Okay, I'm in. Need to go shopping to try some of the recommendations a few pages back!

I have been on the Ketogenic diet for 8 wks now; my wife for 20 wks. We both have significant amounts of weight...and I am T2 Diabetic.

I've watched my Blood Sugar fall from an average of 120 -135 (over the past 13 yrs) to 85-110, depending on my activity level. Total weight loss for me is 22 lbs to date.

But, to make this post more than a testimonial, has anybody read through the history of the Ketogenic diet?

There was a Dr Wilder at Johns-Hopkins Medical that formulated the approach in 1921... to treat Epilepsy. The approach was based on surprising results from earlier efforts by a team of McFadden and Conklin, who helped dozens of people suffering from epilepsy (They had a 80+ % success rate). Their method utilized fasting. Fasting was an approach also used 2,500 yrs ago in Greece.

Dr Wilder surmised that the fasting approach was difficult for an individual to maintain discipline, so hence, the Ketogenic diet. Johns-Hopkins still uses both fasting and Ketogenic principles today to treat epilepsy.

There are also some references on the web that the Keto approach works to help reverse T2 Diabetes...hopefully, on my part.

Even though the names are different, the Atkins Diet are very similar...low carbs and high-fat, but Atkins pushes protein. Although the AMA and most Doctors place high degrees of scorn on the approach, there are some strong advocates today, principly Dr. Mercola, who support the approach. His focus is Cellular Mitochondria regeneration.

Why do I bore you with this? Well, the Goverment and Food Big Business have been mucking around with our health since the early 1900's...from Kellogg lobbying to get cereals and grains included in the early USDA efforts at food guidance, to Beef, Pork and Poultry industry lobbyists in the 70's, to Dairy lobbyists in the 80's & 90's.

And to make matters worse, AMA and other medical orgs, plus the gov't, bought in on Dr Ancil Keys "7 Country Study" in the early 50's that indicated a consistent and strong correlation between high-fat diet and cholesterol, and heart disease. The only trouble was that his original study included 15 other countries, which he discarded because the data results did not match to his preferred conclusion...yeah, tainted Scientific Method goes back that far.

So, we as a group are trying to overcome Agro Big Business, USDA, FDA, ADA and AMA, among many others, forcing us to eat foods, in amounts and types that are detrimental to our health.

I am glad that my wife got me on the plan, that I have had good results, so far, and perhaps a pleasant surprise in the future. I also wish each of you continued success and results that you have shared in this thread.

Yeah, I think by the fact we're on this thread asking questions means we're no longer in the matrix. It's eye opening. Go watch The Magic Pill on Netflix and they talk about a lot of this.

Good info, thx for sharing!

SeMgCo87 said:

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I have been on the Ketogenic diet for 8 wks now; my wife for 20 wks. We both have significant amounts of weight...and I am T2 Diabetic.

I've watched my Blood Sugar fall from an average of 120 -135 (over the past 13 yrs) to 85-110, depending on my activity level. Total weight loss for me is 22 lbs to date.

But, to make this post more than a testimonial, has anybody read through the history of the Ketogenic diet?

There was a Dr Wilder at Johns-Hopkins Medical that formulated the approach in 1921... to treat Epilepsy. The approach was based on surprising results from earlier efforts by a team of McFadden and Conklin, who helped dozens of people suffering from epilepsy (They had a 80+ % success rate). Their method utilized fasting. Fasting was an approach also used 2,500 yrs ago in Greece.

Dr Wilder surmised that the fasting approach was difficult for an individual to maintain discipline, so hence, the Ketogenic diet. Johns-Hopkins still uses both fasting and Ketogenic principles today to treat epilepsy.

There are also some references on the web that the Keto approach works to help reverse T2 Diabetes...hopefully, on my part.

Even though the names are different, the Atkins Diet are very similar...low carbs and high-fat, but Atkins pushes protein. Although the AMA and most Doctors place high degrees of scorn on the approach, there are some strong advocates today, principly Dr. Mercola, who support the approach. His focus is Cellular Mitochondria regeneration.

Why do I bore you with this? Well, the Goverment and Food Big Business have been mucking around with our health since the early 1900's...from Kellogg lobbying to get cereals and grains included in the early USDA efforts at food guidance, to Beef, Pork and Poultry industry lobbyists in the 70's, to Dairy lobbyists in the 80's & 90's.

And to make matters worse, AMA and other medical orgs, plus the gov't, bought in on Dr Ancil Keys "7 Country Study" in the early 50's that indicated a consistent and strong correlation between high-fat diet and cholesterol, and heart disease. The only trouble was that his original study included 15 other countries, which he discarded because the data results did not match to his preferred conclusion...yeah, tainted Scientific Method goes back that far.

So, we as a group are trying to overcome Agro Big Business, USDA, FDA, ADA and AMA, among many others, forcing us to eat foods, in amounts and types that are detrimental to our health.

I am glad that my wife got me on the plan, that I have had good results, so far, and perhaps a pleasant surprise in the future. I also wish each of you continued success and results that you have shared in this thread.


Great post! Awesome results on blood sugar. I have been T2 for 9 years- levels fluxuate but are always best on low carb (but beer and football doom me in the fall!!). Hoping for a great A1C next month as I have been <50g carbs since April. Dropped 22 lbs and blood sugar went from 140s to 110s.

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Sully said:

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Yeah, I think by the fact we're on this thread asking questions means we're no longer in the matrix. It's eye opening. Go watch The Magic Pill on Netflix and they talk about a lot of this.

Good info, thx for sharing!

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Yeah, "The Magic Pill" is a good watch. I liked the early interviews, especially the Australian Aborigine natives. When asked, "What were the causes of death ____ years ago?", and their answer was, "fighting and old age". Which cracked me up.

I'm still reading up on the background, especially Mercola. But I have learned this much: required fat is on a sliding scale. Increases in activity and "stress" (the good kind of creative tension), will drive up the fat requirement. If you hit the macros for Protein and Carbs, and your activity level is any more than sedentary, you may find it hard to reach the fat spec. I currently follow Mercola's standard to lose weight: 0.8xLBM/1000 for Protein, 20 gm NET CARBS, and start at 128 gms of Fat.

Of course, if I'm working on turning a house, the fat soars to 240-260 gms. I never get there, because I don't have the stomach to eat a stick of butter (abt 100 gms of fat) for dessert. Or 5 Avacados. You get the picture.

I use Cronometer to track stuff...can store all kinds of biometrics. Biggest shortcoming is that you can't export the data to a CSV file.

It's definitely worked for me as well. In just shy of 2 months I've dropped from 195 and around 11% body fat to 182 and under 8%. At 33 I never expected to see those numbers. Not long ago I was wearing 34" pants and now my 32" are falling off.

wbt5845 said:

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For those on the fence - give keto a try!

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Good job! And Go Bloooooooo!

i just started. we'll see.

Down 10 lbs in a week on it!

Following the Fit2Fat2Fit program that my buddy put me on to.

Down 10 pounds after one week.

day 3. day 2 midday was rough because we didn't have any food around the house. but, we went to the grocery store and we're all stocked up now.

Been in Destin the past week. Drinking Miller Lite and now all swole up...gotta be up at least 7 or 8 lbs...maybe 10. I'm taking one for science, but man I feel like crap!

Sully said:

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Been in Destin the past week. Drinking Miller Lite and now all swole up...gotta be up at least 7 or 8 lbs...maybe 10. I'm taking one for science, but man I feel like crap!

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I miss beer.

I've had 2 vacations (4-5 days each) and came back from each about 5-6 pounds heavy. It took me about 5-7 days to get back to where I was before. Not all that bad considering I went from very strict to eating and drinking anything I wanted. If you get back into it quickly, the weight falls off.

Yeah. I think I would be down around 15 pounds without that wedding. I can definitely see myself building steam if I stick with it. Once my two girls are back at school/daycare then I'll be able to start running in the morning. I have a feeling the pounds will melt off if for no other reason than this Texas heat.

Congrats

Does anyone have any reliable info on the effect on testosterone levels in males from Keto?

It makes sense logically that more fat = more potential for T production provided you aren't on a starvation diet program (no s*** hormone levels will deteriorate at significant deficits). I was curious though because I have seen several articles fearmongering around Keto/low T links.

Lester Freamon said:

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Does anyone have any reliable info on the effect on testosterone levels in males from Keto?

It makes sense logically that more fat = more potential for T production provided you aren't on a starvation diet program (no s*** hormone levels will deteriorate at significant deficits). I was curious though because I have seen several articles fearmongering around Keto/low T links.

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I haven't seen any definitive stuff about it other than it seems that it doesn't affect much people's hormone levels. Your own personal blood tests and trial is really the only way to know for sure.

irish pete ag06 said:

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NYE I had 6-7 drinks over a 7 hour period and I woke up feeling like I had drank double that easily. Salt and No-Salt mixed in water helped cure it along with ibuprofen.

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Irish Pete...was reading the old posts and have to ask what's the point of no-salt with the real salt?

Whitetail said:

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irish pete ag06 said:

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NYE I had 6-7 drinks over a 7 hour period and I woke up feeling like I had drank double that easily. Salt and No-Salt mixed in water helped cure it along with ibuprofen.

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Irish Pete...was reading the old posts and have to ask what's the point of no-salt with the real salt?

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Regular salt = sodium
No salt = potassium

Sully said:

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Been in Destin the past week. Drinking Miller Lite and now all swole up...gotta be up at least 7 or 8 lbs...maybe 10. I'm taking one for science, but man I feel like crap!

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Back in ATX from vacation for 5 days. Back in ketosis, no alcohol since 7/6 and have fully recovered and lost the 7 lbs I gained. *Much* faster recovery this time around than previous vacations.

Average Joe said:

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Yeah. I think I would be down around 15 pounds without that wedding. I can definitely see myself building steam if I stick with it. Once my two girls are back at school/daycare then I'll be able to start running in the morning. I have a feeling the pounds will melt off if for no other reason than this Texas heat.

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Doesn't cold weather burn calories faster? Granted, it's more difficult in heat, but that's not the same thing.

Doc has me on low-carb as of yesterday. Not gonna post my weight (yet) but i'm encouraged reading everyone's stories, especially the women. I have been trying 1500 calories or less forever, and it is next to impossible. I'm always hungry, I feel like I'm missing my favorite foods, so i'm optimistic about being able to have milk & mayo. Made a low-carb blueberry muffin this morning that even my husband likes. I think the hardest part is going to be limiting alcohol, even though I haven't been a big beer drinker in years.

Some questions:
What's yall's favorite sweetener? I bought stevia, monkfruit, sola/erythritol and used a combo of monkfruit & stevia in my coffee. It's all right, but still tastes chemical-ey.

Doc said 20-30 g of carbs a day. Is that net carbs or total? I'm assuming net based on what I've read here. Yesterday I had a protein smoothie for lunch and salmon/veggies for dinner and calculated 38g on MyFitnessPal. I wasn't too discouraged, it being my first day, but if that was total carbs maybe I wasn't so bad after all.

How on earth am I supposed to get enough potassium? I've been tracking it on MFP for months and I never even come close to the 3500mg it recommends, even taking supplements. I've purchased the no-salt but that too just seems like a drop in the bucket.

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but this thread has made me more optimistic than worried, so thanks for that.

Rho, I would recommend Jason Fung (he's got some great videos on YouTube) on why calorie deficits won't work in the long term.

As far as potassium, I supplement cream of tartar to get my potassium.

94chem said:

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Average Joe said:

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Yeah. I think I would be down around 15 pounds without that wedding. I can definitely see myself building steam if I stick with it. Once my two girls are back at school/daycare then I'll be able to start running in the morning. I have a feeling the pounds will melt off if for no other reason than this Texas heat.

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Doesn't cold weather burn calories faster? Granted, it's more difficult in heat, but that's not the same thing.

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Yes, it does, but I meant it more as a hyperbole.

rhoswen said:

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Doc has me on low-carb as of yesterday. Not gonna post my weight (yet) but i'm encouraged reading everyone's stories, especially the women. I have been trying 1500 calories or less forever, and it is next to impossible. I'm always hungry, I feel like I'm missing my favorite foods, so i'm optimistic about being able to have milk & mayo. Made a low-carb blueberry muffin this morning that even my husband likes. I think the hardest part is going to be limiting alcohol, even though I haven't been a big beer drinker in years.

Some questions:
What's yall's favorite sweetener? I bought stevia, monkfruit, sola/erythritol and used a combo of monkfruit & stevia in my coffee. It's all right, but still tastes chemical-ey.

Doc said 20-30 g of carbs a day. Is that net carbs or total? I'm assuming net based on what I've read here. Yesterday I had a protein smoothie for lunch and salmon/veggies for dinner and calculated 38g on MyFitnessPal. I wasn't too discouraged, it being my first day, but if that was total carbs maybe I wasn't so bad after all.

How on earth am I supposed to get enough potassium? I've been tracking it on MFP for months and I never even come close to the 3500mg it recommends, even taking supplements. I've purchased the no-salt but that too just seems like a drop in the bucket.

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but this thread has made me more optimistic than worried, so thanks for that.

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Calculate net carbs by subtracting fiber. It's insoluble.

Use Nu-salt instead of table salt for cooking. It is pure potassium.

Avocado and nusalt.

A cup of avocado is 708 mg of potassium.

One teaspoon of Cream of tartar is 495 mg of potassium.

Haven't tried it in my coffee but I use Swerve for baking or Anthony's brand Erythirol. You have to experiment...some of these sweeteners have a minty taste to some people or a funky chemical aftertaste like you mentioned. But a ton of Keto people love Swerve (it is expensive though.)

And get yourself some Himalayan pink salt and use in cooking, baking, everything. And I've found you can always find it at Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Ross etc. I've never had the keto flu because I make sure I get my electrolytes, potassium etc.

Thanks everyone. With y'all's suggestions I got pretty dang close to 3500 mg of K. Went over on carbs, though. Still less than 50, so i'm not upset.