Opinions on the keto diet??

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

Sakura_Tree wrote: »

personally i am against the keto diet because our bodies main/preferred source of energy is carbohydrates. also the keto diet does not allow alot of fruits/vegetables which are key for good health. I see alot of keto recipes with bacon and other processed meats which cause inflammation in the body and can lead to cancer/other illness.

even vegans and vegetarians get cancer, so that theory about it causing cancer went out the window.

Many causes of cancer. Some vegans and/or vegetarians may have genetic issue that is causing them to get cancer for example. So your argument against the inflamation theory went out the window also.

FlyingMolly wrote: »

Sakura_Tree wrote: »

personally i am against the keto diet because our bodies main/preferred source of energy is carbohydrates. also the keto diet does not allow alot of fruits/vegetables which are key for good health. I see alot of keto recipes with bacon and other processed meats which cause inflammation in the body and can lead to cancer/other illness.

I’ve never eaten as many servings of fruits and vegetables on a consistent basis as I am now on keto, and if you choose to eat a bunch of bacon on any diet of course you should go for the nitrate-free kind. You don’t have to try anything you don’t want, but these are ridiculous reasons for opposing keto.

You may not have eaten many fruits or veg pre keto, but it's just a fact that if you do keto carbs are so limited that fruit and maybe even veg become more difficult to fit in.

As I said before (maybe even on this thread, I lose track), I did keto for a bit as an experiment (I was already doing around 100-120 g of carbs for a while before), and I even kept my carbs higher than most doing keto seem to recommend. Specifically, from my reading I figured 50 g net carbs or lower would be fine, and aimed for that (well, really, around 60-65 total carbs, which tended to be 35 or so net carbs, so gave me some extra room to be safe).

I limited my carbs to non starchy veg, nuts (not a huge amount), avocado, and about a serving of cottage cheese or yogurt per day, and I had to work to fit that in most days. I do eat LOTS of veg, have for a long time, but I was definitely having to watch them and sometimes sub for something like brussels sprouts which are higher carb than one might think. Fruit didn't fit at all, and certainly not beans or lentils.

And again that was at carbs that some others doing keto (granted, more often the beginners) insisted were too high. There were a few keto challenges that started (not in the low carb group, in the challenges section) where participants were supposed to stay below 20 and congratulated for being as low as can be -- I recall 5 was not an uncommon number. You just couldn't eat fruit and veg (or even much veg) on that, and for me even the 20 net was a non starter, as I'd have had to limit veg beyond what I personally am happy with.

The main reason I quit, even though I felt fine on the diet, was that it didn't seem to bring any benefits beyond how I'd been eating before, I wanted to stop thinking about carbs and eat less meat (which for me meant more beans, lentils, pulses), and -- most of all -- I missed fruit. Biggest change in my diet since stopping keto is that I finally got serious about cutting down on meat and have way upped my consumption of beans/lentils and also remembered how much I love fruit and feel good eating it. (I still eat way more veg than fruit.)

greenetaylor27 wrote: »

greenetaylor27 wrote: »

I am a mother of two with a very busy schedule! I’ve been logging foods and exercising somewhat regularly for about 2-3 weeks and have lost about 3lbs. I’ve read a lot on how the keto diet can shred you down rather quickly, and “grains and carbs are poison” or what have you.
To me it just seems like a lot of work and also rather confusing. I’m fairly new to this new healthy lifestyle and didn’t know if anyone similar to my situation had bad luck— or thoughts and opinions ?? Thanks!

I meant have good luck not bad luck lol!

@greenetaylor27 just pick a Way Of Eating and stick with it for 90 days if possible and take another look. There are many ways to eat successful.

In my case of failing health in 2014 I cut out food containing added sugars and any form of grain period and got heavy into plant based foods especially nuts and coconut oil. In 2018 my health is better than ever. My weight and health seem to manage themselves nicely now so all is well at the age of 67.

I keep tweaking my WOE and have stopped overthinking health as my body seems to know what it wants and when it wants it so I just focus on listening to my body is telling me. This did not happen overnight and still is not static.

Remember it is not what that works for me or others but what works for you that counts in the end. Best of success.

sunfastrose wrote: »

midwesterner85 wrote: »

karintalley wrote: »

I prefer the "eat all you want and lose weight diet". Like drinking wine, , eating chocolate and cheese and BREAD, and lose 1 pound a week...diet.

I'm glad that works for you. Last time I took a diet break and ate all I wanted, I gained 32 lbs. in 20 days. Of that 32 lbs., 19 was fat.

But she didn't say she ate all she wanted. She eats a variety of foods and is able to make her choices in such a way that she is in a caloric deficit.

Really?!

karintalley wrote: »

I prefer the "eat all you want and lose weight diet". Like drinking wine, , eating chocolate and cheese and BREAD, and lose 1 pound a week...diet.

Sarahb29 wrote: »

cheryldumais wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

marm1962 wrote: »

I do not understand why people mark someone's personal experiences as "woo".

Woo is good

I think most of us see the woo button as "that's nonsense". I rarely ever use the woo button unless I think someone is pushing an unhealthy/dangerous plan on someone else or the community at large. Some use it as woo hoo but I don't really think that was the intention by the programmers.

Never heard anyone say "woo" as "that's nonsense". Woo is meant to be woo-hoo.

woo
n.(or adj), the way a person is when they uncritically believe unsubstantiated or unfounded ideas. Short for "woo woo".(See Russell's definition of woo woo)

Shirley believes that in a past life she was the Jolly Green Giant of Rainbowland. Shirley is very woo.

Keto is working for me. I'm not someone yelling carbs are evil, but I have PCOS and insulin resistance. CICO just wasn't working. Now I do CICO with low carbs and I'm losing weight and my glucose is going down.

greauxe wrote: »

greenetaylor27 wrote: »

I am a mother of two with a very busy schedule! I’ve been logging foods and exercising somewhat regularly for about 2-3 weeks and have lost about 3lbs. I’ve read a lot on how the keto diet can shred you down rather quickly, and “grains and carbs are poison” or what have you.
To me it just seems like a lot of work and also rather confusing. I’m fairly new to this new healthy lifestyle and didn’t know if anyone similar to my situation had bad luck— or thoughts and opinions ?? Thanks!

I've lost 21 lbs from Feb 20, 2018 to Mar 15, 2018. I did it by initially fasting (zero food, just water) for three days which put me into ketosis very quickly (I use test strips to verify). Six pounds were gone in the first week and I dropped an average of around 5-7 lbs/week in the following weeks. The reason I fasted was to hit keto quickly as it would normally take about three weeks of a really low carb diet to get there otherwise. I've maintained a strict diet of no more than 30 carbs daily and have fasted intermittently, ie 18 hours without eating, etc from time to time. My goal is to lose 25 MORE pounds after which I'll adopt a more normal diet- still watching my carbs. My blood pressure has gone down (to a normal range) since losing the weight and I feel great. I told my Dr. what I did to lose the weight so quickly and she was thrilled. She's been wanting me to lose weight for a while and she reminded me to keep up my protein intake, eat avocados (healthy fat), fiber, and of course water. I've somehow become accustomed to eating one meal (or no meals) daily which is no small feat for a guy who used to eat WAY too much. Anyway don't rule out keto for a quick weight loss, but understand that it's not really sustainable. You'll probably grow tired of it after a while.

How much muscle mass do you think you lost during that period of rapid weight loss? 21 lbs in 23 days is almost a lb per day. Some was water weight, some was fat, some was muscle mass.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

FlyingMolly wrote: »

Sakura_Tree wrote: »

personally i am against the keto diet because our bodies main/preferred source of energy is carbohydrates. also the keto diet does not allow alot of fruits/vegetables which are key for good health. I see alot of keto recipes with bacon and other processed meats which cause inflammation in the body and can lead to cancer/other illness.

I’ve never eaten as many servings of fruits and vegetables on a consistent basis as I am now on keto, and if you choose to eat a bunch of bacon on any diet of course you should go for the nitrate-free kind. You don’t have to try anything you don’t want, but these are ridiculous reasons for opposing keto.

You may not have eaten many fruits or veg pre keto, but it's just a fact that if you do keto carbs are so limited that fruit and maybe even veg become more difficult to fit in.

As I said before (maybe even on this thread, I lose track), I did keto for a bit as an experiment (I was already doing around 100-120 g of carbs for a while before), and I even kept my carbs higher than most doing keto seem to recommend. Specifically, from my reading I figured 50 g net carbs or lower would be fine, and aimed for that (well, really, around 60-65 total carbs, which tended to be 35 or so net carbs, so gave me some extra room to be safe).

I limited my carbs to non starchy veg, nuts (not a huge amount), avocado, and about a serving of cottage cheese or yogurt per day, and I had to work to fit that in most days. I do eat LOTS of veg, have for a long time, but I was definitely having to watch them and sometimes sub for something like brussels sprouts which are higher carb than one might think. Fruit didn't fit at all, and certainly not beans or lentils.

And again that was at carbs that some others doing keto (granted, more often the beginners) insisted were too high. There were a few keto challenges that started (not in the low carb group, in the challenges section) where participants were supposed to stay below 20 and congratulated for being as low as can be -- I recall 5 was not an uncommon number. You just couldn't eat fruit and veg (or even much veg) on that, and for me even the 20 net was a non starter, as I'd have had to limit veg beyond what I personally am happy with.

The main reason I quit, even though I felt fine on the diet, was that it didn't seem to bring any benefits beyond how I'd been eating before, I wanted to stop thinking about carbs and eat less meat (which for me meant more beans, lentils, pulses), and -- most of all -- I missed fruit. Biggest change in my diet since stopping keto is that I finally got serious about cutting down on meat and have way upped my consumption of beans/lentils and also remembered how much I love fruit and feel good eating it. (I still eat way more veg than fruit.)

Keto is no more foolproof than any other way of eating, sure. I found myself restricting produce at first, too, and didn’t like it, so I did some more research and found my perspective shifting to maximizing produce, instead.

I work out the macros of my recipes in advance and then add as many more veggies in as I can fit. Any time I eat something high calorie & low carb I throw in some berries or a little fruit for balance. I look forward to working fruits & vegetables into my day now, and as a result I eat a lot more of them than I used to when I would get hungry and just grab a box of crackers.

I do agree with you that the extra-extreme low carb diets don’t leave much room for anything colorful, but I’m finding that “just” keto (even though it is fairly extreme) has a surprisingly generous amount. I get beans, pulses, and higher-starch veggies in mini-servings from my grocery store’s salad bar for variety, since you’re right that the amount I’d cook at home wouldn’t fit in most days. I can eat as much arugula as I want. I eat raspberries every day, and avocados are basically nature’s own fat bombs, which is pretty cool.

So while I’m not all “Keto for everyone!!!” I have to roll my eyes a bit at the characterization of it as a diet that doesn’t allow vegetables. That’s really a function of how you approach it, in my experience.

Keto makes the CICO at a deficit easier. For some people. (Like me.) Why is this controversial? There are thousands of diets out there.

BTW, I eat a ton of veggies!!!

Running_and_Coffee wrote: »

Keto makes the CICO at a deficit easier. For some people. (Like me.) Why is this controversial? There are thousands of diets out there.

BTW, I eat a ton of veggies!!!

To be fair, the keto way of eating runs counter to the "traditional" healthy ways of eating that we witness all over the world, where people eat lots of veggies, fruits, and grains and just a little meat, fish, and dairy, and live active lives well into old age. Where rates of lifestyle (and obesity related) disease are low. I'm not saying keto isn't healthy, but I think it's understandable that people would have questions about the long term healthiness of that way of eating.

But usually around here, it's the people who insist that keto is better for everyone, that carbs make everyone hungry, that keto makes you lose weight faster, etc that's controversial.

FlyingMolly wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

Running_and_Coffee wrote: »

Keto makes the CICO at a deficit easier. For some people. (Like me.) Why is this controversial? There are thousands of diets out there.

BTW, I eat a ton of veggies!!!

for some it may make it easier sure because maybe they can adhere to their calories. but that doesnt mean that you still cant overeat doing keto and gain weight. I did keto and for me it did not help with suppressing my appetite at all. not to mention keto for me is a no no due to health issues. Its controversial because so many believe things about keto that arent true and arent proven.

Yeah, I don’t really buy the “appetite suppressant” thing and I think it misleads a lot of people. There’s a huge emotional component to satiety and cravings for most people that have nothing to do with the, like, .5% fuller that fat might hypothetically make us physically feel.

A summary of the research says the "appetite suppressant" thing seems to be true.
https://sci-fit.net/ketogenic-diet-hunger-suppression/

FTR, I am not an advocate of Keto. I am an advocate of evidence based information though.