: »

greens, veggies, mushrooms, nuts. fermented dairy. what's not to get?

Yes, I understand what I CAN eat. My question was in regards to CARBS.

"How do you differentiate between what carbs are okay and which one's aren't?"

Pretty much any carb that isn't starchy (corn, potatoes, yams, etc...).

I would check out the Keto group as the expertise tends to be more specialized.

And here is Reddit Keto

Critcrittle wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

Critcrittle wrote: »

busywaterbending wrote: »

greens, veggies, mushrooms, nuts. fermented dairy. what's not to get?

Yes, I understand what I CAN eat. My question was in regards to CARBS.

"How do you differentiate between what carbs are okay and which one's aren't?"

Pretty much any carb that isn't starchy (corn, potatoes, yams, etc...).

I would check out the Keto group as the expertise tends to be more specialized.

And here is Reddit Keto

Thank You! (:

No problem. People tend to freak out here when you discuss removing carbs from a diet. And while Keto is unnecessary to lose weight (outside of having a medical condition), if it's a strategy that you can stick with and enjoy, then great.

More info on Keto for sport performance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113752/

A quote from an extremely detailed review of several studies on mitochondrial usage of ketones for energy by the University of Oxford published Oct 29 2014:
"Given the well-characterised demands of endurance exercise and the importance of dietary substrates on athletic metabolism, there is a clear rationale for the nutritional provision of exogenous ketone bodies in this context. With the recent development of novel forms of dietary ketone ester now undergoing rodent and human testing, the stigma of this much maligned substrate may yet be challenged."
Full article with links to the studies here: http://www.extremephysiolmed.com/content/3/1/17

psulemon wrote: »

Critcrittle wrote: »

I decided to do this after speaking with a dietician that I work with! I don't work with her as often as the other NPs at my job, so I am only able to get some info from her a bit at a time, unfortunately. After talking to her I decided this would be a good choice for me because I have a big goal to reach and I want to be healthier as well. I want to lose over 100 lbs and stay that way! Plus...my family history...carbs are not good...I'm very much Sicilian and my father was recently teling me (jst met him a year ago) that his entire side of our family struggles with keeping weight off because we are prone to pastas and breads and so many unhealthy choices. I have a million reasons for wanting to do this...I just need some guidance along the way, just as many people probably do initially.

I will look into the bulletproof coffe, I have had a few people mention it!

@psulemon

Just for clarification, family history as in medical issues (e.i. diabetes, PCOS, etc..) or the family tends to have portion control issues? Because you can lose weight in a healthy manor, regardless of the lifestyle choice.

Either way, if you want to move forward, I would start with low carb until you get enough information on keto (you can google reddit/keto or the groups to help set you up). Just like going vegan/vegetarian, you can do more harm if you do not implement correctly. So i can't stress enough how important education is. Last thing you want to do is become deficient in a nutrient and end up in the hospital (I have seen this happen with both vegetarians and keto people).

For now, I would work on getting most/all of your carbs from veggies (maybe 1 serving of fruits if you want), increase fat intake (use stuff mentioned earlier) and the good amount of proteins. If you want, you can later your marcos here to increase fats and decrease carbs. It may be beneficial to aim for 15% carbs, 60% fats and 25%. And then eventually up fats a bit, protein a bit and then lower carbs.

Good advice^^

Hi Critcrittle

I hear you!

My 2 cents:
Unless your an athlete or have a special needs medical diet I don't think you need to be doing diets like keto, paleo, military, 5:2, Atkins, detox etc. In fact if you see your doctor he or she will probably tell you the same thing.

You just need to use the app and exercise IMO. Keep it simple. Calorie counting and using the app works and its simple. Keto diets are a highly specialised diet which is why many people who do it eventually give up and or fail.

I have done many diets and they all work in the beginning the problem is that they are hard to maintain, some of them like the keto diet in my opinion are not realistic and could even cause health problems so you should always get medical advice first.

But again, if your a regular person IMHO you do not need a highly specialised and unrealistic diet. Its just going to stress you out and make your life harder which clearly from your post, your experiencing.

The problem now days is that information is so easy to obtain and everyone thinks they are an expert. What usually happens is you go online, you want to lose weight you hear or read about some fancy new thing you have never heard of before and so you dive in head first. Usually there is little to no support for these types of things other than forums and communities and pretty much never and medically or nutritional support from a medical standpoint so what end up happening is you lose a little weight and then the stress and pressure of said new diet become too much and you eventually stop.

I recently made a decision to stop all diets and instead just use the app and exercise. So far so good. 3KG down, I eat what i want within my calorie goal, exercise with walking, swimming, wrestling and jujitsu when I feel like it and generally my stress level is reduced massively because I no longer have to think about what to eat and when to eat it, or go shopping and make sure I have enough of X in the fridge, or wasting money on expensive things that are keystone parts of the diet.

In the last year I have attempted a diet given to me by a naturopath that limited basic things like carbs, milk, cheese, coffee etc. A keto diet that limited you know what... a fasting diet were I lost massive amounts of weight really quickly (about 7KG in two weeks) eventually I had a massive fight with my wife and we almost split up because of how hungry I was... and in previous years have done body building diets where I had to eat 6 meals a day or mixtures of paleo and high protein diets and for me personally none of them are realistic lifestyle choices.

With MFP, I can go out to dinner and not look like some weirdo freak when all I'm eating is spinach and butter, I can have a beer if I feel like it and I only have to exercise if I need to in order to remain within my calorie goal.

Thats just my 2 cents, do what works for you, but for me diets are a pain in the *kitten* and with something like MFP I think I can work that into my lifestyle on a long term basis because after all its just a fancy calculator.

My current goal is to use MFP every day for 30 days. If I can do that, i'm betting that not only will I lose weight but that i'll also create a new habit of using the tool and exercising.

Cheers