Keto diet - anyone else?

[oldbanger]

Does anyone here do intermittent fasting?

I find myself at my heaviest ever due to illness and need to seriously get back into the saddle.

Keto with intermittent fasting on a 20/4 pattern (eating between 6-10pm only) has been my usual mode, but it was all geared around not eating in the office.

Now I work from home I find I struggle to fast at all. I am working next to the kitchen and as the kids are mostly still at home (one is out of school, the other at college and only had 2 days a week on campus) I am pestered to do food prep during the day. I am also on medication which gives me carb cravings so I find it quite difficult to stick to the keto side of things too.

Does anyone have any tips?

[Teddy Lop]

oldbanger said:

Does anyone here do intermittent fasting?

I find myself at my heaviest ever due to illness and need to seriously get back into the saddle.

Keto with intermittent fasting on a 20/4 pattern (eating between 6-10pm only) has been my usual mode, but it was all geared around not eating in the office.

Now I work from home I find I struggle to fast at all. I am working next to the kitchen and as the kids are mostly still at home (one is out of school, the other at college and only had 2 days a week on campus) I am pestered to do food prep during the day. I am also on medication which gives me carb cravings so I find it quite difficult to stick to the keto side of things too.

Does anyone have any tips?

I think IF & reduced appetite is the key of why low carbing works so well.

I think my metabolism lends itself well to low carb, never been a breakfaster and often used to go all day without eating if busy, or eating lunch as I'd packed something and it seemed a shame to waste.

Now low carb and same pattern as you - not to a fault as I keep low carb snacks on the van and if I get peckish I'll eat, but its not that often - which is fine when I'm busy, I work right though without eating but if I get home early or at the weekend when I'm not up to much I'll be raiding for snacks!

Mind the last couple of years I've been pretty lax about treats on the weekend and so long as it is just that I can get away with it, beers/curry/pizza etc and no weight gain to speak of. Although TBF I was doing that during weight loss too, my weight just hit the 12&halfish zone and kind of settled. So strict treat days worked for me but I think everyone differs.

[Sammo123]

Well I've been persevering with this and not getting any cravings. I don't seem to be losing any weight but I'm also not gaining any. Annoyingly though I left my lunch at home today so had to go to Tesco to get something. I caved in and got a pork pie along with some cooked chicken. It's now about an hour later and I feel like I've swallowed a large balloon. I don't know how I managed feeling like this after most meals.

[Lordbenny]

I eat my evening meal with my Mrs ,who is on a hardcore Keto diet, around 5:30pm then I don’t eat until 10:00/11:00am the following day which is a brunch, then I eat again at 5:30pm.

I might snack some peanuts or pork scratching mid afternoon but that’s it. Work well.

I find that if I’m busy with work or play I don’t get hungry. If I’m bored and have nothing to do I’ll get cravings. So I try to keep busy!

[Cloudy147]

grumbledoak said:

Not sure why you mention bland foods - you can use any and every herb and spice you want.

I would sack off the orange juice too. Eating an orange instead would actually be healthy, but fruit juice is just more sugar.

Thanks Grumble - I mentioned the bland foods mianly because a lot of people associate my diet as bland because I don't have sauces with anything. But I like plain stuff, so this wasn't a particularly hard transistion for me. Spices are a good point and gave me an idea to flavour up some of the meals.

some bloke said:

good effort cloudy. If you like chocolate, try 85% or 90% bars - not a lot of sugar in them and you can have a couple of squares a night as a treat.

Thanks SB, I'll take a look at those. I have to admit my main vice is Cadburys, I love the stuff, but I'll see if something like Bournville might fit into the high percentage bars.

DaveGrohl said:

That's quite some heap of sugar. I'd probably have diabetes if I was packing that lot away in a day. I'm not surprised you're feeling better. Good work, keep it up.

Yes, it was probably worse than I described really, as I was also having Frosties or similar for breakfast - sometimes two bowls, and then even one on an evening sometimes. A looooot of sugar!


But... My four weeks of no (added) sugar have concluded and I'm pleased to report that I've lost 10lbs, which I'm really happy with as have finally reached a target weight that has alluded me for several years! Really pleased!

I intend to reintroduce chocolate and fizzy pop again as I do enjoy them, however chocolate will be limited to weekends, and fizzy pop only to eating out or takeaway meals.

I'll be back at the gym next week too now that they are open so hpefully my weight might even reduce further. Keep shrinking that belly!

[Teddy Lop]

Cloudy147 said:

Yes, it was probably worse than I described really, as I was also having Frosties or similar for breakfast - sometimes two bowls, and then even one on an evening sometimes. A looooot of sugar!


But... My four weeks of no (added) sugar have concluded and I'm pleased to report that I've lost 10lbs, which I'm really happy with as have finally reached a target weight that has alluded me for several years! Really pleased!

I intend to reintroduce chocolate and fizzy pop again as I do enjoy them, however chocolate will be limited to weekends, and fizzy pop only to eating out or takeaway meals.

I'll be back at the gym next week too now that they are open so hpefully my weight might even reduce further. Keep shrinking that belly!

do you dislike artificial sweetner pop? We have all diet pops and tbh the sugary version tastes too sweet now.. Palette just adapts.

Chocolate too needn't be bad, the atkins chocolate break bars are just like kit kats we get through boxes of them, the "Russell Stover" chocolates are decent too.

[Cloudy147]

Teddy Lop said:

do you dislike artificial sweetner pop? We have all diet pops and tbh the sugary version tastes too sweet now.. Palette just adapts.

Chocolate too needn't be bad, the atkins chocolate break bars are just like kit kats we get through boxes of them, the "Russell Stover" chocolates are decent too.

I only drink Diet fizzy pop, have done for years. My issue was that I drank way to much of that, usually 3 cans a day. And after one I fancied some chocolate, and then after chocolate I fancied some fizz.... and on it goes. Neither was healthy so wanted to cut out both.

Today was interesting though, being day 31 and the weekend, I've gone all in on fizz and sugar. The Diet Coke was nice - but didn't have the same enjoyment that it used to. It was sort of 'ok', but didn't set my world on fire. I had a slice of cake earlier which I really did enjoy and then I had half an easter egg this evening. It was Cadburys, my favourite, but I didn't enjoy it. It tasted really bland and boring. This really surprised me and I'm not that fussed for having any more really. Happy to leave that until next occasion, but I'll not rooting through the cupboards for some any time soon. Perhaps this 30 day break has made some very positive changes indeed...!

Thats my sugar-lot for another week, and I'm actually pretty cool with that.

[RammyMP]

I’m attempting to do the Keto diet from today. I don’t think I’ll have a problem food wise, it’ll be beer at the weekend, I’ve become borderline alcoholic over the past year and put in too much weight. See how it goes anyway!

[Lordbenny]

RammyMP said:

I’m attempting to do the Keto diet from today. I don’t think I’ll have a problem food wise, it’ll be beer at the weekend, I’ve become borderline alcoholic over the past year and put in too much weight. See how it goes anyway!

I’m on keto but I have the occasional cheeky drink. If you are going to drink in the same quantities that you are now then don’t bother going keto. I have a small glass of wine most evenings and a couple of beers at the weekend and have managed to keep the weight off. However, I have combined this with fasting....I have an evening meal at approx 6pm then DONT eat again until 10am the next day....that’s it! This is what has kept the weight off me. I was a bit wired at first as I used to have my evening meal around 7:30pm and then a big bowl of cereal in the morning but once you get used to it it’s not too hard.

[RammyMP]

Lordbenny said:

RammyMP said:

I’m attempting to do the Keto diet from today. I don’t think I’ll have a problem food wise, it’ll be beer at the weekend, I’ve become borderline alcoholic over the past year and put in too much weight. See how it goes anyway!

I’m on keto but I have the occasional cheeky drink. If you are going to drink in the same quantities that you are now then don’t bother going keto. I have a small glass of wine most evenings and a couple of beers at the weekend and have managed to keep the weight off. However, I have combined this with fasting....I have an evening meal at approx 6pm then DONT eat again until 10am the next day....that’s it! This is what has kept the weight off me. I was a bit wired at first as I used to have my evening meal around 7:30pm and then a big bowl of cereal in the morning but once you get used to it it’s not too hard.

I’m cutting out the beer for a while, it will do me good!

[grumbledoak]

Lordbenny said:

I’m on keto but I have the occasional cheeky drink. If you are going to drink in the same quantities that you are now then don’t bother going keto. I have a small glass of wine most evenings and a couple of beers at the weekend and have managed to keep the weight off. However, I have combined this with fasting....I have an evening meal at approx 6pm then DONT eat again until 10am the next day....that’s it! This is what has kept the weight off me. I was a bit wired at first as I used to have my evening meal around 7:30pm and then a big bowl of cereal in the morning but once you get used to it it’s not too hard.

If you are having a glass of wine a day you are very unlikely to be in ketosis much.

Well done on the results regardless.

[knitware]

RammyMP said:

I’m attempting to do the Keto diet from today. I don’t think I’ll have a problem food wise, it’ll be beer at the weekend, I’ve become borderline alcoholic over the past year and put in too much weight. See how it goes anyway!

Swap beer for a Gin or Vodka with a slimline.

I've been back into Keto for the past couple of months, it's so good. Lost weight, no more shts, no more sore stomach and IBS has disappeared. Sugar, carbs, are very, very bad for me.

[Louis Balfour]

knitware said:

RammyMP said:

I’m attempting to do the Keto diet from today. I don’t think I’ll have a problem food wise, it’ll be beer at the weekend, I’ve become borderline alcoholic over the past year and put in too much weight. See how it goes anyway!

Swap beer for a Gin or Vodka with a slimline.

I've been back into Keto for the past couple of months, it's so good. Lost weight, no more shts, no more sore stomach and IBS has disappeared. Sugar, carbs, are very, very bad for me.

It sounds as though your gut microbiome is messed up, and taking sugars out of the equation (or foods that end up in the gut as sugars) makes you feel better. If you were to have the contents of your gut analysed, you would likely find that the healthy bacteria are outnumbered by the not so helpful ones. The unhealthy ones like sugar and yeast, which are plentiful in modern diets, so they proliferate on a "conventional" diet.

If you have a gut problem caused by dysbiosis, it is also common to have visible inflammation - a wobbly belly despite otherwise being very lean, for example.

The problem is, though, that keto is really only masking the problem. Alcohol and artificial sweeteners serve to worsen the problem. If you come off the diet, for example when you go on holiday, you will probably find that your gut problems return. Carbs taste great, glycogen returns, you look fantastic.... and then the gut ache comes back.

All of which said, if you have gut ache on a carb-based diet, and want to lose some weight, keto or a Specific Carb Diet (SCD) is a good idea. Just don't think that it is a permanent cure for belly ache, it probably isn't, it is only mitigating the symptoms

[RammyMP]

So far in 5 days I’ve lost 5 lbs.

[Louis Balfour]

RammyMP said:

So far in 5 days I’ve lost 5 lbs.

The first 5 days? If so, don't think you'll lose the same next week, unless you contract some kind of necrotic disease

[RammyMP]

Louis Balfour said:

RammyMP said:

So far in 5 days I’ve lost 5 lbs.

The first 5 days? If so, don't think you'll lose the same next week, unless you contract some kind of necrotic disease

Yes I know and if I go back to a normal diet it will just go back on!

[dmahon]

Cloudy147 said:

Hi all,
Similar to the OP, I love sugar. Mainly chocolate, but also Mr Kiplings and sweets and I eat far too much of them. I also drink too much fizzy pop, mainly Coke. Its the diet variety, but its still too much fizz for what I know to be healthy. Typically, its at least two cans a day, usually three since working from home so much. The cycle of choc and coke relates to stress I think, in that, if I've got a big task to do or get started on, I'll grab a chocolate bar to get into it. That brings on a craving for Coke, which then brings on a craving for some more sugar. I could easily go through 2 bars of chocolate a day, creeping up to three, with other sugary snacks throughout the day too.

I have this same thing with diet coke and something sweet. I think like one triggers the other and it's both habit and related to mood because of the caffeine and sugar stimulation. It's brutally difficult to break. I feel like I've spent the last 20 years doing it to some degree.

2 or 3 times I've succesfully used Keto to break the bad habit. I'm going to have another go starting today.

[dvshannow]

My wife has been doing it for a few months and it’s a really restrictive diet

Prob is that it’s hard to eat with someone on keto and have similar food - unlike say a vegetarian where you can eat similar meals with and without meat

A keto meal is very fatty and zero carbs so sharing that part while eating some carbs ends up being highly unhealthy

So I tried keto for a couple of weeks and first week was just horrible keto flu , second week was ok though I struggled to find food when out

Problem was then when exercising energy levels were very low and had really slow recovery after

The web seems to be full of keto propaganda but looking into the diet sees to be something you should not be considering if you have an active lifestyle

It’s good for weight loss maybe , dietetics , people who have epilepsy. If you are a regular healthy person who likes to do say more active workouts - >30mi cycles eg I would not recommend it from my experience

[anonymous-user]

I’ve found the exact opposite, first 2-3 weeks were terrible and I could barely move. 4 months later I have more energy than I’ve ever had, sleep better, drink less (just don’t fancy it anymore) started training 3 times a week with a pt (never done this in my life) gone from 108kg of lockdown weight to 95kg of fat with a load more muscle. Can’t see I would ever go back. No need for random naps either which is nice.

Out and about and on the road a bit recently with work has been difficult especially in countries where I don’t speak the language. Found that double, triple cheeseburgers from any of the mainstream fast food emporiums does the job. Ask for it without the bread roll and sauces. Cold cuts of meat wrapped in cheese from any supermarket works too. I can’t eat gluten so keto hasn’t changed a lot from that perspective.

Also found a way of making keto pizza which I prefer to any gluten free pizza. Base is made of grated cheese and eggs with a tablespoon of almond flour and topped in the normal way. (Bake base first then top)


Honestly though i am never going back to sugar or carb heavy food despite really missing rice with a curry.

[dvshannow]

CDB1983 said:

I’ve found the exact opposite, first 2-3 weeks were terrible and I could barely move. 4 months later I have more energy than I’ve ever had, sleep better, drink less (just don’t fancy it anymore) started training 3 times a week with a pt (never done this in my life) gone from 108kg of lockdown weight to 95kg of fat with a load more muscle. Can’t see I would ever go back. No need for random naps either which is nice.

Out and about and on the road a bit recently with work has been difficult especially in countries where I don’t speak the language. Found that double, triple cheeseburgers from any of the mainstream fast food emporiums does the job. Ask for it without the bread roll and sauces. Cold cuts of meat wrapped in cheese from any supermarket works too. I can’t eat gluten so keto hasn’t changed a lot from that perspective.

Also found a way of making keto pizza which I prefer to any gluten free pizza. Base is made of grated cheese and eggs with a tablespoon of almond flour and topped in the normal way. (Bake base first then top)


Honestly though i am never going back to sugar or carb heavy food despite really missing rice with a curry.

That sounds like a really positive experience more like the one my wife is having

Imagine I didn’t give it long enough, but still don’t see how keto can replace taking glucose while doing longer exercises

The pizza base idea sounds good I actually asked on the pizza over thread if anyone had any luck with keto bases and got no positive replies