Struggling with losing weight - keto

[Toni42]

After so much hype from family and friends tried keto but I’m struggling. Just broke it with THREE packets of crisps and now having a glass of wine cos so depressed. I’m really down. Any tips on sticking to keto and stop my carb addiction. Cooking food for kids is torture as always carb based and find myself nibbling their food whilst cooking

Find something that works better for you? Keto is great for some people, but if you're struggling it's not something you are going to sustain is it. Why not calorie counting or something?

Keto isn't the answer for you. It works for some people but those people are able to stick to it and you... aren't.

There are other ways. I've lost two stone in the last six months (slow and steady wins the race) and eat carbs at literally every meal. If you like carbs you can eat them and still lose weight, you just have to maintain a calorie deficit. I mostly do this by watching portions, exercising and fasting on the days when I don't exercise. You can eat what you like and lose weight, you just need to not eat too much of it.

Keto is fine but if you can't stick to it, even for a short time which you have proved, then you're hardly going to stick to it long term.

You should try slimming world

I did the Low Carb Bootcamp on Mumsnet, by BIWI. I was addicted to carbs but after 9 weeks I am still eating much more healthily, lots of veg and salads, meat, eggs, cheese, cream, full fat greek yoghurt and very low carbs and finding it easy now I've cracked the habit. I found it better to focus on what I could eat, not what I couldn't. Best discovery was celeriac, it is delicious, boiled and mashed up with plenty of butter and spring onions tastes better than the best mashed potato! I still haven't had any chocolate or sugar and that was my biggest downfall, I don't miss it at all. Only lost 10lbs but it is coming off slowly but surely. Now a way of eating healthily for me and sustainable as the fat fills you up. Definitely worth doing for me anyway. Wish you luck, OP.

Meant to say that I combined low carb high fat with 16:8 and still doing.

Second low carb Bootcamp on here.
One key thing with keto-plan plan plan. KNOW what you’re eating for lunch, dinner so there are no opportunities to be distracted. Make sure there are lots of exciting options in the fridge.
I don’t agree it is about a calorie deficit as some have said. I input my food into MFP when I started and I was doing 3000 kcal plus a day at times but still losing weight as the carbs were something like 5%.
I started strict Keto for several months. Now I’m low carb, can eat berries, dark chocolate

Take the pressure off to crash diet for your new job by investing in one new dress (Cos dresses can hide a multitude) get your hair done and make special effort with hair and makeup on your first day. They hired you as you look now. Then choose a way of eating that you can stick to that will result in weightloss and not lower your base metabolism. Look at 16:8 combined with the Mediterranean Diet. It sounds as if you'd enjoy that. Once you have mastered 16:8 increase it from 16 hours fasting to 17-20.
But do the shopping now to take pressure off your first day.
A Style and Beauty thread will have lots of knowledgeable people help you find something. Plenty of sales on - including discounts across most brands when I was in John Lewis yesterday.

Keto is worth it if you binge eat. After a cpl of days I didn't feel hungry at all so didn't snack and pick at things.

My husband has been doing keto got nearlt 2 years and as a Pp has said its a lifestyle change. It's awkward as I did try it and lost weight but it wasn't for me. So in the house I have 2 children who eat completely different foods as well (fussy eater one of them) then you have my husband who is low carb high fat and then me who's in the middle of it all! I didn't like keto because you have to keep up with the high fat which I didn't like/want to do. You also deplete your body of magnesium and other minerals so then u need to take supplements. My husband now still does low carb we buy a bread too that's supposed to be low carb but he still has the treats but he can do it! I would say in my experience and looking at my friends they all said don't deprive yourself but cut your cals and if you exercise try and make the cals you lose higher than what you eat which is cal deficit I guess. Good luck and don't beat yourself up!

You do have to do some research about keto so you understand why you are doing what you are doing.

You are deliberately keeping your insulin levels to such a low level that your body is forced to burn fat for energy (ketosis) , which is a perfectly natural and desirable state for your body but one that most bodies don’t get to do very often because of the high carb food environment and snacking culture (fasting gets you into ketosis too)

That’s why you need to go under 20g Per day
Or
Fast

@Ynwa1234 it isn’t hard to keep your magnesium/potassium etc up on Keto: mushrooms, avocado, spinach (indeed leafy greens generally and crucifers is vegetables), seeds, salmon and mackerel (both fatty which helps) etc etc. I have my bloods done every year and the only thing I am deficient in is vitamin D, and that’s because of I’m brown!

I think there are misconceptions around the Keto diet: a) it restricts nutrients. It doesn’t. Your body doesn’t actually “need” carbs as we think of them - some carbs come with nutrients that are useful but the carbs themselves are a form of energy, and our bodies can adapt to use a different form. And then b) that Keto means eating “dirty” foods all the time - tons of bacon, crap cheese, loads of mayo etc. B) is what leads to A).

To do Keto successfully in the long term you do have to think about not just your macros but where you’re getting your nutrition from. It’s not all steak and butter! And fat doesn’t have to be scary, fried stuff. An avocado and salmon (skin-on) salad with sesame oil and cheese would be a great meal.

I’ve been keto (ish) for years.

It basically just means cutting out all ultra processed crap food but the amount of times I’ve heard ‘extreme restrictive diet cutting out essential food’ is mind boggling

There’s nothing essential about cake

The big advantage of low-carb for me is feeling full, satisfied and eating shed load of calories. If you feel peckish - have a handful of walnuts or almonds with coffee made with full cream. Fills you up great and does not affect your insulin level in any way whatsoever.

Obesity is a hormonal problem, not a problem of calorie imbalance. Our body does not count calories, it processes foods according to their composition. And a big plate of broccoli is not the same as a tiny slice of cake, even if the calories are the same.

I wish people would stop pedalling this fallacy about calories in calories out which has been debunked by hundreds of studies, especially long-term ones. All it does is makes you feel crap, hungry, cold and lowers your base metabolism permanently, so it will become harder and harder to maintain or lose weight in future.

It is not about calories, it is about nourishing your body properly with good quality fats, vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds, legumes. And not having crap which causes nutrient deficiencies, drives your appetite, makes you feel sluggish and tired.

Yes, you can eat 3000kkal a day and still lose weight, providing you don't eat foods that overstimulate insulin production (refined carbs and sugar). Fasting also does wonders for revving up metabolism and normalising insulin levels in the body. Which will translate into weight loss.

But your body needs to get used to burning fat, rather than incoming carbs every 3 hours. That takes time, from few weeks to a few months (took me longer). Once it's got there, you feel forget what hungry means and the worst you will feel is a bit of a dull sensation in the stomach which doesn't stop you functioning in any way.

Low carb offers great freedom to people like me who cannot handle cabs, who have to have 3 packets of crisps instead of one and cannot stop eating when a cake is put in front of them. This is all hormonally driven and is in no way a personal shortcoming or lack of moral strength. It is exactly like an addiction where you don't want to do it, but still proceed to self-destroy and feel awful after.

I am so pleased the new (and well-forgotten) research has shone a light on insulin and its effect on obesity and disease. We now know it is not overeating that drives weight gain, but higher baseline insulin levels and low carb tolerance. Sadly cake makes insulin go haywire, same as sugar and other refined carbs. Why advise people to eat cake, moderately or otherwise, if this is the very thing that makes them ill?

And you do eat carbs on keto or low-carb, just not the rubbish kind. The nourishing, good for you carbs with plenty of fiber and vitamins/minerals - vegetables, particularly nutrient-rich leafy kind, unlimited quantities. Want a big plate of tomato salad with a generous helping of extra Virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of nuts? Go ahead, eat as much as you like. 'tis good for you. Want a bean curry cooked with ghee - great, good for you (leave out the rice though). Dark chocolate with 70% cocoa - help yourself. Bet you won't be able to eat the whole bar though, too satisfying :)

The great thing is you won't feel anywhere near as hungry as you do when eating refined carbs. You will forget to eat, you will inadvertently miss meal times. Fasting will become a doddle.

And all of your health indicators will improve massively. You will feel so much better in yourself, happier, balanced, full of energy.

I agree with Bobbie - all you need is calorie deficit and weight loss will follow. Getting enough sleep is hugely helpful - my resolve around food is terrible if I've not had 7 hours sleep or more. The PTs at the gym I go to have helped thousands of people lose weight. It's all about sensible eating, filling up on high quality protein and veg and eating carbs and fats in moderation. Exercising to build lean muscle and get moving, more fresh air.

The problem with vlc diets and diets with remove food groups or restrict them severely is that they are not sustainable and you don't learn how to eat sensibly.

Make sure you're having enough calories and count everything that you eat or drink. If you are up one day on your calories just correct it the next. Be truthful to yourself about what you are eating and drinking and you will lose weight. The problem that usually there's a tipping point where a person realises they have a lot of weight to lose. That weight may have been put on over years. It doesn't - and probably shouldn't - come off overnight.

I have PCOS and am insulin resistant. Low calorie alone doesn't work for me, I'm starving hungry all the time and don't lose weight. I have to go low carb to lose weight which is a real shame as I love bread, crackers, cake, pastries more than any other type of food. Even when I eat in moderation, keep to below my TDEE.... if I'm eating bread and pasta I do not lose an6 weight at all.

i find a few weeks of optifast meal replacements, plus low card veggies, resets my appetite. After the first week, it gets easy. It really works!

If you think Optifast is not for you, visit a nutritionist so you have a plan. Keep a food diary, cut down the carbs, and the fat, and eat a lot more veggies.

You should not have crisps and biscuits in the house while you are trying to lose weight. Your kids don't need that kind of food and you are risking them developing the same problems.

I hope you succeed as it gives you a great confidence boost and will keep you healthy.

Stop trying to cut out entire food groups op. Calorie count and then you can eat crisps without the guilt and feelings of failure.

It makes me laugh when posters call cakes, crisps, biscuits and ice-cream "whole food groups". The very things that are bad for you and which cause weight gain (among other unpleasant health consequences).

Good luck with trying to cut down on crisps if you have low tolerance to carbs and tend to carb binge!

Since when crisps became an essential food group?

(Unbelievable bollocks.... shaking head...)

If you are struggling just looking at carbs, you’re not eating enough!

Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist by paying for a course/certificate. Dietitians are properly qualified to advise people. Best place to start is your GP's.

TorysSuck - do you think you are insulin resistant or have you been tested/assessed as such?

I've been tested, also had PCOS confirmed with a scan which showed multiple cysts, blood tests which showed high testosterone levels and I got GD when pregnant.

I think what puts people off keto is the ‘no pasta, no bread’ thing. That’s the ‘food group’ they think makes keto restrictive.

I can see why. Our whole culture is designed around these foods. It’s really hard to be out and get food which isn’t highly refined carbs. I only use 1/3rd of a supermarket, maximum, as I don’t buy any processed food at all.

It seems really restrictive because over 50% of food that people eat in the UK is ultra processed high carb food

It’s a scandal really.

Yes. What puts me off keto is definitely no pasta, no bread, no rice, no flour, no potatoes, no root vegetables, no fruits other than berries. It's got nothing to do with cakes, sugary drinks, biscuits, junk food, fast food or any of the other processed crap for me. I don't eat them. It's just a highly restrictive diet beyond ditching sugar and junk.

Buy one or two new outfits that fit you properly and don't let how you feel about your body affect your work! I presume you are not in job that requires people to admire your body, so please don't let this get in the way of your first day. As a pp said, do you nails/hair/makeup and hold your head high.

As for the diet...don't keep crisps at home! You don't need them - neither does anyone else in your household - if one of them wants a treat then get a singular packet at the corner shop. No need to multipacks of any junk unless you're having a kids party.