I'm trying it. Just ordered ketone testing strips and MCT oil from Amazon, and have a bunch of items on my grocery list I wouldn't have otherwise (pecans, simple - i.e., no additives - peanut butter, coconut oil, scallions, goat cheese).

I've been trying to be strict for five days but keep finding unexpected foods I ate contained carbs (onions? evaporated skim milk??)

Don't know which is harder - doing without bread, or forcing myself to eat fats and oils, the right kind. In fact, I think that latter will do me in (just had a Tbsp of coconut oil straight and gagged more at the idea than the taste!)

BUTTER IN COFFEE?
And, *sigh* no red wine for the nonce...

I dropped 20 pounds then stalled for 6 months and put 10
Back on.

I think a lot depends on what your body is used to eating.

I can gain weight on 1200 calories a day.

I am a firm believer that different people respond differently to different kinds of diets.

Keto works for me, although I don’t enjoy living that way. (I mostly live on eggs and cheese.). I’m down 33 pounds in the last 12 months.

Beware MCT oil. My doctor ... the one who insists I go keto ... says most MCT oil on the market isn’t purified and can be bad for you.

Oh, and as a result of the diet (and, more likely, meds), my cholesterol has dropped from 330 to 120, and my triglycerides from 280 to 106.

There was a recent ranking of best diets and keto didn't do very well. I've read there are concerns about long-term effects.

Here's a summary article: https://www.marketwatch.com/st...the-worst-2020-01-02

And the complete rankings: https://health.usnews.com/best...t/best-diets-overall

Steve, I think you are Mr wtg's long lost brother. If he just looks at some foods, he puts on weight.

Your ancestors must have been famine survivors. Seriously.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
I dropped 20 pounds then stalled for 6 months and put 10
Back on.

I think a lot depends on what your body is used to eating.

I can gain weight on 1200 calories a day.

I feel your pain. I get calories from oxygen.

Intermittent fasting works for me fairly well if I watch what I eat for that 8 hours. Down 29 since Thanksgiving, but plateaued now for a while.

Keto makes me nervous, because you are messing with body chemistry.

I have a friend who swears by intermittent fasting. I don’t think she starts eating until about 11am each day. Is that what you do, Mik?

Yes. I only eat from 11 AM to 7 PM.

Intermittent fasting will work for me as well, but it's more like eating every other day. It's very difficult for me to do.

I lost the weight I wanted to lose before I started intermittent fasting, doing boring stuff like counting calories.. I just like the restricted time schedule for getting the most enjoyment out of my calories in the day. I started eating in a smaller time window two years ago, and have slowly gotten used to it. My body seems to have adjusted to the schedule, and I don’t really get hungry in the morning or after dinner anymore. Big change for me.

My normal day I do all my eating between about noon and 6 PM, unless I have social plans around a later dinner. And I have been very successful at keeping my social life to a minimum…

Amanda, saw this and thought I'd pass it along.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Amanda, saw this and thought I'd pass it along.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

If that's the definition, then I guess I'm not on true keto. I guess I'm just more on a carb restriction.

I tried to keep my carbs to 30ish per day, but my lipidologist told me not to bother. She said, it's almost impossible, longer term, for most people to get their carbs under 50-60 per day.

So I just avoid carbs all day (except fruit, and then it's just an apple or pear), and let myself have a little leeway in the evening. I don't worry about the balance of protein and fat, I eat what my body wants to eat.

As an aside, eggs make it easier for me to eat fewer carbs, and I don't know why. But my cholesterol is down to 120, eating a lot of eggs, so I just accept it.

Eggs got a bad rap when dietary cholesterol was thought to contribute to blood cholesterol. So did shrimp.

I think the opinions about both of those foods have changed quite a bit since the early research.

I think eggs are the perfect food. That's a culinary, not a scientific/dietary, opinion.

I lost about fifteen pounds on keto last fall, then I got too distracted to keep up with the diet, which I find mildly labor-intensive but heavily attention intensive. (And by keto, I mean sub-20 grams of carbs a day.)

I went off keto but stayed on a diet that was far lower in carbs than my preferred sugar-loving pattern. I was probably under 50 grams most days and until 100 grams on my worst days, but that was enough for me to gain about five pounds back, so I've been ketoing again for about a week. I haven't lost any weight to speak of, but my stomach is flatter. The changes do seem to be very fast and not much related to what the scale says.

I never needed to diet before my mid-fifties, and I've found no other approach that works at all that doesn't involve some kind of carbs restriction. Aging bites.

I'll find out in a couple of weeks whether my blood chemistry is improving. My cholesterol and triglycerides were high but not terrifying, so I'm most interested in seeing if my borderline blood sugar and A1C came down.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
As an aside, eggs make it easier for me to eat fewer carbs, and I don't know why. But my cholesterol is down to 120, eating a lot of eggs, so I just accept it.

The other thing people recommend to help keep the carbs down is to drink broth - beef, chicken, whatever. Seems to work.

So far the keto diet seems to be working, though my joy in eating is greatly diminished.

I think the main bonus is that it keeps one from being hungry.

However, I suspect I should be working under the supervision of a nutritionist because of my hereditary lipid problem (supposedly, it's because my body manufactures too much lipids, not from what I eat, but I don't know. I wince every time I consume MCT oil. It definitely kills my appetite but it's PURE TRIGLYCERIDES!?!).

Also, I remain concerned about the fact that the keto diet lessens bone density. Also, my hereditary lipid disorder may react badly to the high (epecialy saturated) fats. Supposedly, my body itself manufactures excess cholesterol - that the bad lipids dont result from fat consuption.

If this hypothesis doesn't work when keto-ing, though - eating so many saturated fat - I'm in trouble. For one thing, my cardiologist has given me an absolute ultimatum - if I don't
reduce my lipids by my next appointment, it's statins for me.

I REALLY don't want to go that route. Per John Hopkins lipids expert, the only way to reduce my lipids is to stay slender, exercise and avoid refined carbs (it worked twice in the past).

If the keto diet proves this wrong though (wonder what he'd have said about it!), I'll not only have to go on statins, but may have done my body harm in several ways. Keto amounts to a radical experiment with my genetics! Scary. Still can't believe Im consuming up to a TBSP of MCT oil - which is PURE TRIGLYCERIDES!

As soon as I reach my goal weight, I plan to go on an ordinary healthy ratios diets including much more fiber, and not obsessing over cards this way (tho only consuming whole grains and such, plus minimum fruit.)

And back to reduced fats, avoiding fried foods as I've done for decades. I'll keep an eagle eye on the scale to make sure I'm not regaining, tho I'm most afraid of lapsing due to returned appetite.

I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!