Bluecoaster's Journal, 02 August 2017

100 grams of organic greens dressed in 1 Tablespoon of deli- made blue cheese dressing mixed with 1T carb free sour cream. 3/4 Cup brocolli with 1teaspoon butter & 10 grams of bacon. 4 oz dry rub cooked chicken, 50g avocado, 8g tomato, 15g cucumber, 1/2 teaspoon hemp seed hearts, 2 Tablespoon probiotic raw sauerkraut to ensure gut health on a ketogenic diet and a shake of black sesame. Broccoli/ bacon was warmed up in the micro. Everything else is chilled. 

Absolutely a beautiful plate with delicious food! I so appreciate all your notation of ingredients and nutrients. 

My pleasure revvit! 🌸 

I'd eat at your place...nice job on presentation, ingredients and variety!! 

This is the way to eat Ketogenic. Great balance and use of carbs! 

Horseshu1 & Steven- yeah, its been a process for me- way in the beginning I hung on to some crutches (food items) that I have been able to slowly change/eliminate because I don't miss them anymore. It took a while to learn how to make meals taste complete because I was so used to the starch being on the plate. I post this stuff because I think one of the keys to staying happy losing body fat on Keto is to be at peace putting together yummy and filling meals that do not look or taste like diet food. Being in ketosis for a long time really helped me desire more vegetables in all forms though. Its crazy how spending your days in deep ketosis just changes everything. 😊 10 months in I am still experiencing exciting changes as the process continues! 

That's beautiful 

Isn't that too little fat for being a LCHF meal? 

lassetorni- no, not too little fat at all. I am doing a ketogenic diet for fat loss, not maintenance-so I want to eat just enough fat to feel satisfied and then allow my body to use my fat stores for energy. The figure we read about people utilizing 70-80% of calories from fat on a ketogenic diet is an accurate number for what the body requires but too often it's implied that all that fat needs to be eaten. In reality if it all comes from diet while in ketosis, the body has no need to tap and burn fat stores for energy. If a person is either in maintenance mode or doing it for medical reasons they should most likely eat more fat than I do. If you check really good sources like Volek and Phinney you can confirm the science behind what I am saying. Restricting carbs gets you into ketosis but only eating fat to satiety is the formula you want for fat loss. Cheers! 

Lassetorni- I left out one important detail. In the very beginning of starting a LCHF diet, while your body is learning to adapt to using fat instead of carbs, yes, its helpful to eat more fat than this and not go over 20 carbs per day. But once your body is fully fat adapted, then the other paragraph I wrote applies. 

Bluecoaster - that was a PERFECT explanation of fat requirements on a ketogenic diet for a person desiring weight loss! So many don't understand. Carbs are a limit - protein a requirement - and fat to satiety. Eat enough fat to feel comfortably full - Don't try to "get fat in" to reach a fat macro. I like the idea of my body burning fat I ate/stored 10 years ago! 

Blue coaster you right on the money with the macros. I increase my protein to fat ratio whenever I feel the need (typically workout days), and then sort of try and keep sated with higher fat while keeping a 600 calorie deficit on relax days. 

Yugguth & Hipaagrammy- I'm glad you guys agree that its important to get these clarifications out there - The acronym "LCHF" is so misleading when its only really "high" fat in the very beginning and the very end. "low carb and fat just to satiety" just doesn't have the same ring to it but that's the reality for the whole stage devoted to fat loss. 

Had not heard of Volek and Phinney. Thank you! 

Yes if you are working out similar to ketogains (good website) and do not mind gaining a little weight in muscle (which can mess your your weight loss graphs even though your pants fit better) versus just fat loss, having higher protein than the ktogenic LCHF folks preach is appropriate. 

Yugguth- I'm on the same page with the protein topic- I lift weights too. A ketogenic lifestyle has really gotten me in touch with my body- I'm so much more mindful about how everything makes me feel and what my true needs are. 

BC, how do you balance strength training and cardio? I'd planned to do arms today, but got carried away on recumbent.  

I do my strength training non stop and keep my heart rate up in the cardio zone. It registers in my fitbit. The rest of the time I walk/ hike up hills in nature. But that's just my style. Biking/ recumbent is great exercise. I'm no expert at exercise, I just know what works for me. 

"In the very beginning of starting a LCHF diet, while your body is learning to adapt to using fat instead of carbs, yes, its helpful to eat more fat than this and not go over 20 carbs per day." I disagree on that. If one has been a long time on carbs, it can take a while before one's liver and the rest of the body is "up to task", burning fat fuel. Hence, I recommend that one brings the carbs down but if it feels heavy, a bit more liberate carbs (up to 50-60 g/day) can be allowed. After the body has adjusted to fatburning, carbs can be cutted down to 20-25 g/day if wanted and it feels good.  

Lassetorni- a considerable percentage of people will not be able to reliably enter nutritional ketosis eating in the range of 50-60 net carbs per day- especially if they are even just a bit off in measuring their food portions/weights. Most of the people reading these posts about a ketogenic diet have the goal of achieving ketosis as soon as possible. I'm careful what I post here on FS and what I posted is not even my opinion. I'm quoting the scientific research stated by published doctors with real expertise in human metabolism who explain that "when dietary carbohydrates are held to 50 grams or less per day, humans undergo a process called Keto-adaptation causing the liver to make and release ketones into the bloodstream." Volek Phd RD & Phinney MD Phd. Further, plenty of people here on FS are type 2 diabetic, pre-diabetic or have some stage of metabolic syndrome and to achieve optimum response the research indicates that to manage insulin resistance : "clinical experience has shown that holding dietary carbohydrate at 20-25 grams per day is often necessary...a few months later, following substantial weight loss, some individuals "might" be able to increase daily carbohydrate intake above 60 grams per day. " Also "nutritional ketosis is by definition a benign metabolic state that gives human metabolism the flexibility to deal with famine or major shifts in available dietary fuels." Eating 'fat to satiety' is a very well known bit of advice amongst the known experts in the field. That said, if you have solid research from real studies that recommends your higher carb approach prior to attempting the standard approach to beginning a ketogenic diet as more effective- please share!