Keto Diet - Yay or nay?

DaniDoll57
DaniDoll57 Posts: 72 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’ve been looking at different changes to make in my food choices. My biggest problem is fast food so if I cut that out, I know that’s a great first step. But I feel like I need to still do something different at home to keep it exciting and easy to follow at the same time.

I’ve had several friends suggest the keto diet but I want to hear if anyone has actually had success with it and if it’s something that can be easily shipped for and prepared.
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Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    The quest for excitement was what made me fat/struggle with weight and relationship with food, for over twenty years. I wanted food to be exciting, I wanted to lose weight in a fashionable style. Sciency sounding revealing of "secrets" - oooh, sign me up!

    As I have become older, and learnt to ask questions, observe and use my rational mind, on this area too, I prefer easy, and I don't mind simple. I don't think that is boring. I have boundaries, but they are sensible and flexible. This means that I get to choose any foods I want, I just have to not routinely eat too much. Of course I want to eat more sometimes, and sometimes I eat more than planned, but not all the time. It's not something I would call "hard" or "battle" anymore. It boils down to just making a small ongoing effort, and then living a happy, everyday, life.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited February 2018
    Answer is simple if you're doing it for non-medical reasons: yay if you find it easier to sustain than other macro distributions, nay if you don't.

    Edit: Oh, forgot to add how it went for me. Nope, it hindered my success because I didn't like it, was hungry on it, and had unwanted side effects. So it's definitely a nay for me, but your mileage may vary.
  • scribblemoma
    scribblemoma Posts: 115 Member
    edited February 2018
    I gave it an honest shot for a solid month, with 20g net daily on carbs, and it was ok. Great weight dropper but the restrictions just weren’t my style. I’m just doing CICO and I’m losing at the same pace with no restrictions on my carbs (but I do eat well regardless). I didn’t struggle too much on it but I wouldn’t do it again.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I tried keto for a year, lost weight, missed carbs too much, went back to a standard diet, regained the weight. That's the TLDR version anyway.

    Now I'm losing weight again in a much more sustainable way for me. I'm almost down to my lowest adult weight EVER, and I'm doing it solely by counting calories. I still enjoy fast food, desserts, pasta dishes, rice, etc. I just make sure to log everything accurately and stick to a calorie deficit.

    It's that simple.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,068 Member
    I wouldn't find any restricting diet to be exciting OR easy to follow.

    Instead, I walk through the grocery store, find whole foods that look interesting (along with a variety of spices) and put them together into my meals that week.

    Learning to use spice and a variety of preparation methods keeps food exciting for me. Trying new things or new ways of making old things is exciting. Variety is the spice of life!

    I do NOT spend a lot of time in the kitchen - I don't have a ton of time available to be making intricate recipes, so I keep it simple and make good use of spices and the like.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    kimcalica wrote: »
    Has anyone here actually done Keto? I’ve been doing it about a week and I’m shocked at how amazing I feel and how my food control has changed. I do t see how t as a sustainable diet for life, but I definitely see it as a great way to Get a good education on how food works for us and get a whole new mind frame about portions and it could possibly change the binge mentality. I’m very excited with the changes I’m seeing and plan to keep practicing this for awhile!

    I did it for a year, as mentioned above. When I stopped doing it, I regained all the weight because I went on crazy carb binges after missing them for so long.

    I also felt pretty good on keto, I enjoy the satiety of fat and the reduced bloating. But a life without bagels, pizza, french fries, pasta, rice and desserts was a life I didn't wish to live.

    You forgot about beer...

    Hah, I'm actually not a beer or wine drinker. Diet coke and dark rum all the way! So at least that aspect of keto was easy to follow.
  • hud54014
    hud54014 Posts: 3,777 Member
    I've done it imperfectly for over six months. When I'm doing it right, it's awesome because I seem to be able to control my portions better, and don't get insanely hungry in-between meals. This was a big problem for me prior to starting keto - I could eat A LOT and OFTEN :blush:

    I sometimes miss the starches, but there are lots of workarounds that do the trick once you get used to them.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    For me personally it wouldn't work. I've found through experience that if I cut certain foods out then I'll end up binging on them at some point. But others have done great adhering to their deficit on it.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    tried it for almost 2 months before I knew I had familial hypercholesterolemia(my body cant process fats and cholesterol sufficiently). so it made me really really ill and Im not talking keto flu either. needless to say it was most likely all that high fat that was causing me so many issues. I was beyond lethargic,had bad breath and even worse smelling sweat,I couldnt think straight, was even more forgetful than I am now. once I stopped I started feeling better and was not as lethargic and things went back to being normal. so for me its a NO because of the high fat aspect.
  • Falklang
    Falklang Posts: 220 Member
    Nay from me. I tried for around 2 weeks but I found it unpractical and boring. I love my bananas, oranges, apples, rice, potatoes etc...I would rather change my lifestyle than drop LOTS of weight and look skinny fat by the end of the 'diet'.

    Also just the simplicity of counting calories is awesome and i get to eat pizza, kebabs and cheeseburgers every now and again ^^
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    edited February 2018
    The question to ask is can you follow it, are you ok with restricting a lot of healthy foods, and does it support your goals?

    Our success is not going to be indicactive of yours. Personally, any time i restrict carbs and increase fats, i am starving. But as i increase carbs, i am satiated. Fruits are a huge part of my weight loss and health. I have lost and kept off 50 lbs for 6 years by eating a ton of carba and protein. When i cut weight, i cut fat, because fats are expensive and dont fill me up. And i can easily binge on cheese.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    kimcalica wrote: »
    Has anyone here actually done Keto? I’ve been doing it about a week and I’m shocked at how amazing I feel and how my food control has changed. I do t see how t as a sustainable diet for life, but I definitely see it as a great way to Get a good education on how food works for us and get a whole new mind frame about portions and it could possibly change the binge mentality. I’m very excited with the changes I’m seeing and plan to keep practicing this for awhile!

    I feel great when fully in ketosis. Hunger is minimal and I don't get that afternoon "carb crash".

    But I do love carbs and don't think a fully ketogenic diet is compatible with real life.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    if you love fats, yay. If you love carbs, nay. It doesn't really matter either way, all diets work via calorie deficits, and keto is certainly one perfectly valid way to get one.

    I prefer a more typical macro breakdown of 50-20-30ish.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Chigreydog wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Chigreydog wrote: »
    I've been doing it since July 1st and have lost 42 pounds. My blood chemistry and lab values have all come back with flying colors, and I feel much better than I have in years. There is a fair amount of misinformation in this thread re. what restrictions exist, (for example, I eat a ton of vegetables, but they are all green and grow above ground) but that's to be expected with any non-mainstream way of eating. I basically just follow the protocols of Dr. Westman of Duke University Health and Dr. Eenfeldt of dietdoctor.com. I do miss beer and bread, but that's the only "sacrifice" I've really made.

    There isnt misinformation in this thread. The fact that almost all fruits, breads, legumes, many high GI veggies, starches, oats and more are restricted demonstrates that its restrictive.

    Heck, you even point out that you miss carbs... So just saying.

    Actually, there is. I specifically pointed out that I miss beer and bread, not carbs in general, and of course, I didn't say that no restrictions existed, so let's dispel that strawman. Let me change 'fair amount' to 'some' then. Some posts mentioned vegetable restriction to the degree that would lead one to believe that vegetables weren't allowed, and that isn't accurate.

    Well there are a lot of vegetables that are restricted. And depending on if you are going to total carbs or net carbs, and whether or not you are at 20g vs 50g, it could be pretty substantial. And vegetable restriction is different than eliminating veggies. If you took it that way, i suspect it is your interpretation of restriction vs elimination.

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