I need a bit of advice please

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #22

It is not advisable to eat low-fat while you are fat adapting. Fat adaptation takes at least 6 weeks. It’s best to wait until you are an efficient fat burner before adjusting plate fat and targeting body fat.

#23

When I say less fat I don’t mean low fat. If you eat 75% of your fat requirement it will help your body to use it’s store fat. I did this and loss 50 pounds in 3 months. It works if you do this once you stall with weight loss.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #24

2 weeks into the ketogenic diet is not considered a stall. It takes 6 weeks alone to be fat adapted. That may have worked for you that early in your journey but it definitely wouldn’t work for everybody and I wouldn’t advise it.
Best to become well fat adapted and then adjust things.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #25

And congrats on your 50 @Spencerj :slight_smile:

#26

Thanks, I did this after 3 months. I agree that in the beginning your body will adapt. My first week I lost 2 pounds and then after about 3 weeks I was losing 4 to 5 pounds a week, without even going to the gym. So yes in the beginning give the body time. When I read Fiona post I didn’t consider the time she has been doing keto. I am new to the forum also. .:slightly_smiling_face:

(FIONA HUGHES) #27

Wow thank you all for the great advice I feel more determined and motivated than ever I guess we’re all on this journey together and maybe soon enough I’ll be in a position to help others starting off

(Jennibc) #28

Yes! As I like to say, it may be really slow but next year is going to get here either way and I might as well be 40 pounds less (see, I am not even at pound a week average - I am only down 30 right at 8 months)

(John) #29

You may already be doing some of these things, but here is what I found that helped me:

  • Minimize or avoid snacking. Try to eat in full meals, with nothing containing calories in between
  • Don’t use artificial sweeteners in those between-meal periods. I don’t use them at all.
  • Drink plenty of water and other non-caloric beverages (black coffee, black or green tea, tisanes[herbal teas], flavored but unsweetened soda, infused waters)
  • Minimize or avoid alcohol. I have broken this rule a few times and I can tell it has slowed my progress

Those would be “always” suggestions.

For a 1-time or occasional suggestion: you can also try to mix things up a bit for your body and do a single, 24-hour fast if you feel up to it. That just means skipping two meals in a row, and only drinking non-caloric beverages in between. For example - eat 3 normal meals, completing dinner at 7pm then skip breakfast and lunch the next day and eat dinner at 7pm. Then go back to your normal eating routine and see if there is a change in results the next week.

(cheryl) #30

@Jennibc ME TOO , I have been at it 8 months and down 30 pounds , I have rejoiced in the lowered Hb A1c, and better sleep

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #31

Ninety percent of a ketogenic diet is to keep carbohydrate intake at a minimal level. On these forums, we strongly recommend keeping daily intake under 20 grams. That is virtually guaranteed to get anyone but the most metabolically damaged people into nutritional ketosis.

A well-formulated ketogenic diet is not a particularly high-protein diet. But the researchers currently disagree on just how much protein is the right level, and their recommendations cover quite a broad range. On these forums, we recommend getting between 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg of lean body mass/day, which works for a lot of folks. If you find yourself needing more or less, don’t worry about it, just do it. Let your instincts be your guide, here.

Low carbohydrate intake is required in order to keep insulin low enough for the body to heal and to metabolize its excess stored fat (chronically high insulin causes inflammation and other damage, as well as promoting the storage of fat). Protein also causes insulin secretion (at about half the rate of carbohydrate), but it is essential for life. Compared to carbohydrate and protein, fat stimulates insulin secretion hardly at all, so it is the “safest” source of energy, in terms of keeping insulin as low as possible (remember, however, that we do need a certain minimal level of insulin in our bloodstream in order to live). Furthermore, even in the absence of carbohydrate, the body will still hang on to its store of fat if we don’t give it enough energy. So, contrary as it sounds, we recommend eating fat to lose fat!

But keto is not an unlimited fat diet—we advise consuming only as much as it takes to eliminate your hunger and allow you to go hours before getting hungry again. Listen to your body, and stop eating when you stop having an appetite. Don’t eat again until you are hungry, regardless of what the clock says. The longer we can go between meals, the better our insulin level will be.

(FIONA HUGHES) #32

I’m 6 weeks in haven’t lost from the first 2 weeks, I’m very reassured after reading all your amazing advice and I’m excited to see how things now progress and of course makes it all easier having so much support. Thank you

(FIONA HUGHES) #33

I’ve been doing all of those suggestions except the alcohol :see_no_evil: I’ve had a few vodkas and sugar free juice on Sat night watching a wee movie at home with the hubby, I look forward to that wind down time but I’m thinking that could possibly be my problem​:thinking: but I don’t snack on anything when drinking I eat proper keto all day just the drink at night but maybe that’s my problem, I think I’ll try going without for a while to see if it makes a difference . Thank you

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #34

For this admin, who works for IDM as well, Dr. Fungs program, I will readily recommend .6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. I personally have a 135 lb of lean body mass, which is a bit unusual especially for a 55 year old woman, but nevertheless that’s me. If I went with one gram protein per pound of lean body mass I’d be eating 135 grams of protein a day which is double the recommended amount that I follow!!!
Geeeeze
Hopefully the experiments and the research will continue to discover the truly adequate and recommended amount, but I can tell you at this much lower intake of protein I’m still able to gain lean mass (confirmed my dexa scans) on average about 4 lb of lean mass every 4 to 6 months. My lean mass has not has ever decreased at this lower protein intake. Isn’t that amazing? I think so. Of course I believe it is the fasting, and the periodic release of excellent amounts of HGH, human growth hormone.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #35

I quote 1.0-1.5 g as “official,” because that’s the recommendation in several of Carl’s and Richard’s posts, but you’re right; the wiggle room is quite wide. Ron Rosedale recommends 0.6 g/day for reasons of longevity, and your experience is highly persuasive, @Brenda, but then so are the arguments by Ben Bikman and Ted Naiman at the other extreme. What’s a poor ketonian to do, lol!

It often seems that keto is not so much “Your mileage may vary,” but “Your mileage is absolutely guaranteed to vary”!

P.S.—Sometime, I’d like to get Dr. Rosedale, Dr. Attia, Dr. Phinney, Professor Volek, Dr. Westman, Dr. Naiman, and Professor Bikman in a room and lock them in until they hash it all out, lol!

#36

I agree, fasting helps. During my lost I did several 3 days fast. Even now I only eat between the hours of 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm, outside of those hours, I don’t eat.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #37

Note, mine is .6 grams protein per kilogram of body weight

I think there’s a possibility they are all right. At IDM we mostly treat those with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome or at minimum hyperinsulinemia diseases. Keeping protein moderate is of paramount importance with our clients. I guess the best thing you could do is choose a protein amount for yourself and then do bookend dexa scans and see if you build or lose lean mass or how you lose or maintain weight. Everyone is so very different :slight_smile:

(Running from stupidity) #38

+billions or so. N=1 becomes more and more obvious every day.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #39

That sound you hear is my head banging against the wall. Normally, I’m fine with this, but every now and then, it catches up with me . . . :grin:

(Jennibc) #40

I have been doing this since March - and what I have found is I consistently stall every couple of months. I think our bodies adapt and then we have to tweak things a bit. In July I started daily intermittent fasting and that got things going again (not eating between 8 PM and noon with the exception of heavy cream in my coffee). This past week I cut cream from my morning coffee and that seems to working. In the fall for a couple of weeks I added a brisk afternoon walk to my routine and that seemed to jump start things again and this past week, I took the cream out of my coffee for a true fasting period and that seems to be helping again. I also had to accept that if I am going to show a loss for a week, I have to limit my alcohol consumption to one time a week. I manage a week over week loss if I do that. Anymore than once a week, I show a stall.

(FIONA HUGHES) #41

Thank you so much for your advice. I think I’m definitely going to add some fasting into my diet occasionally, sounds like the way to go for a wee boost. I’m very grateful for your help :blush: