Has anyone ever successfully tranitioned from Keto to a more "normal" diet?

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tmoneyag99
tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so I have neighbors that were morbidly obese and they went on keto and they have both lost 70+lbs and they look amazing. I just can't help but wonder how sustainable it is. I am pretty sure the weight loss has done wonders for their health.

So has anyone done Keto to get to a healthful weight and then transitioned to a more balanced diet. I'm not saying eating whatever you want mind you. Just adding in more beans, fruit, grains. that sort of thing.

Or is it the type of situation that if you go off you rebound horribly gaining 2x of all that you lose.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    The key to losing weight is to find a sustainable way of eating that will allow you to create a calorie deficit. It looks like keto is how your neighbors achieved that deficit. It isn't for everyone, though. And people gain back after losing because they don't keep to their new maintenance calories.
  • jackee4488
    jackee4488 Posts: 1 Member
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    Is it suitable for those needing to lose 15 -20 lbs?
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I started keto over 2 years ago. I lost my weight fairly quickly and then maintained on keto. When I tried increasing carbs, it triggers hunger and overeating for me so I need to stick to a mostly keto diet. For me it is not a bad thing as I feel much better when I keep my carb intake low. YMMV

    A keto diet is not unbalanced though. People who eat very low carb can be just as healthy as someone on a higher carb "balanced" diet. Sure, people can do keto in an unhealthy way but that is true of any diet. Meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds and veggies are very nutritious. Many people find their health improves when they exclude some typical foods like grains. KWIM? :)
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
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    This is what I wonder about, too. A friend and his wife are currently singing the praises of Keto. They have tried every trendy diet in the world to lose weight, and they always work for a few months, but none of these diets focus on teaching the dieter to eat in the real world. So, they always fall off the wagon in the end, and end up where they started. I think Keto is closer to a real diet than their last attempt, but I can see where it's just not realistic for me. I guess time will tell if it's realistic for them.

    Honestly, that's going to depend on them. Do they plan to eat Keto forever, or are they planning to transition to a more 'normal' diet once they are happy with their weight? If they do plan on transitioning back to a more normal diet, do you know if they have plans for how to transition?
  • megs_1985
    megs_1985 Posts: 199 Member
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    People who transition back will gain water weight back or gorge themselves instead of slowly reintroducing and then they say they can’t tolerate carbs which unless your a diabetic is BS. You need to learn to eat in moderation or else at some point you’ll gain the weight back because you don’t know how to eat normally.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    ITUSGirl51 wrote: »
    I’ve lost and gained 50 lbs or more on low carb diets about 5 times starting at the age of 15 back in the 80s. Each time I started out healthy eating amounts of food and then slowly started eating hardly anything to lose because the thought of eating more protein or veggies made me sick. Then I would eat carbs and blow up in weight extremely fast. Anytime someone asks for experience with low carb type diets I will tell them that they work for a while, but your body will respond very negatively to any carbs you eat and you will gain that weight back fast! Also expect a lot of plaque build up on your teeth. Something with ketosis really did that to me.

    I have finally stopped low carb diets. I want a healthy relationship with food. I want to plan to eat on Thanksgiving and not cry because I can’t eat stuffing and mash potatoes or pumpkin pie. I actually ate all that this past Thanksgiving and stayed within my calories to lose weight. I read in the forum that someone cried because they couldn’t eat grapes on the Keto diet. That’s not having a healthy relationship with food.


    DmaMfz wrote: »
    ITUSGirl51 wrote: »
    I’ve lost and gained 50 lbs or more on low carb diets about 5 times starting at the age of 15 back in the 80s. Each time I started out healthy eating amounts of food and then slowly started eating hardly anything to lose because the thought of eating more protein or veggies made me sick. Then I would eat carbs and blow up in weight extremely fast. Anytime someone asks for experience with low carb type diets I will tell them that they work for a while, but your body will respond very negatively to any carbs you eat and you will gain that weight back fast! Also expect a lot of plaque build up on your teeth. Something with ketosis really did that to me.

    I have finally stopped low carb diets. I want a healthy relationship with food. I want to plan to eat on Thanksgiving and not cry because I can’t eat stuffing and mash potatoes or pumpkin pie. I actually ate all that this past Thanksgiving and stayed within my calories to lose weight. I read in the forum that someone cried because they couldn’t eat grapes on the Keto diet. That’s not having a healthy relationship with food.

    Exactly! When I was doing low carb, and finally ate some, I went crazy and binged. Then felt horrible about myself, and it became a vicious cycle. I convinced myself I must be intollorant of carbs and can’t be trusted with or around them. When, in fact, it was because I was depriving myself of them and it created a deprivation mentality. I would swell, gain weight, and feel like I was a slave to meat and cheese for the rest of my life or “be fat forever”. I even started having nightmares I was growing tumors because I was afraid to eat anything but little to no carb foods, primarily meat and eggs. Subconsciously I knew I desperately needed more nutritional balance.

    Once I learned cico was all you need, I ate anything I wanted, the binge cycles stopped, and I started dropping weight. I finally didn’t obsess over food anymore. It’s amazing to have control now. I really feel badly for those who are stuck in the cycle I was. It’s one thing to know it’s all about a deficit and choosing keto anyway, but entirely different when you think that’s the only way you can eat to lose weight. Knowledge really is power, to be cliche.

    Very insightful posts. I hope some of the "new year new me" dieters read these posts. Thanks for sharing your stories.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    A keto diet is not "unbalanced," just a different balance of macros. There have been people who have transitioned successfully to a diet that includes more carbs and less fat - the number of calories is what matters for weight, not the macronutrient source of the calories. Some people experience some water weight gain (as in a few pounds) when they add more carbs into their diet, but it evens out.

    You're not going to see someone gain all the weight back just because they are eating carbs again, but if more carbs trigger overeating or they just start going over their calories, they will gain. But people eating any sort of diet (even CICO with no changes to the types of food) will gain if they go over.
  • chestinator
    chestinator Posts: 16 Member
    edited January 2018
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    It really shows how addictive sugar is when you stop eating low carb! It works for some (with iron wills) but if you have a sweet tooth you're pretty much doomed to fail and the failure is delicious and sweet - for a little while anyway until you hit those scales :smiley:

    As suggestions above have said, do the MFP goal 'wizard' to get your calorie goal. From there if you want you can change the macro percentages to allow more protein (recommended) and less carbs. Currently my ratio is 35/30/35 (carb/fat/pro). This gives me 1g of protein per pound of body weight (muscle retention). The protein I try to hit every day but let the carbs/fat sort themselves out.

    To satisfy the sugar cravings I allow a coffee and cake meal in the afternoon to eat a dessert of my choice with a coffee. Not sure what your calorie requirement is (mine is 1850) but this is pretty easy to work into my day and even I don't encounter sugar cravings I cant handle for the rest of the day.

    Google IIFYM for a flexible approach to dieting and look up physiqonomics.com for some straight forward no fluff articles.

    Hopefully this will allow a smooth low stress transition without the post low carb binge.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited January 2018
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    No way. I always wound up face-down in a feed bag full of Doritos following any keto attempt. The 7 or 8 water weight pounds came back instantaneously each time. I tried it looks a gazillion times. I'm slow to catch on, obviously.

    When I went on my LC boards they were always filled with either people fantasizing about eating a whole watermelon or militant "keto is FOR LIFE" shriekers. Practically nobody in the middle. People meekly whispering questions to to effect of "when can I eat more carbs again?" were generally slapped all around the boards like redheaded stepchildren.

    Not saying all keto enthusiasts are this way or that there is no way to do this; just saying, personally, over a good few years attempting VLC off and on, I really didn't come across many people saying they "transitioned" but kept the weight off. Maybe somebody around here has and will chime in. It is my opinion that if you can't see doing it for life, then skip it.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited January 2018
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    ITUSGirl51 wrote: »
    I’ve lost and gained 50 lbs or more on low carb diets about 5 times starting at the age of 15 back in the 80s. Each time I started out healthy eating amounts of food and then slowly started eating hardly anything to lose because the thought of eating more protein or veggies made me sick. Then I would eat carbs and blow up in weight extremely fast. Anytime someone asks for experience with low carb type diets I will tell them that they work for a while, but your body will respond very negatively to any carbs you eat and you will gain that weight back fast! Also expect a lot of plaque build up on your teeth. Something with ketosis really did that to me.

    I have finally stopped low carb diets. I want a healthy relationship with food. I want to plan to eat on Thanksgiving and not cry because I can’t eat stuffing and mash potatoes or pumpkin pie. I actually ate all that this past Thanksgiving and stayed within my calories to lose weight. I read in the forum that someone cried because they couldn’t eat grapes on the Keto diet. That’s not having a healthy relationship with food.

    More plaque on your teeth? Huh. Interesting. I have never ever heard of that. The reverse is usually true: better dental health due to reduced carb/sugar intake.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    Dental health means looking after your teeth no matter what your diet is.

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