Can anyone give me an idea about reaching Ketosis in a reliable and relatively quick amount of time and is it safe?

[kevin-barry-1920]

Michael Moseley TV doctor has started a series on losing a stone in 21 days. My question is, can anyone give me an idea about reaching Ketosis in a reliable and relatively quick amount of time and is it safe?

[Hidden]

Sorry I can’t help but I wait with interest. I think his wife has a twitter account with recipes, I’m looking forward to watching it tomorrow, although not sure I’d be able to stick to 800 calories. I could manage 1000.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Hidden]

The more important thing with his approach is that it is low in carbohydrate and relaxed about healthy fats. Would that interest you? If you join the Daily Diary, you can see what low carbers are eating

[Hidden in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thank you for posting, i keep missing posts as I’m not that techy seems to take me ages to type replies. I’m not sure who the question is posed too, if it’s me, ( sorry if it’s not) I don’t eat much carbohydrates, perhaps once a week, I wouldn’t know how many grams as I tend to guess at weights of food. perhaps it’s very similar to what I am eating as I eat healthy fats lots of vegetables, meat and fish. I don’t tend to eat bread although I do love it! I don’t eat potatoes. I shall have to rethink if I hit a plateau. Many thanks for all the links, most interesting.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Hidden]

You seem to be doing a good job of finding your way around

Always head back to Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... - that's where you'll find the Diary, weigh in and all the other activities - plus a Diet Myths post

[Hidden in reply to BridgeGirl]

😂😂I just keep pressing the green bell, I really don’t know what I’m doing . I find myself in all sorts of places then it takes me ages to find my way back. I’m guessing the blue link is pinned posts. 👍I don’t know where I’ve posted and where I haven’t, never mind someone has to be an idiot and it’s ok if it’s me! Many thanks for all your help i’ll try the link above and educate myself some more. Thanks once again.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Hidden]

That’s right. The blue letters are a link to Pinned Posts. If you click on it, you’ll see a list of posts - Welcome Newbies, Frequently asked questions, Diet Myths and so on. Click on the heading of the one you’re interested in and have a read. That’s where you’ll find the current weigh in and Daily Diary.

To see any posts or replies you’ve made, click on your user name or profile picture. That takes you to your profile where you’ll find your posts and replies.

Have a look now at Pinned Posts. Lytham has invited you to Wednesday’s weigh in. If you can’t find the link she has given you, work your way down Pinned Posts and you will come to it. Click on the title, read the post and all will be explained

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs in reply to BridgeGirl]

Hi BridgeGirl, off topic I know, but with regard to finding my way around, one of the things that continually frustrates me is forgetting to read date of posts before responding. Following your blue link above, the first thing I did was to try and enter the "latest" poll about navigating the forum, only to find I'd already voted 3 years ago My vote wouldn't have changed! With my second mouse click I managed to get myself to "Can you give me some feedback about what you think of the recent changes to the messaging system?" which was posted FOUR years ago.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to PandQs]

Hi PandQs,

I'm afraid we have little control over the polls, once they're there, they're there for ever. We Admins here aren't very keen on them and we only posted those two in the hope that HU would see how members struggle with navigation and do something about it. We can't turn off the replies, or remove it from the forum, the only thing I could do would be to delete it, but that would make everyone's effort pointless.

My advice would be to put your questions to HU, as they are the only ones that can alter the layout of the site

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs in reply to moreless]

OK thanks

[Pink4eva in reply to PandQs]

Hi I am the same, I often read interesting posts only to find they are quite old. Still some interesting information though, just no point in replying. : )

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs in reply to Pink4eva]

I just feel daft when I HAVE replied without realising :)) JUst checked - yours is only an hour ago so that's ok

[Pink4eva in reply to Hidden]

Hi don't worry, you are not an idiot, I have been on here for a couple of months and still am not sure how to do things and find myself 'lost'. Hope you enjoy being on the forum it can be very educational and supportive.

[Hidden in reply to Pink4eva]

Glad I’m not the only one, I feel like ball in a pin ball machine. My daughter text me and then it comes up on my watch my iPad in the end I don’t know if I am responding to my watch or phone. 🤣🤣 I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it, well part of it.

[Pink4eva in reply to Hidden]

I am the same, I don't know which one to answer first sometimes when my daughter calls. Have only just got the hang of speaker phone, I haven't mastered 'face timing' yet though : ) I did use the app when going round my local Sainsbury, so that was definitely a victory. I got bored with Facebook after a month. I would rather speak to people who I have got more inn common with like this forum.

[Hidden in reply to Pink4eva]

Yes I do have FaceTime, the problem their is in stead of texting them I accidentally keep FaceTiming people, it’s a real pain😂 A few months ago I FaceTimed the builder instead of sending a text to say I had gone with someone else, that was very embarrassing. I only realised yesterday when I did it again that the phone is at the top not the bottom, now I know what I am doing wrong😂😂

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I’ve been in fits of laughter reading your messages cause you just sound like me I found it hard when I joined back in May. At one stage I sent a message to myself I mean these people must of thought I’m nuts 🥜🍏🍎

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I am glad it made you smile, I have smiled so much this week reading others posts on this forum it has truly cheered me up.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Yes I agree with you. If it wasn’t for this place I would of never lost this amount of weight. You really do get great support and tips I wouldn’t be without it now🍏🍎

[kevin-barry-1920 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello and welcome, kevin-barry-1920 😊

You'll find plenty of people here following a low carb plan but I also recommend joining the LCHF forum healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet for advice.

We had a discussion about the programme here last week. Subtle_badger has experience of Mosley's Fast 800 plan so she may have some comments. SofaJockey didn't go for a quick start but still lost a stone in (I think) 26 days. I follow a LCHF plan but I've never counted anything so have no idea whether I've been in ketosis.

You'll find all the information you need about the forum in our Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... including a Welcome message. A good place to start is by joining a weekly weigh in on the day of your choice, and using the Daily Diary, where members share their meal plans.

This gives you a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true and, along with Pinned Posts, will show you how things work. I hope you'll become an active member and we will see you joining in around the forum 😊

PS the app doesn’t give access to all parts of the forum so we advise everyone to get rid of the app and log on to the full website using the browser on their phone

[kevin-barry-1920 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thanks very much, I'm grateful for the links and will certainly use them.

Kev.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to kevin-barry-1920]

You're welcome. I'm sure the two people I've tagged will give you a reply

[Horse_and_hound in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thanks for the info within your PS, it explains why I have struggled to find some aspects of the site.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Horse_and_hound]

It would be better if they just ditched it!

Welcome to the forum, Horse_and_hound. If you follow my links, above, you'll find your way around the site. The more you join in, the more you'll get out of it Especially a weigh in and the Daily Diary

[Subtle_badger in reply to BridgeGirl]

You rang?

Yeah, I followed Fast800 for a month, and had the sort of success the TV show is suggesting. I never worried about ketosis, though I guess I must have been in it for most of the time.

I wasn't super strict on the calories, and had a huge and carby blowout on Christmas day, and still lost over a stone in a month.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Shield-Maiden in reply to Subtle_badger]

Hi SB,

Can I ask you please...and, apologies if you have already answered this question, in other posts....but, while you started on your quest to be slim and super fit and healthy ie, on the Fast800....did you exercise, while only eating the 800 calories? Just wondering x

Thank you

[Subtle_badger in reply to Shield-Maiden]

I did, with mixed results.

healthunlocked.com/fasting-...

[Hidden]

You reach ketosis by cutting out nearly all carbs. When you have used up your glycogen stores & are only eating a few carbs, you body makes ketones to help power the brain. .The brain cannot run off fat. I am mostly in ketosis though I eat more carbs than the experts say I should for ketosis. Probably 60g is what I eat but the blurb says 20g. Our brains use WAAAAY more than 20g of carbs , about a third of our energy needs are from the brain, so whatever else it powers on (glucose made from fat using gluconeogenesis) is not something my body does well. Hence being in ketosis despite drinking milk in my coffee etc.

Have I confused you more?

Just eat meat and cream. Maybe some spinach.

[kevin-barry-1920 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply, I will read again tomorrow. Best wishes, Kevin.

[Hidden]

This is all so fascinating and fancy its a bit beyond my tiny mind. I think I must be old and behind the times. I just eat all meats, fish, veg, eggs, porridge oats very occasionally pasta and fruit if I’m constipated as the veg just doesn’t help me. And lots and lots of water.

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hello, if you Google Diet Doctor it will explain it all and you can do a free two week trial with them .

Would you like to join our weigh in? Here's the link, I hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Purple_Pill]

A rather lengthily insight from myself:

I've been on strict Keto for about 40 days, initially I didn't really have any idea what I was doing but had read a few articles. Before going on to a keto diet I slowly cut bad things out of my diet, so initially for three weeks or so I just cut out all biscuits, sweet, chocolate, sugary drinks, bakery food etc... Then I started eating lots of salad, meat, fish, no fruit, no fruit juice, that went on for a couple of weeks, but I was still very much having things like tomato soup (lots of sugar in the most popular brand), wholemeal bread, the odd bag of crisps etc... Eventually I weened myself off everything but a keto friendly diet.

Once I started keto properly (and I wouldn't discount following my method of slowly phasing foods and eating / drinking habits out beforehand), I had some issues. Initially I kept coming down with what they call keto flu, I also had very strong mood swings and felt very emotional (this is fairly out of character). I questioned a friend of mine who was once a nutritionist, he suggested that if I start to feel like I'm coming down with keto flu then I should go ahead and have a couple of slices of toast with some peanut butter on them. That worked fantastically well at stabilising my mood and enabling me to continue working (I do an extremely physically demanding job, very difficult when you feel like death, but being self employed, there's no chance of pulling a sicky).

After a couple of weeks I toned it down to one slice of toasted wholemeal bread with peanut butter on, then just one slice of toast with butter on (less carbs), and for the past 15 days or so I haven't had to do that, I've felt much much better and seem to have far more energy than I had before, my mood is generally stable I've rarely felt emotional. The bouts of keto flu came roughly every 3-4 days. I didn't start to measure my ketone levels until about two weeks in to a strict keto diet. There is a very clear correlation with my ketones being "high" or "very high" and keto flu / mood swings. It seems like now my body has acclimatised and I'm reaping the benefits. I've only lost 4.1kg in 40 days, and sometimes it goes up, but most days it drops a little at a time.

To get into keto is easy, just eat meat or fish, grab some nice goats cheese now and again, have plenty of eggs in your diet, feel free to grab those packs of smoked meats from the shops on a regular basis, they are low in carbs, high in fats, provide some protein and taste great if you like meat, the occasional tub of guacamole is no bad thing either, and olives are amazing, low carb, but still fill you up. I eat a LOT of leafy salad, every day, usually 300-600 grams

An important tip. Exercise... Exercise... Exercise! As mentioned, I have a very physically demanding job which burns tons of calories, but my body is acclimatised to it, so I've also been doing a brief work out each morning and plan to keep slowly increasing the difficulty, I've definitely toned up tremendously in the last 40 days, everyone comments on it, and I've certainly put on a bit of muscle as well, so although I've only lost 4.1kg since I started weighing myself, my muscle mass, bone density and hydration levels have all increased (this is measured very day) which means that I've almost certainly lost more than that in fat.

Good luck!

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to Purple_Pill]

Hello, TeamAdmin will be along soon with your welcome pack would you like to join our weigh in? Here's the link, hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[kevin-barry-1920 in reply to Lytham]

Thank you..!!!

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to Purple_Pill]

Hi and welcome, Purple_Pill and Nixador

All of the information you need about the forum can be found in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and I hope you'll be joining all the Events, Challenges and Clubs that we run, especially a weigh-in and the daily diary.

If you haven't already taken it, here's a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true

We've found active participation to be key to successful weight loss and, of course, it's a good way to get to know people, find inspiration and share support and encouragement.

Wishing you all the best

[Nixador]

I've done intermittent fasting a few times where I dont eat for 16-20 hours, then eat whatever I like within reason in my eating window. I think it takes 3 or 4 days to properly reach ketosis. Its definitely safe and you will lose small steady amounts.

[SofaJockey]

Like Purple_Pill, I phased out:

All biscuits, crisps, sweets, chocolate, sugary drinks, potato, rice, bread, pasta, bakery food etc...

Then I started eating portion controlled meals of, meat, fish, little fruit, no fruit juice, but plenty of veggies and greek yoghurt with double cream. Food with <5g/100g sugar.

I was still having c.50g/day of carbs by cheese & crackers and muesli.

I've no idea if I went 'full keto', I certainly didn't intend to, but the weight loss was a pretty consistent 1kg/week.

[Luety]

Hi,kevin-barry-1920,when I start paid curse of keto diet, first few weeks was advise count only carbs and eat no more than 20g per day.Not to count fats or proteins.Only carbs and in a week I came in katosis,but deep ketosis ,when you “forget to eat” came in month.

My advise would be not to rush.When you counting only carbs,you automaticly start to eat more fats,because you feel hangry.And in a few weeks,you will know how 20g carbs per day looks like ,after you start to balance fats,proteins and just will come to point “forget to eat”.

[zinza]

I would suggest the book The Obesity Code. Good reliable resource to learn how to avoid refined carbs and how to fast.

[Cosmo501 Restart May 2024]

Hi Kevin-barry.

I see you've got loads of interesting replies above!

Just to say that yes, it can work very well, and can be done very simply and safely.

Take your time to first read up about keto in places like the dietdoctor.com website. They have great simple visual guides so it's really clear what to eat whilst remaining as low carb as possible, to achieve ketosis quickly. The speed is really individual though, depending on your current diet, amongst other factors.

Basic advice is eat as low carb as possible, less than 20g per day, with no cheats. Keep up your fluids, and make sure you're getting enough electrolytes so you don't get what people call the 'keto flu' .

I do periods of keto on and off to kick start weight loss. Works every time for me, and then once ketosis kicks in.. bingo... no hunger. Free to eat healthily to appetite, rather than cravings.

You may want to 'pop in' to the LCHF forum too. Loads of help and advice about this subject there.

healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet

I also was curious about the Michael Mosley programme, and have started watching it.

I've just lost 6kgs over the past 6 weeks, and that was through keto, and IF (fasting longer over night), so having a later brunch instead of breakfast... and not restricting calories in any way at all. But now that the initial fast loss is slowing up, I'm thinking to try the Fast800 for a few weeks to see if I can speed weight loss up again.

Before COVID19 I was quite happy to take weight loss slowly.... but now I just want to get it done and then I can get on with focussing on maintaining a healthy weight for life!

Wishing you well on your journey!

[Michele22]

I really dont know. All I've had today is lettuce olives tomatoes bbq chicken basil leaves a sprinkling of low salt. I intend to continue this for as long as it takes. I think if I gave myself a month and hadn't lost 1stone I'd feel demoralised and may console myself with a bag of crisps...it happens. Personally I dont like scales or time limits. I've gone down a dress size and the other day got into medium sports leggings. I couldnt do that a few months ago.