Keto/Low Carb Diet

Associate
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Hi all

Was wondering about others experiences, success's and failures on a Keto or low carb diet.

Iv been on a Keto diet now for about 5 months and have lost 20kg and reduced my body fat from 32% to 22%.

Would love to hear from others about their low carb lifestyle, especially anyone who has tried keto.
 
Soldato
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Would love to hear from others about their low carb lifestyle, especially anyone who has tried keto.
I went on something vaguely resembling the Paleo one, which I understand is similarly low-carb, but without being desperately strict on reading packages or anything.
I was only on it to support the wife, who was being as strict as circumstances allowed (in the face of variable job commitments, family weddings and the like).
I lost a couple of stone while she lost a few more, over about 7 months.

Medical issues and things have impacted the food budget lately, so we've been on cheap crappy food for a bit, but it certainly works for us and doesn't restrict you to protein bars or rabbit food fads, either.
I mostly liked coming up with new meals out of ingredients I'd not previously focussed on... and having lots of cashews in things!!
 
Associate
OP
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103kg to 83kg

32% to 22.2% (last reading)

Omron scales which have great reviews for accuracy and the same pair iv been using for 3 years. Weigh myself in the morning after toilet but before eating or drinking or showering as instructed.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
20 Nov 2004
Posts
2,209
Location
Nock/Leicester
I went on something vaguely resembling the Paleo one, which I understand is similarly low-carb, but without being desperately strict on reading packages or anything.
I was only on it to support the wife, who was being as strict as circumstances allowed (in the face of variable job commitments, family weddings and the like).
I lost a couple of stone while she lost a few more, over about 7 months.

Medical issues and things have impacted the food budget lately, so we've been on cheap crappy food for a bit, but it certainly works for us and doesn't restrict you to protein bars or rabbit food fads, either.
I mostly liked coming up with new meals out of ingredients I'd not previously focussed on... and having lots of cashews in things!!

Would love to know some of your recipes mate. Yes, it does get expensive. I eat a lot of Salmon, Steak, eggs and chicken. And fresh veg, salad and fruit is not cheap either especially in winter.
 
Soldato
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I did Keto for a year, went from 114kg to 82kg in about 7 months, maintained that weight for 6-7 months before I started to get lazy with food again.

I have now adopted a more sustainable clean diet while training 5 times a week.
 
Soldato
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Would love to know some of your recipes mate.
Nah, nah, I said meals, not recipes - It's just taking whatever you have in the kitchen from the list of permitted ingredients and seeing what you can make out of it. Sort of a 'chuck in the pot and hope' kind of thing, heh heh!!

Make it up on teh spot - If it sounds like it might be nice, do it. It actually tends to work out rather well so far, TBH. Frying in coconut oil helps.
Chicken & cashew nuts, lamb and pine nuts, mushrooms with almost anything...

I try to keep Her from buying all that "Special Paleo Version" marketing crap, though - Paleo-tortillas, for example, which she got because I love my burritos... Basically a pack of six small rice paper sheets made from coconut, for the grand price of £8.95!!!!! :eek:

Of course, Paleo is very compatible with a number of my South African favourites - Braai (most of it is meat-centric and you only bother with potato salad because the females did put in the effort of making it) and Bobotie (skip the rice) especially!
 
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Associate
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For those that have done Keto for a while and had a lot of success, what would be a typical day of eating? Any example of meals?
 
Soldato
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My fiancé and I tried keto twice, five and four years ago respectively.

The first time was somewhat successful. We both lost weight, which is the main thing, but we found the regime a pain to stick to and probably over indulged when we were allowed a cheat day. Not with crisps and chocolate or junk food but with (homemade) pizza and pasta.

Over the following year we put the weight back on so we tried again.

The second time was an absolute disaster - for some reason we hadn't appreciated how many carbs were in tomatoes and we were adding them to at least one meal per day. Needless to say we weren't in ketosis but equally we weren't getting enough energy from the few carbs we were eating. This made us both tired and grumpy.

In the end it was a positive experience though, because we completely overhauled our lifestyle. We lost more weight than we had on the keto diet and, more importantly, we've kept it off.

We weren't exactly fat to begin with but the little changes made a big difference. I was 12.5–13st before and I'm now a comfortable 11st without having to try.

There's no doubt keto works and if your into lifting weights and want to cut I'm sure there's no better way to do it. Equally, if you're really over weight and need to lose a lot of weight fast, keto is a great way to do it. However, for a 'normal' person who just wants to lose a few pounds I would suggest not relying on a 'fad diet' (for want of a better term) and look at your current lifestyle. If you don't change that, you're only going to put the weight back on again anyway once you've stopped the keto.
 
Soldato
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However, for a 'normal' person who just wants to lose a few pounds I would suggest not relying on a 'fad diet' (for want of a better term) and look at your current lifestyle. If you don't change that, you're only going to put the weight back on again anyway once you've stopped the keto.

This. Though...

There's no doubt keto works and if your into lifting weights and want to cut I'm sure there's no better way to do it. Equally, if you're really over weight and need to lose a lot of weight fast, keto is a great way to do it.

There are plenty of 'diets' better suited to maintaining sporting performance without the requirement of restricting foods groups entirely nor becoming incredibly unsocial either. Fat adaption can be a bumpy ride and isn't always an objective good fit for many.

Ultimately any diet will work providing it adheres to the laws of thermodynamics. If you don't spend all your cash (calories) you end up with savings (fat). There really is no need to over complicate it.

You can delve deeper in to body composition, health and performance in addition to just losing weight or becoming leaner. They are all different, albeit, interrelated objectives.
 
Soldato
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There are plenty of 'diets' better suited to maintaining sporting performance without the requirement of restricting foods groups entirely nor becoming incredibly unsocial either. Fat adaption can be a bumpy ride and isn't always an objective good fit for many.

Ultimately any diet will work providing it adheres to the laws of thermodynamics. If you don't spend all your cash (calories) you end up with savings (fat). There really is no need to over complicate it.

You can delve deeper into body composition, health and performance in addition to just losing weight or becoming leaner. They are all different, albeit, interrelated objectives.

Good point well made.

I retract my previous statement that "if you're into lifting weights and want to cut, I'm sure there's no better way to do it". :)
 
Caporegime
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Hijack, a friend on here recently told me about keto so been doing my research. I'm 100kg and 6ft and want to lose a good 2.5-3 stones. I really can't stand cardio, I just find running and rowing incredibly boring but do like weights for the little of them I've done.

My mum reckons keto is bad for you and makes you smell :p (she is effectively on a low-carb diet herself and done really well).

I know I'm a carb monster, not great at portion control but would like to get into a regime and eat more healthily.

So weights and keto a good combination?
 
Soldato
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St.Andrews
I'd say so but watch if you go hard into the weights at the same time as adjusting to the diet as you will feel rough for a couple of weeks unless you supplement properly. You'll need to up water and salt intake slightly and iirc get some potassium in you and you can minimise the effects :)
 
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