Ketosis or NOT???
I would say for the first 5 months I was under 50 grams of carbs but now it's about 60. I was ketosis for those 5 months, now my weight loss has slowed but it's still steady. I'm sure days many that are under 30gr but it's not for long term. I'm careful about what I eat but I'm a realist and know it has to be manageable.
Good luck, balancing!
Machelle 11/6/2012 with Dr. Houseworth WA
You don't have to be in ketosis to lose weight. Weigh****chers has been used by many people over the years and they have had much success with there plan. Its just based on calories in. So is the VSG. You can be in ketosis and not be losing weight if your taking in too many calories. I can testify to that myself from my two stints on the Adkins diet. No matter which path you choose your going to have to eat a lower amount of calories.
Cons. Wt. 394 Surg. Wt. 386 Curr. Wt. 311
I was never symptomatically "in ketosis" - dropping some ketones in your urine is a natural result of burning fat, but there's no particular reason to take things to extremes in induce those side effects; the idea that you need to do this in order to burn fat is a bit of classic American marketing that takes a product's problems and promotes them a selling point or "feature". Our bodies can happily burn fat as long as we maintain a caloric deficit and that hasn't changed throughout the low fat and low carb diet fad phases of the diet industry. The common low carb side effects of hypoglycemia, lethargy and brain fade were not acceptable to my lifestyle so I never went that direction.
I had no particular targets for carb consumption other than to keep things as balanced and nutritious as reasonably possible within our protein minimums and caloric limits consistent with weight loss goals. Typically my carb intake varied between 70 and 120 g, with the larger numbers coming later in the loss phase when I specifically was adding more complex carbs to maintain energy levels for some longer workouts.
There is another guy here that had similar starting and ending points to mine but adopted the heavily promoted low carb cookie cutter diet and got to goal in four months or so. How much of that difference is due to the lower carb numbers or the calorie intake that is half to two-thirds of mine (11-1200 per day) is anybody's guess (not to mention normal variations between individuals.)
Most nutritionists acknowledge that the very low carb diets can yield somewhat quicker weight loss, though with no particular advantage to overall loss, but the greater concern that they tend to have is the longer term effects of these diets in promoting unhealthy eating habits (like skipping your fruits and vegetables.) Indeed, we do see some of that here with a number of the vets reporting difficulty in establishing a normally balanced human diet once they get past their loss phase which is something that I don't see much with vets of my doc's program which doesn't put an emphasis on such low carb numbers (but minimizing simple carbs/sugars is an integral part of it.)
Overall, a better approach to trying to maintain the agonizingly low carb numbers that is currently fashionionable is to utilize the glycemic index which aims to the same result of the Atkins style diets in controlling the body's insulin responses but without the negative side effects. It recognizes the difference between the complex carbs that we need to maintain health and the crap carbs that have gotten many into weight trouble. A major flaw of the carb counting diets is their inability to differentiate between a grapefruit (one of the lower GI fruits) and a Twinkie, but your body certainly knows the difference. Then there is the common problem that most on low carb diets have of not getting enough dietary fiber to keep things flowing smoothly.
1st support group/seminar - 8/03 (has it been that long?)
Wife's DS - 5/05 w Dr. Robert Rabkin VSG on 5/9/11 by Dr. John Rabkin
Hi,
I am 6 weeks out today and have lost 20 pounds. I was considered a "light weight" so 20 pounds for me is great. I also have Type 1 diabetes and PCOS so weight loss is slow and is a challenge. I typically eat about 40g carbs per day. Low enough to make a difference, and high enough to stay out of ketosis. I feel like my weight loss is pretty steady.
I have no idea if I have ever been in ketosis. I have usually kept my carbs between 50 and 75 and have lost at what I feel is a good pace. I eat fruit and veggies every day, also dairy. I eat peanut butter and hummus and regular salad dressing occasionally, but in tiny amounts all measured and logged. I eat measured amounts of full fat cheese. But I have stayed away completely from bread, crackers, grains (except oatmeal) pasta, "bad carbs" I have eaten no whole grains either. I plan to add these back in in maintenance. to be honest, by the time I get my protein in (I eat 90 gms daily) there is NO room for more carbs than that. I am close to 6 months out and my calories are at about 950.I know my nut would like me to be eating more calories, but I work hard to get that 950 ! I do exercise 5 days a week.I am a lightweight and this is what has worked for me, I feel wonderful. As you will see by these board success can be had with a couple different plans. The key is consistency, determination, good choices most of the time, there is no easy way to do it.
Anne
