Thanks to all the ‘Tiny Ladies’ for posting your thoughts! It’s the first time on any forum I’ve had sensible answers. I agree with SlowBurnMary from another thread that my goal is not weight loss, it’s more about FAT loss and then sustainable eating after this. People always talk about weight loss meaning fat loss but as we know, if you’re not doing the right kind of diet for you, you’ll get loss of fat and muscle, which is not what we want. And I’m heartened to hear that keto will tend to rebuild lost muscle leading to smaller bodies, and a higher likelihood of keeping fat burning going.
I did Atkins many years ago and followed I would say a pretty high fat version, tracking only carbs and keeping to less than 20g of actual carbs per day (so net carbs was probably around 10g in real terms). I mainly ate red meat, oily fish, mayo, very low carb ‘green’ salad, eggs, cream cheese, small amounts of low carb nuts eg walnuts/brazils/pecans, a few peanuts and extremely low carb veg like mushrooms and courgette (zucchini in US terms). I was extremely healthy without taking any vitamins and all my eczema, migraines and period problems completely disappeared.
This is how I’m approaching keto:
Same principle in terms of food make-up, with even fewer carbs but taking a multi-vit supplement.
I’m not tracking macros. That way lies insanity - for me at least. I’m following the general principles - high fat, mod protein, minimal carb. My body tells me what I need to eat and when. If I need more protein it tells me to eat tuna and mayonnaise. If I need more fat it tells me to eat Brussels pate or cream cheese. If I need a few more carbs it tells me to eat peanuts or peanut butter.
I’m drinking only UNSWEETENED drinks. For me that’s decaff coffee, decaff green tea and redbush+vanilla. (I detest plain or sparkling water). I find keeping to unsweetened drinks reduces cravings for sweet things.
I front load most of my carbs to the morning just after I’ve done my main 5 or so miles with the dogs (they get another shorter walk in the evening). The rest of the day I eat absolutely minimal carbs.
I find eating less than 20g of ‘gross’ carbs a day almost completely removes hunger (amounts to probably 15g or less net carbs). The fewer carbs I consume the more my body seems to like it.
I eat small amounts, but eat when I’m hungry during the day (usually between 12 noon and 10pm)
I avoid all fruit and any dairy which for me is relatively high carb such as yoghurt - even greek yoghurt.
I detest cooking and spending ages preparing food so I keep things really simple. All those keto recipes look great but I know I simply will not keep that up.
I am not doing any keto ‘baking’. If my goal is fat loss and eliminating hunger and cravings, then keto brownies are a sure way to completely sabotage that.
If I need a chocolate fix, I mix 3 heaped teaspoons of raw organic cocoa powder with 1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil (melted) and 1 heaped teaspoon vanilla protein powder and sufficient ‘acceptable’ artificial sweetener to make it just sweet enough. (Note : The fibre in the cocoa is good for constipation!)
My goal is fat loss, a sustainable weight loss without hunger, and change in body composition so that I get leaner and smaller. I wouldn’t care if I weighed the same as I do now if I could get back into a UK size 6.
What strategies are you using? And thanks for contributing!
I don’t even need to eat any meat to reach? Anyone find limiting protein is hard being on the smaller side?