Keto, Low Carb, Atkins, IF Thread

[Blue Streak]

Can we get an amen for those taking the low carb route?
When it comes to diet - like most things in life - there is no ideal one-size-fits-all.
There is an avalanche of evidence that, for many, some version of a low carb/high fat diet effectively addresses metabolic syndrome and produces otherwise elusive outcomes, like weight loss, lower blood glucose, lower triglycerides, and lower cholesterol.
Let's hear it from those for whom carbohydrate restriction and/or intermittent fasting have worked!

 

[skibum4ever]

I am low carb low fat high protein. I have lost 28 lb. in 4 months.

I have not seen my doctor during this time, but I feel good. My annual physical comes up in mid-November and I will post re my health stats (cholesterol, etc.) Hoping to see some great numbers.

 

[Noodler]

I've done Keto for years. Only thing that works for me. I've found lots of benefits. It just gets tough at parties and while playing golf and drinking beer...

 

[avgDude]

KETO baby! I'm now at the same weight as when I was a freshmen in high school. Of course I was overweight as a freshmen. I'm still 14lbs from goal weight so the struggle goes on. not having bread is killing me. When we were leaving a resturant in Paris a few years ago, I stuffed all my pockets with the bread from the table. SO going low carb is tough on me (It's more emotional than anything else - I have very nice memories of my mom making baguettes). But on the other hand, I am able to stop one of my RX.

 

[VickieH]

I have been using IF for about two years ... sometimes more precisely than others. I think that's the nature of it being a "lifestyle" ... you throttle it up or down as appropriate.

Reconnected with a friend over the summer and heard that he started taking diabetes meds. Very gently recommended Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code -- maybe he'd find something helpful in it. He flipped out. He resumed a Keto diet but also incorporated IF and, on his own, discontinued the diabetes med. In about 4 months, he lost 40 pounds and got a clean bill of health including no further recommendation for diabetes meds and perfectly normal liver function test results. Apparently he was being tested for various things, with fatty liver high on the list of suspects.

 

[Noodler]

I suggest reading the book "Mastering Leptin" and learning all you can about all the hormones that govern our weight (fat storage, hunger control, etc.).

What most people don't understand when it comes to dieting is that you basically have two choices:

1. Try to control your diet purely through will power
2. Use a way of eating that auto-magically controls the hormones that drive weight gain and hunger

I think most people are carb-addicted and don't even realize it. Once you free yourself from the ups and downs of the blood sugar cycle, so many of the other aspects of your life will improve.

 

[Blue Streak]

I suggest reading the book "Mastering Leptin" and learning all you can about all the hormones that govern our weight (fat storage, hunger control, etc.).

What most people don't understand when it comes to dieting is that you basically have two choices:

1. Try to control your diet purely through will power
2. Use a way of eating that auto-magically controls the hormones that drive weight gain and hunger

I think most people are carb-addicted and don't even realize it. Once you free yourself from the ups and downs of the blood sugar cycle, so many of the other aspects of your life will improve.

 

[oldschoolskier]

My son has been doing Medical Keto for about 5 years for seizure control. It started with 10-12grams of Carbs per day. During the first month he lost 38lbs, it took about 3 months after that for him to regain about 14lbs and now holds a stable wt. he very actively trains and consumes about 3500-4500 calories a day. The last 3 1/2 years he’s at about 20-25grams of Carbs.

Here is our comments on Keto.

• It is dangerous
• It is difficult
• Requires a good understand of keto really is.
• Most Keto foods are not really keto foods.
• The only true carb count is total Carbs minus Fibres (even then depending on the person, may not be 100% true).
• Eating too much protein cause your body to treat it as a carb.
• Embrace healthy fats.
• Be prepared to have lose (lubricated) bowels.
• We have travelled and keto is doable but requires a good feel of what an approximate carb/fibre count is on all foods to stay in the limits you require.
  
• Cheating and going in and of of Ketosis is bad, very bad (think unhealth and extremely hard on your bodies system).
• Do it medically supervised, it does have dangers, we personally know of one death as a direct result of this diet.
• You have to learn to cook and bake or go broke.
• Keto is expensive to eat what appears the same as everyone else.
• Most people don’t grasp little or no carbs, so you constantly have to watch and ask.
• You can maintain weight even if extremely active (son is very competitive swimmer).
• Vitamins and supplements are a requirement to maintain the correct balance your body requires.

In short:

Dangerous, doable and effective. Do get a full understanding.

Weight loss keto diets allow higher carb counts, do not offer the same benefits but carry the same risks.

Be careful.

 

[Philpug]

I tried keto numerous times. It was too easy to fall out of keto and not realize it and keep eating like I was in Keto and then put the weight (and more) back on. When it worked it was awesome, but the cost was too high for me.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I have certain keto habits just like I have certain vegetarian habits from those days. Both seem to be working for me. I don't really believe in diets, am an in moderation kinda gal. I just try to make good food choices.

I think constant ketosis is bad and can hurt one's body. My buddy just put herself into ketosis once to jump start the process. Then after that it was just essentially watching the carb intake to maintain the weight loss.

 

[oldschoolskier]

I have certain keto habits just like I have certain vegetarian habits from those days. Both seem to be working for me. I don't really believe in diets, am an in moderation kinda gal. I just try to make good food choices.

I think constant ketosis is bad and can hurt one's body. My buddy just put herself into ketosis once to jump start the process. Then after that it was just essentially watching the carb intake to maintain the weight loss.

I agree good food choices are important, and constant ketosis is risky, what is worse is flipping in and out. It is easy to drop out but the climb back in is where the risk is.

In my sons case the Ketosis is the mechanism that causes the body to produce the secondary chemical which helps in causing the brain to heal. Because all cells produce ketones and as a result all cells also produce the secondary chemical its a direct delivery to the brain.

They know what the chemical is but unfortunately they have not yet figured how to get it to the brain, so keto diet it is to make him his own medicine factory.

The very simplistic explanation of Ketosis.

For those that don’t know, your body produces energy either through burning sugars (ie Carbs), proteins are are 2 step process, convert to sugar and then burn. Our body prefers the sugar burning because it is so easy. This is also the reason smart athletes load both in proteins and carbs to provide a larger energy reserve.

The second method, is fat burning, the body avoids this (which why we put on fat) as its our reserve. Down side it produces Ketones which are toxic and need to be removed.

Its hard to get the body to burn fat and it switches to sugar in an instant. This is why any keto diet is risky, as it easy to overwhelm your system as you flip flop between the two with ketones. The second as as you flush ketones it is hard on the rest of your system which can trigger other issues (as was the case of the death that we know of).

To do a keto diet requires commit, this reduces the risk.

As with all things it is a balance of benefit vs risk.

Hopefully this helps, some that consider it.

 

[Ken_R]

I am realistic in that I cant really follow a strict diet so I just keep it simple. Eat more times at home than out. Eat foods that do not come out of a box or can. So most times that means meats, fish, chicken, fruits and veggies for lunch/dinner. Coffee w/ milk and sugar and fried eggs for breakfast. Seasoning consists of mostly sea salt, chopped garlic, pepper and herbs.

If I go out to eat I try to keep it sensible and minimize the breads and rice. In Denver its not too hard to do. My wife and I also walk to the market so that cuts down on unnecessary purchases since we buy what we can carry comfortably. That means no sugary liquids.

 

[Blue Streak]

Tracking is key, and MyFitnessPal is so easy to use. Even if I consume too many carbs, as long as my calories do not exceed my budget, I don’t gain weight.

All hell breaks loose, when I don’t limit carbs and don’t track my food

 

[Blue Streak]

Diets have become the closest thing to religion these days.
There are so many disparate views on the subject and so little consensus that it is impossible to know with certainty which way to go.The controversy over which diet is best will probably never end.
If a study comes along evidencing one conclusion, you can bet that sooner or later there will be another to contradict it.
Diet evangelism is not the point here.
The WW thread offers advice and support for those who have chosen that path.
WW works. All diets work. Compliance is the issue.

I decided to go the low carb route upon the advice of my cardiologist, who said that most of his male patients did best on some version of a low carb diet and that most of his female patients succeeded on a WW type diet. We shall see.
It worked before - it being a general avoidance of refined carbohydrates.
Over ten months of being incapacitated by three back surgeries and foot surgery, I have packed it on. I need a metabolic reset, and low carb/intermittent fasting is the short term path I have chosen. To be specific, I adhere to (or try to adhere to) the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet by Steve Parker, M.D.
It's pretty simple:
1) Unlimited fish, meat, chicken, turkey, eggs, shrimp, lobster, pork skins
2) Fish, at least 4 oz (115 g) daily; ideally half of all animal protein
3) Olive oil, virgin or extra-virgin, at least 2–3 tbsp (30–45 ml) daily
4) Nuts and seeds, 1 oz (28 g) daily
5) Vegetables, up to 14 oz (400 g) daily
6) Wine, 6–12 fl oz (180–360 ml) daily (see alternatives in Miscellaneous Comments)
7) Cheese, up to 3 oz (85 g) daily, optional
In conjunction with the knowledge set forth in Jason Fung's Obesity Code, I hope to drop enough weight to be able to ski again.

Today is just Day 2. We'll see if I can lose the weight and regain the strength, by the time I am cleared to ski again.
If I am not fit enough to ski to a standard, I will not ski at all.
I am shooting for Tuesdays In The Snow on January 31, which is the 40th anniversary of my rolling into town way back when.
Wish me luck.

 

[Blue Streak]

Other tenets I try to adopt to succeed:

• Eat early
• Drink LOTS of water
• Turn of the electronics and get a good night's sleep

 

[VickieH]

Re: timing of meals -- I did not find this in The Obesity Code, but in some related IF material ... the body has the lowest insulin response to food eaten between noon and 3 PM and the highest at 8 PM.

 

[Noodler]

To understand why most medical doctors won't advocate for Keto requires you to follow the money. There's just no money in Keto for the vast majority of food manufacturers and as they say in the consulting biz; there's a lot of money in prolonging the problem. So the other "side" spreads a lot of FUD, outright lies, and continues to regurgitate old wive's tales about Keto.

My doctor is an advocate. I switched to him precisely because I was tired of hearing all the repeated BS from my old doctor; while all my blood work and health signs were excellent. My biggest pet peeves with the general medical community are about cholesterol and diabetes. An entire generation (actually going on two) is being lied to when it comes to these 2 health concerns.

 

[VickiK]

Good luck,@Blue Streak , you have a good mentor in Steven Parker.

 

[VickiK]

Other tenets I try to adopt to succeed:

• Eat early
• Drink LOTS of water
• Turn of the electronics and get a good night's sleep

This was what I did too, plus 14:10 IF, regular exercise, plus adding more veggies (for the fiber along with the nutritional value) to my diet, keeping away (or more truthfully--just minimizing) from refined/processed/sugary foods, and taking key supplements consistently. With about 6 mos of this lifestyle overhaul, my doctor was amazed at the across-the-board improvement in my blood work #s. My stalwart food friend in this approach: the homemade green smoothie, with or without extra add-ins like chia, flax, protein pow. I highly recommend the Vitamix blender if you go that route.

Weight loss--slow by choice. I eat about 1400-1500 cal/day.

 

[tch]

Re: timing of meals -- I did not find this in The Obesity Code, but in some related IF material ... the body has the lowest insulin response to food eaten between noon and 3 PM and the highest at 8 PM.

Ummmm... for those of us just getting into this material, "insulin response" is not a common term on the interwebs. Do you mean "releases the least insulin in response to food"? And that is good...or bad?