Hi can anyone advise if a Keto diet will get rid of the pred weight please?

[Tayzee]

Hi can anyone advise if a Keto diet will get rid of the pred weight. I have been on pred for 5months and am now on 10mg and I have put on over a stone and have moon face and supraclavicular fat and fatty neck ... just don’t look like me anymore .... 😩😔... any advice welcome thanks

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If you scroll back through past posts you will (eventually) find a lot discussing weight loss on pred.

One of the first things we as a group advise when people go on pred is to cut the carbs. It doesn't need to be keto as such - it is next to impossible to get into keto when you are taking steroids anyway as it triggers the liver to release glucose from the body's stores as random spike. The best you can do is cut carbs drastically, especially processed carbs and added sugar, until you get the effect you want. It is much harder than when not on steroids - your weight loss will probably much slower than people say they achieve but a few people on the forum have lost a lot of weight by doing so. I lost 35lbs while still on well above 10mg pred but it took 18 months. MrsNails on here lost nearly 2st relatively quickly by cutting carbs guided by the NHS Type 2 diabetes plan - look at her profile to see her old posts.

Cutting processed foods not only cuts carbohydrate but also salt - and that is also importent with pred as it contributes to fluid retention - it all adds weight, Many find this site very useful to see what to avoid and what is good in low carb:

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods

One lady joined the Fast 800 site diet plan where you get a menu plan, recipes and shopping list and did very well but you don't need to pay for anything, just learn what foods to eat and what not.

[Koalajane in reply to PMRpro]

I lost a lot of weight by cutting carbs and put my type 2 diabetes into remission. You don’t need to go the keto way, just cut your carbs. I am lucky that I enjoy salad. I just check on the packets of what I buy as to how many carbs are in them. I try to keep mine as low as possible and the fruit I eat are berries. Good luck

[Pollyanna16 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, it was me! If you want a guided way to loose weight & I did pay but a little less in the January offer, then I can wholeheartedly recommend the Fast 800. The forum is a great support too, rather like this one! As of this morning (week 10) I have lost 6.4kg & about 10cm off my waist. I am on a maintenance dose of 3.5mg though occasionally have had to up my dose when unwell. Exercise is highly recommended but at your own pace & level. If you are committed you can probably do this by reading the books as PMRpro suggests. Some people have had a much faster weight loss than me I might add! Good luck

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pollyanna16]

No, I wasn't thinking of you, someone else.

[SnazzyD]

I just cut out pasta, rice, things made with flours, maize, potato, sugar. Even on high doses I didn’t put on weight and my blood sugars were normal. What fat you have will tend to concentrate around the neck, face and middle with Pred, but reducing it does help. I still ate well with protein, fats, veg and some fruit. Even now off Pred I don’t bother with pasta, potato or rice most of the time as it seems pointless now. I found salt had a huge impact so I had to practically cut that out too; not even sauces, gravy and stock cubes. As my dose came down to single figures I was able to reintroduce it.

[Pixix]

I lost a stone on the keto diet & sent diabetes into remission. However, I found it hard as a way of life! Eating different things to my husband all the time. I then out on that stone, plus another 2 stone dye entirely I believe to the steroids & the baking & less exercise this winter! I’m now on the 5:2 diet & lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks, but easier to fit in with another person! Weather improving will lead to more exercise, too. Bought a ‘walking machine’, but full of brain fog & cant get the proper name this morning! Good luck.

[Pollyanna16 in reply to Pixix]

How to you find the 5.2 recipes? I am thinking of swopping to that next week?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pollyanna16]

Google Michael Mosely 5:2 and it offers you a range of add-ons. But basically it is just a version of the Fastdiet since you eat normally for 5 days of the week and cut back to 800 calories on the other 2 days

thefastdiet.co.uk/

[Pixix in reply to Pollyanna16]

I’ve got a paperback book of 5:2 recipes, plus I buy a couple of diet meals, I make mushroom soup, very low calories, that’s lunch. So far, these past 3 weeks I’ve eaten no carbs on each of the six diet days, too, just to see the result! I think it was the forerunner of the 800 diet & Michael Moseley made his name through it, I believe! But I don’t want the interaction & guidance etc offered on his 800 diet, I’m so busy right now, & I took nutrition at A level, too! Oh, & I found some recipes through Pinterest! Good luck, S x

[Pollyanna16 in reply to Pixix]

Yes indeed it was the forerunner & I have a few friends, a couple of retired GPs included, who’ve used the 5.2 on & off for 3/4 years to good effect. I needed something a bit quicker to get me back on track & it’s working! A couple of people on the forum have found the recipes a bit bland that’s why I asked how you liked them. Anyway you are obviously well informed & hardly need the guidance! Must try the mushroom soup, love it.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pollyanna16]

I do low carb and have a pretty good idea about calorie contents - I just selected carefully, adapted normal recipes and cut the portion sizes when I did the 5:2 diet before cutting carbs. I found the 5:2 was brilliant for doing that - within a couple of weeks I was so much less hungry and couldn't finish the amount I had been used to.

[Pixix in reply to Pollyanna16]

I thought it was, thanks! Glad yours is working, I will look into it. I’m sorry I thought you meant how do you find the recipes as in hunt for them, not how do you find, as in like or dislike!! I buy mushroom stock cubes from Italy, they are fantastic & I don’t have gadgets, but love my soup maker, so quick, no sieving or mashing, it does it all in 22 minutes, & mashes fruit & ice cubes in summer, too! I wanted something quicker last January to reverse diabetes & found the keto diet excellent for that. But I need something long term now & find 5:2 less intrusive on my life than anything! Some nights I eat the same as hubby...ie grilled chicken, but I don’t have the potatoes & have extra veg instead! When rushed I find something with calories easily marked, like Heinz soup, & so far it’s going well (but always slower than I want!!). I have a friend who did it for a year, then made it 6:1 & found that meant she didn’t put weight back on, but was able to eat lovely treats, too, &, if anything, still lost a bit. Thanks, sorry I misunderstood your post re ‘find’! S x