Show me what a 1000 calorie keto diet looks like

(Polly) #21

If you are calorie restricting you are setting yourself up to fail. The ketogenic diet works by making us feel satisfied so that we don”t want to eat more and by eating no more than three times a day [many of us eat only one or two meals per day] you will avoid spiking your insulin too often. You cannot burn fat in the presence of insulin. If you spread your limited food out having it little but often you are effectively putting your body in a position where it cannot burn fat.

#22

You’re under eating and need to stop, it’s pretty noticeable you’re in the calorie trap. You’re currently in the process of slowing your metabolism, that’s why when you drop your cals you loose weight… until you don’t. Your metabolism is adjusting. It’s also why you’re hungry and cold. Set a hard limit, I’d personally say around 1400 or so for a 5’2"F and DON’T eat less than that! You want to loose more? Then you get your metabolism to BURN more! It’s a process and it sucks but what your doing right now is going to blow up in your face BAD and be very hard to fix. What’s you current physical activity look like? Do you have restrictions on what you CAN do?

I’m a 5’9"M, currently around 220lbs, I have a little higher muscle mass so I’m not fat but for my activity from work and lifting I (should) have a RMR of around 3000/day, realistically a little more. At my last test because of tons of issues I came in around 1700/day! I earned that from under eating, fasting, and a lot of OMAD, wasn’t an issue before all of that. Do NOT starve your metabolism. Unlike you, I was never hungry (although I was cold a lot), I also felt AWESOME when fasting, never had any warnings that I was messing myself up. Only reason I caught it was because I noticed strength wasn’t progressing anymore and I started loosing muscle mass over a year which is what got me in to have my metabolic rate tested.

You have to take EVERYTHING into acct, there is a time and a place for eating to satiety, there is a time and a place for IGNORING satiety and eating anyways. Sometimes we need more calories, sometimes less. Sometimes more fat, sometimes less. We’re all different but our metabolisms all have the same core rules, we just gotta tweak here and there.

Your doctor sucks by the way, 1100 cals MAX? What happens when that stops working (which it will) 1000? 900? 800? Then how will you ever eat normal again? Your metabolism will be so slow you won’t get down a good sized meal a day without gaining!

I’d say you need to formulate a reverse diet to turn this thing around while you still can. I also wouldn’t worry about limits on green veggies. Sounds more like the old Atkins rules.

You need to turn that fire into a furnace! BURN!

#23

I had considered this. Eating more of my calories at once. It seemed ok but I was hungry between lunch and dinner. Especially before dinner. I think I may return to this as it seemed to be better than what I have going on right now.

#24

I usually walk my dog about 2 miles a day. On the weekends this is in one shot. On weekdays I usually split it in to two walks.

#25

You all have convinced me to make a much earlier appointment to discuss my issues with my doctor. I will see what she has to say about my issues with hunger.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #26

By the way, I don’t think your doctor is bad. She has clearly educated herself and is far ahead of the standard. But if she’s still teaching calories in calories out (CICO, ) maybe its time for her to do even more self-educating.

#27

I felt she was looking at my results, or lack there of, from a typical keto diet and tried to find something that would work for me. I would really like to figure out why it didn’t work and fix that problem but I am not sure how to do that.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #28

Yeah, it sounds like she really wants to help you succeed. She’s a keeper.

I bet if she reached out to Dr Westman, he’d help her finetune things.

Until you get in to see her, maybe spend some time on YouTube. There’s a lot of junk on there, but some good people too. I’d start here:

Eric Westman, MD
Nina Teicholz, intrepid journalist
Ben Bickman, PhD
Amy Berger, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Bret Scher, MD
David Unwin, MD
Gary Fettke, MD

There are many more, but this is a nice start for a good deep rabbit hole. Most are doctors, all are wicked smart and ready to share what they’ve learned.

I also like Dr Ken Berry. I can’t vouch for every word, but he sure is fun.

#29

That’s good, but just like a gym routine that doesn’t change your body probably isn’t responding much to that as it’s “normal” for you now. Can you get in any extra exercise, or maybe do some jogs or runs while you have your dog out?

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #30

I wouldn’t recommend more exercise while eating 1000 calories, especially if you are also hungry and cold with low energy. Get your diet dialed in first, and then exercise can do its work to improve your health.

(Jill F.) #31

I know the struggle is real. If you want to keep your calories lower just be sure you are eating enough fat like a lot of other posters said. Bacon, eggs, butter, oils, that should help you feel for satiated.

#32

Thank you for the recommendation. Currently watching one of Dr Eric westman’s videos and it is essentially the same diet she recommends as a standard. I don’t know what she noticed in my results to cause her to recommend a calorie reduction but that will be one of the questions I bring up. Additionally, westman is on her list of recommended reading/follow up research.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #33

Nice!

And if people here are saying things that go against what you believe, know that it is only because what they recommend has worked for them and they wish you the same success. One personal story that has stuck in my mind is that of Karen Mangiacotti. You can hear from her in episode 60, Keto Parenting. She not only didn’t lose weight at first, she gained weight. But she didn’t want to quit because she felt better. She only started losing weight when she started eating more, not less.

Ok, I’m not sure that is the episode where she talks about that. My internet is being a pain. I’ll edit this when I figure it out.

One thing I just thought of is protein. The grams of recommend protein is just that… grams of protein , not grams of meat. There is a big difference. Maybe you know that, but I thought it worth mentioning.

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #34

This looks like some kind of starvation diet. Way deficient in nutrients.
It is why you are hungry and cold.
Don’t expect that to change if you keep eating this way.

Hungry and cold are not symptoms of a healthy ketogenic way of eating.

I apologize if I sound harsh, but I fear for your health. You are looking at all kinds of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

P.S.
Measuring food by volume, i.e. 1/2c, 1cup etc. is wildly inaccurate for macros and nutrients.
You should measure by weight.

#35

Not harsh. Just a reminder of how my body has failed me. It is just so frustrating to hear people recommend the same process, that I know causes me to gain weight, but expect different results. I don’t know what to say, i dont know why the traditional keto doesn’t work. I wish more than anyone here that it did. This entire process feels like a failure from day one since it is not working the way it is supposed to. I see my husband everyday using keto and getting the results the “right” way. It is just a constant reminder.
On a side note, I weigh everything but vegetables. They offer such small calories differences that I don’t believe 1 cup vs. Weight makes much of a difference.

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #36

You may be short changing yourself measuring the vegetables. There is a lot of air in a measuring cup full of broccoli …

(Jane) #37

You’ve lost 30 lbs in a little over 3 months (starting at less than 200) and you feel like a failure???

Why??? I think that is GREAT progress.

And if you are hungry and cold and snacking all day then you aren’t eating enough at each meal and eating too often. You can lose weight eating rabbit food but you will be hungry and feel like cr@p.

Don’t compare yourself to your husband. You don’t have his hormones or muscle mass to lose weight as fast as him.

I started at 185 and it took me 6 months to lose 30 lbs (5’ 2”) and another 6 months for another 10 and another 6 months for the last 5 lb. I felt so much better I didn’t care how long it took

Good luck figuring it out!

#38

I feel like my body has failed to function properly. It should work without cutting calories and limits but it doesn’t.

(Jane) #39

I don’t think you gave your body enough time to heal (pre-diabetic based on > 6 A1c) OR become fat adapted before you started cutting calories.

You may have a temporary gain as you increase your calories but you need to hide your scale and focus on eating a proper ketogenic diet and allowing your body to adjust to running on fat. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel!

You can choose to give up, gain the weight back and transition to full diabetic down the road. Or follow Dr Westman’s Page 4 and make sure you eat enough fat to fuel your body and not tank your metabolism.

I know which I would choose (well, did choose) and I quit thinking of me being “on a diet” to this is how I eat from now on.

(Susan) #40

This is the key to succes; as Janie has explained =). Keto is a way of eating – it works, you need to be patient. You have lost 30 pounds in 3 months --that is really good. As Janie also posted above, you cannot compare your body to your husband’s or to anyone else’s either, we are all different.

Men and women lose differently – no matter what “diet” or WOE(way of eating) they follow. Mother Nature protects our bodies as woman --the science behind it is related to us being mothers, and carrying the future generations --our hormones and body shapes are different too.

I agree with all of the advice Janie has given you in this thread --she has always been a really great inspiration and encouragement to myself and many others on this forum, and she always gives thoughtful, good advice =).

I have lost 67 pounds myself on Keto so far (since February 2019) and I still have a long way to go but my health has improved so much, I have many NSV (non scale victories) and these are very significant as well. Just be patient, slow and steady wins the race (tortoise and the hare). You can do this =).