Keto - what’s your experience?

[UserN0me]

Hello, I’m just wondering if any of you have any experience of the Keto diet. How did you feel? Does it really help energy? And brain fog? Etc

I did this for my wedding and lost loads of weight, my skin looked great and I was going to the gym every day so had plenty of energy. I also found it really easy to stick to as the high fat made me feel really full. However I started getting pains in my chest- they may have been totally unrelated but when I stopped keto the pains stopped so I wouldn't go back on it for that reason.

I've done Keto twice and it was amazing both times. I lost weight, felt great and was really happy.

The issue is Keto isn't a diet. It's a lifestyle and if you don't stick to it, you will knock your body out of ketosis. I fell off the wagon one time too many.

I would highly rec Keto is you have PCOS, a ton of weight to shift, diabetes etc. It's not as complicated as it seems and whilst excersize will improve your weight and health, I found I didn't have to do any to achieve what I wanted so it suits a sedentary lifestyle too.

I found the first week tough as I had mild headaches from sugar withdrawal, but after that I had so much energy! That after-lunch slump just stopped and I felt clear headed. My skin was great and I lost three stone without exercising.

However it really is an all-or-nothing way of eating, you just can't cheat at all. I found ways to make it work in any eating out situation (restaurants, camping trips) but you do have to be committed. I only stopped after a major injury meant I had to rely on DH to make all my meals for many months.

Thanks for your replies. They sound mostly positive (except the worrying chest pains jigsy- I wonder what caused them).

Has anyone experience pmt improvement? I’m such a bitch every month!

I started last week but had a roast dinner with Yorkshire pud and potatoes yesterday (I could have not eaten them I know). Back on the wagon today. It sounds as though you have to be v strict, I think if I do feel better it will give me the motivation to keep it up. Although it’ll be tough not having an Easter egg!

Slightly different but I dont do keto however i do reduce my carb intake to be less than 50g if i do no exercise or below 60g if ive had a particularly busy day. Some days i dont eat anywhere near my limit. Whilst i dont drop wait drastically quick, its less restrictive, i still feel better, less bloated etc and i still lose 1-2kg (2-4lb) a week and find i stick to it better.

Ive just cut bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc out and eat low carb salad and veg with meat, cheese etc it also means eating out is easier too. Might not work for everyone but it certainly works for me.

I've only been on it two weeks but it has been fantastic - everyone's different and it turns out this way of eating really suits me, feel really well and haven't had any of the tummy issues (IBS type stuff) that have been a bit of an issue increasingly in the last few years. I've had none of the 'keto flu' side effects at all, which surprised me and again I think it's the luck of the draw?. I bought some keto sticks on Amazon (check the reviews though because some of them sound dodgy) and was in ketosis after less than 2 days. I have been super strict about not exceeding the 20grams/day of carbs though because if you do that you kick yourself right out of ketosis for days and there is NO WAY I'd waste all that effort for a bite of potato. I don't understand people feeling a need to cheat as I guard my precious state of ketosis very jealously . I found I pretty quickly got the hang of what I can eat without having to check/log everything on MFP although that was super helpful at the start.

Ive been keto (which I've defined as religiously eating under 30g carbs/day and mostly hitting