The Journey

180 days Keto

This is all anecdotal, my opinion and based on what has worked for me. I’m a software engineer, not a nutritionist. You’re free to disagree with me and it’s highly possible that what works for me may not work for you.

Keto is a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet setup to encourage your body to enter a state of nutritional ketosis. Nutritional Ketosis and ketoacidosis are not the same thing. Nutritional Ketosis is a natural metabolic state characterized by raised levels of ketone bodies in the body tissues (Ketone is the exhaust created when the body is processing fat for fuel). Ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes(or alcoholism or starvation) where dangerously high levels of ketones and blood sugar in your body makes your blood too acidic, which can change the normal functioning of internal organs like your liver and kidneys.

I’ve been doing Keto for 6 months. I’ve lost 50 lbs. I have ~100 lbs left to lose. I’ve averaged about 10 lbs lost per month.

If you are at/close to your ideal weight you will have a very hard time losing weight regardless of where you set your macros.

Check your macros. I like the calculator here: http://www.mydreamshape.com/keto-calculator/

I aim for at least 48-72oz of water per day. More is better.

Because you’re drinking so much water (and for other reasons) your electrolytes (sodium, magnesium and potassium) may get out of whack. Be liberal with your salt, and consider adding nosalt and/or supplements especially if you suffer from keto flu or frequent leg cramps.

I’ve kept carbs at or below 20g net per day. I’ve kept protein at ~80-120g/day (0.8*lean muscle mass) and then I eat fat to fullness. If you’re not hungry, stop eating. I don’t care if you’re not at your macro percent and still have calories left for the day, just stop.

Weight loss isn’t as simple as calories in/calories out.. but you will only lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit. So if you’re a highly active person you may need higher daily calories just to power your body. If, like me, you’re very sedentary you will need to keep your calories down or you’ll see a stall/gain. I aim for ~1300-1600 calories per day. I often end up at about 1000 calories. At 1000 calories I will see a weight loss. At 1600 or over I’ll see a stall or gain.
I’ve found keto to help me curb my nibbling urges and help me to be satisfied at a lower calorie amount. Weight loss is still a game of calories.. but when I’m staying within plan I’m not hungry, even at only 1.2k calories per day.

Carb limit is to keep me from going over.
Protein limit is to keep me from losing muscle mass and hair.
Fat limit is essentially a max. If I’m hungry I’ll reach for something with fat first, but if I’m not hungry I’m not eating fat just to hit a number.

I’ve found keto to help me curb my nibbling urges and help me to be satisfied at a lower calorie amount. Weight loss is still a game of calories.. but when I’m staying within plan I’m not hungry, even at only 1.2k calories per day.

Eating off plan kicks me out of ketosis.. but more importantly to me, more often exceeds my calorie limit. When I “cheat” I believe the gain I see is from “too many calories” not simply “I’m out of ketosis.”

If you can tolerate it intermittent fasting can accelerate weight loss by increasing your calorie deficit. For me this means no nibbling after dinner and skipping breakfast to extend your time in a fasted state. I will do intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast) only if I wake up not hungry and my morning blood sugars are above 85. If I’m hungry or have low blood sugar I’ve recently had incidents of hypoglycemia and so had to cut back on IF.

Menu for a normal day:
B: 2 coffees with 2 sweet-n-low, daily vitamins (multi-vitamin, D, biotin)
L: 1 chicken thigh with skin, 2 slices of swiss cheese
D: ~4 oz of meat, veggies cooked in butter