Thinking about trying keto
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UncaToddly wrote: »Millicent3015 wrote: »You could do keto, but would you be able to sustain it in the long term? Maybe try reducing your portion sizes first, then, when you're eating correct portions and you still want to do it, do it. But explore other possibilities first before embarking on an eating plan that you already acknowledge will be hard for you to sustain, especially if it involves restricting or eliminating foods you enjoy.
Fat is the most satiating of the 3 macros due mainly to the effects of severely reduced insulin levels that allow the hormone leptin to win the battle over hunger. When insulin is high or in higher levels than leptin, the signal to decrease appetite is lost. When insulin is low, leptin wins and the appetite is suppressed.
I do not deny that I have been a glutton most of my life and none of it was good. I craved all the crappy foods. At my worst I would eat breakfast at home (half a box of Cap'n Crunch maybe), eat a couple packs of Pop-Tarts on the way to work... stop at McDonald's or Jack N The Box on the way and eat it before I got to work.... 6 miles from home. I would then get some sort of cake or something like a Spunkmeyer muffin once I got to work and wash it down with a chocolate milk. Every 2 hours or less I would be in the break room eating more and more. I would dip Snickers Bars in chocolate pudding or frosting and eat chocolate frosting right out of the can with a spoon. I would raid the Accounting Department where there are always donuts and pastries and candy. If I brought donuts to work myself for everyone, I would get 4 for me for the ride in, then get 2 from the ones I brought and stash them for later while eating a couple more. Pizza meant a whole one at a time.
I know sweets and cravings and I can say this.... when I started low carb/high protein (85/160) I lost weight eating something small every couple hours but I didn't enjoy it. I was eating because I was supposed to eat something small (hard boiled egg, cheese, nuts, etc). Eventually I gained the weight back over a couple years. All of it.
Started over on the same path but eventually switched to doing the same thing but with 20:4 intermittent fasting and found it was much easier to stay on track. I didn't have the cravings so much. Then when I switched to keto with the IF, the cravings pretty much went away for the reasons I stated above. Never in a million years would I have believed I could eat this way and more importantly, NOT eat the way I had been doing for the better part of 40 years, certainly the 30+ of my adulthood.
Do I occasionally go crazy at an Asian buffet or Sizzler and eat carby stuff I don't normally? Yes, on occasion, but I don't crave the stuff. I just enjoy it more when I do get it.
It took me 50 years to truly give a crap about my nutrition and not just turn a blind eye to the effects the standard American diet has on the body and why obesity, diabetes and heart disease is rampant and I refuse to be a statistic on those fronts.
All those foods you listed as things you used overeat are very high in fat as well as sugar.
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Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading up on the keto diet and thinking about trying it because low carb, low sugar. I am a lover of pasta, bread, rice, potatoes; everything that’s not allowed on keto. But I know that those are contributing to my weight gain.
Anyone doing keto mind sharing how they got started, any difficulties, your struggles, successes with alternatives for high carb foods. (I love fries, well anything potato really. I know it’ll be hard for me to not eat it)
@TeeP17 it sounds like Keto may not be in your future. I have been living in a state of nutritional ketosis for the past 4 years with a great improvement in my health.
That being said I totally failed for 60 days (Aug/Sep 2014) due to the fact I could not stop eating more than 50 grams of carbs daily. It took going off foods with added sugar and any form of any grain cold turkey to break my addiction like relationship with carbs at age 63.
After a hellish two weeks the carb cravings/binging started to fade fast and have not returned in the past 4 years.
Forget about doing everything at once and just go 30 days keeping your carbs down to about 50 grams daily. If you can do that THEN you have a shot of doing keto.
At my age (67 now) cancer is a real risk so I work to increase my number of mitochondria and their health since that is one positive side effect of the keto WOE.
Best of success. Keto is not the only way some people eat for better health and a chance of a longer life.8 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading up on the keto diet and thinking about trying it because low carb, low sugar. I am a lover of pasta, bread, rice, potatoes; everything that’s not allowed on keto. But I know that those are contributing to my weight gain.
Anyone doing keto mind sharing how they got started, any difficulties, your struggles, successes with alternatives for high carb foods. (I love fries, well anything potato really. I know it’ll be hard for me to not eat it)
@TeeP17 it sounds like Keto may not be in your future. I have been living in a state of nutritional ketosis for the past 4 years with a great improvement in my health.
That being said I totally failed for 60 days (Aug/Sep 2014) due to the fact I could not stop eating more than 50 grams of carbs daily. It took going off foods with added sugar and any form of any grain cold turkey to break my addiction like relationship with carbs at age 63.
After a hellish two weeks the carb cravings/binging started to fade fast and have not returned in the past 4 years.
Forget about doing everything at once and just go 30 days keeping your carbs down to about 50 grams daily. If you can do that THEN you have a shot of doing keto.
At my age (67 now) cancer is a real risk so I work to increase my number of mitochondria and their health since that is one positive side effect of the keto WOE.
Best of success. Keto is not the only way some people eat for better health and a chance of a longer life.
Would it be even better to cut down to 100-150 grams of carbs for a few weeks to suck and see and then lower if you are managing this well and think lower would suit? Going from a high carb diet down to only 50 grams is still a huge change in one hit.4 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading up on the keto diet and thinking about trying it because low carb, low sugar. I am a lover of pasta, bread, rice, potatoes; everything that’s not allowed on keto. But I know that those are contributing to my weight gain.
Anyone doing keto mind sharing how they got started, any difficulties, your struggles, successes with alternatives for high carb foods. (I love fries, well anything potato really. I know it’ll be hard for me to not eat it)
@TeeP17 it sounds like Keto may not be in your future. I have been living in a state of nutritional ketosis for the past 4 years with a great improvement in my health.
That being said I totally failed for 60 days (Aug/Sep 2014) due to the fact I could not stop eating more than 50 grams of carbs daily. It took going off foods with added sugar and any form of any grain cold turkey to break my addiction like relationship with carbs at age 63.
After a hellish two weeks the carb cravings/binging started to fade fast and have not returned in the past 4 years.
Forget about doing everything at once and just go 30 days keeping your carbs down to about 50 grams daily. If you can do that THEN you have a shot of doing keto.
At my age (67 now) cancer is a real risk so I work to increase my number of mitochondria and their health since that is one positive side effect of the keto WOE.
Best of success. Keto is not the only way some people eat for better health and a chance of a longer life.
Would it be even better to cut down to 100-150 grams of carbs for a few weeks to suck and see and then lower if you are managing this well and think lower would suit? Going from a high carb diet down to only 50 grams is still a huge change in one hit.
I tried that but it did not address my cravings and binging in my case but keto still does after 4 years. I was old and very sick and out of time hence the cold turkey route.
Any way that works for one is the right way and best of success to each finding the way that works for you.
Bottom line for most of us we cut carbs to around 50 grams daily or we do not do Keto.5 -
I think it's a bit of both. CICO works, but lowering carbs also is helpful.
I see a licensed dietitian every other week. She explains the "insulin-glycogen-liver-leptin-etc" exactly like UncaToddy is saying. It is how she treats prediabetes and diabetes, and it is how she treats weight loss patients to reduce their hunger. She said if she has an extremely heavy client with diabetes or prediabetes, the best way to treat it is to remove all flour and sugar.
However, my dietitian tells me that if I can't sustain eating a certain way, it won't be any good and I will just get frustrated, gorge and gain back whatever I lose (she knows I can't handle that kind of deprivation). So, she had me just lower my carbs to reduce my weight and prevent my prediabetes from going into diabetes. At first she had me doing 40% carbs, 30% protein/fat. Now, she has changed it to 30% carbs/protein, 40% fat because the fat is nutritionally more satiating and the carbs cause insulin spikes. I stick to my 1600 calories a day.
If I'm going to have sweet potato fries, I have it with steak or chicken or fish. I don't have it with a burger on a roll. If I'm going to have a burger/chicken breast on a roll, I don't have sweet potato fries. I have a salad. If I'm going to have rice and black beans as my side dishes with dinner, I stick to protein and veggies for lunch. If I want to have taco salad for dinner, instead of regular tortilla chips, I have it with Beanitos, as they are high in fiber, which can be deducted from the carb count. Instead of eating a pint of ice cream, I have an Enlightened Bar, which counts as a milk serving, and is low in calories and sugar, and high in protein. It's all about moderation and minimizing carbs without going bonkers from deprivation.
Having said all that, I could never do keto or any other extremely low carb plan. I would feel deprived and I'd end up binging, as in the past.
I'm losing well, but not feeling deprived at all. Now I just have to do this for the rest of my life!
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Hey! Go see a reputable nutritionist, even if it’s just one time to get questions asked. There are no long term studies on Keto. Honestly, it is a fad that is in my humble healthcare working opinion can be dangerous. Weight loss is hard work, but that journey is worth it! You don’t want to be sexy on the outside, but starving/dying on the inside. There are some illnesses that allegedly can be remedied by Keto - epilepsy, morbid obesity, etc. just be careful. The means don’t always justify the ends. Depriving yourself is never the way to go. I didn’t workout at all for one year and lost 80 pounds. I ate small portions and managed my weight that way. I didn’t have to use tricks to get there. I am exercising now, because I want to tone. There is no shortcut. Life is too short and too long to be depriving yourself. Message me privately and I can tell you exactly what I did and ate. My skin is not loose, because I took my time and used coconut oil. Good luck!3
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Dear Posters,
Please remember to keep the threads on the help board focused on the questions presented by the OP. If you disagree with another posters response feel free to start a new thread in the debate section.
Thanks,
4legs1 -
4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »Dear Posters,
Please remember to keep the threads on the help board focused on the questions presented by the OP. If you disagree with another posters response feel free to start a new thread in the debate section.
Thanks,
4legs
Understood but I think that the discussion/debate is relative to the OP's question.3 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading up on the keto diet and thinking about trying it because low carb, low sugar. I am a lover of pasta, bread, rice, potatoes; everything that’s not allowed on keto. But I know that those are contributing to my weight gain.
Anyone doing keto mind sharing how they got started, any difficulties, your struggles, successes with alternatives for high carb foods. (I love fries, well anything potato really. I know it’ll be hard for me to not eat it)
@TeeP17 it sounds like Keto may not be in your future. I have been living in a state of nutritional ketosis for the past 4 years with a great improvement in my health.
That being said I totally failed for 60 days (Aug/Sep 2014) due to the fact I could not stop eating more than 50 grams of carbs daily. It took going off foods with added sugar and any form of any grain cold turkey to break my addiction like relationship with carbs at age 63.
After a hellish two weeks the carb cravings/binging started to fade fast and have not returned in the past 4 years.
Forget about doing everything at once and just go 30 days keeping your carbs down to about 50 grams daily. If you can do that THEN you have a shot of doing keto.
At my age (67 now) cancer is a real risk so I work to increase my number of mitochondria and their health since that is one positive side effect of the keto WOE.
Best of success. Keto is not the only way some people eat for better health and a chance of a longer life.
I agree that it is important that you work to lower your carbs in general before trying keto. Especially if you are coming from a particularly high carb diet where seemingly benign staples are extremely high in carbs (such as the situation with Asian or Italian cultures where rice and pasta are central).
As I have said, for me it originally started as low carb/high protein (85/160) and it wasn't until the 2nd go around of that in which I learned about IF and then subsequently how well keto matched up with the benefits for health. When I first started looking at doing keto and learning more about it, I told my wife "I will probably switch to keto going forward" and spent about a month trying to lower my carbs even more. In some respects it was simply because we had just bought some foods for me that fit in a daily limit of 85g but were harder to keep within a 20-25g limit and I wanted to use them up. These days, 25g net is rarely a problem but it surely was easier going from 85g to 50ish and then to 20 than it would have been mentally trying to go from 300 or 400 to 20 in one step.1 -
njitaliana wrote: »I think it's a bit of both. CICO works, but lowering carbs also is helpful.
I see a licensed dietitian every other week. She explains the "insulin-glycogen-liver-leptin-etc" exactly like UncaToddy is saying. It is how she treats prediabetes and diabetes, and it is how she treats weight loss patients to reduce their hunger. She said if she has an extremely heavy client with diabetes or prediabetes, the best way to treat it is to remove all flour and sugar.
However, my dietitian tells me that if I can't sustain eating a certain way, it won't be any good and I will just get frustrated, gorge and gain back whatever I lose (she knows I can't handle that kind of deprivation). So, she had me just lower my carbs to reduce my weight and prevent my prediabetes from going into diabetes. At first she had me doing 40% carbs, 30% protein/fat. Now, she has changed it to 30% carbs/protein, 40% fat because the fat is nutritionally more satiating and the carbs cause insulin spikes. I stick to my 1600 calories a day.
If I'm going to have sweet potato fries, I have it with steak or chicken or fish. I don't have it with a burger on a roll. If I'm going to have a burger/chicken breast on a roll, I don't have sweet potato fries. I have a salad. If I'm going to have rice and black beans as my side dishes with dinner, I stick to protein and veggies for lunch. If I want to have taco salad for dinner, instead of regular tortilla chips, I have it with Beanitos, as they are high in fiber, which can be deducted from the carb count. Instead of eating a pint of ice cream, I have an Enlightened Bar, which counts as a milk serving, and is low in calories and sugar, and high in protein. It's all about moderation and minimizing carbs without going bonkers from deprivation.
Having said all that, I could never do keto or any other extremely low carb plan. I would feel deprived and I'd end up binging, as in the past.
I'm losing well, but not feeling deprived at all. Now I just have to do this for the rest of my life!
Great advice and swaps that made it work for you. As one who loves ice cream, I never tried the enlightened bars but the Halo Top ice cream was a great choice and something that I can even work into my plan now on days when I am at the end and still have a few carbs to give. 0 -
Sorry for a small deviation on satiety, but if you look at the satiety index, a potato is the number one item, followed by proteins and fiberous vegetables. Fats, particularly fats + protein, come in after that (i.e., eggs and cheese).UncaToddly wrote: »Millicent3015 wrote: »You could do keto, but would you be able to sustain it in the long term? Maybe try reducing your portion sizes first, then, when you're eating correct portions and you still want to do it, do it. But explore other possibilities first before embarking on an eating plan that you already acknowledge will be hard for you to sustain, especially if it involves restricting or eliminating foods you enjoy.
Fat is the most satiating of the 3 macros due mainly to the effects of severely reduced insulin levels that allow the hormone leptin to win the battle over hunger. When insulin is high or in higher levels than leptin, the signal to decrease appetite is lost. When insulin is low, leptin wins and the appetite is suppressed.
I do not deny that I have been a glutton most of my life and none of it was good. I craved all the crappy foods. At my worst I would eat breakfast at home (half a box of Cap'n Crunch maybe), eat a couple packs of Pop-Tarts on the way to work... stop at McDonald's or Jack N The Box on the way and eat it before I got to work.... 6 miles from home. I would then get some sort of cake or something like a Spunkmeyer muffin once I got to work and wash it down with a chocolate milk. Every 2 hours or less I would be in the break room eating more and more. I would dip Snickers Bars in chocolate pudding or frosting and eat chocolate frosting right out of the can with a spoon. I would raid the Accounting Department where there are always donuts and pastries and candy. If I brought donuts to work myself for everyone, I would get 4 for me for the ride in, then get 2 from the ones I brought and stash them for later while eating a couple more. Pizza meant a whole one at a time.
I know sweets and cravings and I can say this.... when I started low carb/high protein (85/160) I lost weight eating something small every couple hours but I didn't enjoy it. I was eating because I was supposed to eat something small (hard boiled egg, cheese, nuts, etc). Eventually I gained the weight back over a couple years. All of it.
Started over on the same path but eventually switched to doing the same thing but with 20:4 intermittent fasting and found it was much easier to stay on track. I didn't have the cravings so much. Then when I switched to keto with the IF, the cravings pretty much went away for the reasons I stated above. Never in a million years would I have believed I could eat this way and more importantly, NOT eat the way I had been doing for the better part of 40 years, certainly the 30+ of my adulthood.
Do I occasionally go crazy at an Asian buffet or Sizzler and eat carby stuff I don't normally? Yes, on occasion, but I don't crave the stuff. I just enjoy it more when I do get it.
It took me 50 years to truly give a crap about my nutrition and not just turn a blind eye to the effects the standard American diet has on the body and why obesity, diabetes and heart disease is rampant and I refuse to be a statistic on those fronts.
OP, the best diet is finding the one that satiates you and aligns to your eating patterns. While i mix keto and very high carbs, i am generally starving on my keto days even with 150-180g of protein.
If anything, I'd start by focusing on your macros a bit; so increase proteins and fiber and let fats and carbs fall out a bit. If you find you are more satiated by fats, decrease carbs. If you are satiatied by carbs, decrease fats.
ETA: if you start with whole sources of food, limit fast food, chips and baked goods, it will provid for a solid start.4 -
Hi OP!
I have been following Keto for several months and have enjoyed it. I agree with other posters that you don't need Keto to lose weight, but it has been a valuable tool for me.
In response to your questions, there are usually low-carb alternatives for all of the things you listed. Cauliflower crust pizzas are a great alternative to regular pizza. If you love rice, try riced vegetables (cauliflower, turnips, parsnips). Riced vegetables are great in stir-frys as an alternative to regular rice. If you love french fries, try zucchini fries instead (which you can bake instead of frying to save even more calories). If you google around and/or check out the Keto group on MFP, you can find a lot of great alternatives. There are also premade items that are low-carb, such as breads and pastas, that you can order online if you have a particular craving. Sugar-free candies/chocolates can also fit within the Keto diet as can other sweets.
I would consider what foods are included in the standard Keto diet that you enjoy and what you would enjoy eating on a regular basis. I think it is less an issue of what you will miss and more a question of whether you will be full and satisfied eating Keto on a daily basis.
For me, I love meats (steak, chicken, salami, bacon, etc), eggs, cheeses, avocados, nuts, and so on. These foods are all within the Keto diet and I am happy eating them on a regular basis so I don't miss carbs when I am at home. It can be harder when eating at a restaurant (the bread basket is always a temptation:)), but I think that is true of any diet in which you are cutting calories. A 1000-calorie slice of cheesecake with a 2000-calorie plate of fettuccine alfredo is going to bust any diet, keto or not.
MFP has a Keto group that posts recipes and responds to questions if you are interested in more information. There are also a number of websites and Pinterest boards dedicated to Keto-friendly alternatives for the foods you mentioned.
When I started Keto, I found it useful to figure out what I wanted to eat for the week (or at least the next few days) and then buy everything for my meals. Since it was a new way of cooking and eating, I had to learn what fell within the diet, in what portion, what also fit within my calorie goals, and how long it would take me to prepare foods. If I was running late to work and had to figure out lunch on the fly, I would stare blankly at my frig and then wind up buying something from the office (usually not Keto). But, if I had looked up on the weekend different lunch options, I would know what I could grab and put together quickly for my lunch.
I would also recommend getting rid of (or at least putting out of sight) any foods that you tend to overeat, especially snacks and convenience foods. If you have potato chips sitting out on the counter, it is a lot harder (at least for me) to walk by them and have some veggies.
As others have mentioned, you may feel fatigued the first few days. For me, after the first week, I found I had more energy, felt more rested, and overall just felt better.
Best of luck!
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Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading up on the keto diet and thinking about trying it because low carb, low sugar. I am a lover of pasta, bread, rice, potatoes; everything that’s not allowed on keto. But I know that those are contributing to my weight gain.
Anyone doing keto mind sharing how they got started, any difficulties, your struggles, successes with alternatives for high carb foods. (I love fries, well anything potato really. I know it’ll be hard for me to not eat it)
Hi there! I was on a strict ketogenic diet last year and lost over 30 lbs within 3 months! The first week was hard, but as time went on, it got a lot easier. I too, was a big pasta/bread eater. For me, carbs was the most satiating macro. I felt the most satisfied after a big helping of spaghetti. And of course I had to have bread with it as well. So needless to say, it was very hard that first week to forgo my beloved carbs.
But I did it. I just jumped in and did it. No formal plan. My kids weren't doing it with me, so there was carby starchy foods in the house. I just made up my mind that I wasn't going to cave. The first week was real hard. But I got thru it. I lost over 6 pounds that first week, so that helped me a lot in sticking with it. I know it was just water weight, but I've tried various other diets throughout my life, and 6 pounds was a first for me! I did experience the "keto flu" at the beginning, because I didn't really research it that much. Found out my electrolytes were low. Once I upped my sodium and potassium, I was ok.
After that, I slowed down on the weight loss, and averaged about 1.5 to 2 lbs a week. During the 3rd month, I had really slowed down, sometimes not losing at all, but maintaining. Never exercised during the entire time because my knees and hips weren't co-operating. I ended up doing 18/6 intermittent fasting the last month. That helped me stay on track as well.
At the beginning, I tried all the alternatives to pasta, using coconut flour/almond flour. Cauliflower mac and cheese was fun! NOT! I did like the zucchini noodles in place of pasta, but it definitely was not the same. I was going to attempt to make radish home fries, but never actually did it. So can't tell you how that tastes. Luckily for me, I like eggs. I made many different egg dishes. I thought I'd get tired of eggs, but never did. I know not everyone can sustain a diet with just eggs though! I ate meat...hamburg, steak, bacon, sausage, ham, hotdogs, chicken, turkey, etc. Not a fish person, but I did eat tuna a lot. Also not a seafood lover, so never tried anything with that. But they say seafood is great for keto.
I also tried to make things using stevia. Nothing tasted good. I find it very bitter tasting! So do yourself a favor and don't buy a big bag of it! LOL! Or pm your address and I can send one to you! Not a fan. I do like monk fruit, but I find I no longer need sweets. I drink coffee and tea black. I do have a coke zero every now and again. But my water intake is on point.
I moved to another part of my state in March of this year. The town I moved to has a ton of restaurants, pizza parlors, etc. Plus I had grocery stores and the like within a few miles. Where I lived before, I had to travel quite a bit to get any of those. So I think that was a factor as well as to how good I did at the beginning. So I've gone off track and I've gained back 10 lbs since the move. And finally made the decision to go back full keto. So I'm back on here to help me keep track of my macros. I can stand to lose another 20 on top of that 10 I gained back. So here is hoping I lose another 30 by the end of the year! Good luck to you!1 -
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