Exercise, Nutrition, WLS & Cooking Q&A - 10/15/2013
I am here to help in whatever way I can.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor (yet). I am not a nutritionist (yet), I am not a personal trainer (yet). I am not a psychologist (yet). I am not a chef (but a pretty damn good cook). I have however read, watched, researched, and experimented extensively over the past several years, so whatever advice I dispense, take it for what it is worth.
Think of Ketosis as Fat for Fuel, because that is what is going on, your body is burning fat instead of carbs or protein for fuel). The way to really tell is to use Keto Strips. You pee on them and they turn some shade of purple to tell you the level of ketones in your urine. However there are other ways you can tell with out peeing on your fingers. Your breath will smell bad. Your pee will smell worse than normal and will likely be darker. You may even have a bit more body odor than normal.
No you will not be in ketosis all the time you will go in and out of ketosis but technically speaking the lower you keep your carbs the longer you will stay in it. Also when you are in ketosis you need to not be eating fat free or anything less than 2% fat (i.e. cottage cheese or yogurt). You need a certain amount of dietary fats (mostly omega-3,6,9 fats as well as polyunsaturated fats, and unsaturated fats). Some saturated fat is ok, particularly from coconut oil because they are a medium versus long chain triglycerides which requires no digestive processes to make them available for fuel so you burn them more quickly. Any time you consume carbs (particularly high glycemic carbs) you will stop the process of ketosis. But once those carbs get burned you will go back to ketosis (fat for fuel)
The cool thing about ketosis is that it takes your body 1/2 of a calorie of fat to burn 1 calorie of fat. So while we are burning fat we are almost getting a 2 for 1 in the process. That other 1/2 calorie of fat (ketone after it is converted to fuel) comes out in your breath, urine, sweat, feces, etc.
I have quite a bit of experience with low carb diets and ketosis and I do not think I recall ever getting a sweet taste in my mouth because of it, but the way your taste buds respond to them may be more sensitive than mine. I have never heard of that or read about it but you might be an extra sweet person so enjoy it when it does happen.
Not sure what it is. You might try googling it.
Hi Keith, I currently have the crap-band until my insurance kicks in (that should be in January) I am then going to try and get a revision to the sleeve, I am suppose to eat dense proteins, however anytime I do I end up throwing up. my question to you is what are some good proteins other than meat? I can eat taco meat and greek yogurt. Everyday for lunch I eat an avocado however I am worried about the fat content; any suggestions?
Well I think you are on the right track. The key to eating dense protein is chewing very well and keep it moist with juices or sauces. If you can eat taco meat that means you might tolerate other ground meats as well, particularly fatty ones. Ground turkey, chicken, pork, beef, etc all might work well. Greek yogurt is good for protein, others are cottage cheese, hard cheeses, eggs, beans.
as for the avocado, just stick to half of one per day. You don't need to worry about the fat, it's all healthy fat, but they are very caloricaly dense so if you are trying to hit a calorie target they will hurt you but they are very good for you.
