Struggling on Keto
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balance is the hallmark of the state of health. You don't find much balance on MFP.. extreme eaters go on extreme diets and shift their obsession with food to an obsession with restricting food in some form or fashion.
If you can step back and realize that..and see it in yourself.. you can take steps to eating your way to a fit size. .. You can still eat a lot and every food group.... just change what you're eating. Look at fueling your body..feeding it stuff that makes you feel great, alert, and vital.
There is no quick fix.. easy way out. you have to make changes in how you eat..move..and give it time. If you feel lousy on Keto.. that is your body crying for help. LISTEN.13 -
I'm not a fan of keto. I get very hungry and myeals don't last long in my system if I don't have carbs to make them "stick". Unless there is a medical need, I'd drop the keto and learn to make balanced meals that incorporate bread, rice, beans, higher carb veggies like corn and peas, and even pasta, into your meals.
It's probably been mentioned by others also, but perhaps your calorie goal is too stringent for your activity level and stats.
I'm 52, 5'5" and 179 lbs and am losing about a pound a week eating a minimum of 1500 calories a day, with more available on days I exercise. Exercise allows me to have treats such as that huge bowl of popcorn while watching a movie.
As an example, your old way of eating, minus the candy, seems to really be a good start. I'd add extra veggies to the omlette (actually I saute chopped onions and peppers first, then scramble 2 whole eggs and cook them with the veggies, eat with ketchup), and have a light English muffin (100 Cal) with a bit of jelly, no butter).
Maybe just plan your meals better and try new foods.
The Food and Nutrition part of the forum here is a great place to learn new meals that you can fit into your goals.
Learn how to eat balanced meals, then portion them correctly for your calorie goal. Maybe sure your calorie goal isn't overly ambitious.10 -
OP what is your goal? Weight loss? Are you trying to manage any particular health conditions? What was it about keto that appealed to you enough to try it? And what’s a “keto style binge”?
What was concerning to you about your former diet? You said you eat 2-3 candy bars, but the rest of what you described seemed fairly nutrient dense: omelets, tuna, chicken, etc. I don’t see fruits or veggies mentioned? Also, if you were eating 2-3 full sized candy bars and other food I doubt you were eating 1000-1200 calories. Would you consider eating similarly, with a strong focus on your calorie intake, but transition from full sized candy bars to the fun sized ones.... that seems like a more logical choice for someone struggling with hunger than to go all the way to a keto diet that isn’t satiating you.
There’s nothing magical about keto, especially if weight loss is your goal. It’s not advantageous for weight loss over any other diet that achieves a calorie deficit. If you don’t enjoy it, and don’t find it satiating, it may not be for you.11 -
elisa123gal wrote: »balance is the hallmark of the state of health. You don't find much balance on MFP.. extreme eaters go on extreme diets and shift their obsession with food to an obsession with restricting food in some form or fashion.
If you can step back and realize that..and see it in yourself.. you can take steps to eating your way to a fit size. .. You can still eat a lot and every food group.... just change what you're eating. Look at fueling your body..feeding it stuff that makes you feel great, alert, and vital.
There is no quick fix.. easy way out. you have to make changes in how you eat..move..and give it time. If you feel lousy on Keto.. that is your body crying for help. LISTEN.
I agree to the core of this - and anything can be abused and misunderstood, but MFP is - for me - the very place I needed to find balance, as well as the greatest collection of balanced people I have ever met. I have personally come to terms with that I can't eat a lot (and be healthy), but I can eat anything and be healthy. Health is about balance. Balance is about choice.8 -
It sounds like you need to eat more. Cut the fat back and replace with more protein and greens. If you're still feeling hungry through the day, munch on low calorie snacks or hell, even cook up a couple of eggs to eat. Also, make sure you're drinking enough. If you're not drinking enough water, you could be mistaking thirst for hunger.1
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Hi Emma, it seems that people want to give you their opinion of keto diets in general and no good advice. If you have chosen to try a ketogenic diet, then great. There is nothing unhealthy about it and for many of us(me) with insulin resistance issues, it is a great choice. And despite the belief by many that calories in calories out is the end all be all of dieting, there are studies that show keto might actually burn more fat.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402116303137#!
The most common problem people have at the beginning of a keto diet is they aren't eating enough fats. Keep your carbs under 20. Some people can handle a bit more but it's a slippery slope. You want moderate proteins. depending on your activity level. I try for roughly .8 grams per pound of lean body mass. The rest will be fats. And it will seem like a lot of fat. But that's ok. Early on, you'll want to eat enough that you don't get really hungry. Don't worry about going over your calories by a bit. It can take some time for your body to adapt and restricting fats will cause your body to turn proteins into sugar.
Also, you need to drink water like crazy.
Keto works for me, but it isn't a magic bullet. Your initial loss was probably mostly water. You are going to plateau. Your body will hold water for a while to replace the fat weight you have lost. (whoosh effect) It is no different than any other diet plan. It can take a couple months to start seeing the real changes. Slow and steady wins the race, blah blah blah30 -
Hi Emma, it seems that people want to give you their opinion of keto diets in general and no good advice. If you have chosen to try a ketogenic diet, then great. There is nothing unhealthy about it and for many of us(me) with insulin resistance issues, it is a great choice. And despite the belief by many that calories in calories out is the end all be all of dieting, there are studies that show keto might actually burn more fat.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402116303137#!
The most common problem people have at the beginning of a keto diet is they aren't eating enough fats. Keep your carbs under 20. Some people can handle a bit more but it's a slippery slope. You want moderate proteins. depending on your activity level. I try for roughly .8 grams per pound of lean body mass. The rest will be fats. And it will seem like a lot of fat. But that's ok. Early on, you'll want to eat enough that you don't get really hungry. Don't worry about going over your calories by a bit. It can take some time for your body to adapt and restricting fats will cause your body to turn proteins into sugar.
Also, you need to drink water like crazy.
Keto works for me, but it isn't a magic bullet. Your initial loss was probably mostly water. You are going to plateau. Your body will hold water for a while to replace the fat weight you have lost. (whoosh effect) It is no different than any other diet plan. It can take a couple months to start seeing the real changes. Slow and steady wins the race, blah blah blah
As far as the abstract goes, there's no indication that calories were held steady between groups. There's no basis for a conclusion that reducing carbs and increasing fats was the cause of increased weight loss in the keto group, as opposed to a reduction in calories. The study was also done on individuals with metabolic syndrome, and there's no evidence that any positive result would translate to any benefit for healthy individuals.
Just no on protein turning to sugar in the absence of dietary fat.
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Hi Emma, it seems that people want to give you their opinion of keto diets in general and no good advice. If you have chosen to try a ketogenic diet, then great. There is nothing unhealthy about it and for many of us(me) with insulin resistance issues, it is a great choice. And despite the belief by many that calories in calories out is the end all be all of dieting, there are studies that show keto might actually burn more fat.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402116303137#!
The most common problem people have at the beginning of a keto diet is they aren't eating enough fats. Keep your carbs under 20. Some people can handle a bit more but it's a slippery slope. You want moderate proteins. depending on your activity level. I try for roughly .8 grams per pound of lean body mass. The rest will be fats. And it will seem like a lot of fat. But that's ok. Early on, you'll want to eat enough that you don't get really hungry. Don't worry about going over your calories by a bit. It can take some time for your body to adapt and restricting fats will cause your body to turn proteins into sugar.
Also, you need to drink water like crazy.
Keto works for me, but it isn't a magic bullet. Your initial loss was probably mostly water. You are going to plateau. Your body will hold water for a while to replace the fat weight you have lost. (whoosh effect) It is no different than any other diet plan. It can take a couple months to start seeing the real changes. Slow and steady wins the race, blah blah blah
As far as the abstract goes, there's no indication that calories were held steady between groups. There's no basis for a conclusion that reducing carbs and increasing fats was the cause of increased weight loss in the keto group, as opposed to a reduction in calories. The study was also done on individuals with metabolic syndrome, and there's no evidence that any positive result would translate to any benefit for healthy individuals.
Just no on protein turning to sugar in the absence of dietary fat.
no but a body can turn protein into glucose if needed through gluconeogenesis1 -
Hi Emma, it seems that people want to give you their opinion of keto diets in general and no good advice. If you have chosen to try a ketogenic diet, then great. There is nothing unhealthy about it and for many of us(me) with insulin resistance issues, it is a great choice. And despite the belief by many that calories in calories out is the end all be all of dieting, there are studies that show keto might actually burn more fat.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402116303137#!
The most common problem people have at the beginning of a keto diet is they aren't eating enough fats. Keep your carbs under 20. Some people can handle a bit more but it's a slippery slope. You want moderate proteins. depending on your activity level. I try for roughly .8 grams per pound of lean body mass. The rest will be fats. And it will seem like a lot of fat. But that's ok. Early on, you'll want to eat enough that you don't get really hungry. Don't worry about going over your calories by a bit. It can take some time for your body to adapt and restricting fats will cause your body to turn proteins into sugar.
Also, you need to drink water like crazy.
Keto works for me, but it isn't a magic bullet. Your initial loss was probably mostly water. You are going to plateau. Your body will hold water for a while to replace the fat weight you have lost. (whoosh effect) It is no different than any other diet plan. It can take a couple months to start seeing the real changes. Slow and steady wins the race, blah blah blah
keto burns DIETARY fat. even with keto its CICO. you cant eat more than your body burns and burn fat if you are gaining weight because eating more than you burn will result in weight gain which also means fat gain.keto doesnt work that way. CICO is an energy equation that applies to ALL ways of eating. its not eating enough fats for people doing keto in the beginning for most its not enough potassium,sodium and magnesium resulting in keto flu. restricting fat will not cause protein to turn into sugar. there are higher protein keto diets out there that have low carb and moderate fat. if restriciting fat caused your body to turn protein into sugar then I would be screwed because my body cannot process fats compared to most people8 -
Hi Emma, it seems that people want to give you their opinion of keto diets in general and no good advice. If you have chosen to try a ketogenic diet, then great. There is nothing unhealthy about it and for many of us(me) with insulin resistance issues, it is a great choice. And despite the belief by many that calories in calories out is the end all be all of dieting, there are studies that show keto might actually burn more fat.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402116303137#!
The most common problem people have at the beginning of a keto diet is they aren't eating enough fats. Keep your carbs under 20. Some people can handle a bit more but it's a slippery slope. You want moderate proteins. depending on your activity level. I try for roughly .8 grams per pound of lean body mass. The rest will be fats. And it will seem like a lot of fat. But that's ok. Early on, you'll want to eat enough that you don't get really hungry. Don't worry about going over your calories by a bit. It can take some time for your body to adapt and restricting fats will cause your body to turn proteins into sugar.
Also, you need to drink water like crazy.
Keto works for me, but it isn't a magic bullet. Your initial loss was probably mostly water. You are going to plateau. Your body will hold water for a while to replace the fat weight you have lost. (whoosh effect) It is no different than any other diet plan. It can take a couple months to start seeing the real changes. Slow and steady wins the race, blah blah blah
As far as the abstract goes, there's no indication that calories were held steady between groups. There's no basis for a conclusion that reducing carbs and increasing fats was the cause of increased weight loss in the keto group, as opposed to a reduction in calories. The study was also done on individuals with metabolic syndrome, and there's no evidence that any positive result would translate to any benefit for healthy individuals.
Just no on protein turning to sugar in the absence of dietary fat.
Both dietary fat and protein convert to glucose through glucenogenesis. I always find it interesting thayt those following keto don't recognize that too much fat, just like over consumption of protein, can increase gluconeogenesis.
OP, if you want increase your carbs a bit. I found keto too restrictive even with a modified plan. Being low carb might better suited for you or even a moderate deficit.7 -
Just no on protein turning to sugar in the absence of dietary fat.
no but a body can turn protein into glucose if needed through gluconeogenesis
And what is glucose? Sugar5 -
Both dietary fat and protein convert to glucose through glucenogenesis. I always find it interesting thayt those following keto don't recognize that too much fat, just like over consumption of protein, can increase gluconeogenesis.
OP, if you want increase your carbs a bit. I found keto too restrictive even with a modified plan. Being low carb might better suited for you or even a moderate deficit.
Your body will convert just enough for it's needs, keeping sugar and insulin steady in your system. Please don't assume what I do and don't recognize. I wasn't suggesting that overeating fats is going to help lose weight. I was suggesting that transitioning to keto isn't a fast process and at the beginning eating a little extra fat helps make the transition.
I was trying to assist the OP with her keto diet rather than saying don't do it. I wont presume to know her specific reasons so I won't insult her choices.
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Just no on protein turning to sugar in the absence of dietary fat.
no but a body can turn protein into glucose if needed through gluconeogenesis
And what is glucose? Sugar
yes and it can be converted IF needed. but you made it sound like it would be turned into sugar if fat was restricted. fat still can be burned IN A DEFICIT whether keto or not. I restrict fat and have had NO issues when I was losing weight. Im maintaining and still losing fat because Im recomping and I eat a lot of carbs and low fat amd moderate protein. so if any of those things I am doing hindered fat loss then I would have never lost weight or fat or continue to do so. I have done keto in the past before I knew I had a health issue restricting me from doing said diet and fat loss was NOT any faster than it is now or while I was in a deficit.3 -
JanesWorld1985 wrote: »I drink at LEAST a gallon of water a day.. sometimes two. I drink a lot prior to meals and first thing in the morning. Sometimes you have to power through that hunger!
Or even better,
Drink at least enough water a day to suit your activity level and other environmental factors. To do this, drink fluids (water is good but any fluids will work) when you feel thirsty.
Stop relying on deprivation and willpower to lose weight. Eat when you're hungry in a manner that makes you feel satisfied and meets your calorie goals. If you're so hungry you need to 'power through' then your approach is probably not right for you. Change things up and look for a solution that works better for you.
Give yourself a break, find a better way and stop struggling!!14 -
Both dietary fat and protein convert to glucose through glucenogenesis. I always find it interesting thayt those following keto don't recognize that too much fat, just like over consumption of protein, can increase gluconeogenesis.
OP, if you want increase your carbs a bit. I found keto too restrictive even with a modified plan. Being low carb might better suited for you or even a moderate deficit.
Your body will convert just enough for it's needs, keeping sugar and insulin steady in your system. Please don't assume what I do and don't recognize. I wasn't suggesting that overeating fats is going to help lose weight. I was suggesting that transitioning to keto isn't a fast process and at the beginning eating a little extra fat helps make the transition.
I was trying to assist the OP with her keto diet rather than saying don't do it. I wont presume to know her specific reasons so I won't insult her choices.
If you did know it, it certainly didn't read that way. Glucenogenesis doesn't occur singularly, it pulls from both energy sources to create glucose. If you ate very little protein and a ton of fat, glucenogenesis would still occur. And even so, what would be the issue if your body is creating glucose?
There is no evidence shown by a study, that indicates that eating protein will slow the process. Certainly if one is concerned with getting into ketosis they can take a few approaches; fasting, glycogen depletion workouts, and extreme carb restriction.
Also, if you look at studies that hold protein and calories steady, there is no fat loss difference. The only ones that show an increase in fat loss for low carb and ketogenic diets are ones that have more protein. In fact, if you look at any study that holds calories equivalent, the one with high protein always has greater fat loss.
ETA: Gluconegenesis occurs roughly at a 60/40 (protein/fat) ratio.10 -
Tracey,CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »davidylin04 wrote: »Another piece of advice I've seen floated around is that it can help to do a lot of brisk walking to kick your body over into fat metabolism. That's the scuttlebutt. But then again, low-intensity exercise doesn't really hurt, so why not give it a try?
may I ask where you got this info from?
This I gathered from a wealth of published studies where ketosis is induced in the test subjects through exercise. I'll link you to a search term through Google Scholar here.
The ketogenic diet, being a front-line medical therapy for a number of conditions, and unlike other diets, is fairly well studied. Including recent studies on otherwise 'healthy' (not condition specific) test subjects for efficacy in body fat and overall weight reduction.
This of course, measures the net effect of putting subjects on the ketogenic diet so it's not as if CICO doesn't apply. But you'll find as you read into the ketogenic diet that it is very effective.2 -
davidylin04 wrote: »
Tracey,CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »davidylin04 wrote: »Another piece of advice I've seen floated around is that it can help to do a lot of brisk walking to kick your body over into fat metabolism. That's the scuttlebutt. But then again, low-intensity exercise doesn't really hurt, so why not give it a try?
may I ask where you got this info from?
This I gathered from a wealth of published studies where ketosis is induced in the test subjects through exercise. I'll link you to a search term through Google Scholar here.
The ketogenic diet, being a front-line medical therapy for a number of conditions, and unlike other diets, is fairly well studied. Including recent studies on otherwise 'healthy' (not condition specific) test subjects for efficacy in body fat and overall weight reduction.
This of course, measures the net effect of putting subjects on the ketogenic diet so it's not as if CICO doesn't apply. But you'll find as you read into the ketogenic diet that it is very effective.
its effective for some not all. and its only been effective in certain health conditions so far such as type 2,pcos,IR and epilepsy. it has helped some with alzheimers but the studies on that are still not conclusive.as for fat loss the fat loss may be quicker to a certain point in those that are obese but the studies show that the rate of fat loss slows down and they still have to be in a deficit. keto made my health issues worse and my health decline,so it wasnt effective for me or my healt issues. oh and many of the studies you linked to through google scholar are behind paywalls. Im not paying for studies where I can get them elsewhere for free4 -
oh and most of the studies state NAFLD,elderly and people with type 2. I cant find one that shows a study in a healthy person on the page you linked. as for entering ketosis during exercise that can also happen if a person fasts. and works out before they break the fast and it can happen without them thinking about it. but thats another subject that I have not thoroughly studied yet. fat burning is also not any faster in fasted states either. like I said when I did keto before I knew I had a health issue my fat loss wasnt any faster than it was during non keto and I was obese. I lost a total of 5 lbs of water weight and that was it during the 2 months I did it.3
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I'll remind you that I linked you to a search term to show how brisk walking is used to induce a state of Ketosis. If you want to learn more about ketogenic diets in general, change the search terms to ketogenic diet.
The ketogenic diet (macronutrient ratio) has been very effective for me personally. I'm looking at studies that demonstrate a number of other beneficial effects from altering the balance of various microbiomes within the body, reducing inflammation, and a number of other things.
I mean, taking an overall look, there are front-line drugs that worsen conditions in a minority of patients rather than benefiting them, so overall I would say that with any diet, even calorie reduction, you really have to go with what works for you. Keto will definitely work for some - probably most people. Just don't do what my buddy does and think keto means unlimited bacon.9 -
davidylin04 wrote: »I'll remind you that I linked you to a search term to show how brisk walking is used to induce a state of Ketosis. If you want to learn more about ketogenic diets in general, change the search terms to ketogenic diet.
The ketogenic diet (macronutrient ratio) has been very effective for me personally. I'm looking at studies that demonstrate a number of other beneficial effects from altering the balance of various microbiomes within the body, reducing inflammation, and a number of other things.
I mean, taking an overall look, there are front-line drugs that worsen conditions in a minority of patients rather than benefiting them, so overall I would say that with any diet, even calorie reduction, you really have to go with what works for you. Keto will definitely work for some - probably most people. Just don't do what my buddy does and think keto means unlimited bacon.
Weight loss reduces inflammation, if one suffers from chronic inflammation. But keep in mind that not all inflammation is a bad thing... Its a natural physiological responds to a stimulous (ex - lifting causing microtears in your muscles).8
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