2 Questions about Keto/Low Carb

Ketosis doesn't speed up the process sorry.

The lower your calories, the faster the process.....period. But larger deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass.....so there's a "price" for faster weight loss.

Coconut oil is a new "super food." Meaning there's some truth out there, and some hype too. Because of it's newness.....there's likely not enough evidence to make some claims definitive. Put oil in your coffee if it helps you meet your calories, put oil in your coffee if you like the taste, but it won't make you lose weight faster.

bekah818 wrote: »

1. I keep hearing about putting coconut oil in coffee...Never heard of this before, but I'm willing to try it. Is there a reason why this is beneficial?

Some keto'ers find a bit of fat, especially the MCT's in coconut oil, in their coffee offers a bit of fat and ketone energy boost so they have less of a desire to eat a large breakfast. It is just a way to cut calories or increase satiation.

If you choose a hearty breakfast AND coconut oil in your coffee you may be eating too many calories. Eating more fat does not help you lose weight faster. It just shifts what type of fuel you are burning for energy (fat and ketones rather than glucose). The more fat you eat, the less body fat you will burn. KWIM?

bekah818 wrote: »

2. Today is day 5 of me on a low carb/Keto diet. I have slight brain fogginess and the first 2-3 days I had to pee a lot. But I did not experience the full "keto flu" that everyone keeps talking about. This makes me feel like maybe i'm not doing it right?

You are doing well if you have less "keto flu" symptoms. The keto flu is actually an electrolyte imbalance. When carbs are cut, insulin falls and then water retention drops. With that water weight you also lose electrolytes - mainly sodium. If sodium gets low one can experience headaches, fatigue, brain fog, moodiness, BM issues, nausea, muscle aches and eventually cramps once potassium and magnesium start getting low too. If you take at least 3000-5000 mg of sodium a day, you can avoid the problem altogether. Thee is about 2300 mg of sodium in 1 teaspoon of table salt.

bekah818 wrote: »

For you more experienced Low Carb / High Fat Dieters. Would you mind taking a peek at my food diary? For today, I already listed all my meals that I ate/plan to eat.

My goal is to lose weight! I know I don't need ketosis to lose weight, and that it's all about CICO. But I would like to aim for Ketosis since it speeds up the process

You diary looks fine. Your calories are a bit low, and quite a bit lower than the days before, but a bit more protein each day would fill that void really well. Consider raising your protein up a bit. Higher protein is always good while losing weight, and you dropped it close to 50g in the last few days. Slightly larger protein servings are an easy fix.

Ketosis does not always speed up the process. For some, appetite falls so they naturally eat less and that does hurry things along, but if you eat the same calories as when you were just low carb, you'll lose at about the same rate.... possibly even slower if you keep protein lower since it is quite thermogenic.

There are a few people, usually with insulin resistance or health issues, who will lose a bit faster while keto, but I think that has more to do with treating the health issue which increases CO. I lose a bit faster while keto but it just works out to a few pounds faster. It is not really the norm. KWIM?

SouthernMamaUnderConsruction wrote: »

I lost 50 lbs on low carb while in ketosis. 7 lbs the first week. If you want to know about the low carb diet I suggest reading the first book that Dr. Atkins wrote. The main thing I've changed is not eating bread, pasta or potatoes. To each his own though.

7 pounds the first week ....most of which was water weight. You body was depleting glycogen stores. This is not the same thing as fat loss.

I too can lose weight by eliminating favorite foods (been there done that). But I have never been able to eliminate those favorite foods forever. If low carb will be part of your maintenance plan, then that's great.

bekah818 wrote: »

@nvmomketo Thanks for your feedback!

To your point:

As for putting oil in my coffee, I rather a hearty breakfast! So I will skip that, unless I know that I won't be eating enough fat that particular day

As for the Keto Flu, my symptoms are very mild. and I have been making sure to get enough sodium, so that's good to know that the lack of symptoms are a good thing.

Last - As for my food diary, I will definetly up my protein intake. I don't have any health issues, I'm soley doing this to lose weight, and to over all become healthier. I have a closet full of clothes to get back in to!

Most keto'ers skip the extra fat in coffee. I've always liked to drink my calories though so for me it works. A few coffees with coconut cream and an unsweetened protein powder is a nice breakfast of about 300kcal for me. On days I do eat bacon and eggs, my coffees are mostly black.

For the "keto flu", consider an extra cup of salty broth/boullion. That's usually all it takes to get rid of symptoms.

Good luck with the weight loss, and happy closet shopping.

Do check out the Low Carber Daily group mentioned earlier. They are a good MFP group. So is the Keto group.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

bekah818 wrote: »

1. I keep hearing about putting coconut oil in coffee...Never heard of this before, but I'm willing to try it. Is there a reason why this is beneficial?

2. Today is day 5 of me on a low carb/Keto diet. I have slight brain fogginess and the first 2-3 days I had to pee a lot. But I did not experience the full "keto flu" that everyone keeps talking about. This makes me feel like maybe i'm not doing it right?

For you more experienced Low Carb / High Fat Dieters. Would you mind taking a peek at my food diary? For today, I already listed all my meals that I ate/plan to eat.

My goal is to lose weight! I know I don't need ketosis to lose weight, and that it's all about CICO. But I would like to aim for Ketosis since it speeds up the process

Are you doing keto or low carb...keto is ultra low carb and very high fat. I consider anything below 130 grams of carbs to be low carb...for keto you have to be under 50 grams and most I've seen are around 20-30 grams of carbs.

Because people need to have really high fat intake on keto, they put things like coconut oil in their coffee...I think to have 70%+ of your diet in fat, you need to be creative...there's no benefit other than helping to ensure fat intake is high...kind of like people who supplement with whey to hit lofty protein targets.

Over the long haul, keto doesn't speed anything up...initial losses are usually larger due to glycogen depletion and lost water...over the long haul it's no faster than anything else.

The bolded is a really common mistake. Keto does not need to be high fat. It needs to be low carb. People will often fill in the rest with fat but many others will also increase protein too.