Re: Ketogenic Diet
Originally Posted by
Silver Tabby
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I had never heard of this one before - but a friend of mine has just been put on it by the pre-diabetic team. She is clinically/morbidly obese tipping the scales at 26stone and being only 5ft 2in in height.
This diet involves cutting down carbs but, as she is so obese, she has been advised to cut them out all together!
She is not currently allowed any carbs, dairy, fats or eggs, and is living on just meat, fish, fruit and veg. She has lost 1 stone in 3 weeks but, as a side effect, has developed "Keto Flu" which will apparently go in a week or so.
I really don't understand how forcing the body into a state of Ketosis can possibly be regarded as healthy. Some of the other side effects as:-
Bad breath - at the moment she could fell an ox from 100ft.
Fatigue.
Constipation
Insomnia
She was trying to persuade me to join her in this torture - I did put on a bit of weight while wrestling with 'thing' - but I prefer to give it a miss. Instead I have reduced my portion sizes, cut out snacks and am exercising again - lost half a stone in three weeks.
Opinions on the 'Keto Diet'? has anyone tried it?
Back to the original post question;
I'm 59 - always trained (numerous sports always combined with power lifting) I was always been prone to putting on weight but just used it as a method to build muscle and relax for a few months.
Ive lost weight a few times - always successfully and often kept it off for years - it's actually easier as you get older to keep weight off I find.
I usually lose weight through calorie control - mostly by reducing carbs. Whatever weight I am I ALWAYS weightlift in the gym 3 times a week minimum as I have for 40 odd years. As an example, I deadlift about 150kg for reps. If you ignore the first month of a diet (strange things happen and any weight loss tends to be artificial) I found that I lose about ONE POUND A WEEK over eight or nine months.
After a bout of injury and domestic mess I put on 35 pounds at 58 years old. As I had recurring gout issues and a dodgy knee I thought I 'd give keto a try. I aimed for less than 20g of carbs a day for six months. I often was at the 15g level. There were no cheat days.
My findings
1] I always had a metallic taste in my mouth like I'd been sucking a copper penny. This, as much as anything, put me off food.
2] About month three I really, really missed apples and fruit. This became a real challenge.
3] I like whiskey and gin. These, you can consume as much as you like. Unfortunately the metallic taste kind of removes any pleasure.
4] You need less toilet paper
5]My strength in the gym was fine. Didn't feel weak really. My lifts were pretty much the same.
6]Cardio was ok too.
Keto is a really hard diet mentally. I am ok at losing weight and I found it hard mentally. I think the gout was improved. The diet did nothing for a torn ACL.
The bottom line: I log everything and have years of past logs. On close analysis over four key months (i.e not including the starting month weight loss) I averaged losing ONE POUND A WEEK.
If I had seen radical improvements in joint issues then I would return to keto - but I didn't. The rate of weight loss is no different from a good calorie-controlled balanced diet. The mental challenge I believe will see most people fail on this diet. The diet is really limited but perfectly functional.