Keto Diet

Hi. I am in the first few days of trialling the keto diet. My best friend has lost 35kg in 4 months using this diet so I am very eager to try it for myself.

It does not work for everyone. I did Keto for 2 months and it sis reduce my hunger and at first gave me good energy, but even following it very strictly to the keto plan, my energy dropped, and I stalled big time. Once I increased my good carbs, I felt so much better and weight loss started again. I have friends that also do very well on keto, It was just not for me.
Good luck.

I did keto and dropped down to a weight I felt great and comfortable with. Now I'm just LCHF(around 30-40 NET carbs daily) and ever few weeks I will have something like a sushi meal. I'm still losing weight, but much slower now and I started weight training a few months ago so I'm gaining muscle. I also do not like how I feel if I eat carbs anymore. I fell off at one point and honestly that whole time I felt like crap, but it was a struggle to get back on. Now that I found a balance that works for me, it's great and I really enjoy this lifestyle of LCHF. My biggest struggle is around that time of the month. Keto/No Keto I crave chocolate so bad and I want to eat so much food. It's really difficult for me.

If you do start you need to read up on electrolytes and sodium balance. I did get the keto flu(but that was short) however I was tired the first 1-2 weeks. I actually was incredibly lazy and didn't work out at all the first week.

The group linked above is a good one. https://community.myfitnesspal.ncreased/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group You'll find many in there who do keto (under 50g of carbs per day), or did keto before switching to a low carb diet (under 150g of crabs per day.

I've been doing it for about 18 months. The benefits I noticed were:

• Increased mental clarity and cognition
• Steadier energy and moods
• Better hair and skin
• Reduced appetite and cravings
• Seemed to lose a bit easier than expected based on the size of my deficit
• Compliments the whole food diet (and celiac gluten free diet)
• Fewer BMs and gas
• Improved lipid panels
• helps improve insulin resistance and CAD risk, Alzheimer's, PCOS, NAFLAD, some autoimmune disorders, and possibly with treating some cancers
• fixed my reactive hypoglycemia
• good food
• help avoiding binging because I don't eat the trigger foods

The negatives that I have heard about (I haven't experienced any of these beyond the first two, which is why I'm plan on staying LCHF for life) are:

• Takes some planning - the foods you need to eat are not always the first foods served when out
• People not familiar with the diet telling you it is (incorrectly) an inferior diet to a diet with plenty of/more grains, sugars, fruits, and starchy root vegetables
• Bad breath or BO, but this is sometimes caused by higher protein intake (30%) which some mistakenly think is part of the diet.
• Those with a fat metabolizing disorder will have worsened lipids
• Some people feel restricted and then binge
• Some experience electrolyte imbalance if they don't increase sodium up to 5000mg per day (headaches, muscle aches and spasms, fatigue, nausea) - easily preventable
• Some decrease in exercise performance (strength and explosive movements) in the first month or so while becoming fat adapted
• Some describe it as "work" to keep track of macros and what they can or can't eat. I don't understand that one. Beyond learning what foods are high in carbs in the first two weeks, I don't think it takes any extra planning or counting. I haven't logged my foods for close to a year.
• Some don't like the food or miss some of the foods that we limit like pasta or sugary fruits (figs, dates, mangos)

I've been on it for a year and am down 61lbs. Once you're done losing weight and are at maintenance you can choose to stay with keto for the other benefits listed above, or you can add a few carbs slowly back in (sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice), or you can have carb days where you eat things you normally wouldn't. If you start gaining back weight then just cut back on your carbs again.

I've been keto for 6 years and will never go back. I feel better at 42 than I did at 32!