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Do I need to perfect my diet

Lawrencepa

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
So I've recently started keto. It's going well and I feel dedicated but sometimes I feel like I'm just not getting it right. Ok my fat is high and my carbs low. I have planned exactly what to have every lunch and breakfast. I have bought keto recipe books. But it seems like I'm doing parts wrong like not enough protein and eating too little carbs. I should be eating 1700 but I'm currently getting 1300 on average . Id like to keep it this way because I'd have to rethink everything otherwise. Am I just being a perfectionist or does it not matter when aiming for optimal weight loss?
 
On keto there is no way that you can eat too few carbs..
For a proper keto diet you should really be aiming for 20g or less per day. 0 is perfectly acceptable.
What are your macros (amount of carb protein fat)?
Try to ignore calories and just ensure you get enough fat. Its hard to overeat protein when you are starting ad to be honest men can usually overeat it anyway with no problems.
What's your meal plan look like?
 
 
I know what you mean, sometimes I can become obsessed with it all. I still have in the back of my mind same as you "Am I doing this right?" I don't think that you are alone in this, plenty must feel the same. We can only do our best really
 

Egg and bacon for brekkie salad with cheese olives and Caesar dressing and in evening generally meat and veg I also snack on cheese or celery sticks or pepperami. According to one calculator I'm having enough protein albeit in a big deficit and in another I'm not. So will I note lose weight if I'm not under 20g? I thought keto could be up to 50g
 
It is probably easiest to work on the carbs first,and put together meals you like the sound of, then check your blood glucose.
Trying to use counters devised for other reasons than controlling blood glucose by low carbing is confusing as the software was never designed to cope with it.
 
Hi @Lawrencepa ..
While your macro nutrient calculations are important, I can't help thinking that you are putting far too much emphasis on this area. and I suspect that you are treating LCHF/Keto as a strict diet whereas, in fact, it is much more of a lifestyle. The point is that diets (particularly strict ones) always, always fail .. but lifestyles are manageable and become easier over time

So, my advice is to stop worrying about numbers and ratios and start eating to your meter, avoiding foods that cause you to "spike" and monitoring trends in your blood glucose levels over time. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. together with the following Diet Doctor websites, which will give you all the info that you need on what and what not to eat ...
Low Carb Intro and Information and Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

Hope this helps
 
Can be but to guarantee ketosis 20g is recommended.. I try to stay under that and succeed most of the time. You'll probably loose weight if you eat more but your blood sugars won't come down quite so fast and you may not loose so quickly. Have you thought of some intermittent fasting? Helped me a lot at the beginning. Obviously not essential but another tool in the box if you choose to use it.
 
I try to set my carb limit ( 20 or less per day) then my protein allotment. I use the .8-1g per kg LEAN body mass and eat fat to satisfaction, no more, no less.

Excess protein ( especially with keto) turns to bs. 50+% actually so over eating protein CAN kick you out of fat burning.

I follow vlc, MODERATE protein and fat to satisfy. Those calculators would have me eating way more calories than I need and I dbe stuffed. Listen to your body. Eat when hungry, don't when not. It will tell you, not a calorie counter.

My diet is 80% fat. Mostly avocado, olive oil, mayo, nuts and a little cheese.
I never ever count calories. Mostly protein and I can now eyeball carbs. I only found this possible with using a food scale in the beginning. Finding that one broccoli florets was one carb lol. It helps just to get an idea of portion sizes. You need not become obsessed. Then I eat 15% protein and 5% carbs all from above ground veg, nuts and avocdo.
 
High fat diet actually has been shown to increase insulin requirements. I'll put the link to the study below. The secondary issue related to this is that increased insulin means you'll put on weight. I'm on a super low saturated fat diet (<10g/day sat. fat) related to having another autoimmune condition (+ tidm for 30 years) but my insulin requirements dropped by almost half and I have maintained this for 4 years (I also lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off). Good luck regardless of if you take this into account. It's a tough gig diabetes! Cheers, T.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609492/
 
I just had my post cut because of a link to the appropriate study. Appologies for not refencing this properly. High fat meals require more insulin, and more insulin means weight gain. I have followed an ultra low saturated fat diet (<10g/day of sat. fat) for 4 years (tidm for 30 but my diet is related to a seconnd autoimmune condition and diabetes results were unexpected) and my insulin requirements have dropped by almost half and I have lost nearly 10kg and mainted that.

Diabetes Care. 2013 Apr; 36(4): 810–816.
Published online 2013 Mar 14.

Good luck with your goals whether you take this on board or not, diabetes is a tough gig!
 
The trouble is the OP is a prediabetic. So what works for someone with Type 1 may well be incorrect for Type 2.
For an unmedicated Type 2 sat fats are usually not a problem.
 
I'm not sure if you were referring to me and my 80% fat diet? I don't eat lots of saturated fats at all. Those make me insulin resistant. The mono/ fat plants do not at all. Carbs raise my bs so those are out. Protein turns to bs so that is moderated. Plant fats have negligible if any effect on my bs. My diet is 80% fat but consists of an avocado a day, some ( two tablespoons) mayo or oil, an ounce of cheese and some nuts and seeds as well as the fat that comes with my protein but all visible fat removed. Hardly lots of fat, just a higher percentage than carbs or protein

I have been through all the stages of diabetes. Pre, type 2 , the progression to LADA and now LADA honeymoon over. Before LADA, sat fats had very little effect on my bs. Carbs were always the culprit. Surely as a type 2 cutting carbs and replacing them with healthy fats is the best choice.
 
Thanks for this info on your diet, I think this could help me further! I am not shy about unsaturated fat but the ratios you have fascinate me. I know t1 and t2 are very different, but in some things there is cross over, especially as t1 can become insulin resistant. I don't want to stop learning!
 

What makes you think you're doing it wrong? If you're wanting to lose weight and actually losing it and feeling well, surely that means you're doing things right??

All calculators and recommended combinations/proportions, etc, are simply guides to help us and not iron clad rules to be obsessively followed - that way lies madness - IM(not so humble!)O!

I eat to my meter to manage my glucose levels, and if I'm getting the results I hope for then I consider I'm "doing it right" and I'm happy regardless of how much I eat or in what combinations; if I'm not then, and only then, I'll need to rethink. The same with weight - my scales tell me if I'm OK, if not then again it's time to have a rethink. (And sometimes it happens that circumstances beyond my control interfere with my aims, and I have to learn to live with that...)

Robbity
 
Now that I e started insulin I can CLEARLY see the foods that make me insulin resistant. Meaning I need more insulin to cover it and / or I don't drop back down. The funny thing is I eventually found eating the same way I did when I was type 2 is still the best plan for me as type 1. Keeps me the steadiest. Plant fats are fine, even great. Chicken skin, bacon, fatty sausage , greasy burgers, fried foods, cheese, too many nuts or carby nuts ( peanuts, almonds, cashews ( I know, 2 are legumes) raise me and it takes days of additional insulin to get back to normal.

Too much protein raises me and takes days

Lamb with visible fat cut off, lean steak, chicken thighs, tuna, salmon, turkey, eggs, shrimp, fish are all perfect.

I eat 4-5 small meals / snacks a day that require 1/2-1 unit depending. I don't like large meals so thinsworks for me. They consist of a wedge of avocado and a bit of protein and a small amount of veg. Usually lettuce wrap. Macs and pumpkin seeds and olives are snacks. I'm a grazer but it works. Sensative tummy!!
 
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