To ask your experience of a keto diet?

[Atticusblame]

Just started this today. It's basically a very low carb diet. I have low carbed before, but not quite to the keto extreme.

Has anyone found it works well for them? And how long is it until results show? And what alcohol can I drink on it?

I’m not het up in the slightest. You seem very defensive at me having an alternative opinion to you!

Like I say, any restrictive ‘way of eating’ can become tedious. I’d also find it gets tedious if I was eating all carbs and no protein.

Obviously this is my personal opinion which is why I’m still fat. It’s not an attack on your diet.

OP, one of the reasons I didn't stay with keto is because I didn't lose weight. Portion control is really important on Keto because the food is so calorie-dense. If you make something like keto pizza (basically cheese, almonds and more cheese!) you can end up consuming a huge amount of calories without realising. It wasn't until I tracked calories that I achieved my goals (and by then I was fed up with keto, but thats by the by).

There are some keto calorie calculators online which you might find helpful. At least track until you are confident you understand your portions. Ultimately, it's about getting your cals from fat rather than carbs, but your daily calorie allowance for weightloss really shouldn't change.

Some people do keto for health and nutrition reasons, or to reduce inflammation in the body. They won't need to count calories in the same way as someone whose goal is weight loss. If you eat 3000 cals you won't lose and its surprisingly easy to do on Keto!

^^ thanks for agreeing with me @Littleandoften! It’s fine when you’re established in the diet - when starting out it’s important to keep track.

Added bonus for me btw was it helped reduce my type 2 rosacea.

Haha if OP is going for it it's just helpful to share the pitfalls IMO!

I don't think there's anything wrong with eating in this way if it works for you, but it's not a magic wand that makes calories irrelevant.

Oh yes and ELECTROLYTES. Can't emphasise this enough. So important and will help to avert "keto flu".

Totally with you littleandoften. It does work for lots of people, but it isn't for everyone.

I wonder @Bluntness100, did you mix me up with @ActualHornist? I said comparing chocolate and ice cream with pasta and bread "a load of bollocks". I can tell you now that me swearing does not mean I am in any way het up. It's just standard. My WOS if you will .

I've had many things to say in favour of this WOE from pretty much the beginning of the thread. That doesn't mean I agree with your comparison, which I found a little unfair. SW is a low fat diet. Keto is low carb. Neither diet advocates eating high sugar, high fat junk food. No person believes they are healthy foods.

If I am right that there was a mix up, I hope that clarifies.

Otherwise, I'm not sure why you think @ActualHornist is het up. She seems perfectly calm to me.

you don’t need to be super strict with it, but things like belly pork can be really high in calories - you will lose slower or not at all if you’re regularly consuming 2000+ calories

Simply not true. Low carbing negates the need for counting calories. Someone’s allowing their prejudice against this way of eating to allow them to post misinformation.

You. Do. Not. Need. To. Count. Calories.

@Alsohuman

Yes.you.do.

Pork belly I absolutely wouldn't have to count. It's actually quite difficult to make yourself eat enough fat on keto, because you body says

A keto pizza base or keto desserts, it would because nuts and dairy are a bit addictive and easy to eat too much and fake sugar does the same to your body as real sugar in some ways. So we don't count, we realise nuts and dairy are 'careful' foods.

I definitely remember being warned about nuts, cream and cheese. It does make me wonder if it's quite tricky for veggies, if these things affect your weight loss.

I imagine some people don't need to count calories, but others do. Much like the WOE in general I would say.

Yes, I wouldn't do it if I was veggie. It's possible but not as fun as if you eat meat.

I still wouldn't count though. 'I can have cream twice a week and still lose' or 'I can't have nuts on my desk'. Counting is just miserable! Works for some though!

Actually, the only thing I measure is milk in tea. That's a very very slippery slope!

Yes.you.do.

No, you don’t. I lost 20kg by low carbing and kept it off for eight years and never once counted a calorie. Please stop talking nonsense.

I’m veggie. Also cannot stand eggs. That’s probably why it didn’t work for me. Dairy, nuts and green veg was pretty much it. I loved the diet, the food. But was consuming too many calories I think.

Fuck off. Don’t be so condescending. I don’t ‘have a prejudice’ against this ‘way of eating’ - I’m literally doing it! Doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes want pasta or potatoes!

I track calories because I overeat. That’s how I got fat. Yes you’re right it’s a natural appetite suppressant - but it’s not for me, particularly in the first few days, so I count calories. You don’t, because you are naturally restricting calories by not eating certain foods. Just because you’re not physically counting calories doesn’t mean you’re not restricting them.

So great for you that you intuitively know your body’s allowances @AlsoHuman. But take a look at the keto reddit for hundreds of people who are upset they’re not losing weight, to realise that eating 3000 calories a day (too much cheese in the main) won’t help you lose weight even if you’re eating NO carbs!

Why people are getting so upset and defensive about this is absolutely beyond me.

I picked belly pork because that’s where I went wrong.

I bought this and had maybe three of the slices? With broccoli and a blue cheese cream sauce. I didn’t measure the cream or cheese, but I did the pork.

Alongside the cream in my (several) coffees, Brie and salami salad lunch, scrambled eggs (with cream!) and bacon for breakfast I was eating far too much.

Thus, I measure things like my cream intake. I measure cheese if there’s a possibility I might go overboard.

I also stick to a diet better when I’m tracking it closely, so there’s that too.

Keto works better than any other diet I've ever done and it's not bad for you because you're never hungry and it gets your blood sugar under control.

You have to make it a lifestyle change though. No good going back to sugar and pasta afterwards and expect the weight to stay off.

I think it's a common mistake @ActualHornist - possibly because for so long people have tried to avoid cream and full fat cheese, they tend to go a bit mad with it.

Apart from the calories (and calories do matter, ultimately), some people also find that dairy impedes weight loss anyway.

On Bootcamp it's surprisingly common for me to have to remind people that they need to be eating more veg/salad with their meals!

But take a look at the keto reddit for hundreds of people who are upset they’re not losing weight, to realise that eating 3000 calories a day (too much cheese in the main) won’t help you lose weight even if you’re eating NO carbs!

Surely, 'watch the cheese' would work just as well for them as counting.

I do actually think that the worst, and it's often American sites, is all the 'fake food'. Keto fudge, keto brownies, keto pizza, keto noodles. I feel rotten eating them and don't lose.

BIWI's rules are the best. Avoid processed crap, eat vegetables, lots of fat etc. I really think if you follow the rules properly and 'clean' you don't need to count.

I would actually argue that counting calories stops keto working effectively. In my experience though I appreciate everyone's different.

BUT

If you're doing keto right you don't naturally need large amounts of food anyway because good fats fill you up for longer and burn more slowly.

Just because you’re not physically counting calories doesn’t mean you’re not restricting them.

Restricting and counting aren’t the same. And kindly, don’t tell me to fuck off. Nobody’s been rude to you.

I wonder @Bluntness100, did you mix me up with @ActualHornist*

No...

@BIWitch that’s what I mean. Of course you don’t need to calorie count from beginning to end. Once you know what you’re doing, you’ll likely be fine.

(Which is why I originally posted “re calorie counting - you don’t need to be super strict with it, but things like belly pork can be really high in calories - you will lose slower or not at all if you’re regularly consuming 2000+ calories”.)

I apologise for the swearing @Alsohuman. I don’t like being talked down to, especially when you’re accusing me of spreading misinformation - for a diet, that like all others, works for some and not others. Restricting and counting aren’t the same no, but my point is that I personally and lots of other people find it helpful to manually restrict rather than organically restrict calories. I mean, you’ll still lose weight if you only eat chocolate so long as it’s not too much.

Btw OP I avoid the Keto/low carb cheats that seem to generally involve nuts and sweeteners and those which mimic the processed high-carb foods I’m trying to break the addiction to.
Might sound like a killjoy but I wouldn’t recommend these cheat foods that you can sometimes find on Pinterest eg keto cookies etc.

^^100% agree with that. The only two I’ll do is keto pizza and protein powder to ‘bread’ chicken.