Keto diet - anyone else?
Discussion
No problem. Very happy to share my experiences and opinions. As you are only pre-diabetic, you can somewhat allow yourself a more relaxed and stress-free approach to gathering information and learning. I wouldn’t initially obsess over the mechanisms of ketosis. Start reading and experimenting. If nothing else you are almost certainly going to lose weight just by cutting down on the carbs, but you may also end up like me - a keto obsessive 
Baron von Teuchter said:
I've gone to 8/16 fasting now, I only eat between noon and 8pm. Down 14kg in <3 months and fast approaching my target weight of 86kg.
Morrisons do a great microwave green veg medley thing. 3g of total carbs. That and some prawns, 97% meat sausges or a steak or something makes an awesome uber-low carb dinner
Try a 3 day one. Morrisons do a great microwave green veg medley thing. 3g of total carbs. That and some prawns, 97% meat sausges or a steak or something makes an awesome uber-low carb dinner
I did it for six months a couple of years ago. Lost quite a lot of weight quite quickly. It was okay in all honesty, dinners etc. were easy, though it was a bit annoying counting carbs on everything. The reason I stopped and the reason I wouldn't do it again is that life is much too short to not drink beer and eat pizza and ice cream ...
Kenny Powers said:
That’s a fair point, but again only in my opinion, keto shouldn’t be viewed as a means to lose weight. It should be viewed as a means to get healthier. A long term plan. If it’s a chore then you’re not doing it properly or it isn’t for you.
In this sense the body will naturally find its ideal weight over time. Just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not. If you’re not living on carbs this will come naturally without calorie counting. It’s really that simple
To clarify, if you have heaps of excess fat to burn, you won’t be hungry as often. ETA: this approach will only work if you eat when you’re hungry, rather than eating set amounts at set meal times. I realise it’s not always practical, but it really is ketosis nirvana
This is my plan. I am looking ahead, I am losing weight via weight watchers at the mo(which means a big drop in carbs for me as carbs are big pointers on the ww plan) but to reduce the risk of my pre diabetes becoming diabetic I will look at the keto plan as a longer term weight maintenance and healthier plan.In this sense the body will naturally find its ideal weight over time. Just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not. If you’re not living on carbs this will come naturally without calorie counting. It’s really that simple
To clarify, if you have heaps of excess fat to burn, you won’t be hungry as often. ETA: this approach will only work if you eat when you’re hungry, rather than eating set amounts at set meal times. I realise it’s not always practical, but it really is ketosis nirvana
Edited by Kenny Powers on Wednesday 4th July 14:06
Baron von Teuchter said:
I read somewhere that lactose can inhibit ketosis - I’ve been using double cream as an easy (and oh so tasty) way of keeping my calories up to a sensible level but the article suggested keeping off milk and cream.
Doesn’t seem to be affecting me! Any thoughts?
I stick to very small amounts of full-fat cow’s milk for drinking the odd cup of tea, but I get through litres of double cream, and use the extra thick variety in coffee. My understanding is that, as a general rule of thumb, the thicker or harder it is, the more fermentation has taken place to remove the lactose. Doesn’t seem to be affecting me! Any thoughts?
Lots of double cream has effectively no impact on my blood glucose concentration. Therefore I fail to see how it could inhibit ketosis. Certainly heaps of skimmed milk would be an issue though. Cheese needs to be treated with caution but only because it can have a surprisingly high protein content.
As always though, everyone is slightly different and has different tolerances, but if an extremely insulin resistant type 2 can glug back pots of double cream with impunity and remain firmly in ketosis, I doubt a normal healthy person needs to worry too much about it
That’s the spirit. Pure, healthy fuel 
For what it’s worth I have experimented this morning, and consumed nothing but [lots of] double cream. My blood glucose checked just this minute is 4.7 mmol/L. That’s a normal reading for a non-diabetic.
A few twists and turns aside we can conclude, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that you’d need to be consuming somewhat alarming amounts of double cream in order for the lactose content to have a negative impact on ketosis.
For what it’s worth I have experimented this morning, and consumed nothing but [lots of] double cream. My blood glucose checked just this minute is 4.7 mmol/L. That’s a normal reading for a non-diabetic.
A few twists and turns aside we can conclude, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that you’d need to be consuming somewhat alarming amounts of double cream in order for the lactose content to have a negative impact on ketosis.
It’s 100% the easiest way I’ve found of getting a lot of no-carb, no-protein calories quickly.
I adore butter but without something to spread it on its hard to find a way to get much of it.
Last night I stir fried curly kale with prawns, a little garlic and some chilli in lots of butter. It was awesome (the kale goes crispy like “seaweed” from the Chinese takeaway). This was still <500 calories (150g prawns, 150g kale, massive lump of butter):
I adore butter but without something to spread it on its hard to find a way to get much of it.
Last night I stir fried curly kale with prawns, a little garlic and some chilli in lots of butter. It was awesome (the kale goes crispy like “seaweed” from the Chinese takeaway). This was still <500 calories (150g prawns, 150g kale, massive lump of butter):
Baron von Teuchter said:
Cheers!
Guy in my local costa drive through thinks I’m weird for ordering whipping cream with my large Americano. He now thinks I’m even weirder for bringing my own (double) cream
I assumed their whipped cream would be sweetened. My recent tipple has been the Cold Brew which can come with whipped cream but I go Black.Guy in my local costa drive through thinks I’m weird for ordering whipping cream with my large Americano. He now thinks I’m even weirder for bringing my own (double) cream
I can't tell if you lot are joking or not... do I need a whoosh parrot here?
Glugging olive oil? Eating cream on its own (ok, Kenny was just proving a point about lactose content, but still....) Do these sound like balanced meals to you?
Nutrition, people! Don't forget about it. If you're sooooo focused on keto macros (short for macro-nutrients, remember) that you forget about the micro-nutrients, you're not going to be getting all the good stuff you need. You can't live on chicken breast, olive oil and broccoli alone. Cream is not a balanced breakfast.
Get some variety, and if you find you're chugging liquid fats just to satiate your hunger or hit your maintenance calories or to get some fuel for the day then STOP, take a good look at your shopping lists and meal plans, and have a word with yourselves.
The easiest way not to have to think about micronutrients is variety.
Glugging olive oil? Eating cream on its own (ok, Kenny was just proving a point about lactose content, but still....) Do these sound like balanced meals to you?
Nutrition, people! Don't forget about it. If you're sooooo focused on keto macros (short for macro-nutrients, remember) that you forget about the micro-nutrients, you're not going to be getting all the good stuff you need. You can't live on chicken breast, olive oil and broccoli alone. Cream is not a balanced breakfast.
Get some variety, and if you find you're chugging liquid fats just to satiate your hunger or hit your maintenance calories or to get some fuel for the day then STOP, take a good look at your shopping lists and meal plans, and have a word with yourselves.
The easiest way not to have to think about micronutrients is variety.
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