Keto Diet - Who's Doing It? Tips, Tricks, Advice

[pianoman9701]

I've been eating low-carb for some time with slow results, but results just the same. I recently had a physical and all of my numbers are in-line, with cholesterol falling 23 points in a year to 220. Low carb has certainly made me healthier. Lately, my wife's doctor has recommended she go on a keto diet, both for her mental and physical health. So all of a sudden, it's time to purge the pantry and fridge of all evil foods and grains and start treating cauliflower like a rice substitute. The foods included in a keto diet are not cheap. There's regular stuff like meat, leafy veggies, yams. And then there's almond flour, coconut flour and unsweetened coconut shreds, Erythritol sweetner, something called MCT oil powder. We bought a $10 Dash single waffle maker and make these cheese waffles for breakfast food and hamburger buns. You're not supposed to even eat regular mayo, as it's made from canola and seed oils are bad. A whole batch of supplements are arriving today. The last week or so, I've been losing almost a lb a day. If we continue to lose weight at this rate, we'll then go broke buying clothes!

How have you other folks been doing on Keto? What are some quick and easy recipes and ideas for snacks, something to satisfy cravings? Do you make bread regularly? Who makes their own mayo and how? How are your physical results? Is this a permanent change in your diet or something to reach a target and then start eating ice cream again, like I did last Fall, gaining all of my weight back? Did you stop drinking and how did you do that?

[hughjorgan]

This podcast might interest you with Jason Phelps, he talks about Keto...

https://elkshape.com/blogs/podcast/elkshape-podcast-ep-54-phelps-keto-killin-the-fat-kid

[pianoman9701]

Thanks.

[hollymaster]

Up your water intake. More protein requires more water. Not recommended to drink alcohol while on the Keto diet.

[pianoman9701]

I'm drinking lots of water. I understand that alcohol will slow the effects. Thanks.

[kselkhunter]

My wife has celiac disease, meaning no gluten ever again.  Which is about 75% of what a Keto or a Paleo diet is when you look at how much wheat products are added as filler in so many American processed food products (ie regular soy sauce, etc. are all off limits for celiacs).  I went Keto for awhile just to make it easier to adjust.  But now just keep the house gluten free.  So am violating a few items off the Keto diet occasionally.

I actually prefer cauliflower rice now to regular rice.  My local QFC sells it in bags in the produce section.  It's easy to heat in the microwave, and I have it for lunch with grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and gluten free soy sauce (which I realize keto diet doesn't recommend soy sauce so substitute what works for you).  I can't remember the last time I made actual rice.  Eggs or cottage cheese for breakfast.   Pro tip: If you're going to do boiled eggs, a pressure cooker makes boiled eggs that peel much much easier than any other method.   

For snacks I like Tillamook cheese sticks, and veggie sticks (although have to be careful with carrots due to their sugar content).  Plenty of low carb protein bars like Quest, etc. are keto safe that I use for pre-made afternoon snacks.

I make mayo with olive oil for the oil component.  Plenty of recipes for it online, and easy to do.  We use an avocado spray oil for the fry pan, as well as for coating chicken legs in the air fryer to crisp the skin.     

[vandeman17]

I am a bit of a geek when it comes to nutrition and how the body functions. I am a firm believer that unless you have celiacs disease, keno just complicates the process. More studies are also showing that long term effects of keto are more negative than positive. If weight loss is the goal, a well balanced diet with a caloric deficit is the most efficient, healthy and sustainable way to drop lbs.

[pianoman9701]

We've done a lot of reading and have consulted with several doctors about Keto. They're using it to get diabetics' blood sugar stabilized. It can help relieve symptoms of epilepsy and autism. Having a low-carb diet for the last 6 months has lowered my cholesterol to a point where my doctor is no longer recommending statins for my heart health. Going full keto as we're doing now, is a lifestyle change for us both and we both need it.

[vandeman17]

We've done a lot of reading and have consulted with several doctors about Keto. They're using it to get diabetics' blood sugar stabilized. It can help relieve symptoms of epilepsy and autism. Having a low-carb diet for the last 6 months has lowered my cholesterol to a point where my doctor is no longer recommending statins for my heart health. Going full keto as we're doing now, is a lifestyle change for us both and we both need it.

Yes it is good for diabetics as well. Glad to hear it’s working for you!

[hawks33]

I am a bit of a geek when it comes to nutrition and how the body functions. I am a firm believer that unless you have celiacs disease, keno just complicates the process. More studies are also showing that long term effects of keto are more negative than positive. If weight loss is the goal, a well balanced diet with a caloric deficit is the most efficient, healthy and sustainable way to drop lbs.

Well said! If it's working for you great, but a balanced diet and exercise are the key. Avoid the processed and high carb/sugar foods. We eat too much, myself included. You gotta have a treat here and there, but monitor your portions and have a donut or ice cream once a week. Go for a walk daily etc. I bet I know 20-30 people who did keto, lost weight and then gained more back. Good luck!

[Stein]

What is "balanced" though?  Every diet has their own idea of what balanced means.  Sort of like the words "moderate", "low" and "high", they are all relative to the person's perspective.

The best way is to try it out and see how you do.  We're all different and I'm not convinced there is one correct diet for everyone.  All of the diets (Keto included) that show great promise both long and short term seem to all be focused on as much "real" food as possible.  If you are cooking your meals from stuff you get from the garden, trees, bushes or an animal, it seems you can't go that terribly wrong.

We are seeing a ton of research on eating less carbs than the old or new food pyramid suggests and most diets are not hot on sugar or refined carbs.

Keto is simply one end of the lower carb spectrum, flanked only by carnivore.  I did poorly on carnivore, pretty good on keto and best on what most would consider low carb (except the keto and carnivore people).

That said, I drift all around which is probably most like what our bodies were made for.  I am surely keto sometimes but not all the time or even most of the time.  If you fast longer than two or three days, it's pretty hard to not become ketogenic unless you are an Eskimo.

Becoming fat adapted was a real game changer in life, sport and hunting, it is incredibly helpful not to have to eat every few hours.

Anyway, I would recommend people give it a shot if they want, keep at it for at least 2 weeks, preferably 4 and see what happens.

[vandeman17]

Balanced means it fills all your macro and micro nutrient needs. This can be found by inputting the foods you eat into a chronometer. All foods, when broken down, are just calories in different combinations of macros and micros. It can be very enlightening to actually track what you eat for a while. A food scale and a little determination is all you need

[Stein]

The human carbohydrate need is 0 grams a day.  We all need essential amino acids (protein) and essential fatty acids (fat) that our body simply cannot get outside of our diet, but there is zero need for dietary carbs - there are no essential carbs.  I haven't seen a diet macro breakdown that comes from any sort of science or research base that indicates it is the best long term for every human on the planet.  They are all round numbers that somebody made up (notice how none are 17% or 43.34%).  The only exception is that in the keto diet, the carbs have to be low enough to induce ketosis which is easily measured, but even then how do they know what the fat/protein ratio should be?  Nobody tested them all on huge populations over decades.

One guy will say balanced is 70/15/5, another will say balanced is 5/85/10.  There is no owner's manual for the human body that says what the correct ratio is (and assume that is the case for every human).  People are healthy on mostly fat and zero carbs (traditional Eskimo), people are healthy on mostly natural carbs with little to no fat (Okinawan) and in between (Mediterranean).

Macro tracking is fine if that's what you are in to, or trying Keto, but it ignores the quality or lack of for the food you eat.  If it wasn't the case, we could stop eating veggies and get all our carbs from Mt. Dew - which we know does not lead to good outcomes.  Same is true of fat -  trans fat or canola oil are much different than olive oil, salmon fat or avocado.

In virtually every diet, you can eat junk or quality food and it makes a world of difference to how you perform and feel as well as long term health.

Back to the OP, I would take a look at using as few of the processed forms of food as possible.  If you need a few to get you through challenging periods there is no problem (other than cost maybe), but they aren't needed.  The biggest challenge for me with eating keto clean was the fats.  I could only eat so much protein in a day and if you don't boost the fat I ended up with a huge caloric deficit which led me to be tired, cranky, sleep poorly and overall not have much fun.

Nuts worked well for me as did avocado and using quite a bit of oil during cooking.  Olive, coconut, whatever your preference other than the ones we know are bad news.

Be patient, it takes your body time to build new mitochondria that are required to do well on the diet (fat adaptation).  Electrolytes are commonly suggested during the first few weeks and I would say I think they made a difference for me.  You can Google recipes using Epsom Salt, Lite Salt and Baking Soda that cost virtually nothing compared to commercial products and they don't have any junk in them.

I don't know about alcohol, if I figure out how to quit I'll let you know.     Most anecdotal studies (n=1) I have seen suggest most people can stay in ketosis by having one Mich Ultra or the like but no more.  I know my liver doesn't like to process booze and make ketones at the same time.

[vandeman17]

Hence why I stated macro and micro needs. If you can get all your micros from protein and fats then have at it. Chronometer will tell you what you are eating. Agree to disagree.

As to Pman, good luck to you and your wife. 

[Stein]

My favorite recipe is probably crack slaw - or eggroll in a bowl, whatever you want to call it.  You can use sausage, any ground meat or even thinly sliced red meat.  It's all amazing.

Eggs are another go to, anytime of the day.  You can throw in any cheese (goat is my favorite), a bit of onion or pepper and a small amount of salsa and sour cream.  Scrambled, omelet, poached, whatever you like.

I like canned fish (except tuna), I choose BPA free cans and the packed in oil kind - Costco has the best prices.

When you get in a bind, just munch a rotisserie chicken.  Or cook a big steak and call it good.

I keep it pretty simple most of the time but do enjoy a keto pizza or mug muffin breakfast sandwich on occasion if I'm on a keto kick.