Keto Diet - is it a healthy way to lose weight???????

[Riyaa]

Yes it's been awhile since my last input. Trying to get my head around this keto diet. Not sure if it's a good Idea????

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello, Riyaa, and welcome back to the forum 😊

What eating plan have you been following since you first joined in January?

As I understand it, there aren't many people who follow a keto diet long term but many people do so for 2 or 3 weeks, before moving to a more relaxed lower carb, healthy fats approach. This is a good introduction dietdoctor.com/low-carb

To make the most of the forum this time around, join in with activities, read and reply to posts, ask questions and encourage others – it will all pay off for you. I particularly recommend joining a weekly weigh in and using the Daily Diary. This will help you find themhealthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... 😊

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi I don't do keto but low carb and healthy fat and it feels like a healthy diet to me? Would you like to join our Christmas Challenge? Here's the link, I hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Eleanorba Maintainer]

I’m a bit freaked out by the idea of ketosis. I did a pretty extreme low carb diet once and I certainly lost a lot of weight but it made me weak and constipated! As with all very restrictive diets it wasn’t sustainable and I soon put the weight back on. I’d take the advice here and do a less extreme version of low carb and healthy fats.

[Slimforsummer Visitor]

Why not ask your doctor for diet advice or look at British Heart Foundation for their heart healthy diet. They have a telephone helpline that answers dietary questions and gives advice on high saturated fat in your diet.

[Slimforsummer Visitor]

Forgot to add there is also lots of advice there on wholemeal/grain carbs in your diet too.

[over61andstilltrying Maintainer 7lbs]

Hi Riyaa,

My husband and I have been eating very low carb now for about 6 months. It really took a while to find different things to eat for all our previous normal foods. Although we find leaving out potatoes, rice, pasta a doddle as we just replace them with an extra vegetable. A real favourite of mine is cauliflower with a sauce I made up. Heat double cream and grate in strong cheddar! Absolutely delicious!

Anyway there is so much information on the diet doctor web site much is available free and full membership which is free for the first month, which provides even more information including some fascinating full length films.

I see Bridgegrirl has already given you one link to Dietdoctor , there is so much there including many superb recipes., guides, success stories etc We think the recipes are up with Jamie Oliver. Yum, yum. A few favourites:

dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto...

dietdoctor.com/recipes/caul...

dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto...

There must be at least 15 we love!

I am wondering whether to send you further inks or just suggest that you explore the Dietdoctor site. I wasn't overweight when I began, but now weigh less than I have for over 40 years, my husband doesn't even have weight to lose but is hopeful that LCHF/keto will help with inflammation problems and is feeling positive about it.

Have fun reading around. Have you seen that there is a LCHF forum on HealthUnlocked? There are some very knowledgeable folk there to answer any questions.

healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

[sunny369 Restart Dec 2023 in reply to over61andstilltrying]

some great recipes there - the pesto mediterranean casserole looks very yummy

one to try

[TheAwfulToad Visitor]

As others have said, there is a big difference between "keto" and plain old low-carb high-fat (LCHF), and very few people opt to stick with the keto variant for any length of time. It's just too boring.

In macronutrient terms, "keto" means 20-25g net carbs per day, and LCHF means 50-100g per day. That might sound like a trivial difference, but the practical reality is that LCHF gives you much more flexibility. You can eat virtually anything except "white carbs", which means you're less likely to feel deprived, or to struggle on social occasions.

As for your two questions:

Is it a good idea? Yes! You will lose weight, you will lose it from all the right places, and you will not go mad with hunger. LCHF works for almost everybody, whereas caloric restriction works for almost nobody.

Is it healthy? Yes. In fact it works because it's healthy. People get fat not because they're greedy and lazy, but because they're eating disastrously bad food, and they're often not even aware that they're doing it. We're bombarded by messages that promote bad food, and the supermarkets sell virtually nothing except bad food. After years or decades of bad food, most bodies just go haywire. LCHF is very much focused on wholesome, unprocessed ingredients, and home cooking. When people start eating this way, the most common response is "why didn't I do this years ago?" People just feel instinctively that it's right, and it's incredibly easy to stick with.

The main problem that people have with it is guilt. You'll see a lot of "debunking" on the internet that goes something like this: yes, you're losing weight, you look great, your cholesterol numbers are normalising, your diabetes risk has dropped through the floor, and you feel awesome ... but what about all that fat, eh? What about all that fat?

To which the answer is: what about it? These people are basically saying: yes, on every accepted measure, you appear to be healthy ... but you can't possibly be healthy, because you're eating fat. You'll probably want to do your own reading on this subject, but the sense of wellbeing that you feel on LCHF will most likely be your greatest reassurance.

[Noosat Visitor]

Why a particular diet? There is plenty of information available on healthy foods and the calorie content. Just make up your own meals.