My Keto Journey

brockboy02

Started my keto journey on tuesday and i've decided to log my progress on here.

Staying away from weighing myself apart from approx once a month - currently approx 110kg and between 25 and 30 percent body fat, I am 6'2.5.

Meal tuesday and yesterday:

08/11/2016
No Breakfast
12pm Lunch: Chicken Breast + Salad(3 boiled eggs, spinach, cucumber, olives) with olive oil.
mid afternoon Snack: handful of Macadamia & Brazil nuts.
8pm Dinner: 2 Chicken thighs, brocolli, cauliflower with butter and 1 egg fried in coconut oil.
pre bed Snack: 1/2 avacado, tsp of almond butter.

09/11/2016
No Breakfast
1pm Lunch: Sardine Salad(3 boiled eggs, spinach, cucumber, olives, 1/2 avacado) with olive oil.
mid afternoon Snack: handful of Macadamia nuts.
7.30pm Dinner: 3 egg omlette(spinach and mushrooms) with brocolli & butter & 2 pieces of bacon.
pre bed Snack: chirizo slices & cheddar cheese, tsp of almond butter.

Obviously you can see i'm doing a overnight fast.

I've been eating low carb for quite awhile, but not very low carb as prescribed by the ketogenic diet.

Exercise so far: walking & some body weight squats.

ford2600

Are you checking ketone levels? What macro breakdown?

If keto is main goal very easy to eat too much protein and knock yourself out of ketosis; especially at a relatively low activity level. Checking blood/urine is only way to be sure.

If weight loss is main goal don't worry about it.

If you are going high fat why not eat higher fat meats like lamb/duck/fatty beef?

brockboy02

ford2600 wrote: »

Are you checking ketone levels? What macro breakdown?

If keto is main goal very easy to eat too much protein and knock yourself out of ketosis; especially at a relatively low activity level. Checking blood/urine is only way to be sure.

If weight loss is main goal don't worry about it.

If you are going high fat why not eat higher fat meats like lamb/duck/fatty beef?

Not checking levels. Might do at some point if i don't see progress.

Aiming for less than 20g net carbs a day, approx 130g of protein and the rest in fat. So approx 5%, 30% & 65%.

Weight/Fat loss key is my main goal.

Activity levels: 3 days a week going for a brisk 30 mind walk, once a week fasted HIIT, twice a week body weight workout. Along with whatever walking I do on my commute to work.

Haven't really thought about fattier meat, mostly been focused on Salmon/Mackeral along with chicken. Will look into other meats.

brockboy02

10/11/2016
No Breakfast
1pm Lunch: Sardine Salad(3 boiled eggs, spinach, cucumber, olives) with olive oil & chirizo.
mid afternoon Snack: handful of Macadamia nuts.
7.30pm Dinner: Mackeral with 2 fried eggs with brocolli & asparagus with butter.
pre bed Snack: can of tune with an avacado and olive oil.

Richard tea

How are you getting on OP?

exaisle

Try a three egg omelette with two streaky smoked back rashers(available in Aldi) cut up small and fried on a dry pan so they sweat a little fat...then add them to the eggs. Chop two spring onions finely and add them too. The salt in the rashers means you don't need to season.

Nommy!

exaisle

Maybe OP has given up....

Anybody else on a keto diet?

PucaMama

exaisle wrote: »

Maybe OP has given up....

Anybody else on a keto diet?

I am trying. Well for the last few days. I feel awful.

Dtp1979

exaisle wrote: »

Maybe OP has given up....

Anybody else on a keto diet?

Op was banned so no updates

KateJ23

exaisle wrote: »

Maybe OP has given up....

Anybody else on a keto diet?

Says "banned" under his user name so don't think there will be any post for a while!

How are u doing?
I started two weeks ago, love how I'm feeling! Did have a couple rough days at the start tho, felt sick and washed out but that didn't last too long
Down 7.6 lbs in the two weeks so I'm pretty happy!

KateJ23

PucaMama wrote: »

I am trying. Well for the last few days. I feel awful.

How are u feeling now?

PucaMama

KateJ23 wrote: »

How are u feeling now?

I feel good. One thing I used to suffer from a lot was a feeling of confusion I felt I couldn't keep up with things which isn't normal at 27 and I put it down to my thyroid problem but that has all but disappeared the last few days.

Triceratops Ballet

How are you guys getting on, do you have any good meal ideas to share?

I was doing keto for most of the last quarter of 2016 (dropped 11kg) but decided to take few weeks off at the start of this year. I was getting bored of the same foods over and over. I'm not going mad on carbs, but where I had been eating 50g or less I'm on about 80-100g at the moment. The plan is in 2 weeks to go back to keto, but I need food inspiration!!

uncle_sam_ie

I've been doing keto for nearly two years. The key for me has been a good breakfast every day.
6:30 am. Soaked in butter, two organic eggs, two fatty strips of bacon( making damn sure it has not been cured in sugar), mushrooms and a bit of spinach to mop up all the fat. Tea with cream. This keeps me going until dinner time without feeling hungry. Dinner time 4-5 pm, is usually a fatty meat or fish with steamed vegs (ones grown above ground like broccoli) with loads of grass fed butter. No, fruit. I don't really snack because I never feel hungry or crave food. Another important thing is a good 8-hour sleep.

I've never weighted myself but, my beer gut waist size was 43 inches and it's now 32 inches with no beer gut. And, that's with absolutely zero exercise. My wife says it's too boring for her but I've seen the positive changes and that's what kept me going.

Richard tea

Started jan 9th. I'm down 1.6 st now. I find it easy enough. Meal prep is vital. Had some beer last night which is a big no. Had some stomach cramps today due to the beer. I find the keto forum on reddit very good for information and receipes. I have gotten lazy in logging foods in my fitnesspal so I must be more active with this. Aiming at 20 net carbs per day. No excirise so far.

donglen

Just attempting to start this today. First mistake. Peas. Who'd have thought they were so Carb heavy! I just assumed that as they were green.......

Wexfordthemonk

PucaMama wrote: »

I am trying. Well for the last few days. I feel awful.

Iv been on it 30 days tomorrow and im down just over a stone.find it best thing iv ever done and iv tryed a lot over the years.key is good fats and dont over do it on protein aswell as hidden carbs.any questions just ask

donglen

6 days in, best week of sleep I've had in years. Also I've forever been affected by bloating/wind issues, these have all but disappeared. Definitely feel I've more energy and my day to day mood has improved. All good.
Only downside, went for a run(jog) today and it just wasn't happening, the body just didn't seem to have any spark.
Slightly off the plan tonight as I'm on the vino but I'm ok with that, I'm delighted with how this first week has gone. Not really finding I'm missing carbs at all, currently at around 10% carbs, the plan is to tip away as is for a few weeks and then maybe attempt to drop that to 5%.

donglen

Wexfordthemonk wrote: »

Iv been on it 30 days tomorrow and im down just over a stone.find it best thing iv ever done and iv tryed a lot over the years.key is good fats and dont over do it on protein aswell as hidden carbs.any questions just ask

Can I ask your starting weight if that's not too personal? I started this at 14st 3lb with a nice round target of 13 stone to aim for. Now 14:3 is the most I've ever been and is what drove me to search for a lifestyle change.
Your 1 stone loss in a month is fantastic!

me_right_one

I have a question for all you good people - what about health risks?

I am pretty sure the food pyramid id basically the keto diet in reverse, only with the emphasis on smaller portions / lower calorie intake, and more exercise, no? Diets like this seem to be specifically avoided by medical professionals because they can induce other health problems, like diabetes, high cholesterol etc. What do you's say to that?

Wexfordthemonk

donglen wrote: »

Can I ask your starting weight if that's not too personal? I started this at 14st 3lb with a nice round target of 13 stone to aim for. Now 14:3 is the most I've ever been and is what drove me to search for a lifestyle change.
Your 1 stone loss in a month is fantastic!

I was 13,5 starting 30 days ago yesterday im 12,2 today best thing iv did.i struggle with weight and love my food so high fat and low carbs really suit me.30 days is a nice time to do it.im goin to have few extra carbs tomorrow maybe sweet patato chips or something.dont think il eat bread again i beleve it was bloating me and making me pass wind a lot.

Bigmac1euro

I've been sticking to a low carb diet,
Usually I'm consuming in and around 50 grams of carbs a day. Sometimes a little higher and sometimes a little lower.
I noticed alcohol effects me pretty hard.
Drinking Gin & Slimline tonics.

Overall progress is amazing in just two weeks.
I know some of this is water weight that I've lost which was a little over a week ago.

But I'm down from 86 kilos to about 80
My gut area particularly looks good. Logging all meals on my fitness pal. Aiming to get down to 71 kilos

What's killing me sometimes is hidden carbs in foods you wouldn't expect.

I'd say before this I was averaging 300 grams of carbs per day.

Has anyone got any helpful advice on this diet ?
Going low carb I really do feel better and healthier.
Low carb diet is the way to go for losing weight for sure.
Note: I am not working out but I do plan to jog at night.

Any helpful advice I would appreciate

Bigmac1euro

steo_magra wrote: »

I've been sticking to a low carb diet,
Usually I'm consuming in and around 50 grams of carbs a day. Sometimes a little higher and sometimes a little lower.
I noticed alcohol effects me pretty hard.
Drinking Gin & Slimline tonics.

Overall progress is amazing in just two weeks.
I know some of this is water weight that I've lost which was a little over a week ago.

But I'm down from 86 kilos to about 80
My gut area particularly looks good. Logging all meals on my fitness pal. Aiming to get down to 71 kilos

What's killing me sometimes is hidden carbs in foods you wouldn't expect.

I'd say before this I was averaging 300 grams of carbs per day.

Has anyone got any helpful advice on this diet ?
Going low carb I really do feel better and healthier.
Low carb diet is the way to go for losing weight for sure.
Note: I am not working out but I do plan to jog at night.

Any helpful advice I would appreciate

Also I do note I am not in full blown Ketosis but I feel what I'm doing is pretty good right ?

Wexfordthemonk

steo_magra wrote: »

Also I do note I am not in full blown Ketosis but I feel what I'm doing is pretty good right ?

Well done on your weight loss.i just done 32 days full keto and im down 17lbs.back eating small amount of carbs tomoroow.my diet was for example breakfast whey protein shake with small amount of nut butter and mct oil.10 am break small salad fatty chicken,avacado and cheese.dinner lamb chops green veg and coliflower mash.id eat nuts as a snack.worked great for me and i was never hungry.one big thing is drinking water.i has 4 ltrs a day because with no carbs u need to drink loads

Bigmac1euro

Now I could be wrong but I thought a low carb diet would consist more of water because your eating more vegetables etc,
I would have thought Bread, wheat and rice would dehydrate you.

Ill be honest I haven't been drinking too much water.
Im going to keep this low carb diet up hopefully until May.
Im aiming for 71 Kilos and I reckon I can get there in this time.

Wexfordthemonk

steo_magra wrote: »

Now I could be wrong but I thought a low carb diet would consist more of water because your eating more vegetables etc,
I would have thought Bread, wheat and rice would dehydrate you.

Ill be honest I haven't been drinking too much water.
Im going to keep this low carb diet up hopefully until May.
Im aiming for 71 Kilos and I reckon I can get there in this time.

No you need to drink a lot more water on low carbs

learn_more

Just started on the ketogenic diet, been about 12 days now. I think I am just coming out of the 'keto flu' phase. A few mornings I woke up and I felt completely drained.

I have a real problem with keeping my weight down. I loose it during periods when I'm doing lots of outdoor cardio in summer but in winter I put it back on again. I have a horrendous sweet tooth and it's obnoxious how much I can scoff once I get started. This really undid everything because besides that I ordinarily eat healthily with good lean meats and veg which I love anyway.

So far it's going really well. I haven't touched or craved any carbs or sugar after the first 5 days or so. For me that's a miracle. Another miracle is that I only eat 3 meals a day without any effort to restrict it to that. Obviously the extra fat I'm eating is keeping me satiated for longer. That is gonna help so much keeping my overall calories down.

I have tried intermittent fasting, fasting days, low-carb diets and just generally eating well but I have never been really lean. I am feeling very positive about this diet because it's so easy and thus will be more likely I'll stick to it. I'm pretty sure without counting that my calorie intake is down despite the higher intake of fat. Hoping to report some positive results in time.

marialouise

steo_magra wrote: »

Now I could be wrong but I thought a low carb diet would consist more of water because your eating more vegetables etc,
I would have thought Bread, wheat and rice would dehydrate you.

Ill be honest I haven't been drinking too much water.
Im going to keep this low carb diet up hopefully until May.
Im aiming for 71 Kilos and I reckon I can get there in this time.

Why until May? I slowly moved to a low carb lifestyle and never looked back. When you move back to a moderate carb diet, water weight will increase so try not to focus too much on the number 71. I also think that's too rapid of a weight loss and you might end up gaining some back, I think .5kg a week is more realistic, and excellent progress still. 
What hidden carbs are you encountering? I do low carb but not ketosis also, it works very well for me. 
Breakfast is eggs & vegetables with some cottage cheese, turkey rashers or smoked salmon for example, so no grains or anything. Meals are all a portion of meat/fish with loads of vegetables, olive oil or coconut oil. No bread or pasta usually. Snacks are greek yoghurt with vanilla whey, nuts, dark chocolate or cheese and meat for example. 
I do some low-carb swaps like courgette spaghetti (bought a spiraliser in Dunnes for €8). I am trying to gain weight at the moment so am including more oats and sweet potato. If I have wholegrain pasta, I weigh it. I do workout regularly so then I have higher carb days and lower carb days. 
Some vegetables will have higher carbs than others (eg Butternut squash compared to courgette), some fruits are higher in sugar than others (pineapple vs raspberries for exampl), and dried fruit is terrible "bang for your buck" in terms of carbs. I generally only eat fruit in very small amounts (maybe once a week), and stick to lower carb vegetables. Meat, fish, dairy, vegetables, nuts, seeds and oils will generally give you all the protein, fat and energy you need without raising your carb count too much, what difficulties are you running into?
Don't worry about the odd day with accidentally overdoing carbs. Calories in vs calories out is the most important thing overall! Well done on the weight loss so far

CaptainAhab

Its great to hear so many people having success with a low carb diet.

Ive been on it for years and feel way better . I could never handle bread or potatoes as I was constantly hungry. I actually eat way more veg now than I used to too.

A typical day for me is:

Breakfast
3 egg omelette with red pepper, cream, butter and feta cheese

Dinner
Organic salmon
Brocolli
Olive oil
Feta cheese

My mother started it 9 months ago and has had amazing results. Zero hunger, loads of energy, lost 2 stone, all her aches and pains in her joints went away too.

For anybody with questions or looking for a guide I can't recommend dietdoctor.com highly enough.

FMG

I eat way to much bread,pasta etc and seem to have got back into a habit of snacking on rubbish late in the evening, always feel terrible first thing. I am fairly active with cycling,walking and regular weights but can never see any results ( lol small wonder with all the junk ).
Im forevever being lazy about changing my diet, ie I have no recipe's and so on.
I'll read this thread over and try put together some meal plans and hopefully pluck up some courage to give a low carb diet a start soon.

uncle_sam_ie

me_right_one wrote: »

I have a question for all you good people - what about health risks?

I am pretty sure the food pyramid id basically the keto diet in reverse, only with the emphasis on smaller portions / lower calorie intake, and more exercise, no? Diets like this seem to be specifically avoided by medical professionals because they can induce other health problems, like diabetes, high cholesterol etc. What do you's say to that?

My brother got me onto a low carb, high fat diet and he's a Doctor.

Here is another medical professional that supports this,

smurfjed

I started on a low carb diet after Christmas, about a month later when my wife came back into town she moved me into high fat low carb, rather than high protein. I love beer and have to admit to having quite a bit of it over the last 3 months, but right now my BMI is 30.3 my initial target was 29.9 just to get into the top of the amber range. I have basically lost 14 kgs in those 3 months. I try to walk 10,000 steps a day, but sometimes with work commitments or pure laziness it hasn't happened.
Wife has set me a new target of BMI 25, which requires another 16 kg loss, will be interesting to see if i get there

CaptainAhab

Hey congratulations that is fantastic results for you! How have you found the low carb diet for managing hunger levels?

I too have a love for beer but find it to be very incompatible with a low carb diet. As a result I have developed a fondness for red wine which is much more compatible with the lifestyle

smurfjed

I can happily live on eggs, cheese and beef, so i didn't have any problem staying on low carb, high protein. My biggest issue was staying in hotels, people would think that i was nuts with my buffet selections. Moving into the high fat low carb was rather alien, it goes against everything i ever learned, but once again i can happily add cream to my nespresso and kerrygold to just about everything
As for the beer, for work reasons i can't drink it everyday, so when i do get the opportunity to enjoy it then i do. I find wine to be a social drink rather than a fun drink and it just isn't the same in hot climates.
I will keep doing this lifestyle and see where i end up, wife has interjected more vegetables into my meals, she is also trying Keto but as a vegetarian she is finding it much harder than me and has probably lost 3 kgs in 2 months, but with a BMI of 23, she really doesn't have the same fat to lose as me.

hobochris

I started the beginning of January weighing 287lbs, today I am 256.8lb. (little over 2 stone lost so far). I have lost a couple of inches on the waist also, I have gone from the last notch on my belt to the first.

My average day looks like this:

breakfast:
- Cortado made with fresh cream (instead of milk)
Lunch:
- 3 eggs scrambled with butter or a couple of peperami and a couple of cheese strings (usually 2&2)
- alternatively I will grab a pack of iberico ham from dunnes and wolf it down.
Dinner:
- either pork or steak with broccoli and cheese. or sausage (jane russells- high pork, low carb ) or eggs ( scrambled or omelette).

For snacks I do cheese strings, babybell , peperami and sometimes salted peanuts (50g is 3.3 carbs). I cannot praise cheese strings and peperami enough they are so handy for keto.

I aim for 20g of carbs a day and track with myfitnesspal, but I have fell of the wagon a few times with cheat meals.

I have been listening to the 2 keto dudes podcast, which is a fantastic resource for those of us eating right

For boozing, I have been drinking whiskey as it's no carb, if I am drinking bourbon I will mix with diet 7up, I have tried to cut back the drinking though as a night on the beer, is a day out of keto.

I haven't started any exercise yet but I am thinking of starting to do weights, has anyone here began lifting on keto? did you have to adjust your macros?

CaptainAhab

Thats great congratulations on your success!

Can I give some recommendations (not criticism)? I recommend increasing your vegetables (the good ones) - try spinach, kale, cauliflower, cabbage. Long term I think it will help your health and they shouldn't affect the ketosis or weight loss.

I've been lifting weights for 2 years now - I never had to adjust my macros but I would eat more calories when I am working out.

hobochris

CaptainAhab wrote: »

Thats great congratulations on your success!

Can I give some recommendations (not criticism)? I recommend increasing your vegetables (the good ones) - try spinach, kale, cauliflower, cabbage. Long term I think it will help your health and they shouldn't affect the ketosis or weight loss.

I've been lifting weights for 2 years now - I never had to adjust my macros but I would eat more calories when I am working out.

Thanks, I have started to incorporate vegetables more into my meals but thinking about it I should be eating alot more.

Did you increase your red meat or chicken intake at all? I always heard you should increase both for lifting (not sure if this is correct).

smurfjed

I was concerned about cholesterol levels with the increase in fat, my total reading was 5.9 prior to starting this, and was one of the incentives to start KETO, now its down to 3.9

@hobochris, have you tried ketostix to measure your ketones? You might find that one cheat day doesn't knock you completely out of your diet.

hobochris

smurfjed wrote: »

I was concerned about cholesterol levels with the increase in fat, my total reading was 5.9 prior to starting this, and was one of the incentives to start KETO, now its down to 3.9

@hobochris, have you tried ketostix to measure your ketones? You might find that one cheat day doesn't knock you completely out of your diet.

Yep. I have been using ketostix, but I am also aware after becoming fat adapted that they become redundant as your body will no longer spill excess ketones into your urine. I think I will buy a blood tester soon.

uncle_sam_ie

hobochris wrote: »

Yep. I have been using ketostix, but I am also aware after becoming fat adapted that they become redundant as your body will no longer spill excess ketones into your urine. I think I will buy a blood tester soon.

Ketostix are a waste because they show ketones leaving the body. Meaning you're not adapted. What you want is a dual glucometer to check both blood sugar and ketones.

smurfjed

Thanks for the advice, right now after a week in the UK and Ireland, I know that I'm not in Keto, but once home and back on a proper food regime, i will use the ketostix to see that I'm producing ketones. I am aware that in time if i remain in ketosis, the sticks will become useless, maybe at that stage i will spend the €70-80 for the blood monitor.

Mellor

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

Ketostix are a waste because they show ketones leaving the body. Meaning you're not adapted. What you want is a dual glucometer to check both blood sugar and ketones.

That's not accurate.
Ketones in the urine doesn't mean you're not adapted. It just means there's a slight surplus at that moment. There are a whole host of trace elements in urine. Doesn't mean your body isn't using them.

Similarly, a glucometer/ketometer showing ketones on the blood doesn't prove you are adapted either. You could be producing them but not using, jsut like the above.
A reading on 0 on a ketostix also doesn't mean you aren't in ketosis either, you might just be using them all. Which is probably what you are confusing it with.

If you really wanted to assess it, you could measure production via blood, and output in urine to figure out how much you are using. But it's a lot of work, and spot reading aren't transferable to the whole day.
Besides, ketones leaving the system, is energy leaving the system - not a bad thing if weight loss is the goal.

Golfwidow

smurfjed wrote: »

I started on a low carb diet after Christmas, about a month later when my wife came back into town she moved me into high fat low carb, rather than high protein. I love beer and have to admit to having quite a bit of it over the last 3 months, but right now my BMI is 30.3 my initial target was 29.9 just to get into the top of the amber range. I have basically lost 14 kgs in those 3 months. I try to walk 10,000 steps a day, but sometimes with work commitments or pure laziness it hasn't happened.
Wife has set me a new target of BMI 25, which requires another 16 kg loss, will be interesting to see if i get there

Well done on the weight loss !! Can I ask - are you counting just how much fat you are incorporating into your diet to make it high fat? Also are you watching calories at all?

hobochris

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

Ketostix are a waste because they show ketones leaving the body. Meaning you're not adapted. What you want is a dual glucometer to check both blood sugar and ketones.

That's next on my shopping list. Ketostix are still working for now, just at a slightly lower reading.

gctest50

The meter measures beta-hydroxybutyrate (probably)

Ketostixs measure acetoacetate

smurfjed

@Golfwidow, some sites state that you can eat whatever you want without watching calories, but i prefer to use the philosophy that i have to use more calories than i consume and that each 3500 calorie deficit will equate to around 1LB of weight loss.
My BMR is 2200 (according to MyFitnessPal) so I'm aiming for 1800 calories a day. Most days i get to walk enough to burn off an additional 500-600 calories.

learn_more

Five weeks on keto diet today and I'm down 2 belt sizes. I'm totally blow away by the effectiveness of this diet. I feel like my appetite has been sedated. I eat 3 meals a day and have totally eliminated all snacking without any concious effort, bar the occasional fistfull of walnuts. Kicking myself I didn't try this diet earlier.

show me the money.1

Where can I find info on this diet?

marialouise

show me the money.1 wrote: »

Where can I find info on this diet?

All over the internet.

show me the money.1

marialouise wrote: »

All over the internet.

Thanks very much for your help.

Mellor

show me the money.1 wrote: »

Thanks very much for your help.

Seriously just google, there's tons if info out there. It's not remotely obscure.