The dreaded DIET thread!

[Cagey75]

I've recently started on a Ketogenic diet, it's the first time in my life I have committed to any such food deprivation

Why? Because I'm fat ... well, not really! I'm a big boned boy at 6'1.5" [That 0.5" is important!] and was in pretty good shape right up until my later 30's. But the belly is starting to take over and I passed 19 stone a while back - that's a stone [or two] too far. I don't feel healthy, I have issues with cholesterol, sciatica, various joint pain and I had surgery on my back a few years back - this is one of the reasons I began to pile on weight. Lack of exercise and also I have been on a tonne of pills for the past while - Statins, Anti-depressants, anti-inflammatory and pain killers. Combined they have some odd side effects, not least they help maintain and add to the chub. The only thing I've tried in the past was the lemon/cucumber water fast, basically I would do this maybe once a week. Just pure lemon juice in water, sometimes I'd stick some cucumber in there, you were allowed green tea and grapefruit juice also. But it did nothing. So here I am a month into the Ketogenic diet. A low carb, high fat, mid protein diet. The basic ideology behind this diet is to train the body to use fat as it's main fuel source instead of carbs, by replacing carbs mostly with high fat foods [fatty meats, nuts, cream, butter, cheese etc] and over time once you enter 'Ketosis' you can do intermittent fasting and allow the body to start feeding from the fats on your body rather than from your plate.

Anyone tried it? any success? if not Keto, maybe some of the other diets like the Carnivore? or Atkins? Dairy free, Gluten free or even went all vegan?

I do realise some of these diets are 'trendy' atm, I'm definitely not doing it to be hip, I want to be healthy, lose some gut, get back into exercising again and just change my crap eating habits. I was all about sugar and carbs, thought I would never go a day without sugar in my tea or a plate full of chips or spuds and certainly not a weekend without a slate of Bulmers or litres of fizzy drinks. I have touched none of that in about a month now. Do I feel amazing? ... nope In fact I've had some days where I felt complete and utter s**t, but a lot of this is withdrawal. Especially the sugar, that is the toughest.

Would love to hear some success stories, or even some struggles, so I know I'm not alone!

 

[arclight]

I shed almost 50lbs over about 9 months on a low carb diet. I started with a max of 20g of carbs per day for 3 weeks then slowly increased that to between 30 & 40 grams. The only problem I had was at the start I had a tendency to get constipated, but getting loads of fibre and at least 2 litres of water per day sorted that. I found the diet quite easy and reckon the stabilising effect of low carb on blood sugar controlled any desire to eat between meals. I never felt hungry and followed the advice to always have breakfast, lunch and dinner and to eat until I was satisfied.
Some writers seem to say that on low carb you can eat as many calories as you like , but that is nonsense. You cannot stuff yourself. Atkins did not say that. He said you will not need to count calories.

The science of weight gain/loss is simple and inescapable:-
Eat more cals than your body needs - weight gain.
Eat less cals than your body needs - weight loss.


I did not count cals until after 6 months I got curious as to how many cals I was eating. Turned out I was having around 1800 cals (BTW - I completely cut out all booze.) Controlling the carbs controlled the calories for me.

Before I started on low carb my GP's practice nurse told me that for me to lose weight at a comfortable and safe rate I should aim for ............ 1800 cals which is approx. 200 less than I need to maintain a steady weight. (that calculation took account of gender, age, height, weight and level of physical activity ( Iwalk for approx 90 mins per day). I got my weight comfortably into the BMI green zone.

 

[Cagey75]

I shed almost 50lbs over about 9 months on a low carb diet. I started with a max of 20g of carbs per day for 3 weeks then slowly increased that to between 30 & 40 grams. The only problem I had was at the start I had a tendency to get constipated, but getting loads of fibre and at least 2 litres of water per day sorted that. I found the diet quite easy and reckon the stabilising effect of low carb on blood sugar controlled any desire to eat between meals. I never felt hungry and followed the advice to always have breakfast, lunch and dinner and to eat until I was satisfied.
Some writers seem to say that on low carb you can eat as many calories as you like , but that is nonsense. You cannot stuff yourself. Atkins did not say that. He said you will not need to count calories.

The science of weight gain/loss is simple and inescapable:-
Eat more cals than your body needs - weight gain.
Eat less cals than your body needs - weight loss.


I did not count cals until after 6 months I got curious as to how many cals I was eating. Turned out I was having around 1800 cals (BTW - I completely cut out all booze.) Controlling the carbs controlled the calories for me.

Before I started on low carb my GP's practice nurse told me that for me to lose weight at a comfortable and safe rate I should aim for ............ 1800 cals which is approx. 200 less than I need to maintain a steady weight. (that calculation took account of gender, age, height, weight and level of physical activity ( Iwalk for approx 90 mins per day). I got my weight comfortably into the BMI green zone.

You went high protein was it? Similar to what I'm doing but I'm going high fats, with less protein and the same, 20g carb max per day. Good to hear it's working for you, and that it gets easier. I'm fine with it mostly, I can have sausage, bacon and eggs! but cannot have that ol' sugary tea [I am using sweetener for now] or piles of bread tp accompany it like I used to. I have actually started baking a lot, Coconut bread, Almond bread, flax-seed etc ... I'm even doing those 2min microwave breads whenever I need to go with meals. I do miss chips/wedges or just plain buttery spuds, but I'm getting used to it by the day. Like I say, sugar is the hardest.

Before this diet I never ate spinach, I may have tried it once and that was it, but since starting this I have also made numerous soups, including a lush spinach, celery and cauliflower soup. Just today I made peanut butter cookies, pork meatballs with a marinara sauce and some flax seed and almond flour bread. It's got me cooking again, which i have always done, but now I'm switching it up more.

Just wish I could see some early results, like feeling less tired, sleeping better or even a bit of trim. A few people have told me they can see I've lost weight, but I'm not feeling it yet - Oh, our scales is busted so I do need to get one.

 

[andya700]

I love baking bread, but to me it seems as though you are baking too many "sweet" breads. I would say that Doug's method of lowering the carbs (not cutting them out entirely) plus exercise - 90 minutes a day walking is great - would see you steadily lose weight. I also found that 5-2 dieting helped, where I cut out carbs entirely on the 2 days and only had one meal of protein and fibre (usually mid afternoon).

 

[tijuana taxi]

That does sound a bit on the weighty side, i'm 6ft and not exactly slim, but no matter what I do seem to stay at 14st 3lbs give or take a pound, would like to lose half a stone or so though

I find eating sensibly as in no crisps or fizzy drinks also less chips,cakes and biscuits works along with exercise like a brisk walk of a few miles a day works best.
Good luck, its not easy and be prepared to spend a good few bob getting new clobber

 

[keef32]

Me and the other half started slimming world at the start of this year. We ate well, never went hungry and was losing weight really well.

Problem is we started to drift off of it quite badly and sort of hit a stalemate. I left the group and just cook the recipes and try and stick to the plan on my own as I really got nothing out of the group (paying a fiver a week to get weighed seems a bit pointless when the actual discussion does nothing for you).

I never would have dreamed id have gone to slimming world but it helped... not lost anything since I stopped going but then I haven't taken it seriously since. Winters coming, need some fat on me

 

[wave01]

I lost 50lb with SlimmingWorld. Great diet love the food never went hungry. It changed the way I eat and that was 2 years ago haven’t put the weight back on

 

[cambsno]

Me and the other half started slimming world at the start of this year. We ate well, never went hungry and was losing weight really well.

Problem is we started to drift off of it quite badly and sort of hit a stalemate. I left the group and just cook the recipes and try and stick to the plan on my own as I really got nothing out of the group (paying a fiver a week to get weighed seems a bit pointless when the actual discussion does nothing for you).

I never would have dreamed id have gone to slimming world but it helped... not lost anything since I stopped going but then I haven't taken it seriously since. Winters coming, need some fat on me

My neighbour did SW - think he has lost 5, if not 6 stone, dropping from around 18/19 stone. Another friend who was similar has lost over 2 stone in about 2 months there. It does work!

Its something I need to do. Have been creeping up the scales over the years, 5ft8 and currently just over 16 stone. A few years ago I did lose around a stone and a half using an app which you entered what you ate and aimed for around 1800 calories per day. Have definitely put on weight and some of this is due to work where we get free breakfast and lunch. Its probably the breakfasts that do it, how can I eat cereal when there are sausages looking at me lol! I generally eat well, rarely eat microwave food but problem is portion size. While the food is healthy and good I eat too much, plus the habits of having biscuits, crisps etc... Other weakness is beer (and cider). 6 pints on a sunday down the pub and probably the same on Fri or Sat. Thing is I then get the munchies after and neck a load of food.

Funny thing is I do exercise. Up till the summer played 5 aside each week. I bike a reasonable amount - 15 miles round trip to work today and yesterday, although let that slip when it was very hot - 17 mile bike ride with the kids on Sat. Walk quite a bit too so pretty active. Anyway, started running at weekend for the Cambridge Half Marathon in March, done it twice before but only ran 5 times this year so starting from scratch again!

I think I will give SW a try. It does work, just need to cut down on the alcohol I think!

 

[Mr Bump]

Watching your weight nowadays is really all about preparation and avoiding last minute food and convenience food.

plan your days food, find a breakfast that you like and meets your needs and just stick to it.
always take your lunch to work and again make sure its spot on, no crisps, no sweets of any kind.
only drink water during the day and plenty of it.
no snacking!

try to avoidl diet fizzy drinks, data suggests the body gets confused by the sweetners and can actually cause you to feel more hungry.

plan your evening meal the day before and just make it with fresh ingredients avoid the big carb bombs, bread, potatoes, pasta.

add it all up at the end of the day and just keep it real.

also minimum alcohol

 

[keef32]

Other weakness is beer (and cider). 6 pints on a sunday down the pub and probably the same on Fri or Sat. Thing is I then get the munchies after and neck a load of food.

This is my main downfall now, well atleast since I stopped the Bi-Daily take aways haha.

Found myself having a couple of whiskys when I'm in the house instead of a few bottles of ale.. seemingly makes all the difference

Id recommend slimming world to anyone, but only works if you actually monitor all your "syns" and don't just lie to yourself.

I lost 10.5lbs in my first 2 weeks and its stayed off 7 months later.

 

[cambsno]

try to avoidl diet fizzy drinks, data suggests the body gets confused by the sweetners and can actually cause you to feel more hungry.

Interesting, this is one of my weaknesses although thought it was pretty innocent. For me a cold Diet coke or 7Up Free is hard to beat. Don't drink tea and coffee.

 

[nilagin]

Interesting, this is one of my weaknesses although thought it was pretty innocent. For me a cold Diet coke or 7Up Free is hard to beat. Don't drink tea and coffee.

Try mint green tea. Allow it to cool then put it in the fridge. I have a 2ltr bottle of it in the fridge. I also freeze it for a drink for the gym.

 

[Mr Bump]

Interesting, this is one of my weaknesses although thought it was pretty innocent. For me a cold Diet coke or 7Up Free is hard to beat. Don't drink tea and coffee.

yep there is a lot of evidence to say it can even make you fatter as the body tries to metabolize it as suger which it fails at, the body hates the stuff.

 

[Steep]

Keto-ish here and very successful. My lifestyle was setting me up for diabetes and/or a heart attack and having lost my sister to diabetes it was time to sort myself out. My diet at the time was awful when I look back on it, not that I thought it was bad but I used to buy lunch in supermarkets, a sandwich on white bread filled with flavourings, I would drink gallons of orange juice thinking it was all healthy. When I went through my cupboards I was shocked at how much carbohydrate/sugar there is in almost every pre-packaged product (some barbecue sauces are 80-90% sugar). So I basically decided to cut out (or way down) on carbohydrates and sugar intake and it really worked and was a lot easier to do that I expected. You can't really avoid carbs completely so I set a limit (of 6%) on how much carb content I'd accept in a product and tried not to go over it. Reading the labels of stuff you buy gets to be a natural habit.
I lost 2.5 Stone in 8 months simply by changing my diet, not dieting. I ate a lot but protein gets converted to energy and burned off, it doesn't sit around your arteries waiting to kill you. I've levelled of at 2.5 stone down and have not put it back on mainly because I had got used to the change in diet and like it.

I eat protein, meat and fish with vegetables, avoiding potatoes, rice, high carb bread and bakery products. I do eat bread but it's the lowest carb I can find (Burgen) and not nearly as much as I used to.
Re sweeteners, almost all of them are really high in carbohydrate content and are just as bad for you as sugar is. Splenda is about the only one I've found that has an acceptable amount bearing in mind that you use very little of it at a time.
Diet drinks? same thing, often no better for you than the full sugar versions.

/edit One of the signs that my diet was bad was I was going through packets of antacids like they were sweeties, waking up at night with acid reflux. This stopped immediately I cut out sugar.

 

[arclight]

You went high protein was it? Similar to what I'm doing but I'm going high fats, with less protein and the same, 20g carb max per day. Good to hear it's working for you, and that it gets easier. I'm fine with it mostly, I can have sausage, bacon and eggs! but cannot have that ol' sugary tea [I am using sweetener for now] or piles of bread tp accompany it like I used to. I have actually started baking a lot, Coconut bread, Almond bread, flax-seed etc ... I'm even doing those 2min microwave breads whenever I need to go with meals. I do miss chips/wedges or just plain buttery spuds, but I'm getting used to it by the day. Like I say, sugar is the hardest.

Before this diet I never ate spinach, I may have tried it once and that was it, but since starting this I have also made numerous soups, including a lush spinach, celery and cauliflower soup. Just today I made peanut butter cookies, pork meatballs with a marinara sauce and some flax seed and almond flour bread. It's got me cooking again, which i have always done, but now I'm switching it up more.

Just wish I could see some early results, like feeling less tired, sleeping better or even a bit of trim. A few people have told me they can see I've lost weight, but I'm not feeling it yet - Oh, our scales is busted so I do need to get one.

Yes, I went high protein. I did not go out of my way to eat natural fats but avoided all food containing trans fats (which are basically unhealthy). I have bacon, egg, haddock and tomato for breakfast almost every day with two pieces of crisp bread. I always drank black unsweetened tea and also drink unsweetened coffee with a little milk.
I don't miss sweet foods and chocolate used to be a bad habit. I don't buy processed foods any more.
I did miss toast in the morning. Tried making almond bread. I thought it felt and tasted like unsweetened cake.
I found that stir fries are very satisfying. You can have a substantial amount of grub that is still low carb/calories. Also very quick to cook.

If you don't think you are losing weight as expected try checking out exactly how many carbs you are consuming. Very easy to overdo carbs at the start of a diet and that can make it fail. Sausage rings alarm bells and is full of muck. You could cut that out and have more bacon/egg.

Unfortunately, many things that we all like (i.e. addicted to) are only suitable to be eaten in tiny quantities. Cutting down (basically means self torture) never works with any addiction. Only cutting out succeeds in the long term.

When I started checking out the carb content of foods I got into the habit of always reading the labels. Quite shocking to see what is being served up (should be a law against it ).

BTW I only weigh myself once per month. Weigh yourself too frequently and you'll see it going up and down which can be discouraging. First inkling of weight loss I got was having to tighten my belt.

If you are feeling tired & sleeping poorly then maybe this diet does not suit your body. Don't think I would want to have these symptoms for very long. Are you getting enough water - that is vital ?

When I ate high carb breakfasts (rubbish cereals + toast & marmalade) I found that come 1100 I felt sleepy. High carb = high blood sugar - triggers insulin release = blood sugar takes a dive and made me feel tired (then very hungry despite not actually needing food).
Low carb breakfasts never make me feel tired.

Note - I was checked out to ensure I was not diabetic prior to dieting.

Different people seem to react to diets differently. If there was an easy answer there would be damned few fat people and no money to be made from writing dieting books. Just keep trying.

 

[Steep]

One issue I have that I actually love is having to buy new clothes, or getting to wear those way out of date clothes I can now fit into again 4 inches off the waist.

 

[Steep]

Oh, our scales is busted so I do need to get one.

Get a bluetooth enabled set and link it to your phone. Seeing the weight come off and being able to track your progress is a good way to keep you motivated.

 

[arclight]

One issue I have that I actually love is having to buy new clothes, or getting to wear those way out of date clothes I can now fit into again 4 inches off the waist.

Your preceding post, Hugh, is quite a typical story. A nightmarish epidemic is rapidly unfolding. Diabetes is a dreadful disease with serious multi-faceted effects on our bodies.

Diabetes UK reports that there are now 4.6 million diabetics in the UK. The number has doubled in 20 years. There are over 12 million people dangerously close to becoming diabetic. I don't see the NHS coping with this problem for very much longer.

 

[jakeblu]

I've probably been low carbing now for over ten years. When I started I was at just over 19st I'm now just over 14. I do drift off occasionally but when I do, I go back on a crash carb diet. My main reason for low carbing now is it controls my blood sugars, I'm type 2 diabetic. Generally though as a day to day eating I try and keep my carb intake between 50-75 grams a day. I'm not big on high fat, it gives me indigestion, so every thing is grilled or steamed, but I do eat a lot of cheese and tend to snack on nuts. Its more a lifestyle thing now, no bread except Bergen which is around 25g per 100g. If we have mash, its mashed root veggies, such as swede, celeriac but with a little potato. Rice is a rarity, either grated Cauli/broccoli or Bulgar wheat. Puddings, if I treat myself, tend to be made with almond or coconut flour. I make mean low carb baked cheesecake.

 

[Steep]

I like probably 4.6 million+ others was sleep walking into it. What manufacturers put into food products and what they are allowed to call 'healthy' is quite shocking and that they can get away with it is equally as bad.

 

[Steep]

I've probably been low carbing now for over ten years. When I started I was at just over 19st I'm now just over 14. I do drift off occasionally but when I do, I go back on a crash carb diet. My main reason for low carbing now is it controls my blood sugars, I'm type 2 diabetic. Generally though as a day to day eating I try and keep my carb intake between 50-75 grams a day. I'm not big on high fat, it gives me indigestion, so every thing is grilled or steamed, but I do eat a lot of cheese and tend to snack on nuts. Its more a lifestyle thing now, no bread except Bergen which is around 25g per 100g. If we have mash, its mashed root veggies, such as swede, celeriac but with a little potato. Rice is a rarity, either grated Cauli/broccoli or Bulgar wheat. Puddings, if I treat myself, tend to be made with almond or coconut flour. I make mean low carb baked cheesecake.

That cheesecake sounds good

 

[Mr Bump]

I like probably 4.6 million+ others was sleep walking into it. What manufacturers put into food products and what they are allowed to call 'healthy' is quite shocking and that they can get away with it is equally as bad.

yep they have been under pressure for years to adopt labelling standards and have fought it because the public will see how much fat, salt, suger etc is in there.

 

[andya700]

There is another factor which could be influential in weight gain/obesity - Human Adenovirus 36 - which scientists are calling the "obesity virus"

https://journals.lww.com/md-journal...virus_36_Infection_Increased_the_Risk.38.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4517116/

I am 5' 11" and between the ages of 18 and 40 weighed around 11st - 11st 5lbs. I was doing a lot of exercise - around 250 miles a week cycling, 5 nights a week league badminton in the Winter. Then I started to get really tired - falling asleep at work, on the train, not able to drive for long. My weight increased rapidly and I started getting one chest infection after another. I kept going to the GP but they said I had to start exercising and look at my diet. This went on for five years, until my weight was around 17st, and I was semi comatose most of the time. I had also lost a couple of jobs - falling asleep during meetings.
It transpired that I had sleep apnoea, and I was stopping breathing 68 times per hour (up to half a minute each time) when I should have been asleep.
I weigh around 94kg (14st 6lbs) at the moment, and I walk around 6 to 10 miles at a rapid pace every day. I find it almost impossible to lose weight or keep it stable.

 

[Cagey75]

I love baking bread, but to me it seems as though you are baking too many "sweet" breads. I would say that Doug's method of lowering the carbs (not cutting them out entirely) plus exercise - 90 minutes a day walking is great - would see you steadily lose weight. I also found that 5-2 dieting helped, where I cut out carbs entirely on the 2 days and only had one meal of protein and fibre (usually mid afternoon).

These are just the breads I have discovered so far, I'd like to try more. I'm not adding sweetener to them, they are pretty basic, egg, whichever of the non wheat flours, butter, salt, baking powder pretty much. I have done a savory one to try out, garlic and herbs, and it was pretty good french toasted! I might try that 5-2, pick 2 mid week days.

That does sound a bit on the weighty side, i'm 6ft and not exactly slim, but no matter what I do seem to stay at 14st 3lbs give or take a pound, would like to lose half a stone or so though

I find eating sensibly as in no crisps or fizzy drinks also less chips,cakes and biscuits works along with exercise like a brisk walk of a few miles a day works best.
Good luck, its not easy and be prepared to spend a good few bob getting new clobber

It's weird, because though I know I'm over weight, if I asked someone what weight they honestly thought I was they would say in or around 16st, 17 at most. I don't know where I hide the rest, but it's in there. Crisps, fizzy drinks, bread, rice etc ... my main weaknesses, I dont really do sweets even off diet. I try to cycle at least once a day, and do stretches and light excercise, depending how the back feels at the time, but cycling never hurts, i find it a hell of a lot easier than long walks.

Watching your weight nowadays is really all about preparation and avoiding last minute food and convenience food.

plan your days food, find a breakfast that you like and meets your needs and just stick to it.
always take your lunch to work and again make sure its spot on, no crisps, no sweets of any kind.
only drink water during the day and plenty of it.
no snacking!

try to avoidl diet fizzy drinks, data suggests the body gets confused by the sweetners and can actually cause you to feel more hungry.

plan your evening meal the day before and just make it with fresh ingredients avoid the big carb bombs, bread, potatoes, pasta.

add it all up at the end of the day and just keep it real.

also minimum alcohol

I have been using the no sugar drinks as a bit of a crutch, I've been pretty good with the rest though, not touch and high carb foods in a month and I'm going through a weird sort of withdrawal, have had headache, nausea, cramps, mood swings all of that - but i did expect it going in, which makes it a little easier

Other weakness is beer (and cider). 6 pints on a sunday down the pub and probably the same on Fri or Sat. Thing is I then get the munchies after and neck a load of food.

Funny thing is I do exercise. Up till the summer played 5 aside each week. I bike a reasonable amount - 15 miles round trip to work today and yesterday, although let that slip when it was very hot - 17 mile bike ride with the kids on Sat. Walk quite a bit too so pretty active. Anyway, started running at weekend for the Cambridge Half Marathon in March, done it twice before but only ran 5 times this year so starting from scratch again!

I think I will give SW a try. It does work, just need to cut down on the alcohol I think!

Cider and beer is a huge one for me, I would belt through 20 cans of Bulmers on a weekend without any bother. When I discovered that a can of Bulmers has about 8 spoons of sugar in it, that got me really thinking! I've switched to vodka, soda water and lime for now, and it's pleasant - I don't drink near as much either. I do get hungry on alcohol too, so I've got things like jars of pickles, nuts, cheese chunks and olives, all of which I love so that's fine so long as I keep the portions down. I used to play 5-a-side before my back op, no chance of it now, but I do cycle a fair amount

Keto-ish here and very successful. My lifestyle was setting me up for diabetes and/or a heart attack and having lost my sister to diabetes it was time to sort myself out. My diet at the time was awful when I look back on it, not that I thought it was bad but I used to buy lunch in supermarkets, a sandwich on white bread filled with flavourings, I would drink gallons of orange juice thinking it was all healthy. When I went through my cupboards I was shocked at how much carbohydrate/sugar there is in almost every pre-packaged product (some barbecue sauces are 80-90% sugar). So I basically decided to cut out (or way down) on carbohydrates and sugar intake and it really worked and was a lot easier to do that I expected. You can't really avoid carbs completely so I set a limit (of 6%) on how much carb content I'd accept in a product and tried not to go over it. Reading the labels of stuff you buy gets to be a natural habit.
I lost 2.5 Stone in 8 months simply by changing my diet, not dieting. I ate a lot but protein gets converted to energy and burned off, it doesn't sit around your arteries waiting to kill you. I've levelled of at 2.5 stone down and have not put it back on mainly because I had got used to the change in diet and like it.

I eat protein, meat and fish with vegetables, avoiding potatoes, rice, high carb bread and bakery products. I do eat bread but it's the lowest carb I can find (Burgen) and not nearly as much as I used to.
Re sweeteners, almost all of them are really high in carbohydrate content and are just as bad for you as sugar is. Splenda is about the only one I've found that has an acceptable amount bearing in mind that you use very little of it at a time.
Diet drinks? same thing, often no better for you than the full sugar versions.

/edit One of the signs that my diet was bad was I was going through packets of antacids like they were sweeties, waking up at night with acid reflux. This stopped immediately I cut out sugar.

Good stuff! You sound a lot like me, my cholesterol was very high, my breathing was shot to crap, was getting palpitations at night, insomnia [partly because of this] and I went for full bloods to check everything out inc diabetes, thankfully I was clear bar the cholesterol - but I knew sugar still had to go. I was drinking full sugar coke, lucozade or anything fizzy i could get my hands on for thirst!! And I would gorge on cheese, bread, crisps, anything savory high is sugars and salt, I have no idea how my blood pressure didn't spike but thought I should beat it to the punch. My body was telling me something bad was coming.

I really should try fish again, there was a time when i loved it, I used to go fishing and would fry up my catch, but from about 18yrs on I turned right off of it. I suffer acid reflux really bad too, i have a hiatus hernia - this came along with the back injury from lifting heavy steel at work - and everything I take in passes by it.

One issue I have that I actually love is having to buy new clothes, or getting to wear those way out of date clothes I can now fit into again 4 inches off the waist.

I really want that problem!

 

[Cagey75]

I've probably been low carbing now for over ten years. When I started I was at just over 19st I'm now just over 14. I do drift off occasionally but when I do, I go back on a crash carb diet. My main reason for low carbing now is it controls my blood sugars, I'm type 2 diabetic. Generally though as a day to day eating I try and keep my carb intake between 50-75 grams a day. I'm not big on high fat, it gives me indigestion, so every thing is grilled or steamed, but I do eat a lot of cheese and tend to snack on nuts. Its more a lifestyle thing now, no bread except Bergen which is around 25g per 100g. If we have mash, its mashed root veggies, such as swede, celeriac but with a little potato. Rice is a rarity, either grated Cauli/broccoli or Bulgar wheat. Puddings, if I treat myself, tend to be made with almond or coconut flour. I make mean low carb baked cheesecake.

I have made 2 low carb cheesecakes since I began this diet, they were so good! one was lemon, the other a chocolate banana - using banana essence and cocoa with some sweetener. Even the kids loved it, didn't last the day. And they are wary of my diet foods everything I cook now they'll ask "Is this Keto stuff"? I am cooking separate for them, they still get their chips and rice etc I wouldn't ever force diet on anybody, but my partner is trying everything I make, she's interested in going low carb too - she doesn't really need to, she's slim, but she has put on a few lbs and she'd love to just feel healthier too. Keto wouldn't be for her, but just low carb in general without the high fats.

 

[Cagey75]

There is another factor which could be influential in weight gain/obesity - Human Adenovirus 36 - which scientists are calling the "obesity virus"

https://journals.lww.com/md-journal...virus_36_Infection_Increased_the_Risk.38.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4517116/

I am 5' 11" and between the ages of 18 and 40 weighed around 11st - 11st 5lbs. I was doing a lot of exercise - around 250 miles a week cycling, 5 nights a week league badminton in the Winter. Then I started to get really tired - falling asleep at work, on the train, not able to drive for long. My weight increased rapidly and I started getting one chest infection after another. I kept going to the GP but they said I had to start exercising and look at my diet. This went on for five years, until my weight was around 17st, and I was semi comatose most of the time. I had also lost a couple of jobs - falling asleep during meetings.
It transpired that I had sleep apnoea, and I was stopping breathing 68 times per hour (up to half a minute each time) when I should have been asleep.
I weigh around 94kg (14st 6lbs) at the moment, and I walk around 6 to 10 miles at a rapid pace every day. I find it almost impossible to lose weight or keep it stable.

I should have mentioned, I have sleep apnea too, I was putting that down to the weight gains rather than the other way around. You are doing very well if you dropped from 17st to 14.6, the walking is obviously helping you

 

[andya700]

I should have mentioned, I have sleep apnea too, I was putting that down to the weight gains rather than the other way around. You are doing very well if you dropped from 17st to 14.6, the walking is obviously helping you

The weight thing is really frustrating, because back in 2016 I was doing a course (qualified as a fitness instructor) and my weight dropped over six months from 15st to 14st. Last December I went down with a bad virus which meant I couldn't go down the gym at all and I went up to 15st 5lbs. On a normal day I try to keep to two meals, no snacking and have no carbs after 5PM. I do like the odd glass of red wine (Barossa Shiraz, Chilean Pinot Noir or CdR), but I can't have a couple of pints of beer any more because that really seems to put on weight quickly.
I should say that I think I had sleep apnoea for decades, and my mum definitely had it but was never diagnosed. She was always falling asleep even mid conversation.

 

[ukaskew]

I was 13st 4lb a few months ago (I'm 5ft 11") and decided to try and work my way down to 11st AND dramatically improve the quality of food I'm putting in me. I've always been insanely fussy with food so none of the weird diets appealed to me in the slightest.

I weighed in this morning at 11st 2lb, so pretty close now, consistently dropping at least 2lb per week. No fad diets, no additional exercise and almost no change to my lifestyle, I still eat out and have occasional trips to fast food restaurants etc.

My secret? Less calories in than I burn in a day. It's been incredibly simple, 1800kcals is my daily 'limit', but if I go over I just reduce a bit the next day. I've been using the Nutracheck app on my phone to calorie count. The first two weeks were admittedly a little tough, I was always somebody who would get really light headed if I was even 20 minutes late for lunch, but it was amazing how quickly my body got used to less food.

My method:

- Almost no sweets, particularly not in the evening when I'm not actually hungry
- Almost entirely moved my fluid intake over to water. Fizzy drinks actually make me feel really funny now.
- Simple adjustments, honey instead of butter, skimmed milk instead of semi-skimmed, far more careful picking things like lower calorie yoghurts when shopping etc.
- Exploring what fills me up and running with it. Breakfast is down to 300-400kcals (wholemeal toast and honey), a Nakd bar around 10am if I struggling, around 500kcals for lunch and then I've still got at least 800kcals to play with at dinner time, which is a fairly substantial meal.

 

[Cagey75]

I can't have honey on this particular diet, or even certain veg like sweetcorn or carrots, because they contain too much fructose and/or carbs. When I read into it first I thought there's no way this can work, it encourages the use of good high fat foods like grass fed butter, cheese, non sugar mayonnaise, fatty veg like Avocado, double cream, the better oils like coconut and olive oil etc ... because the idea is to train the body to switch to using fat sources as fuel. Keeping the carbs below 20g per day is the suggested method to force the body to make that switch. Protein will come from eggs, meat, poultry, fish, and the better dairy products. No crappy fats from higher sugared or processed foods. As much organic, grass fed, free range as possible - which is easy here in Ireland. Pretty much all of the beef, chicken, eggs, butter etc you get here is grass fed or free range. It's funny watching the US Keto videos as most of them are using imported Kerrygold butter. Something that is as Irish as Tayto crisps.

I've had some really good days though, I'm just concentrating too much on the bad ones. I've had days where I'd have a creamed coffee in the morning and go all the way to tea time without snacking or feeling hungry. I've learned not to stuff my face with fatty foods, which I did at the start because I was starving all the time, missing the carbs and sugar. I feel I'm starting to control the intake better. I make sure to get in some protein and veg. Say if I decide I am hungry for breakfast, I can have a couple eggs with bacon, some of my own home made bread with butter, and an avocado on side. It's a meal that feels like a cheat because it's so good, but it's perfectly in line with the keto diet. Some home made cauliflower and spinach soup for dinner, more buttery bread, and some chicken and salad for tea. It's not exactly torturous but I will still miss sugar, chips, all those flavored sauces as someone mentioned, I had a weakness for those too, never realising how much sugar was in them until I began to read the labels.

Today I am making my own pickles Just got the mustard seed I needed, cucumber for the first tester. I will also be topping up my bread and promised the kids I'd make some peanut butter cookies.

Some of the things I've made since starting this diet:

 

[arclight]

I like probably 4.6 million+ others was sleep walking into it. What manufacturers put into food products and what they are allowed to call 'healthy' is quite shocking and that they can get away with it is equally as bad.

Easy done to wander into diabetes. Damned insidious affliction. Loads of school kids are now on that road too and many parents seem oblivious to it.

Some of what the food industry is blatentely doing should be criminalised. They clearly have too much influence in high places.

 

[Cagey75]

Easy done to wander into diabetes. Damned insidious affliction. Loads of school kids are now on that road too and many parents seem oblivious to it.

Some of what the food industry is blatentely doing should be criminalised. They clearly have too much influence in high places.

The school our youngest goes to started doing free lunches a few years back. The kids are not allowed to bring in any flavored drinks, sugary snacks or nuts. They can bring in a healthy snack on the side, but the school supplies healthy lunches and drinks. They choose from a menu start of each term, they are stuck with that for the duration but it means no big fuss over lunch preps for them. You can just throw them an apple or bottle of water to go with.

 

[jakeblu]

I can't have honey on this particular diet, or even certain veg like sweetcorn or carrots, because they contain too much fructose and/or carbs. When I read into it first I thought there's no way this can work, it encourages the use of good high fat foods like grass fed butter, cheese, non sugar mayonnaise, fatty veg like Avocado, double cream, the better oils like coconut and olive oil etc ... because the idea is to train the body to switch to using fat sources as fuel. Keeping the carbs below 20g per day is the suggested method to force the body to make that switch. Protein will come from eggs, meat, poultry, fish, and the better dairy products. No crappy fats from higher sugared or processed foods. As much organic, grass fed, free range as possible - which is easy here in Ireland. Pretty much all of the beef, chicken, eggs, butter etc you get here is grass fed or free range. It's funny watching the US Keto videos as most of them are using imported Kerrygold butter. Something that is as Irish as Tayto crisps.

I've had some really good days though, I'm just concentrating too much on the bad ones. I've had days where I'd have a creamed coffee in the morning and go all the way to tea time without snacking or feeling hungry. I've learned not to stuff my face with fatty foods, which I did at the start because I was starving all the time, missing the carbs and sugar. I feel I'm starting to control the intake better. I make sure to get in some protein and veg. Say if I decide I am hungry for breakfast, I can have a couple eggs with bacon, some of my own home made bread with butter, and an avocado on side. It's a meal that feels like a cheat because it's so good, but it's perfectly in line with the keto diet. Some home made cauliflower and spinach soup for dinner, more buttery bread, and some chicken and salad for tea. It's not exactly torturous but I will still miss sugar, chips, all those flavored sauces as someone mentioned, I had a weakness for those too, never realising how much sugar was in them until I began to read the labels.

Today I am making my own pickles Just got the mustard seed I needed, cucumber for the first tester. I will also be topping up my bread and promised the kids I'd make some peanut butter cookies.

Some of the things I've made since starting this diet:

View attachment 132807 View attachment 132808 View attachment 132809 View attachment 132810 View attachment 132811

I've never found a wheat alternative bread I enjoy and I've tried them all. Gave up on it in the end, and now just have the occasional slice of Burgen. Same goes with the pancakes, I've tried them all, almond flour, coconut flour, cream cheese, they look the part some even taste ok, but the texture puts me off. Now when I make pancakes which is a rarity, they'll be roughly 50g flour 50g almond flour and 20g linseed, at least with these the textures bearable and they taste reasonable. Its the same combo with pastry when I make it which is again rare. Virtually all my staple foods have low carb alternatives, not necessarily super low, just modified to reduce carbs. Like I say, it's a lifestyle thing now.

Edit, what's you recipe for the peanut butter cookies, they look delish

 

[Cagey75]

I've never found a wheat alternative bread I enjoy and I've tried them all. Gave up on it in the end, and now just have the occasional slice of Burgen. Same goes with the pancakes, I've tried them all, almond flour, coconut flour, cream cheese, they look the part some even taste ok, but the texture puts me off. Now when I make pancakes which is a rarity, they'll be roughly 50g flour 50g almond flour and 20g linseed, at least with these the textures bearable and they taste reasonable. Its the same combo with pastry when I make it which is again rare. Virtually all my staple foods have low carb alternatives, not necessarily super low, just modified to reduce carbs. Like I say, it's a lifestyle thing now.

Edit, what's you recipe for the peanut butter cookies, they look delish

I'm the same with bread, I'm very picky about it, being the son of a baker who grew up on delicious soda bread and batch loaf. I have found a bit of a saviour though in the flax seed, mixed with the almond flour I end up with a bread that tastes more like brown soda, with dollops of butter on it's pretty decent.

The peanut butter cookies couldn't be simpler: I'm using the plastic measuring cups, as all the recipes I look up use them, got mine in dealz for €1.50

1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
quarter tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all of that together in a bowl

Add 1 cup of peanut butter - I use crunchy
3/4 cup of your chosen sweetener, I'm using stevia

Mix it all up and you should have a nice ball of cookie dough, form into small balls on some grease proof/parchment paper, then squash them down with a fork

Bake for 15 mins at 180 Celsius - ours is a fan oven, yours may vary check them after the 15mins, if they're a little soft on top give them more time.

 

[jakeblu]

I'm the same with bread, I'm very picky about it, being the son of a baker who grew up on delicious soda bread and batch loaf. I have found a bit of a saviour though in the flax seed, mixed with the almond flour I end up with a bread that tastes more like brown soda, with dollops of butter on it's pretty decent.

The peanut butter cookies couldn't be simpler: I'm using the plastic measuring cups, as all the recipes I look up use them, got mine in dealz for €1.50

1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
quarter tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all of that together in a bowl

Add 1 cup of peanut butter - I use crunchy
3/4 cup of your chosen sweetener, I'm using stevia

Mix it all up and you should have a nice ball of cookie dough, form into small balls on some grease proof/parchment paper, then squash them down with a fork

Bake for 15 mins at 180 Celsius - ours is a fan oven, yours may vary check them after the 15mins, if they're a little soft on top give them more time.

Cheers, will give them a go this weekend

 

[Cagey75]

Cheers, will give them a go this weekend

best thing is, you don't need any of the flours You should get about 12 from this, double everything if you want more, and if you have kids you will! Get your peanut butter in dealz or Aldi, they have the big tubs for cheap. The first time I made them I used a whole jar of a pricey brand, this time I'm using some cheap brand, they actually taste better. I made some with cocoa powder added too, just a couple tbsp, they tuned out a bit too crumbly but they tasted great. Will perfect that one yet!

 

[arclight]

I'm the same with bread, I'm very picky about it, being the son of a baker who grew up on delicious soda bread and batch loaf. I have found a bit of a saviour though in the flax seed, mixed with the almond flour I end up with a bread that tastes more like brown soda, with dollops of butter on it's pretty decent.

The peanut butter cookies couldn't be simpler: I'm using the plastic measuring cups, as all the recipes I look up use them, got mine in dealz for €1.50

1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
quarter tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all of that together in a bowl

Add 1 cup of peanut butter - I use crunchy
3/4 cup of your chosen sweetener, I'm using stevia

Mix it all up and you should have a nice ball of cookie dough, form into small balls on some grease proof/parchment paper, then squash them down with a fork

Bake for 15 mins at 180 Celsius - ours is a fan oven, yours may vary check them after the 15mins, if they're a little soft on top give them more time.

Like the sound of those - scrumptious . Any idea of the carb content ?

 

[arclight]

best thing is, you don't need any of the flours You should get about 12 from this, double everything if you want more, and if you have kids you will! Get your peanut butter in dealz or Aldi, they have the big tubs for cheap. The first time I made them I used a whole jar of a pricey brand, this time I'm using some cheap brand, they actually taste better. I made some with cocoa powder added too, just a couple tbsp, they tuned out a bit too crumbly but they tasted great. Will perfect that one yet!

Sure got some great looking grub in those pics

 

[Cagey75]

Like the sound of those - scrumptious . Any idea of the carb content ?

I found the recipe where I swiped it from, they don't say but it'll be very low, whatever carbs are in your peanut butter pretty much - Mine has 9.6g per 100, but has 9.2g fibre, so net 0.4g per 100 carbs. Nothing really. There's more fat and protein in these by far than carbs.

Sure got some great looking grub in those pics

The only reason I started taking pics was to keep a diary for myself, both written and visual, but I have stopped tbh, I'm not overly concerned about keeping tabs on the macros or counting calories. Once I keep an eye on the carb count per day, steer clear of all sugars, starchy foods and bad fats, I should do ok.

 

[Cagey75]

Just made a low-carb chocolate cheesecake btw and short=bread [keto-style] butter cookies, Kids were scraping the bowls for leftovers. Crushed nuts and melted butter base, Philadelphia, double cream, cocoa, double cream, melted 80% cocoa chocolate and sweetener - no eggs, this one was a no-bake [last one I did was more a NYC cheesecake bake]

Treats like this keep me sane and remind me dieting doesn't have to be torture

 

[arclight]

Just made a low-carb chocolate cheesecake btw and short=bread [keto-style] butter cookies, Kids were scraping the bowls for leftovers. Crushed nuts and melted butter base, Philadelphia, double cream, cocoa, double cream, melted 80% cocoa chocolate and sweetener - no eggs, this one was a no-bake [last one I did was more a NYC cheesecake bake]

Treats like this keep me sane and remind me dieting doesn't have to be torture

Heavens !! where are you getting those super recipes, Keith.