Keto Diet

[RoseTulips2023]

If you're on a keto diet can you tell me how you find it? Is it like Atkins from the the 80s? Any websites, podcasts, books you would recommend? Any recipes you like? Thanks. Inspired to look into this by listening to this podcast episode where the approach seems to be largely keto. https://drchatterjee.com/how-to-use-food-to-transform-your-health-reverse-type-2-diabetes-improve-your-mood-with-dr-david-unwin/

Try here. It's free, apart from recipes, but protein and vegetables aren't complicated so recipes aren't really needed, IMO.

www.dietdoctor.com

It’s a great way to drop weight because it’s effective and once you are cutting carbs your appetite falls in line and it can be maintained for a length of time.

What is harder is making it work in the medium to long term. It’s very difficult to cut out pizza or birthday cake for life and probably not necessary. Michael Mosley was a fan of having two carb free days a week once you have met your goal weight. I tried that and for whatever reason that didn’t work for me. I probably didn’t stick to it enough once I had got out of the habit.

If there is anyone who has managed to make it work in the long term I would also be very interested to hear their thoughts.

I did it for about 2 months a couple of years ago. Once I adjusted to it I felt good - steady energy levels all day, little hunger, lost some weight (not really my aim), itchy skin cleared up.
Like a pp said though, hard to maintain long term. You have to be really organised with food shopping, meal planning, cooking. Too difficult for me at the moment sadly

Thanks everyone for your replies.

After hearing the above interview I decided to try and give up added sugar including honey etc. I don't know if I have the sweetest tooth but I love chocolate. I surprised myself in finding it okay - I went to a wedding a couple of days into my new regime, had the chocolate tart dessert (I don't go to many weddings :) ) but didn't have the cake. The next day I was back on the wagon (is that an expression? If not I think you know what I mean). I have always not liked looking at labels - finding it overwhelming - but it's much easier when you're just looking for sugar - which is in a lot of things, as we know. I'm also not someone who can just have a little bit of what I want - I'll eat the whole pack of biscuits etc - so much easier for me to say I'm not having any of something. It's obviously early days and testing days lie ahead - another wedding (second in years but it's true, normally I hardly ever go to weddings :) ) , holiday in Italy and a couple of birthdays coming up which chimes with what you guys have been saying.

Is it the case that you could have a plate full of veg and smother it with cream and that would be ok?

What was interesting in the Dr Unwin interview - and an interview his wife, a psychologist specialising in (who also has experience of) food addiction - is that they both said that when they deviated from the diet they felt awful. At first I thought this was related to giving up sugar but maybe it's more carbs in general? Of course carbs convert into sugar but I'm thinking one step at a time here :)

"Keto" can be a very misleading term, mainly because there are different versions, so not always clear 'rules' about what you can or can't eat.

This piece might help you:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101#diet-types

I’ve done it twice recently. Each time for a month at a time. My sleep, digestion and energy levels were better. My weight remained about the same but I think my calorie intake was too high. It’s difficult to eat such a restrictive diet and also watch the portion sizes. You can eat some vegetables (lots are off limits or must be very small portions). You mostly need to eat healthy fats.

Take a look at the Public Health Collaboration youtube channel, Dr Unwin gives a few talks at their conferences and the other speakers will also give you more insight. I really recommend Dr Georgia Ede's talk at the PHC on the link between mental health and diet, and how Keto can improve really serious and otherwise treatment resistant mental illnesses.
As for books, Gary Taubes, The Case Against Sugar and The Case for Keto. He is also an excellent speaker so look at his lectures at the PHC too.

Best wishes.

I did keto for four years straight. The birthday cakes, pizzas etc were made by me and were made with keto recipes. I lost 5 stone and kept it off. I'm now low carb and not keto but have never gained any weight back. It just makes you so much more aware of UPFs, sugars etc. Processed food doesn't enter my house except on rare occasions i.e. Christmas when family has given something as a gift. I make my own chocolate bars, peanut butter etc. It's a whole new way of life. You can do 'dirty' keto and just have low sugars/carbs and not care what the ingredients are but I opted for 'clean' keto and never really looked back.

Here's a leaflet you can download/print and take with you wherever you go which should be helpful:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto#printable-leaflet

It’s normal to feel a bit grim at the start while your body adjusts. If you’re going to try keto or very low carb, I’d recommend starting when you have a week or so of not too much going on in your life so you can take it easy

Thanks so much for this.

Thanks for your this - I obviously have a lot to learn as in my head all veg are okay. A lot of my Google searches today are 'is ... keto friendly?'

Thanks so much for this. These recommendations look very interesting.

Thanks for this. It's great that you have successfully incorporated it into your lifestyle. Do you have recipes you can share for your chocolate bars and peanut butter etc?

Oh thanks for this - looks like a very useful leaflet :)

Thanks for this. Good advice - looks like I should definitely wait until after my holiday :)

I did the low carb bootcamp on Mumsnet and it was fantastic - and if you join at the start of the bootcamp you can post and share recipes / experiences etc with others which was useful.

Thanks for this - sounds good.

https://sugarfreelondoner.com/cottage-cheese-brownies/ this looks like a good recipe and site.

I have never done full-on keto, but I try to minimise/restrict/cut out entirely (at different times, depending on my level of commitment)…

• added sugar
• carbs, especially refined carbs
• alcohol

I mostly follow a protein and vegetable based Mediterranean diet. I always feel best when in ‘restrict’ mode as it limits my consumption of ‘bad stuff’ whilst allowing me the occasional ‘treat’, such as a glass of wine or an ice cream.

I have found Dr Becky Gillaspy’s short YouTube videos both informative and motivational.

Peanut butter is very easy. Just buy some raw peanuts, bung them in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes and let them cool. When cool, run them through the food processor with some salt to taste. Some people add oil but I've never had to since the peanuts have their own oil which becomes evident when they are being ground.

Chocolate bars:

Here's a link to the Low Carb Bootcamp topic:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_bootcamp

If you have a look at any of the week 1 threads, or the prep threads, you'll find a whole load of information about low carbing. Check out the spreadsheet (which is always linked to in the OP of a new thread) for loads of info about low carbing and carb counts.

There's also a recipe section which might help you:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low-carb-recipes

Thanks very much BIWI.

it doesn't work for every one.
it is very easy to overeat fat calories.
if you do a lot of exercise you might do better with inclusion of 'good' complex carbs, especially if you train hard.