Ketogenic Diet: would anyone like to share their experiences good or bad?
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sharonmcloughlin1
Posts: 19 Member
I have tried several diets in the past without much success. A friend recently suggested keto and I've done quite a bit of research online (mostly youtube) and to be honest it sounds a bit too good to be true. I would really appreciate it if anyone who has, or is currently eating this way would share their experiences.
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sharonmcloughlin1 wrote: »I have tried several diets in the past without much success. A friend recently suggested keto and I've done quite a bit of research online (mostly youtube) and to be honest it sounds a bit too good to be true. I would really appreciate it if anyone who has, or is currently eating this way would share their experiences.
I did Adkins ages ago and hated it...
A keto diet works on the same principle as any other diet...calorie deficit. For some people, keto suits them as far as how they like to eat...loads of fat, moderate protein, and almost non existent carbs. For me personally, it would be a nightmare.
Early weight loss will be faster on keto as you dump water and glycogen, but evens out in short order. Over the long haul, keto has not shown to provide for any greater weight loss than any other diet. Most people I know who do keto (and stick with it) do so for medical reasons.
As far as "too good to be true"...I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that.6 -
I have not, but there are a few groups here that have users who have been doing keto long term (as in, not just during weight loss) who would be able to answer your questions. I've found they are pretty honest about the challenges of the keto approach.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1143-keto
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1494-reddit-keto5 -
I also did Atkins years ago...I was successful at losing 45lbs. At first it was fun eating bacon & cheese all the time and I felt full of energy but I missed my pizza and mostly potatoes. When I came off I regained my weight I couldn't eat high fat & moderate carbs without gaining.
It works just as any calorie deficit will work. Some feel more satisfied eating less on Keto and initially the weight comes off faster but after about 6 months it averages out to the same as any calorie deficit diet. It helps some with their cravings for sweets.
If you think you can stick to it I say try it BUT it works best if you make it a lifestyle and not just a "diet", this is true for all "diets" its best to maintain your loss on the "diet" you lost on to be successful. RARELY does anyone lose weight on one way of eating and then switch to another without gaining the weight back.8 -
I love it ....have lost 85lbs14
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I Love it - I do 40-50 g of net carbs a day (net carbs = carbs - (fiber and sugar alcohols)) and I keep it under my MFP Calorie goal (currently 1600). I am never hungry and I have lost 30 lbs in just over 3 months. I eat back half or less of my exercise calories and I work out doing only marital arts.
I went off keto over the holidays and didn't gain much either (2 lbs total). I just kept active and ate when I was hungry. Now I am cleaning out the fridge of the holiday higher carb foods and slowly going back down to my goal carbs while staying under my daily calorie goal.
When I go off I don't go crazy - I still don't drink any carbs (except for a little wine hehe) and keep to my stevia for sweetener, I try not to eat all high carb meals - But if there is something I want to eat at a holiday meal I go ahead and have some. I just ate my usual meals and had some treats like pasta, bread, cheese cake, fudge and Christmas cookies here and there. I did make myself some low carb fudge so I wouldn't over do it since fudge is a weakness for me. The real fudge I made I gave away the next day!
For me, it is a fantastic way to lose weight without being hungry and once I hit my goal I plan on slowly adding in carbs till I get to 100ish. And I am going to keep up the good habits I have gained - staying under my daily maintenance calorie limit, eating plenty of healthy whole foods (nuts are my favorite snack) and keeping up my martial arts training.10 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »I also did Atkins years ago...I was successful at losing 45lbs. At first it was fun eating bacon & cheese all the time and I felt full of energy but I missed my pizza and mostly potatoes. When I came off I regained my weight I couldn't eat high fat & moderate carbs without gaining.
It works just as any calorie deficit will work. Some feel more satisfied eating less on Keto and initially the weight comes off faster but after about 6 months it averages out to the same as any calorie deficit diet. It helps some with their cravings for sweets.
If you think you can stick to it I say try it BUT it works best if you make it a lifestyle and not just a "diet", this is true for all "diets" its best to maintain your loss on the "diet" you lost on to be successful. RARELY does anyone lose weight on one way of eating and then switch to another without gaining the weight back.
So very true. If you go back to what you did before, you get fat like you were before. The change in eating, or how your approach food, needs to be for your entire life.
That being said, I've done keto for a good year and a half and still like it. I plan on doing it for the foreseeable future. I have gone off of it, and gone to low carb, but I don't feel as good so it is back to keto for me.
Keto helps reduce my appetite and carb cravings. It makes it easier to eat less. It also helps control my blood glucose and autoimmune issues, which seems to help me burn slightly more calories. A low carb diet usually results in just a handful more pounds lost (6lbs in a year is the number I remember) but for many the advantage is not having to fight hunger, steadier energy and enjoying the food.
For those whom it works, keto is great. For those who are metabolically healthy, with no insulin resistance or CAD (about half of all people), keto does not offer any weight loss advantage.
Check out the groups linked above.4 -
I did keto for a few months and hated it. I was always hungry. Carbs satiate me.2
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I started Keto on 12/27/16 and I have lost 8lbs so far. I'm no expert I just found a Keto calculator put in my info to get my macros & the journey begins. Eight days 8lbs so far so good. I have been told that Keto is a lifestyle not a diet. I do not get hungry often, I only eat when my stomach grumbles & my energy level is amazing.3
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been keto for just over a year now. You need to make sure you are approaching this correctly. Many people jump into it with what they think a keto diet is and then fail miserably. It is not easy, but any major change to eating never is. Just because other people gave up, don't let that deter you. I have tried just about every type of "diet" during my life, and all failed for me until keto. I still struggle at times but it's far, far easier for me than eating a handful of carbs a day.
I would recommend checking into the "daily low carber" group here on MFP to hear from more people who choose to eat keto as a way of life.5 -
I am low carb but not always in the keto range. My net carbs are usually between 30-70g, averaging 50g per day.
I love it. I have lost about 65 lbs in the past 15 months (low carb for 9 of those/50 lbs). It is for life for me. My goal is to be on target 95% of the time. That's how I keep it sustainable.5 -
I've been Keto a little over 6 months and am down 76 pounds as of today! 269 to 193. At 39 years old, having been overweight since 3, I have been on a lot of diets, some with great success, but have never been able to stick with any plan for more than a year, because I'm starving! Keto works for me because I'm never really hungry, so I'm never in the position where I say "screw this" and go back to my old ways. I enjoy the food I'm eating and don't feel deprived at all. It's worth researching!9
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I had great results from a ketogenic diet many years ago. It was called Lean for Life. I wasn't hungry, and I felt really good after the first few days. Many of the people I know who do ketogenic diets long term end up having problems with their gallbladder, but I only was on it 6 months.1
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The best diet, is one that is sustainable for you. Restricting a whole macronutrient dis not sustainable for me, so I don't do it.4
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I did keto for 6 months and lost around 40lbs.
It was completely unsustainable for me, though. I enjoy eating carbs. So when I stopped keto, my eating was out of control and I gained it all back. Now I'm sticking with calorie counting, and I lose just fine with it since I'm still at the same calorie deficit.1 -
I love the keto diet. I've been doing it for...I don't even remember. More than two years. I've lost about 120 lbs and kept it off and I'm continuing to lose, though slower now. My reason for doing keto was not really weight loss - I get violently sick when I eat carb and sugar heavy foods. I have trouble digesting them and so I end up miserable for hours or I end up throwing up shortly after eating them. So going keto made it easy to avoid the kinds of foods that upset my stomach. That was my reason for going on in the first place. Losing weight was a bonus. But I've had another health bonuses at well - my rosacea stopped flaring up, for one thing. It was hard at first but now it's just second nature. I don't even think about it anymore.6
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I have pre-diabetic symptoms so sugar and carbs are dangerous for me. Before my last pregnancy I lost 30lbs in a few short months on a strict keto diet. I also felt a better quality of life. For those that like instant gratificafion, it is greaf. Unfortunately I gained it all back and then some during and post-pregnancy. I started again on 12-8-16 with a bit of cheating around the holidays and in less than a month I've lost 21lbs. There's an immediate weight loss but I assume that is water weight, I remember reading an actual science report on it but I wouldn't paraphrase it correctly. Anyway, it works for me as long as I maintain a calorie deficit as well. I have a carb intolerance so i will have to maintain keto for life.2
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I just started keto last week, so I'm still very much new to it. The plus side: I am never hungry. Paying attention to my macros and prioritizing fat has so far meant that I am having zero issues with hunger. Quite the opposite in fact, I have had some days that I'm too full to meet my calorie goal without feeling sick. There are tons of foods that I can eat that I enjoy and I'm finding tons and tons of recipes and ideas. The r/keto subreddit is pretty great.
The con: I initially approached this as a 30 day challenge thing and that's already changed. I'm now looking at this as a long term, possibly permanent dietary shift. And truthfully, the strictness I'm currently implementing (<20g carbs/day, I'm ignoring net carbs) is not doable. So there are definitely going to be things I am eliminating from my life probably completely. Which I don't love. But! I found keto flu to be really clarifying for me, in that if I feel this much like crap from stopping eating certain foods (carb rich) I probably shouldn't be making my body dependent on them.
There's also lots of research from the WHO that adults shouldn't be exceeding 25g of added sugars (not the same as natural carbs obvs) per day, so there's plenty of evidence to support the science of low carb.1 -
I did and it made me sick. Muscle pain, stomach pain, constant nausea. Sure, I lost some weight but it wasn't worth it. I gave it up when finally one day I started vomiting and felt like I never wanted to eat again. Nope, just wasn't for me.1
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I did and it made me sick. Muscle pain, stomach pain, constant nausea. Sure, I lost some weight but it wasn't worth it. I gave it up when finally one day I started vomiting and felt like I never wanted to eat again. Nope, just wasn't for me.
This might have been the electrolyte imbalance. If you cut carbs, insulin goes down and water is lost. Along with that water goes electrolytes which causes, fatigue, headaches, crankiness, nausea, BM issues, muscle aches and eventually cramping. Many find they need 3000-5000+ mg of sodium per day, which is 1-2+ tsp of salt. If people let that go more than a few days they'll need potassium and magnesium too.
It almost sounds a bit like it could be a gall bladder issue too.
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After my first 3 months of feeling awful and going back to eating carbs I actually gave it another shot, because I really believed it's the best way to eat. One day in and I was vomiting. Messed me up pretty good. Never had these issues, only while eating low carb.
Many keep saying that you should just hang in there, it will pass, but for some it doesn't and I believe it can be bad for your health. I don't know, maybe I had some underlying issue and that's why I felt horrible, but I would advice anyone trying low carb to listen to your body. It's normal to feel a bit off the first week or so but if it's more than that, just be careful.2
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