Diets keto/carnivore etc
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So I've been having pretty big issues with energy levels and concentration for a while I've kept a pretty steady gym routing averaging about 4 days a week since the tail end of last year but its slowly getting worse. I eat relatively healthy, have cut drinking well back, could do better with sleep of course.
I got blood-work done 6 months ago and my blood sugar and cholesterol were a fractionally high so I cut out butter and reduced by morning poached eggs and salmon on toast down to one slice of toast and reduced by coffees to half a teaspoon of sugar. I've just now gone in for a re-test so will see if those changes have helped. I discussed with my doctor about the energy situation too and they're testing for a few more bits and pieces.
As a Peterson & Rogan fan I have been listening to some of the discussions on the carnivore diet for helping with energy and health which has caught my attention..it also has the added appeal of being able to tell a vegan about it when they give me their moralistic spiel.
Anyone had any experience with this or the less drastic keto diet? I'm figuring 'what the hell' might as well give something a crack and having bloods done just prior could be a good way of monitoring what could be going on.
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I've never gone down the whole hog, carnivore/keto route but have been restricting carb intake, sometimes quite drastically. Whilst in the main the results in terms of fat loss have been pretty good it does seem to bugger up my energy levels, certainly at the beginning of any regime. I noticed that this improved as I lost a bit of weight and started re-introducing higher levels of carbs further down the line.
Like anything though it is all about how sustainable a regime it is for you. If you can stomach eating nothing much more than protein consistently then I'm sure you'll adapt. I found that after a prolonged period I just couldn't look at another steak again. Well not for a couple of days anyway.
My lapse problem came when I sustained a debilitating rotator cuff injury, this restricted my ability to exercise in almost all forms and really, really buggered up my sleep. When you have those issues going on it is very difficult to sustain anything drastic on the nutrition front.
Thank God for bacon though.
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@catogrande Yeah sustainability will be the issue. I don't have a sweet tooth but my craving food is vegemite on toast. I've heard you need to give this thing 6 weeks to really try it properly. Will take a huge effort.
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I am right now doing a keto-ish diet, I kickstarted it with a 24 hour fast and then for two weeks had basically no carbs. After that I have tried to get 10-15% of the daily intake in carbs, which I reckon is the recommendation, I like veggies so I can get it easy from carrots and like that have more carbs in them than broccoli and cauliflower.
I have come to realize during my years that sustainability is the biggest thing, for now I allow one or two days of eating crap, but still try to keep the calories in check for those days. The fast was also a real eye-opener, just this week I got through my second which was 40 hours, that really made me realize that every time I thought I was hungry, that really wasn't the case.What has helped me a lot, is that I like cooking and usually now bring my own lunch to work mon-thu (friday is for pizza or some other crap). You can easily make healthy and tasty food if you plan ahead a bit. I haven't been really able to train with all the lingering injuries but I do at least a 1 hour jog/walk with the dog per day and haven't noticed any effects on energy levels, instead moving has become easier as I have lost some 8-9 kg during 6 weeks. Probably a tad too much, so have been thinking to eat a bit more, but the cravings have gone non-existent so it isn't that easy to up the eating.
In the end it doesn't really matter what kind of diet you do, find something you can sustain and then keep with it till you achieve your goals and then set new ones. I will probably start consuming more carbs once I get rid of the niggles and get back on training, maybe up the total calories too, but will surely still favour fats and protein as that has been working so far.
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@rembrandt said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
@catogrande Yeah sustainability will be the issue. I don't have a sweet tooth but my craving food is vegemite on toast. I've heard you need to give this thing 6 weeks to really try it properly. Will take a huge effort.
That is likely to be quite difficult then. One of the cravings I get is for texture. Something crunchy to alleviate all the meat, fish and eggs. I often get toast envy at breakfast time at Cato Towers. @Sapetyvi is bang on though - sustainability is key. I particularly like his view that it has to be sustainable until you meet your goals and then you set new goals. Doesn't make it such a long slog that way I reckon.
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@catogrande Yea my first goal was to get trough one week of keeping the diet, now I am aiming under 100kg (102.9 this morning). Small goals at a time works for me, someone else might find it easier to aim for the skies, but I reckon thinking 4-6 weeks forward should get you some sustainable goals.
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@sapetyvi said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
@jegga Had no problems. I was 100% sure my energy levels would go to shit, but nothing happened. What is keto-flu?
Apparently if you go all in it’s a real shock to your system and you get a week or so of flu like symptoms. Some people start off slower to avoid it.
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@jegga Well my diet wasnt shit, I just ate too much, plus the occasional fast food and then being too much on the piss, so the biggest shock was the hunger, but I reckon the fast helped there big time. I might also just be a lucky prick.
I got the fasting thing from an internet article which I cant find right now, it was 10 things we all should be able to do and I had done all of them except fasting for 24hrs, so I gave it a try and fuck I enjoyed it.
From now on I will Be doing 36-48hrs once a month, and just this week got on the intermittent thingy, I eat lunch between 11-12, dinner 17-18 and then just before 20 Ill Haven something small, usually a shake with milk, 1-2 eggs, whey-100 and some peanutbutter. I only really feel hungry just before lunch and dinner, otherwise it has been fine -
@sapetyvi Cheers for that, very useful. I've heard about the benefits from fasting but I know I generally turn into a bit of a prick when hungry so I think its best for everyone if I don't!
I have a colleague at work who has been doing Keto and intermittent fasting for a few weeks now, she claims she has more energy but she moans a hell of a lot during the day about being hungry and last week I had to call an ambulance as she collapsed with abdominal pain...so that's put me off the fasting part at least! (she ended up being fine, just got her to eat some cookies and have a rest and she came right).
Sustainability is certainly the key and I can see that will be where I could easily fall off as I do have a pretty busy life as is. I've also read about the keto-flu which I could see me caving after a stressful day so I think I'm just going to at least initially cut out all major sources of carbs bread/pasta/rice/potato/sugars. See how that runs for a month and then look to take things further. I'm also not in a position where I want to lose weight, maybe just a little bit of toning to pull back a slight holiday belly but nothing drastic.
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The tough thing is lack of snack type opportunities. No sandwiches, no pasta or rice salads. Lunch can be a bitch unless you plan.
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Planning is a must, need to be at least two days ahead, else you end up pounding a chinese buffet into bankcrupsy at lunch on monday.
I sorted the snacks with the shakes, get some good whey protein and blend it to milk, toss in an egg for good measure. Tastes ok and takes the hunger away for a while.
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I’m not Keto but roll with the low carb every time I need to shred up a bit for summer and it works quick fast every time. Usually feel less bloat or puffiness and way tighter within a week.
Means heaps of meat and greens. Plus eggs, peanut butter etc oh and whey. Takes prep tho, coooked up 2kg or chick breast this evening and also have about a kg of brisket left over to keep me going at work for the week.
Only carbs (other then vegetables) is post training in my oats and often have a banana on legs day.
Always have a refeed day with more carbs once a week and plan this for a heavy workout day. Keeps me sane knowing it’s coming and I feel like it helps with metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
Re energy levels. Haven’t noticed much impact but been like this for years and now days I’m more likely to feel sleepy and lethargic from carbs than I do without.
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I think ultimately you want to be happy and healthy. If you're constantly hungry and pissed off then it probably isn't ideal. Life can be short too so no point in completing cutting out all of the finer things.
I've experimented a bit and found a diet that works well for me. No sugar, butter or bread.
Breakfast: Cup of oats, raspberries, 2.5 eggs mixed with protein powder. Absolutely delicious.
Midmorning: 2 wholemeal rice cakes with peanutbutter.
Lunch: Chicken/turkey/salmon with rice/kumara.
Midafternoon: chunk of kale mixed with protein powder. Good shit.
Dinner: Similar to lunch, but midweek usually go spaghetti bolognaise.Saturday used to be epic cheat meals but have calmed down a bit. Generally just eat what I want but within reason.
Works well for me and I'm never hungry. But everyone is different.
I'm very skeptical about the carnivore diet but hope it catches on to piss off the vegans.
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@rancid-schnitzel said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
Breakfast: Cup of oats, raspberries, 2.5 eggs mixed with protein powder. Absolutely delicious.
So are you making a protein shake and adding raw eggs to it?
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@milk said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
@rancid-schnitzel said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
Breakfast: Cup of oats, raspberries, 2.5 eggs mixed with protein powder. Absolutely delicious.
So are you making a protein shake and adding raw eggs to it?
I used to top up my protein shakes with those liquid egg whats, add an extra 50ml to 100ml in there so bonus protein
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@milk said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
@rancid-schnitzel said in Diets keto/carnivore etc:
Breakfast: Cup of oats, raspberries, 2.5 eggs mixed with protein powder. Absolutely delicious.
So are you making a protein shake and adding raw eggs to it?
Yep. Delicious.
