Looking for information on the Ketogenic Diet

Hi Everyone,

Feel free to point me to a post that answers these questions if one already exists

I'm looking for information from those who are eating Keto. I was wondering if you eat true Keto (high fat, moderate protein, low carb) or a variation that might be slightly more WLS friendly (less fat, more protein). Other questions I have are:

Could you describe your diet?

How you find your energy levels?

Challenges you have with eating Keto?

Any information those on Keto have would be appreciated.

To those who are going to warm me about the dangers of Keto: Thank for your concern. At this point I am merely looking for information from people who are currently following this diet (Its called Ethnography). If you have links to reputable studies or information that back up your concern more than "Keto is Bad, MMMkay....." I would be happy to look at them.

This site has a ton of Keto information along with plans and recipes. Keto diet

I eat rather ketogenically, although one may argue not truly keto, as I am higher in protein than what the macros are typically. I do not restrict fats at all, but have a hard time getting them higher without purposefully adding them to my diet.

I eat less than 20 grams of carbs on most days -- always under 40. I eat about 75 to 90 grams of protein. I do not purposefully add fat, but don't restrict it at all. My fats are in the form of butter, avocado, olive oil, ghee, and coconut oil.

I have excellent energy levels -- and I've been doing this so long, it's not really challenging any more.

If anything you would really learn the carb counts for everything. Hitting between 20 and 40 is hard work!

I ate full fat and a little lower protein due to renal issues during the rapid weight loss phase.

I have been Keto for 14 months, beginning about 4.5 months post surgery. I eat true Keto, and do high fat, medium protein, low carb. I measure net carbs (lots of poo-pooing about net carbs here on OH, but it works for me), and stick to 20 net carbs per day. In maintenance, I stay at around 1300-1400 calories per day, and minimum 60% fat, 30% protein, and 10% carbs. When I am trying to lose (such as now because I need to lose 10 lbs of stress eating gain), I up my fat to 70%, protein 20-25%, and carbs 5-10%. (A note about stress eating gain: I still only eat what I should, I just tend to eat more often, ending up with more calories than I should have per day. I still don't eat processed carbs or any of that other stuff.)

I originally did the required high protein, low fat, low carb diet. But I found, for me, I was not satisfied with what I was eating. When I switched to the Ketogenic way of eating, I found the added fat provided much more satiety to my meals, and I do just fine on 3 meals a day, no snacking. The protein and fat forward meals fill me up and keep me satisfied for hours.

I ate very simply for the first year...meat, cheese, dairy and low carb veggies. I only recently made my first Keto dessert, which was great, but something I will do only once in a while, as I still fear the old sweets obsession taking over.

I am also very strict with my Keto way of eating. I do not follow the "if it fits your macros" choices that many use. If it is not listed as approved Keto food, I don't eat it. No grains, no legumes, no soy, no hydrogenated oils, no added sugars, and with a few minor very low carb/low natural sugar keto approved options, only veggies that grow above the ground.

I find my energy is great, my labs are great, and I'm happy with my lifestyle. The only challenges I have found are that occasionally I have been out somewhere or at a gathering where there are little or no options for me to eat...in those cases I just do the best I can and don't worry about it.

Best of luck to you...and Keto On!! :)

P.S. I follow the guidelines and advice advocated on www.ketovangelist.com

Early out from surgery, I found it wasn't easy to eat true Keto and also hit protein goals. If you're only eating 500-800 calories and need to get in 60-80g of protein the math doesn't work. My carbs were always really low (20-30g/day) but my protein was high and my fat was moderate.

Once I approached maintenance my diet tended more towards keto naturally. As my calories increased I increased protein but once I got up to around 120g I started floundering because I didn't really need more than that (as in, eating more protein than that is a lot of food volume when you're early out) and I also didn't want to add carbs. So, I added fat.

I do not eat strict keto but I have my macros set to 70% fat, 20% protein, & 10% carbs. I eat 1,600-1,800 calories per day which gives me a target of 40g of total carbs. I normally come in under that at this point, but I'm not as good about making sure my fat and protein macros stay the way they should. I'm going to buckle down and really try to get into deeper keto later this month. I'm interested in the energy balance of a higher fat diet, but I feel good doing what I'm doing as well.

The main number I focus on is carbs, I shoot for under 20g total. There are times I go above but very rarely. I don't worry about my fat, what I mean by that is I don't go out of my way to do high fat but I also don't do low fat. I eat just enough fat and protein to feel satiated. I think my energy levels are normal, they wax and wane based on various factors in my life. I did add in some electrolytes recently and noticed that I "feel better" overall.

I eat fairly low carb in comparison to a normal diet, however I do not do an actual keto diet. I don't pay attention to fat, and my carbs rub a bit higher than other's here, I found I didn't get the energy I needed to keep going successfully on sub 20-30 carbs. People are very successful doing keto after surgery through and it definitely works especially to maintain weight loss.

Girl...you lost 315 pounds....stay the course.

For those of you that do Keto or a version of it, what tracker do you use?