Let's Keto

Hi. I'm Todd and I'm turning the dreaded 50 this year, time to do something right 👍. I have been trying keto for a little over a month, I've lost some weight but am struggling with dialing it in. I am keeping my carbs around 30 and don't go over there protein or fat levels that the app has set for me.  Anyway looking for some chat buddies out there in keto land. I will be around a long time 😁 a lot to lose here.

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    • thesolver
    • thesolver
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi Todd, I too am a male turning 50 this year, but despite my heft people think I'm in my 30's, no grey hair etc! This is my first post on this forum. I use the app religiously on an ipad but I try to achieve at least 10% less than the app calculates, especially in calories.

    You are on the right path, stick with it, focus on the end goal but check weekly not day to day.

    [I may post this elsewhere for others now that I've written it, but so far my experience has reasonably been easy, probably because I am determined]

    I have researched keto and weight loss extensively, including the good and the bad and importantly for those with a lot of fat to lose, how to tackle the dreaded excess skin.

    I have a busy high output/stress desk job, need to lose a total of 40kg and have bad knees from being over active when young. I have been very fit in the past and want to get back there.

    Here are my results and observations:

    • I started 10 January 2020 and as of today have lost 20kg. It took 2 days to get into ketosis then another week to get over the 'flu'. 
    • As of the last 4 weeks, I have been keto adapted and I stick to the macros but do struggle to get the fat levels higher than protein but doesn't seem to affect my progress.
    • I am also intermittent fasting 18/6 with a bit of warrior fasting as well (to promote autophagy and collagen production to give the skin a chance to adapt, among other things)
    • I do not get hungry during the fasting and sometimes struggle to get my calories up overall.
    • I weigh myself only once a week.

    My daily routine consists of:

    • Breakfast - 1 ginger/turmeric 'tea', 1 fish oil tablet, 1 multivitamin (all vital when in autophagy to produce collagen for the skin).
    • Lunch (2pm) - 2 boiled eggs.
    • Exercise (6.30pm) Exercise bike 15 minutes (fat burning not aerobic), low weight high rep upper and lower body muscle conditioning 15 minutes (vital to condition and tone muscle to help the skin).
    • Dinner (7pm) - a balanced clean low calorie meal (chicken, fish pork etc) with steamed veges and home made cheese sauce (an air fryer for the meat is your god here).
    • Fast from 8pm until 2pm the next day.
    • Throughout the day I drink roughly 7 litres of water, I will have the ginger/turmeric tea a few times while fasting and to get my caffeine hit I sip on a 600ml sugar free Coke throughout the day.
    • I take frequent walks to keep up to 10,000 steps per day.

    Results:

    • 20kg down since 10 January 2020
    • skin is adapting and hardening up
    • muscles are returning to what they should be
    • I walk and think faster and I'm less stressed
    • I sleep better
    • clothing is an issue, I'm down one size, probably should be yet another size down, but suits are expensive!
    • don't become a slave to the scales, let the clothes, mental health and overall well being inform you of progress - but it is good to know progress!

    I hope this helps.

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    • thesolver
    • thesolver
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Should have added I keep net carbs at less than 20g majority of the time.

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  • thesolver Impressive! Great commitment and determination!🙂

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    • thesolver
    • thesolver
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    there comes a point in your life where its all or nothing. I think will power and patience are very key to success.

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    • Todd
    • Todd.12
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    thesolver sounds like you're on a great path. I will take note and change up some stuff. Thanks for the info and good luck

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    • Maureli
    • Maureli
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    very motivating!

    I am 51 and lost 25 lbs on keto last year.  Over the holidays I  gained 8lbs back and cannot get it off.  I need to re-dedicate myself but am having trouble getting myself back to where I was.  I seem to do great in the day and then lose it in the evening.  

    Reading this helps! Thanks..

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    • Pat F
    • Pat_F
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hey Todd, welcome aboard!

    I’m 62 and have been on keto since mid-Oct.  Down 57 lbs, but more importantly (to me) I’m off diabetic meds, cholesterol has phenomenally improved and my BP is back to normal.   Feel great!

    I’d recommend you invest in a book, ‘The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living’ by Drs Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney.  It’s an easy to read explanation of the what, why, and how to become a ‘fat burner’ (need to make a tshirt for that!)

    If you’ve been on keto for a month, you should be in ketosis - do you know that and are you measuring?  (An old saying, ‘you can’t improve what you don’t measure’).  

    Most sites (and the book) suggest lowering carbs to between 20-50.  If you’re looking to dial things in a little more, I’d recommend investing in a blood glucose/ketone meter.  I use the Keto-mojo meter and am very happy with it.  You can get one on amazon or their website (and I am not compensated for mentioning them.  Smiles...). Anyway, it’s accurate, easy and give me the data I need to make informed decisions.

    Everybody’s different.  You’re at 30 carbs; I need to keep mine at 12 or less (the meter highlighted that when I got up around 15/16 carbs. 

    And remember that low carbs are key - keep below your limit.  Proteins are important as they maintain body functions (muscles, etc).  But don’t go over proteins too much or too often as extra proteins can be converted to glucose and that’s not productive.

    Best fat loss comes from staying under your fat limits: think of this - your body wants to run on glucose.  By restricting glucose way down, we force it to burn fats and there are only two sources of fat.  Dietary fat that we eat, and adipose fat (stored fat, think, ‘belly fat’ etc).   Cutting our fats down below our limits means the body will have to burn stored fat.  It’s a zero sum game - the full has to come from somewhere.

    what I did was set my weight loss to zero to establish my calories, then manually enter my carbs/proteins/fats.  Then I slid the weight loss back to around 5-lbs per month (I was motivated to get the weight off) and that adjusted my macros accordingly.    Hope that makes sense.

    Good luck!

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