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[juliushandle]

So who's on board with this diet/lifestyle?

I've been on it for 2 months and have dropped 17 pounds without a struggle. Another 5 and I'll be ripped and in the best shape of my life at the age of 40.

Some background on my journey. We all know diet and exercise are the key and I always had the exercise thing down (working out hard for 5 days a week) and always thought I ate somewhat healthy. At 40 yrs old though, my body's reaction to food changed for the worse. I began waking up with bad headaches and my joints really felt terrible for a good part of the morning. I thought it was a dehydration issue but it wasn't. After more research I attributed the headaches to my half ass low carb diet. Someone at my jiu jitsu gym turned me on to the book, Primal Endurance and it's changed my life.

At my age, you cannot half ass a low carb diet. I had to go strict for 2-3 weeks and turn my body from a sugar burner to a fat burner. Along with cutting sugars I also cut grains and my joints were less inflamed.

I'm not saying this diet is best but it is best for me. I'm never felt better, never felt more energized, and always feel satisfied with my meals.

Speaking of food, my diet consists of full fat yogurt, berries (stay away from sugary fruit), nuts, mct oil, grass fed cow butter or ghee, meats, spinach/kale/cabbage salads (with egg, avocado, or skinless boneless sardines) and fish. The fats in my food really help curb the cravings for bread, pasta, and white rice. I have introduced complex carbs in my diet like sweet potato, brown rice, oatmeal, granola, and quinoa but in small moderation. I also have a little dark chocolate occasionally and also drink alcoholic cider now and then.

 

[Chris R]

I did it for a good 6 or 7 months a few years ago and lost 75lb. Need to start up again when I'm back from vacation, been mostly low carb but not low enough to be in Keto the past month.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I really want to, but I can never stick on it long enough to go into keto. Just for perspective I'm a guy in his mid 20s. Too many friends want to go out and drink on weekends or I have dates, etc. Although, despite not being able to commit to low carb, it's definitely at least made me considerably reduce the number of carbs I eat which is a plus for sure.

Instead of those complex carbs you have, I'd recommend cauliflower. You can grate it and use it as a rice substitute or mix it with eggs/etc and actually make pretty decent replacements for things like bread

As for a pasta replacement you could try spaghetti squash. It's relatively low in carbs

 

[GreatestHits]

I do really well on a diet based around Paleo/Primal, Im 28 and it has similar effects on me. I found out Im pretty highly allergic to gluten a few years ago, and havent found a reason to eat hardly any grains out there after converting. They basically kill you over time. I would however open up to sugary fruits, maybe as a replacement to energy supplements for a workout. They are loaded with a synergetic blend of nutrients, anti inflammatories, and anti oxidants found in nothing else (like bananas for example). There are even studies that show strawberries (not actually a berry) can mitigate the damage of table sugar (eaten in the same meal) with its cocktail of goodness. But yeah sugar and grains are our enemy. Itll be sad looking back on our ignorance in the future.

As for cauliflour, I mash it with cream as a veggie substitute for potatoes. Delicious and provides good fat/fat nutrients. And I second the spaghetti squash replacement, its great, my mom started doing it a few years ago.

 

[Slayer-33]

Holy shit, I am on board.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Thinking of starting this. Help me give up bread.

 

[ColdPizza]

I like some facets of this and may incorporate them into my diet. I'm 36 and notice it getting harder to drop the pounds. My daily food hardly includes any refined starches but I can still do better.

 

[Sykotik]

Would any of you keto peoples mind posting what an average day of meals consists of for you?

 

[entremet]

I used to and still tinker with it when I need to lose fat quick.

Highly effective and recommended for those that struggle with standard low calorie protocols. The problem with low calorie is that hunger cravings tend to be too much for most people. Low carb/keto tends to be more satiating and thus have better compliance.

My only concerns is the lack of dietary fiber and going to ultra low carb can have some negative effects like limiting of mucus production, which is essential for many biological processes. But this is case for long term adherence, such as years.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I used to and still tinker with it when I need to lose fat quick.

Highly effective and recommended for those that struggle with standard low calorie protocols. The problem with low calorie is that hunger cravings tend to be too much for most people. Low carb/keto tends to be more satiating and thus have better compliance.

My only concerns is the lack of dietary fiber and going to ultra low carb can have some negative effects like limiting of mucus production, which is essential for many biological processes. But this is case for long term adherence, such as years.

Broccoli has a decent amount of dietary fiber and vitamin C too (if you're trying to avoid fruit sugars, even though fructose isn't as bad as sucrose)

 

[Tesseract]

it's a good diet, sensible and time tested by evolution

 

[Joyful]

give me bread or give me death

 

[entremet]

Would any of you keto peoples mind posting what an average day of meals consists of for you?

When I was on keto I followed this template.

Breakfast--4 eggs (any style) cooked in grassfed butter or coconut oil) plus half an avocado. Sausage and bacon could work here, just make they don't have added sugars.

Lunch--A green salad with olives, feta cheese, chicken, avocado, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar.

Dinner--A piece of meat--chicken, poultry, fish with a non starch vegetable and some cheddar cheese--around 3 oz.

Drinks--coffee without milk or sweetener. Heavy cream is fine. Sparking water. Tea without added sugars or milk.

Snacks--Full fat great yoghurt. Almond and nut butters. Sardines.

This is flexible so you can just switch the style of eggs, play around with different salad combinations, different meat and veggie combinations.

One thing, if you get too much protein you will not go keto due to protein converting to carbs. Keto is high fat, moderate protein, and low carb.

You can do a basic low carb diet as well. Not all low carb diets are ketogenic.

 

[Nowy]

I did keto in 2011 and lost 90 pounds in 10 months. That shit was like a miracle. I was never hungry and after a couple weeks, I lost the desire for carb heavy foods. I introduced carbs back into my diet but try to keep it around 100-150 grams a day (on keto it was about 20 grams)

 

[Puppen]

Might not be to the level of OP's diet, but only two weeks ago I cut out lemonade and bread from my diet completely and have already been seeing results. I'm 27. Right now my only carbs are white rice which I have in small chicken bowls about twice a day with broccoli, green peppers, green onions, and red pepper sprinkled on top. Fill out the rest of my day with salad, banana, almonds, strawberries, apple. Used to drink a glass of lemonade with everything but now just water. Jello and a little bit of milk and chocolate at night to keep me from going crazy.

I work out 5 days a week too, about an hour 1/2 each day. I can't believe how long it took me to realize bread was making it impossible to lose any weight no matter how many buckets of sweat I was dropping on the treadmill/elliptical.

 

[CitizenCope]

At my age, you cannot half ass a low carb diet.

I'm 45 and pretty much have been half assing it the last 2 months to amazing success. I've also joined the gym last month and have done yoga at home since January. Crazy results to the best shape of my life. I'm like you where I've always had the fitness down but never really gave the diet an honest effort. Maybe half assing it is an exaggeration but luckily the way my body works I don't have to be super strict, just more conscious of what I put in it.

 

[DjRalford]

I'd love to be able to get on this, but potatoes, pastry, bread, are all my downfalls

 

[Cerity]

Started keto about 2 months ago now, down 10kg, granted 2-3kg is water weight that I re-gain every other weekend. Following it very loosely, I stick to no carb when I can but I often go out for meals and drinks and just write those days off. I'm still losing weight despite that - I only really eat 2 meals a day, I just don't get hungry unless I'm bored and start thinking about nice food.

Only issue I have with those days is that I get a pretty upset stomache when I have heavy carb meals now, even more of a motivation to avoid them for the time being lol.

Would any of you keto peoples mind posting what an average day of meals consists of for you?

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2-4+ bacon depending on how physical I'm going to get during the day. A slice of cheese and some Bulletproof Coffee. Half an avocado when they're cheap.

Dinner - it's the one meal I vary most, I get super hungry towards the end of the day because I just start thinking about all the food I can eat. Usual ones are; Shell-less taco's, Roast/grilled chicken w/ salad, beef burger patties w/ salad, steak w/ salad or buffalo wings.

snacks - nuts & pork crackling

It is VERY easy to get sick of eggs so sometimes I have a light breakfast of something like canned tuna and a salad and have lunch on those days.

I'll probably go back to eating lunch every day once I start lifting again.

 

[Famassu]

it's a good diet, sensible and time tested by evolution

It's really not. It's too restrictive for most people to follow and it leaves out a lot of healthy foods for absolutely no good reason. It can be reasonably good for some people who can follow it to a tee and don't go overboard with it, but a lot of people will do it wrong (i.e. too much fat & proteins, too little everything else healthy). Losing weight is not the be-all, end-all aim of diets, there's more to it than that. And the whole idea that we should eat like (some of) our ancestors did millions of years ago is kind of silly. Humans have evolved in how we process different foods, though of course individual differences still occur.

 

[dragonelite]

Its my go to diet when i want to lose weight.
Been on it since jan this year and lost 12kg till now.

 

[Laguna X]

For those of you thinking of doing a keto diet, I just want to suggest to not avoid eating your greens. You can still eat those and not pile on the carbs.

 

[zswordsman]

Been doing it for about a month and a week. Down from 206 to 194. The best part though is that it stops that hunger feeling, BP is way better and I don't get headaches when ibdont ear sugar.
The first too weaks were bad though. Super headaches, foggyness and fatigue from sugar withdrawals but totally worth it, now I feel fantastic and even when I carb up I don't feel foggy the next day.

 

[ipukespiders]

Been about 5 years keto now.

 

[Nowy]

For those of you thinking of doing a keto diet, I just want to suggest to not avoid eating your greens. You can still eat those and not pile on the carbs.

Most people who are really into the keto diet eat a bunch of green veggies. If you made them make their own keto food pyramid leafy greens would be the base of it. A lot of people just think keto means eat bacon all the time, when it really isn't that.

 

[entremet]

Most people who are really into the keto diet eat a bunch of green veggies. If you made them make their own keto food pyramid leafy greens would be the base of it. A lot of people just think keto means eat bacon all the time, when it really isn't that.

I think I eat way more veggie on Keto style diets than I when I eat conventionally. I didn't develop a love for veggies until I went keto many years ago.

 

[zswordsman]

Most people who are really into the keto diet eat a bunch of green veggies. If you made them make their own keto food pyramid leafy greens would be the base of it. A lot of people just think keto means eat bacon all the time, when it really isn't that.

I end up eating a bunch of leafy greens and supplement it with a couple strips of bacon.

Also pork rinds have replaced chips my life :3

 

[nomis]

I don't adhere but in general this diet is great and have seen friends have success

...but I was waiting for someone to bring up the abomination/scam that is bulletproof coffee. Disgusting.

 

[Cerity]

Yeah I think the greens have taken the spot of carby foods for me now, eating just meats for a meal does get boring so I usually have stuff like broccoli/green beans/asparagus or a leafy salad on the side.

 

[Oppo]

this works well for me too, but I do struggle with developing the habits for proper prep / shopping.

had to look up what mct oil was. i've been using 'mere' coconut oil.

 

[Stinkles]

I dropped forty pounds in three and a half weeks by cutting "breads" and adding an hour of exercise per day so I win, right? I added zero ghee on account of it is nightmare to make and deadly.

 

[Vengal]

For those of you thinking of doing a keto diet, I just want to suggest to not avoid eating your greens. You can still eat those and not pile on the carbs.

What are some good greens for a keto diet? Also did i read that right that berries are fine?

Thanks!

 

[iPaul93]

I've been on and off keto for the past 2/3 years and it helped me a lot.

 

[Laguna X]

What are some good greens for a keto diet? Also did i read that right that berries are fine?

Thank!

Berries are fine. As far as greens... cabbage, spinach, kale, asparagus, lettuce varieties, broccoli, brussels sprouts. There's probably a lot I'm missing, but I'm sure you get the idea. Non-starchy vegetables don't really consist of a lot of carbs. Hell, some of the non-green veggies like peppers are perfectly fine.

Edit: I should also say that foods with resistant starch like potatoes and legumes are fine for you, but they don't adhere to keto protocols.

 

[juliushandle]

I really fell in love with greens (kale, spinach, cabbage) when I began dressing it with mct oil rather than olive oil, and adding sardines, salmon, chicken, and hard boiled eggs. That solved the hunger and craving issue I had with just plain salad.

As far as what I ate today, I took pics of my breakfast and lunch to share.

full fat yogurt with granola, acai powder, goji berries, blueberries, almonds, almond butter, and cocoa nibs

omelet before I folded it. spinach, avocado, tomato, skinless boneless sardines, feta

not really a lot of time to put these meals together but yeah I'm in the market once a week to make sure my fridge and pantry are stocked.

for dinner I'm having a turkey burger patty with homemade slaw.

 

[juliushandle]

I don't adhere but in general this diet is great and have seen friends have success

...but I was waiting for someone to bring up the abomination/scam that is bulletproof coffee. Disgusting.

I love my coffee with my grass fed cow butter, drops of stevia, and mct oil. this coffee isn't mandatory for this diet, it's more a preference.

 

[juliushandle]

I'm 45 and pretty much have been half assing it the last 2 months to amazing success. I've also joined the gym last month and have done yoga at home since January. Crazy results to the best shape of my life. I'm like you where I've always had the fitness down but never really gave the diet an honest effort. Maybe half assing it is an exaggeration but luckily the way my body works I don't have to be super strict, just more conscious of what I put in it.

I half assed it just fine until I turned 40 and I hit a wall. Tweaked my diet going keto and I'm all good know.

 

[juliushandle]

It's really not. It's too restrictive for most people to follow and it leaves out a lot of healthy foods for absolutely no good reason. It can be reasonably good for some people who can follow it to a tee and don't go overboard with it, but a lot of people will do it wrong (i.e. too much fat & proteins, too little everything else healthy). Losing weight is not the be-all, end-all aim of diets, there's more to it than that. And the whole idea that we should eat like (some of) our ancestors did millions of years ago is kind of silly. Humans have evolved in how we process different foods, though of course individual differences still occur.

It isn't as restrictive as most people think. You just cut grains and sugars, that's it.

It does require education on how your body turns carbs to glucose, which foods have grains, etc.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

It's really not. It's too restrictive for most people to follow and it leaves out a lot of healthy foods for absolutely no good reason. It can be reasonably good for some people who can follow it to a tee and don't go overboard with it, but a lot of people will do it wrong (i.e. too much fat & proteins, too little everything else healthy). Losing weight is not the be-all, end-all aim of diets, there's more to it than that. And the whole idea that we should eat like (some of) our ancestors did millions of years ago is kind of silly. Humans have evolved in how we process different foods, though of course individual differences still occur.

It's really not restrictive at all. Carbs are usually eaten for energy and dietary fiber. You can get your energy from eating more fats and your fiber from leafy greens

 

[rykomatsu]

Would any of you keto peoples mind posting what an average day of meals consists of for you?

Average?

Well, if I'm lazy -

Breakfast - Cafe Americano w/ heavy cream
Lunch - Almonds soaked in olive oil + Quest protein bar
Dinner - Can of spam + oven roasted cauliflower w/ olive oil

Individual things I combine in various ways throughout the month:
- peanut butter mousse w/ dark chocolate
- bread made from almond flour
- avocado...lots of avocado...
- bacon
- eggs prepared in various ways
- oven roast veggies (I'm mostly an asparagus and cauliflower kind of guy) seasoned and with olive oil
- creamy vegetable based soups (cream of cauliflower made from heavy cream, olive oil, butter, etc)
- souffles made with erythritol
- meat jerkys
- various cheeses and cured meats with parmesean cheese crisps
- cauliflower crust based pizza
- eggs prepared in various ways

There's really a lot of options if you're mindful of the ingredients. Worst case, I usually carry a bottle of olive oil with me at work, grab something from McD's, remove the buns and douse the meat in olive oil and just eat that along with a salad if it's not filling enough.

edit: Keto isn't difficult if you're managing your own diet. It's difficult because of the peer / social pressures (ie. coworkers going out to lunch and going to some place with no/limited options)...I get annoyed friends when I'm slurping off just the toppings since it takes me like 5-6 slices to get full and to others, it looks like I'm just being a douche leaving a lot of food behind...

 

[jokingbird]

Is it hard to do this diet if you can't have dairy?

 

[NinjaMouse]

Ugh...I've been trying to get back on the wagon lately and I just can't fully immerse. I lost about 30 lbs a few years ago and felt great? But I've put about 10 back in since returning to "the old me". I think I'll start tomorrow with some bulletproof coffee...

 

[juliushandle]

Is it hard to do this diet if you can't have dairy?

i use to be lactose intolerant but these days i'm ok with having some cheese and yogurt. if dairy is really bad for you there's always goat cheese, goat milk yogurt, almond milk, coconut milk.

 

[ipukespiders]

Is it hard to do this diet if you can't have dairy?

The diet is hard to do regardless.

That's why people say things like: "Back when I tried keto last year, I lost 30 lbs in 3 months. X and Y happened and I started eating carbs again and I've since put all of that weight back on. I just love bread too much, LOL"

It has to be a lifestyle change. The benefits far exceed weight control. Most people can't stick to it though.

 

[Ether_Snake]

I tried to get rid of bread once, ended up being always hungry and lost a lot of weight. Since I'm on a weight gain mission I can't think of dropping it, I'd have to make sure I always have something to replace it. I eat four sluces of whole grain bread a d, sometimes pasta. Two slices with peanut butter and a banana is enough to keep me satiated for a few hours.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I did it once for a few months. Worked out really well, lost a good deal of weight, almost entirely bodyfat. Then I went on vacation and just never had the willpower to do it again. One of these days I'll get back to it.

 

[God Dayumm]

I have never gone full keto, but I do enjoy doing low carb (less than 100g). It keeps me lean, energized and full until noon the next day, so it pairs up with intermittent fasting pretty nicely.

 

[juliushandle]

it's surely been a lifestyle change for me. oh, it helps that my wife is a registered dietitian nutritionist.

 

[iMAGINATION]

I would love to do this but I love grains too much, I know I won't last.

 

[God Dayumm]

I really fell in love with greens (kale, spinach, cabbage) when I began dressing it with mct oil rather than olive oil, and adding sardines, salmon, chicken, and hard boiled eggs. That solved the hunger and craving issue I had with just plain salad.

As far as what I ate today, I took pics of my breakfast and lunch to share.

not really a lot of time to put these meals together but yeah I'm in the market once a week to make sure my fridge and pantry are stocked.

for dinner I'm having a turkey burger patty with homemade slaw.

Yogurt and omelettes are amazing foods because you can throw all the healthy shit you want into them. On my plain yogurt I only put protein powder and blueberries and that is my post-workout dessert. On my omelette I put cheese, ham, spinach, carrots, and mushrooms. Good stuff that hits most of your macro and micronutrients.

 

[Matt]

I dropped forty pounds in three and a half weeks by cutting "breads" and adding an hour of exercise per day so I win, right? I added zero ghee on account of it is nightmare to make and deadly.

40 pounds in under 4 weeks? That's....that's something.