Dare I Say It? Keto

Just like any diet, keto will only have "lasting results" if you stay at the calorie level needed to maintain your new weight.

While you don't HAVE to stay on keto once you've reached your goal weight (you can always switch back to a more mainstream way of eating that lets you stay at the calorie level needed to maintain your new weight), many people seem to anecdotally experience that it is challenging to lose weight with one way of eating and then switch to another, different, way of eating to maintain. In these instances, they often do gain the weight back.

This is why many people prefer to lose weight with a manner of eating that is similar to the way they plan to eat to maintain, as it makes the adjustment to maintaining easier for many people.

That said, if you feel like you'd prefer to lose weight with keto and then switch to another method, there's no inherent reason that won't work.

leekatelynne0659 wrote: »

I am one who is always balking at fancy, trendy diet plans but I feel that a keto diet combined with intermittent fasting will help me to lose the last 10 pounds and will help me to cut fat. What are your thoughts on Keto? Does it actually have lasting results or will I gain it all back if I decide to stop?

I think keto works well for some, who don't feel too deprived and for whom it leads to more appetite control if appetite is a problem. It can also be an easy way for some to cut cals when not tracking, since it often is satiating for people and requires one to not eat commonly available foods with higher cals. I found it too restrictive to do for very long, as I like to eat a lot of veg and was hitting my net carb limit just with non starchy veg plus some nuts and occasional plain greek yogurt. I basically couldn't fit in lots of healthy foods (like fruit, beans/lentils, etc.) that I otherwise would eat. I do tend to enjoy eating lower carb when on a deficit, and didn't perceive any particular benefits or it being easier to hold a deficit for me when doing keto. I don't believe the claims about keto being more effective for fat loss make sense, and studies have generally debunked that claim. (I also didn't find it to be true when I experimented with it.) One thing is that keto typically causes a quick water weight drop, which you WILL regain if you stop doing keto, so you would want to take that into account.

I don't think one must eat the same way at maintenance as for losing, but given the concern about maintaining the loss of the last 10 lbs, I think figuring out how you will eat to do that might be a better option. Some people here have been very successful just accepting that the last 10 lb are going to be a slow loss, and thus approached it as something to do as painlessly as possible, with a small deficit and eating basically as you intend to continue.

I like IFing (as in time-restricted eating or eating in a window, there are other types) currently because I enjoy eating just 2 larger meals and it fits my current workout schedule. Again, I haven't found it to make a difference to the deficit I need to lose, it's just a matter of when I am hungry -- a way of helping myself control the cals. If you are logging and controlling cals without difficulty already, I doubt it would make a difference, but again if the issue is struggling to hit your cal goal -- and it's a reasonable goal -- it's something to try. For many people, it fits with how they naturally like to eat, also, so is not difficult at all.

I think it's worth focusing on what's currently going on so that you aren't losing (if that's the case). Do you have unreasonable loss/week goal given how close you are? Are you eating unplanned or unlogged foods? Have you gotten sloppier with the logging? Some other reason you can identify? I had intended to get to 120 and stopped being able to lose at 125, since at that point I was pretty happy with where I was so even though I wanted to lose a bit more I started being a lot more lax and deciding oh, well, so I will be at maintenance this week.

leekatelynne0659 wrote: »

I am one who is always balking at fancy, trendy diet plans but I feel that a keto diet combined with intermittent fasting will help me to lose the last 10 pounds and will help me to cut fat. What are your thoughts on Keto? Does it actually have lasting results or will I gain it all back if I decide to stop?

Always has been a non starter for me...too restrictive, especially if I'm out or in social situations. That, and while I am an omnivore, I do eat quite a bit of plant matter to include things like lentils, oats, beans, root vegetables, etc being staples of my diet.

In regards to putting weight back on...depends...in general, keto results in a quick drop in water weight due to being very low carbohydrate. If you're not already low carb, this drop will be even more pronounced...every gram of carbohydrate typically carries around 4 grams of water. When you go off of keto and introduce carbohydrates back into your diet, you are going to put that water weight back on...as it naturally comes with carbohydrates.

My guess is that if you have a goal that is 10 Lbs less than you currently are right now, you will probably need to lose around 15-20 Lbs on keto to compensate for water lost and water that you will gain when you reintroduce carbohydrates.