I moved to a ketogenic diet on January 9th of this year. I weighed 318 pounds. As of this morning I weigh 282 pounds. That's 36 pounds lost - 11.3% of my body mass - in 77 days, and I have not yet changed my nearly non-existent exercise habits.
My goal is to get 80% of my calories from fat, no more than 20% from protein, and to consume a maximum of 20g of carbs per day. I intend for this to be my diet going forward; this is not something I am doing temporarily to lose weight.
I've done a good deal of research on this topic, and my conclusion is that the human body is not equipped to deal with the massive amounts of simple carbohydrates that it gets in today's world.
I was 255 in Jan now at 235lb by not eating cereal, bread, sweets, drinking sugary drinks etc.
Seem to have stayed at 235 for a few weeks now so i'm guessing it's easier to lose the first lot of fat.
Been going to a gym most days but then i'm a student so have the time in the middle of the day. It would have been difficult to go that much with a FT job. Went a bit far with the cardio and now have hurt knees so watch out for that. Good luck.
Most people have no idea what 20 grams of carbs looks like. The number of people who have said 'me too' when I discussed a low carb/keto diet is huge, and they usually mean 'I try to avoid sugar'.
A can of coke has double the daily allotment of carbs.
You quickly realize how devoid of nutrition modern processed food is.
Low-carb vegetables are usually around 5% carbs. Fruits 10%. A single 10g square of 90% dark chocolate, 2gr. Quinoa, 20%. Yams, 24%.
Think about that. If you ate no other vegetables or fruits, 100 grams/3oz of quinoa supplies all the carbs allotted.
I'm sure much of the benefit from keto is forcing you to eat less processed, nutrient dense food.
I don't know if it's fat or sugar that's killing us. I lost 50 pounds just eating balanced, healthy, nutritious meals. I reduce my sugar intake but didn't eliminate it. In fact I stuck to my twice weekly energy drinks and occasional candy bars and milkshakes. However my meals were regimented to include protein, vegetables, very rarely bread, rarely cheese, stopped drinking milk, and cooked everything at home from scratch. Less eating out. The only thing I truly eliminated from my diet was packaged foods, and highly processed meals in a box. So no more Cheeseburger Macaroni. So really, maybe, it's not sugar and fat, it may just be the highly processed cheap foods, microwaved stuff, etc.
Is eating out really that bad? Restaurants cook so much better than me. I know fast food is bad, but a salad or steak? Don't make me give up my restaurants!
Sugar is a major problem as right now it gets pumped in almost every food. It is addictive and people are more likely to re-buy those products.
If you think you are avoiding sugar in your diet by avoiding the usual culprit (processed juices, soda, desserts), think again.
Now sugar is being injected into everything, processed meat, soups, etc...
I just bought some Jerkey at Trader's Joe. Each serving contains 10-11 grams of protein and, 5 or 6 grams of sugar. That's one teaspoon and a half of sugar! A packet, ( a normal snack), has 3-4 servings, and you end up with 5+ teaspoons of sugar that if you didn't look at the nutritional labels you wouldn't know. Normally jerkey shouldn't have any, (or maybe one gram and best).
This is just one example, but the pumping of sugar is becoming so pervasive that it is almost impossible to avoid.
After switching to low-carb (really just dumping bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, skim milk, sugary stuff) I stopped getting fat and subsequently quit exercising. So I guess lack of fitness is my side-effect of low-carbing it.
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|9 years ago|reply
My goal is to get 80% of my calories from fat, no more than 20% from protein, and to consume a maximum of 20g of carbs per day. I intend for this to be my diet going forward; this is not something I am doing temporarily to lose weight.
I've done a good deal of research on this topic, and my conclusion is that the human body is not equipped to deal with the massive amounts of simple carbohydrates that it gets in today's world.
[+] [-] am8|9 years ago|reply
Seem to have stayed at 235 for a few weeks now so i'm guessing it's easier to lose the first lot of fat.
Been going to a gym most days but then i'm a student so have the time in the middle of the day. It would have been difficult to go that much with a FT job. Went a bit far with the cardio and now have hurt knees so watch out for that. Good luck.
[+] [-] abandonliberty|9 years ago|reply
A can of coke has double the daily allotment of carbs.
You quickly realize how devoid of nutrition modern processed food is.
Low-carb vegetables are usually around 5% carbs. Fruits 10%. A single 10g square of 90% dark chocolate, 2gr. Quinoa, 20%. Yams, 24%.
Think about that. If you ate no other vegetables or fruits, 100 grams/3oz of quinoa supplies all the carbs allotted.
I'm sure much of the benefit from keto is forcing you to eat less processed, nutrient dense food.
[+] [-] thatswrong0|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Overtonwindow|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] justboxing|9 years ago|reply
Curious. plant-based protein or animal protein?
[+] [-] curtis|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ardit33|9 years ago|reply
If you think you are avoiding sugar in your diet by avoiding the usual culprit (processed juices, soda, desserts), think again. Now sugar is being injected into everything, processed meat, soups, etc...
I just bought some Jerkey at Trader's Joe. Each serving contains 10-11 grams of protein and, 5 or 6 grams of sugar. That's one teaspoon and a half of sugar! A packet, ( a normal snack), has 3-4 servings, and you end up with 5+ teaspoons of sugar that if you didn't look at the nutritional labels you wouldn't know. Normally jerkey shouldn't have any, (or maybe one gram and best).
This is just one example, but the pumping of sugar is becoming so pervasive that it is almost impossible to avoid.
[+] [-] DamnYuppie|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] abandonliberty|9 years ago|reply
Likely it's just not sugar, but any easily digested foods that cause insulin spikes and crashes.
[+] [-] pnw_hazor|9 years ago|reply
After switching to low-carb (really just dumping bread, pasta, potatoes, cereal, skim milk, sugary stuff) I stopped getting fat and subsequently quit exercising. So I guess lack of fitness is my side-effect of low-carbing it.