HalFitness

I started on a new diet this past week: The Keto Diet. The idea is to consume as few carbs and sugar as possible. So no bread, potatoes, processed food, and even as little fruit as possible (or at least ones that have less sugar in them). Instead, it's high protein and high HEALTHY fats (no trans fats). This forces my body to burn more fat because it doesn't have sugary carbohydrates to pull from.

It's been tricky, but I've managed well with it so far. I'm not a terribly unhealthy eater. I already ate most vegetables, eat little processed food, and drink lots of water. So it wasn't too much of a jump. When I get depressed, I get very inactive and stop caring about what I eat. Usually, it's bread, cereal, and especially junk food. Ice cream is my weakness.

However, I've managed to stay on it for a week. On my first day of work last Monday, they gave everyone breakfast: coffee, muffins, cookies, pastries, etc. I couldn't have any of it. For lunch, they delivered pizza. Couldn't have it. So I had a salad from Subway. I already eat every vegetable there except olives (ICK!). I've had a salad from there for lunch every day this week.

I'm exercising a lot more, too, with biking, yoga, walking, or even running. I went for a short run before work last week and have been using my FitBit to keep me accountable for exercise and burning calories.

I'm also using an app called Lose It! to track my food consumption. It's obviously not an exact science, but it gives me a good, rough estimate to work on for calorie intake and percentages of fat, carbs, and protein consumed.

As a result? I'm already down from 226 to 222. Mind you, that's water weight, which sheds quickly. The Keto Diet usually has people losing up to 10 pounds (water weight) in the first week, then about 1-2 pounds every week after that.

I'm really curious to see how this goes for me.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Keto is basically the diet I'm forced to be on thanks to my surgery. It's been going pretty well. Just make sure to get ALL THE FIBER. ALL OF IT.
 
I did the keto diet a few years ago with my wife. I lost something like 30 pounds.

But I had to get off of it. I couldn't walk into a grocery store. The smell of baked goods (which, on the diet, I could smell clear across the store) made me want to murder people.
 
Keto does work (because it's actually just an elaborate way of starving yourself), but you really shouldn't eliminate ALL carbs from your diet. In fact, the more complex carbs help you feel sated longer...just like Gas says:
make sure to get ALL THE FIBER. ALL OF IT.
--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I did the keto diet a few years ago with my wife. I lost something like 30 pounds.

But I had to get off of it. I couldn't walk into a grocery store. The smell of baked goods (which, on the diet, I could smell clear across the store) made me want to murder people.
As I said about liquid diets back 5 years ago...

Let's just say, if you want to succeed, empty your house of food and don't allow yourself to be in the same place where others are cooking or eating, or you will turn into a ravenous unreasoning eatbeast.
 
Some people have an easier time with Zero Carb because it chucks the substitution game and carb-counting annoyance out the window.

Personally I enjoy greens too much. I intend to stay in keto until I hit and maintain a comfortable body, then transition to reasonably low-carb (either <100 or <150 weekly average carbs) indefinitely.

To update on my progress, I'm at roughly 152.5lb/19.3%. Eating/socializing with friends has slowed my pace some, and I expect to stall (or gain some) during my upcoming vacation home, but I'm confident that I'll end the year under 150 and somewhere near my BF goal.

Have struggled with exercising lately due to mental blocks, doing it sets off a really bad mood in me. I was partially exercising this year to keep my mind off of my home life, so I might've made a bad association. Might try switching routines.
 
Are you using an at-home method to determine %? If so, I’d like to know it.

—Patrick
A biolelectric impedance handheld unit, I record the highest of 3 morning-fasted measurements every other day, on a 7-day moving average. I would never re-buy it, but it was a hand-me-down from college. A more useful/truthful stat would be that my 7-day average is down 6.1% since the start of the year.

I know they're pretty inaccurate, hence my focus on the trend/difference rather than the absolute number. One of the items on my to-do for later in the year is to get a more accurate measurement done (be it dunk tank, DEXA, or air displacement) periodically so I can contrast.
 
Electric is the only means I have available to me, too.
I know dunking is the “best” method, I wondered if you’d found some handy way to estimate using a bathtub, meat thermometer, balloon filled with 2c extra virgin olive oil, and a block of dry ice, or something.

—Patrick
 

BananaHands

Staff member
I went to hooters twice this weekend.

TWICE.

I mean, I went to the gym and all that before one of those visits but I'm slippin'. Ugh.
 
I've been a total fatass the last month or so on weekends. I've had a ton of fun, and that's what summer is about but I basically have had to be perfect throughout the week in order to maintain my weight. Once fall comes around I'll be more serious about losing again.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
Not even joking--One of the reasons I'm excited about this upcoming school year is that the parents stopped doing "Muffins on Monday." Every week, a different homemade muffin, and they were all insanely delicious-looking. I can pass up a grocery store muffin, but homemade, still smelling like they're fresh from the oven? Not so much. I don't need basically cake every Monday at 9:30.
 
I've been doing good with 15-minute ab exercises, but running has still been a struggle since I hurt myself in April. Still losing weight, but I miss running. Finally went to the podiatrist and got a brace, so hooopefully I'll be good in two weeks, possibly four.

Next weigh-in is July 30th.
 
I don't like being sore, but they give me a primal "you're a badass for doing this" feeling that no other workout does so I enjoy them for that.
The push upwards at the bottom of a bar squat gives me that feeling. Deadlifts veer more into the annoyance territory for me.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
After some blood donation ladies screwed up one of the veins in my left arm, I was told not to do any heavy lifting til the bruising cleared up. It cleared up last week, and just that short time of not doing planks and kettlebell exercises made a huge difference in my strength and endurance. But the good news is I'm back up to where I was before the Great Vein-Popping of 2018.
 
You shaved the beard???

--Patrick
I think everyone near and dear to me would have me tarred and feathered if I ever shaved the beard. Ever since I went from a goatee to a beard, almost EVERYONE I know has said, "Never - EVER - get rid of that beard."

Also, you know how I said 220 last night?

Yeah, I weighed myself this morning and I'm at 219.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS DIET.
 
Just try not to give up when the keto fever hits. Lot of people give up then.
So far, I don't think I'm in any danger of getting the keto flu. I'm staying incredibly well-hydrated, for example. And honestly, when I'm not depressed and eating healthier, I don't eat as much bread and such. From what I'm following on the Lose It! app, I'm consuming the right percentages of fat, protein, and carbs. Even if it's not an exact science, I feel like I'm doing everything right about this so far.
 
Did my measurements today with my trainer.

June 2017: 246lbs, 42% body fat
July 2018: 151lbs, 14% body fat

If I didn't change my habits I'd probably hit 300lbs sometime in 2019. So incredibly glad I went with this.
 
Did my measurements today with my trainer.

June 2017: 246lbs, 42% body fat
July 2018: 151lbs, 14% body fat

If I didn't change my habits I'd probably hit 300lbs sometime in 2019. So incredibly glad I went with this.
Goddamn, man, that's impressive! That's almost 100 pounds in a year!

Most folk ask how you look, but how do you feel after losing that much? Would you say your health has improved?
 
I can't say a massive change because I'm still young enough where my body can handle being fat without health issues (though obviously that wouldn't last forever). But little things are definitely different. I don't have to sit in a chair to tie my shoes, and my thighs don't chafe if i spend 15 minutes walking outside in the summer. Running is amazing now. My trainer has us jog laps around the gym when its nice, but that had to stop during the winter. Before winter I was out of breath and could barely keep up. Once it got nice again I had to consciously slow down to keep it at a jog.
 
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