Keto, WW Simply Filling or Counting Calories?

Something that is maintainable that you can do for the rest of your life. Enter your stats into MFP and eat what you like, just less than what you do now. I thought keto was hard too. I love carbs, I just eat less of them.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

What queenliz said.
I'm a sample of one, so not statistically valid. But after decades of problems controlling my weight, what did it for me, first, was a doctor's order to replace all white carbs with whole grains. For some reason, that didn't feel like dieting, even though it meant an end to snacking on cookies, cakes and candy. I also paid attention to portion sizes - about 6-8 oz of protein a day, about 2-3 servings of carb (slices of bread, halfcups of rice, for instance), 1-2 Tbs fat, lots veg, 2-3 servings fruit. I wasn't obsessive about it, but paid it some attention.
i lost about 50 pounds over ... prolly 18 months ... without feeling diet-y. Then I plateaued and knew I'd have to really work to shed the last 20 pounds. That brought me here. Having the app on the smartphone and the webpage on the computer is so much easier than writing everything down in a notebook and looking up the calorie counts!

Good luck, and good logging!

skinnyutahgurl wrote: »

........had horrible side effects and gained it back plus 5-10 lbs. I know it works though. ......

If you had that response - why would you say it works?

It sounds as though keto is not a good way for you to go, clearly it didn't "work" if you felt bad and gained most of the weight back anyway. Why would you even consider doing that again?

My strategy, this time round, is to eat normally, but with a leaning towards food that gives me a fair bit of nutrition for my calories (eg fruit, veggies, whole grains, fish, chicken, low fat dairy etc), and less of the treat kind of stuff that I enjoy, but that doesn't give me much in the way of nutrition (cupcakes, chocolate, lollies etc).

I don't have any set goal weight, or a set time frame, and I have my calories set to a small deficit (0.25kg/week).
I eat back some or all of my exercise calories (as calculated by my Apple watch, I don't add exercise separately).
Now and again (probably at least once a week) I go over my calories, though I try to keep it fairly close unless it's a special occasion, in which case I don't mind how much I go over.
Sometimes I eat less that my calorie goal and that's OK too - as I have a small deficit, I'm not bothered by making that a bit larger.

This is working well for me so far - 11 weeks in and I am losing weight a little faster that I thought - averaging almost 2kg (4.4 pounds) a month. I just hit the 5kg-lost mark today, hooray!).

Basically, I'm eating a variety of regular food, not cutting anything out, but just being aware of how often and how much when I'm eating nutritious stuff.
I have no interest in cutting out whole food groups, in demonising any particular food or macro, or in adding extra-concentrated powders or potions or obsessing over meeting specific macro goals.

That's what works for me.
My recommendation is that you think about what works for you - not "works" in the sense that you dropped a lot of weight quickly, felt like crap and gained it all back again, but what makes you feel good, helps you look and feel healthier, and what you can maintain for the long term.

skinnyutahgurl wrote: »

Bob314159 wrote: »

skinnyutahgurl wrote: »

........had horrible side effects and gained it back plus 5-10 lbs. I know it works though. ......

If you had that response - why would you say it works?

By it worked, I mean that the first time in many many years I lost weight and quickly. I was never hungry, my head was clearer, I had better energy and my stomach issues disappeared. On the downside I had rapid heartbeats, hair loss, insomnia and a skin rash everywhere. My thoughts were if I were to do keto again I would allow more than 20 grams of carbs a day to see if it would lessen the side effects.

In my mind, I don't think it's sustainable for me. However, I don't really know what else to do. That is why I asked here. Thanks.

It really sounds like your electrolytes were out of whack (keto flu) and you needed sodium and magnesium supplementation (potassium supplementation is always best done under the supervision of a physician). Lots of people on keto do. Dropping your carbs lower would be better ketosis-wise but your symptoms are essentially all side effects of not replenishing your electrolytes correctly and wouldn't be helped by lower carb intake. There is a pinned post on the subject that could be very helpful in the Low Carb Daily group if you wanted to revisit keto!

Just log your food and eat in a deficit. To me saying a way of eating or a particular diet "worked" when you just gained the weight back doesn't really make sense.