To keto or not keto?
hilaryhill
Posts: 156 Member
A quick background....
I'm 33 years old and have done various diets over the years. Calorie counting, Trim Healthy Mama, keto. Before I got pregnant with my 4th baby I had lost 30lbs, went to the gym regularly, and felt great. Then I got pregnant, gained a ton of weight bc miserable, and then after I had him I lost about 70lbs just by nursing. Well, I've been stuck at that weight (210lbs) ever since. I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long, I love carbs too much to give them up for good. Of course I gained it back after. And now I just don't know what to do. Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
I'm 33 years old and have done various diets over the years. Calorie counting, Trim Healthy Mama, keto. Before I got pregnant with my 4th baby I had lost 30lbs, went to the gym regularly, and felt great. Then I got pregnant, gained a ton of weight bc miserable, and then after I had him I lost about 70lbs just by nursing. Well, I've been stuck at that weight (210lbs) ever since. I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long, I love carbs too much to give them up for good. Of course I gained it back after. And now I just don't know what to do. Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
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Replies
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I would forget attempting keto, you've done it before and can't stick to it. It works for those who naturally gravitate to that way of eating, and it's not a one size fits all. Instead of diets, eat foods you like in proper servings and calorie amounts that fit whatever numberes MFP gives you. Focus on whatever macro helps keep you satisfied longer (for me it's protein but YMMV). Get in lots of veg and fruit. Don't feel like you have to deprive yourself, learn to fit sweets and snacks here and there. It gets easier when you start getting an idea of portions and calories and how to play with those numbers.9
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Why not start with logging what you are eating now without making changes? Once you have a week or two of data, review that information and see where you can make small changes that you can live with that will get you closer to your calorie goal (a little over, a little under day to day isn't going to make or break you). Review and make small adjustments every week or two. The best diet is the one you can stick with and provides the nutrition you need.9
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If you can't sustain it, then the answer is definitely no. The quick water weight drop on keto isn't worth the frustration of quitting prematurely. All diets work the same way including keto, so it doesn't matter what diet to choose beyond personal preference.
If I may suggest one, it would be this one:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p16 -
I was a firm believer in keto. Followed it religiously for 5 months. Lost a ton of weight, but then found out most medical associations, including the world health organization is against keto unless medically necessary. I'm now doing low carb Mediterranean which is highly approved. Ultimately, it's up to you5
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hilaryhill wrote: »A quick background....
I'm 33 years old and have done various diets over the years. Calorie counting, Trim Healthy Mama, keto. Before I got pregnant with my 4th baby I had lost 30lbs, went to the gym regularly, and felt great. Then I got pregnant, gained a ton of weight bc miserable, and then after I had him I lost about 70lbs just by nursing. Well, I've been stuck at that weight (210lbs) ever since. I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long, I love carbs too much to give them up for good. Of course I gained it back after. And now I just don't know what to do. Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
Just because "everyone you know is doing keto" doesn't automatically make it the best choice for you. Especially since you've tried it twice, now, and found it unsustainable. That doesn't make you wrong or weak, btw. It just makes keto not the route for you to take.
Having said that, *all* diets work for weight loss only if it creates a calorie deficit. If you consistently eat less than your body burns in a day, you WILL lose weight, regardless of the particular diet you are following, or the foods you are eating. How you do that is entirely up to you. There's nothing magic about keto. No special properties that speed up weight loss. It's just very trendy right now.
Btw, calorie counting isn't a diet, it's merely a tool to use to ensure that whatever food you are eating keeps you in the required calorie deficit needed to lose weight. All diets rely on CICO (calories in versus calories out) to work. Yes, even keto.
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Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
You said you'd done keto twice before and lost weight both times. However, keto is high fat. Low fat is bad for you, but low fat isn't keto. High fat is keto.
Is this fragment of your opening post another mental stumble?
The current state of medical and scientific understanding is that something similar to keto, with high fat and low to lowish carbs, leads to lower levels of inflammation, reduced risk of Alzheimer's, and improved outcomes in conjunction with best cancer therapy practices. Those are good things.
The whole claim of keto is that you eat a high fat low carb variety of foods, the fat produces a satiety signal in your brain which makes you stop wanting to eat.
It's then easy to not eat when your brain isn't screaming for more food.6 -
Everyone you know may be doing Keto but most of them that are pushing themselves into a mold that doesn't really fit will give it up. Some that lose all the weight they need to lose will stop and then regain. That is the danger of a plan that is not sustainable. If you can't imagine yourself eating a particular way for the rest of your life you need to reject it as a weight loss method.
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I'm 62 years old so can tell you with confidence that there will always be a diet that is all the rage. They come and go. The best diet for you is the one you can live with for life. Losing weight is not just about dropping pounds but about improving health and learning to change your lifestyle PERMANENTLY. In the case of people who can't keep Keto after losing, they haven't learned anything they can use so once they quit the diet most will regain the weight. It's just that simple. I did low carb, low fat, low calorie etc for years and never lost enough weight to get to maintenance. Once I finished "dieting" I would gain it all back plus some because I hadn't learned anything that changed my eating habits. I finally created my own diet which made it possible for me to lose and keep the weight off. Try to focus on what you can live with permanently. Dieting is alot of work for very little return if you end up gaining it all back. In the end it's all about eating less calories than you burn no matter what plan you use, but to keep the weight off you must change your lifestyle for good.2
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You've tried keto multiple times in the past & it was successful...TEMPORARILY. Because you quit due to not being happy on it and loving your carbs (ME TOO!) and you felt too restricted. Therefore, keto has been proven unsustainable for you. Why not go with something that does NOT make you feel so restricted - lets you enjoy the things you want to eat - and is sustainable so you can have long-term success and not be back in this same predicament?
Yes, a lot of people are successful on keto & it is sustainable for them. But you're not everyone and you need to do what works for you. I think part of what is happening here is keto is all the rage right now and you can't go anywhere without hearing about it or seeing some headline in the supermarket checkout line etc. So some of your friends hopped on the bandwagon & are raving about it too. Were you all amped up and raving about it when you were in the midst of it too? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...then what happened? Right. When the keto craze dies down a bit and some of the people who are riding high on that bandwagon come to the same realization that you did (multiple times) - "hey I really don't LIKE eating this way" - suddenly that won't be THE! BIG! THING! anymore.1 -
You said "I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long." Sounds to me like you've answered your own question.
It really doesn't matter who else is doing what, if it doesn't work for you. If all your other friends were jumping off a bridge...
Moderation works for me. All the foods I like, in quantities that fit my goal, with nutrition in mind as well. This is sustainable for me. Cutting out late swaths of foods I enjoy would not be.4 -
I do keto and I love it. Still...hilaryhill wrote: »I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories.
What do you mean by this? You can eat whatever you want, you just have to make sure you stay under your TDEE. So you probably want low calorie foods. It's that easy. I count calories still, even on keto. Counting calories is how I'm losing weight, keto simply facilitates that for me.hilaryhill wrote: »Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you.
We don't know that this is bad for you. Healthy fats are really good for you so you probably don't want to get rid of them completely forever. If you're worried about health, try to include healthy fats in your diet. Avocado, fish, olive oil, stuff like that. But you can keep your fat intake low and be healthy. There's no compelling reason to think otherwise.
Finding the right diet for you is about learning about yourself, what you want to eat, when you overeat, what you tend to overeat and why, what kinds of foods you can eat In moderation.
I have come to see that eating a lot of carbs makes is near impossible for me to eat in moderation. I don't understand why but I've tried enough times to know that it happens. I can eat in moderation comfortably when I do keto, though I do really miss bread and donuts and stuff. If I allow myself bread, I end up wanting to eat constantly and being miserable on a caloric deficit.
Eating on a deficit is unpleasant for me in either case. Keto is simple the lesser of two evils. I can either miss bread sometimes or constantly fight the urge to graze.
There is no magic bullet, no easy solution, (there is, it's called amphetamines but that has its own set of problems) weight loss takes discipline and attention.2 -
If you've tried keto before and found it wasn't sustainable, then why do you think it's going to work for you if you try it again?
Don't make weight loss more complicated than it needs to be-plug your info into MFP and follow the calorie recommendation. Log your food (using a food scale to measure out portion sizes), and then give it time.1 -
hilaryhill wrote: »Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
Think of it this way -- low fat was a fad in the '80s, lots of people did it (or claimed to do it, we didn't actually reduce fat), it turned out not to be necessary and even counterproductive for lots of people. Now, keto is a fad, lots of people did it (or thought they were doing it, I find some who claim to do keto don't actually understand what carbs are or how to count them), and once again it's not necessary and even counterproductive for lots of people.
Low fat isn't bad for you at all, also. It's not necessary, it's probably harder to sustain for most than eating more fat, but low fat diets can be very healthful. The problem is if you cut down on fat and replace it with high added sugar products, but no one legitimately thinks that is a healthy thing to do.
Eating a balanced diet with foods you enjoy, plenty of protein (including from foods other than meat, like eggs, beans, and lentils), vegetables, fruit, whole grains and tubers, nuts and seeds is a healthy diet that will neither be keto nor low fat.
I'd really start with plugging in your regular food choices to MFP to count calories, adjust macros if you are hungry on the calories (protein and then fiber tend to help most for hunger for the majority of people), and make sure you are eating plenty of vegetables. Sustainability is the most important thing.3 -
Keto may just not be the right fit for you and that's ok. Maybe going just low carb would fit your life better.
I would first start off by tracking your normal eating right now. See how many carbs and calories you're eating and then.. reduce both a little. If your NOW normal diet consists of overeating calories... reduce calories by about.. 300 at first. If you're eating 200g of total carbs a day... reduce it by 50.
Start slow and get used to the adjustments. Then once you're comfortable to move on to restrict just a little more... reduce calories again (if needed) and reduce carbs again if needed.
Find a way of eating that you have the will to keep up with. Nothing is going to work if you don't put in the effort to stick with it.1 -
hilaryhill wrote: »A quick background....
I'm 33 years old and have done various diets over the years. Calorie counting, Trim Healthy Mama, keto. Before I got pregnant with my 4th baby I had lost 30lbs, went to the gym regularly, and felt great. Then I got pregnant, gained a ton of weight bc miserable, and then after I had him I lost about 70lbs just by nursing. Well, I've been stuck at that weight (210lbs) ever since. I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long, I love carbs too much to give them up for good. Of course I gained it back after. And now I just don't know what to do. Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
I know quite a few people who start off strong on keto and rave about it, but when they give it up they don't mention that, and I only figure out they had stopped when they start talking about getting back on track
Yes, there are people who have great long term success with keto, but you don't have to force yourself to try be one of them if keto is not a good fit for you.0 -
When I lost my 40lbs I did it with calorie counting. One thing I never said to myself or anyone else is "I'm on a diet". This implies I will be off of it some-day to regain the weight back.
What I did was completely and permanently change my eating habits and that is the secret to long term success!
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kshama2001 wrote: »hilaryhill wrote: »A quick background....
I'm 33 years old and have done various diets over the years. Calorie counting, Trim Healthy Mama, keto. Before I got pregnant with my 4th baby I had lost 30lbs, went to the gym regularly, and felt great. Then I got pregnant, gained a ton of weight bc miserable, and then after I had him I lost about 70lbs just by nursing. Well, I've been stuck at that weight (210lbs) ever since. I've done keto twice and lost weight but I just can't seem to sustain it for long, I love carbs too much to give them up for good. Of course I gained it back after. And now I just don't know what to do. Everyone I know is doing keto but I just hate how restrictive it is and I feel like I've forgotten what I can eat by just counting calories. Eating keto in the past now has me scared of eating low fat bc it's said over and over how bad it is for you. I have a lot of mental hurdles. Help?
I know quite a few people who start off strong on keto and rave about it, but when they give it up they don't mention that, and I only figure out they had stopped when they start talking about getting back on track
Yes, there are people who have great long term success with keto, but you don't have to force yourself to try be one of them if keto is not a good fit for you.
That bold is my story in a nutshell lol. I lost 19lbs on it, loved the recipes, but just couldn't sustain it.
So I'm back to lose....a few lbs 1
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