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Started on Keto

gr8dryv

gr8dryv

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Me & the Mrs. started a Keto program within the last week. She's got an app and is loading all our intake, so far it hasn't been a chore but I imagine we will run out of recipes sooner or later. I love to grill so that's easy but I'm shocked in learning how many carbs are in things I always considered could not be an issue... certain veggies for example. Also found a recipe where roasted radishes are said to last like roasted potatoes... I'll let you know. We've been keeping up on the water intake, adding flavor drops like Crystal Light has been a help.

Anyways, any Keto success stories, recipes, links, web site, books.. anything to keep us on track would be appreciated. We watched a documentary tonight "The Magic Pill", very educational and eye-opening with how sugar impacts our bodies, more than making us fat.

Lastly, we've both lost over 5 lbs since starting...
 
Good luck. Keto is very difficult. Doable but difficult.

The key to any good diet program is meal prep. The day you fail to prepare food and wait to long and are hungry is where people fail.

You have to prepare food. Also work to find things you like.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
Good luck. Keto is very difficult. Doable but difficult.

The key to any good diet program is meal prep. The day you fail to prepare food and wait to long and are hungry is where people fail.

You have to prepare food. Also work to find things you like.
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Thanks and yes, we've been doing that and also looking at the app during meal planning so we know where we need to make any adjustments with proteins, fats, carbs.
 
I’ve been diabetic and overweight for a long time. I cut back on carbs and let the meds take care of my blood sugars for most of that time. Lately, the meds haven’t been as effective so I cut back on carbs as much as I could for 3 months and the weight started dropping. It was just too hard for me to stick to a very strict keto diet. I just find today, that the less carbs I take in, the faster the weight comes off. I’m down about 35 lbs since February.
 
gr8dryv said:
Thanks and yes, we've been doing that and also looking at the app during meal planning so we know where we need to make any adjustments with proteins, fats, carbs.
Click to expand...


Good luck!! You can do it
 
gr8dryv said:
Me & the Mrs. started a Keto program within the last week. She's got an app and is loading all our intake, so far it hasn't been a chore but I imagine we will run out of recipes sooner or later. I love to grill so that's easy but I'm shocked in learning how many carbs are in things I always considered could not be an issue... certain veggies for example. Also found a recipe where roasted radishes are said to last like roasted potatoes... I'll let you know. We've been keeping up on the water intake, adding flavor drops like Crystal Light has been a help.

Anyways, any Keto success stories, recipes, links, web site, books.. anything to keep us on track would be appreciated. We watched a documentary tonight "The Magic Pill", very educational and eye-opening with how sugar impacts our bodies, more than making us fat.

Lastly, we've both lost over 5 lbs since starting...
Click to expand...

Are you planning on going for a certain amount of time and then transitioning to something else? Most I've heard only use it temporarily vs. a long-term diet plan like Paleo
 
I recommend South Beach diet. Initiating phase is quite hard with cutting almost everything off, but after two weeks you start bringing stuff back to your diet and eventually after few more weeks you have very balanced and easy to follow diet, without having to count carbs or anything else. I wasn't overweight but lost 20 lbs in 6 months and it didn't come back. Even when i added one "Eat Whatever You want" day for Sundays.
 
My wife did this the first 3 months of the year. Which basically means I did. Definitely a good way to start. I also am down about 35-40 in that time. Pain in the rear if someone wasn't prepping my meals. Really helped to kickstart though before just basically switching to any fruit, veggie or protein and no fried food or bread.
 
Scott F said:
I’ve been diabetic and overweight for a long time. I cut back on carbs and let the meds take care of my blood sugars for most of that time. Lately, the meds haven’t been as effective so I cut back on carbs as much as I could for 3 months and the weight started dropping. It was just too hard for me to stick to a very strict keto diet. I just find today, that the less carbs I take in, the faster the weight comes off. I’m down about 35 lbs since February.
Click to expand...

Nice! Congrats and keep it up!
 
mjvcaj said:
Are you planning on going for a certain amount of time and then transitioning to something else? Most I've heard only use it temporarily vs. a long-term diet plan like Paleo
Click to expand...

We have short-term goals for this and based on results, will adjust but looking to dirty-keto/lazy-keto. Not sure about Paleo due to the loss of coffee, dairy and alcohol...
 
gr8dryv said:
Me & the Mrs. started a Keto program within the last week. She's got an app and is loading all our intake, so far it hasn't been a chore but I imagine we will run out of recipes sooner or later. I love to grill so that's easy but I'm shocked in learning how many carbs are in things I always considered could not be an issue... certain veggies for example. Also found a recipe where roasted radishes are said to last like roasted potatoes... I'll let you know. We've been keeping up on the water intake, adding flavor drops like Crystal Light has been a help.

Anyways, any Keto success stories, recipes, links, web site, books.. anything to keep us on track would be appreciated. We watched a documentary tonight "The Magic Pill", very educational and eye-opening with how sugar impacts our bodies, more than making us fat.

Lastly, we've both lost over 5 lbs since starting...
Click to expand...
I'll be following this thread as we're about to start as well AND my wife doesn't eat meat. We aren't striving to get into ketosis, but we are trying to greatly limit carbs while eating healthy meals.
 
One thing that may help a bit is to look into some of the meal delivery services like Factor or some others. They aren't cheap but at the same time they are prepared and ready to go in the microwave or oven right out of the box. What I've had from factor is very good, portion controlled, and seems to be pretty high quality food with a decent selection. Great for those times when you don't have time or feel like cooking. Also, as a single guy I don't waste a ton of money on groceries that go bad in my fridge either.

There are a ton of options out there so you can kind of tailor it to suit what you want based on where you're looking.

www.factor75.com

Factor

Get 50% off a Factor subscription and enjoy hassle-free healthy meal delivery. Our chef-prepared meal delivery services come with fully cooked, ready-to-eat meals.
www.factor75.com www.factor75.com
 
Keto definitely works. The hard part is what to do after Keto. You can only stay on Keto for so long. Eventually you'll get tired of having the same things over and over again, or the energy involved in locating a new keto recipe, going to the store, cooking, etc. If you can afford a Keto-friendly meal service, that might definitely be a way to stay on it longer than average.

If you go back to your regular eating habits after keto, you'll put all the weight right back on. You'll either need to increase activity or stay eating extremely limited meals if you want to maintain the new weight.
 
gr8dryv said:
We have short-term goals for this and based on results, will adjust but looking to dirty-keto/lazy-keto. Not sure about Paleo due to the loss of coffee, dairy and alcohol...
Click to expand...

I never went full keto but I do eat low processed carbs as an ongoing maintenance process. Except for one (or sometimes 2) cheat meals a week I don't eat much bread, pasta or potatoes. I don't drink coffee or much dairy in general but I think black coffee or coffee with almond milk in it is okay. I do drink some but mostly drink vodka (either straight or with soda water) and red wine. I do eat fruit as part of my ongoing diet. This works well for me to maintain. I pretty much eat whatever I want as long as I keep away from the processed carbs. Periodically I cheat too much and if I tighten things up a bit and can get back to my target weight pretty easily.
 
pattyboy21 said:
...we are trying to greatly limit carbs while eating healthy meals.
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This is really the key. I completely changed my diet in Oct 2016. I basically cut out processed sugar. I cut soda, juices with <100% fruit juice (mainly trying to get rid of HFCS), bread, and pasta out nearly completely. I eat as much fat and protein as I want and simply steer clear of as much carbs as I can unless it's fresh fruits and/or veggies.

I eat on an 18/6 or 20/4 cycle and I never get so hungry that I can't manage. Before I improved my diet, I couldn't go 4 hours without eating something or getting ridiculously hungry. I'm no longer a slave to food. I eat now because I want to and not because I have to or because the clock says I should.
 
Chef23 said:
I never went full keto but I do eat low processed carbs as an ongoing maintenance process. Except for one (or sometimes 2) cheat meals a week I don't eat much bread, pasta or potatoes. I don't drink coffee or much dairy in general but I think black coffee or coffee with almond milk in it is okay. I do drink some but mostly drink vodka (either straight or with soda water) and red wine. I do eat fruit as part of my ongoing diet. This works well for me to maintain. I pretty much eat whatever I want as long as I keep away from the processed carbs. Periodically I cheat too much and if I tighten things up a bit and can get back to my target weight pretty easily.
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I do eat potatoes once in a while. If they're fried in some oil, I can justify it occasionally. I'll also make (s)mashed potatoes once in a while. I add a stick of butter, one box of cream cheese, and full cream to ensure there is plenty of fat to counter the negative effects of the carbs. Toss some cheese on top to make it even better!
 
Did it pretty intense almost 2 years ago and dropped like 20 lbs in a month or so pretty easy.
Started back again several weeks ago. If you can get through the first 4 to 5 days with the carb cravings, they go away and I don't find it all that difficult.
 
OGputtnfool said:
This is really the key. I completely changed my diet in Oct 2016. I basically cut out processed sugar. I cut soda, juices with <100% fruit juice (mainly trying to get rid of HFCS), bread, and pasta out nearly completely. I eat as much fat and protein as I want and simply steer clear of as much carbs as I can unless it's fresh fruits and/or veggies.

I eat on an 18/6 or 20/4 cycle and I never get so hungry that I can't manage. Before I improved my diet, I couldn't go 4 hours without eating something or getting ridiculously hungry. I'm no longer a slave to food. I eat now because I want to and not because I have to or because the clock says I should.
Click to expand...

That is pretty much the way I eat without the cycling. I can't eat as much fat as I want due to some other digestive issues but I eat pretty much what I want when I want. I eat when I am hungry and snack on protein and fruit. The quarantine has been a bit tough because my kids are home and my wife buys junk for them and periodically I find myself snacking on that. When I do I always feel like crap.

I will add I have an ice cream sweet tooth and I have one small ice cream treat every night that is less than 120 calories.

For me finding something I can maintain is key. I can follow something strict for a few months but if I can't modify to get to something that works for me on a regular basis my weight tends to creep up.
 
Chef23 said:
That is pretty much the way I eat without the cycling. I can't eat as much fat as I want due to some other digestive issues but I eat pretty much what I want when I want. I eat when I am hungry and snack on protein and fruit. The quarantine has been a bit tough because my kids are home and my wife buys junk for them and periodically I find myself snacking on that. When I do I always feel like crap.

I will add I have an ice cream sweet tooth and I have one small ice cream treat every night that is less than 120 calories.

For me finding something I can maintain is key. I can follow something strict for a few months but if I can't modify to get to something that works for me on a regular basis my weight tends to creep up.
Click to expand...

I love ice cream. I buy Breyer's Carb Smart ice cream in bulk. I'll add peanuts and a little honey to it and eat that at night before bed.
 
baylrballa said:
Did it pretty intense almost 2 years ago and dropped like 20 lbs in a month or so pretty easy.
Started back again several weeks ago. If you can get through the first 4 to 5 days with the carb cravings, they go away and I don't find it all that difficult.
Click to expand...

Yep, that was the hard part. I remember eating everything I could find for the first few days as long as it didn't have carbs in it. I think I might've had a 1/2 of an apple or something on like day 3 or 4 just because I was craving sugar. The morning of day 5 or maybe 6, I felt great. It was almost like I had flipped a switch in my body. I've never lost that feeling since.
 
Is this akin to the Atkins thing about 10 years ago? I remember people having a hard time with that one.
I had a hard time with it because everyone's breath was horrible from it; all that meat and fat desperately trying to digest. o_O

Don't torture yourself with any plan I guess would be my only advice. It has to be doable for long term. Short-course crashes can do more long term damage to your metabolism quite often than slow and steady. The body panics and makes more fat on the rebound.

Been counting carbs as a Type I diabetic pretty much my whole life. The Weight Watchers diet back in the day was essentially a modified diabetic carb counting diet. I only count carbs. Fats and proteins in moderation are essentially "free" calories (although I eat pretty lean cuts of everything.)
Lots of veggies are free foods, and if you stick to less glycemic fruits, you won't spike your insulin levels too much.
Even things like potatoes, I'll eat red or yukon that are less starchy than russets. Things like Pizza are toughest to judge the sugar spike and needed insulin. The fat calories slow the carb absorption so much, it can take a good 6-8 hrs for all the carb count to finally digest and hit.

Last night was taco tuesday. Corn shells, beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream. Would that be considered "Keto?"
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
Good luck. Keto is very difficult. Doable but difficult.

The key to any good diet program is meal prep. The day you fail to prepare food and wait to long and are hungry is where people fail.

You have to prepare food. Also work to find things you like.
Click to expand...

I did it for 3 months and lost several pounds. Then I started travelling for work and bam, slipped and struggled after that. I am trying something different now and am seeing good results but I agree 100%. you have to find something that isn't a short term solution but something you can do with longevity if you want it to work.
 
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