Low carb program

[Jan5]

Hi everyone

I need to lose 21lbs to have my hip replaced in March next year. The surgeon has made it clear he will not do it if I do not. I have followed a Mediterranean diet for the past 4 years but I still find it very difficult to lose weight, but now have the added problem of being almost immobile. I am interested in joining the low carb program but could anyone tell me if exercise is a key part?

Thanks

 

[KennyA]

Hi everyone

I need to lose 21lbs to have my hip replaced in March next year. The surgeon has made it clear he will not do it if I do not. I have followed a Mediterranean diet for the past 4 years but I still find it very difficult to lose weight, but now have the added problem of being almost immobile. I am interested in joining the low carb program but could anyone tell me if exercise is a key part?

Thanks

Hello and welcome

It's not a straightforward answer, I'm afraid. I did my own low carb thing from 2019 onwards which was roughly the equivalent of the Atkins approach: I restricted carbs to around 20g/day, and still do. In addition to having normal blood glucose within four months, I have also lost around 90lbs, almost all of that by 2021/2022. Exercise played no part in that weight loss at all. In fact, until 2022 I was too heavy to exercise safely, without injuring myself. I know a number of other people who have lost similar or greater amounts of fat/weight via low carb, without exercising.

I do exercise now, because I enjoy it, not for weight loss or any other purpose.

 

[Jan5]

Thank you for your reply. I was thinking of paying for the low carb program that is on here and wondered if that involved exercise. Didn’t think it would be worth paying for if it did.

 

[lovinglife]

I don’t know about the low carb programme on the main website, as I’ve never used it. but most plans include exercise I would think. But like @KennyA I didn’t & still don’t do much exercise, home circumstances & other health issues (plus I hate any form of “formal exercise”) I went low carb then keto & lost over 11st. I do walk a bit, gardening, dancing in the kitchen but other than that I don’t exercise at all.

You could try the plan & not do the exercises? Or modify the exercises maybe to chair exercises etc. there’s lots of stuff on the internet for that.

One caveat I will add for me personally once I’d lost a few stone I also had to start calorie counting too. Many here have said they don’t have to but I certainly do if I want to keep the weight off & continue to lose - very slowly these days. It could be you’re one of the unlucky ones like me & have to calorie counting too? I also have to watch dairy as I find that can stall my weight or give me weight gain if I eat too much cheese, cream, butter. I get my fats from good oils like avocado oil, walnut oil, EVOO & oily fish, mayo etc.

One site I used was DietDoctor which has a lot of free stuff, menu plans, great info, recipes. You can subscribe for more but I never felt the need

Anything you want to cook will have a low carb keto alternative, so your favourite foods & recipes just google them with low carb in front & there’s dozens of alternatives. Many more than when I started 16 years ago, there was hardly anything then

 

[Pipp]

Thank you for your reply. I was thinking of paying for the low carb program that is on here and wondered if that involved exercise. Didn’t think it would be worth paying for if it did.

Hi @Jan5

I used the Low carb program when it was just starting out. It did not involve an exercise program then, and I don’t think it does now. It is mainly a course helping participants understand and make gradual changes to what they eat.

There are options to join online chats and there are online mentors.
I just used it for info, I was already exercising, but due to my own mobility impairments the exercise was in water. Swimming and aquafit.

In some areas there is the option for the course, or similar to be provided free of charge on NHS. It is a bit of a ‘post code lottery’ as not all health boards will fund it, but it is worth asking. There might be a course, or something similar you can have where you live.

Alternatively , if you don’t want to pay, there is a wealth of info available in our forums about the low carb way of eating. Also sites such as dietdoctor have free info avaiable.

 

[Jan5]

I don’t know about the low carb programme on the main website, as I’ve never used it. but most plans include exercise I would think. But like @KennyA I didn’t & still don’t do much exercise, home circumstances & other health issues (plus I hate any form of “formal exercise”) I went low carb then keto & lost over 11st. I do walk a bit, gardening, dancing in the kitchen but other than that I don’t exercise at all.

You could try the plan & not do the exercises? Or modify the exercises maybe to chair exercises etc. there’s lots of stuff on the internet for that.

One caveat I will add for me personally once I’d lost a few stone I also had to start calorie counting too. Many here have said they don’t have to but I certainly do if I want to keep the weight off & continue to lose - very slowly these days. It could be you’re one of the unlucky ones like me & have to calorie counting too? I also have to watch dairy as I find that can stall my weight or give me weight gain if I eat too much cheese, cream, butter. I get my fats from good oils like avocado oil, walnut oil, EVOO & oily fish, mayo etc.

One site I used was DietDoctor which has a lot of free stuff, menu plans, great info, recipes. You can subscribe for more but I never felt the need

Anything you want to cook will have a low carb keto alternative, so your favourite foods & recipes just google them with low carb in front & there’s dozens of alternatives. Many more than when I started 16 years ago, there was hardly anything then

Thank you. That was helpful. I will certainly look on DietDoctor and see what they have there.

 

[Melgar]

The reason exercise is a positive when joints are involved is because muscles help to support joints. If your muscles are weak or have low mass it puts extra strain on your joints. Same if you are carrying too many pounds, this also puts a strain on your joints. I’m lean, but I have poly- osteoarthritis , all my joints are affected so I use exercise to help support my joints. I think it’s the reason my joints have lasted as long as they have. I was told I would need knee replacements before I reached 40, but my knees are still working, I’m 64. I do love exercise though.

As for losing weight through exercise it is a long game and may not help you if you are not into exercise as one has to do a lot of exercise to lose weight, but some exercise is better than no exercise, not just for weight loss, but for heart health and vascular health.

Muscles utilize up to 70% of glucose intake. They are the biggest users of energy so it makes sense that increasing muscle mass means more blood glucose is used up, but this depends on how efficient your metabolism is. Most T2’s have a lack of insulin sensitivity, which means that the body is not great at utilizing that blood glucose.

I’ve digressed, but in my view some exercise is better than no exercise for the reasons above.

 

[Jan5]

Hi @Jan5

I used the Low carb program when it was just starting out. It did not involve an exercise program then, and I don’t think it does now. It is mainly a course helping participants understand and make gradual changes to what they eat.

There are options to join online chats and there are online mentors.
I just used it for info, I was already exercising, but due to my own mobility impairments the exercise was in water. Swimming and aquafit.

In some areas there is the option for the course, or similar to be provided free of charge on NHS. It is a bit of a ‘post code lottery’ as not all health boards will fund it, but it is worth asking. There might be a course, or something similar you can have where you live.

Alternatively , if you don’t want to pay, there is a wealth of info available in our forums about the low carb way of eating. Also sites such as dietdoctor have free info avaiable.

Thank you for your reply. I will look into it

 

[Jan5]

The reason exercise is a positive when joints are involved is because muscles help to support joints. If your muscles are weak or have low mass it puts extra strain on your joints. Same if you are carrying too many pounds, this also puts a strain on your joints. I’m lean, but I have poly- osteoarthritis , all my joints are affected so I use exercise to help support my joints. I think it’s the reason my joints have lasted as long as they have. I was told I would need knee replacements before I reached 40, but my knees are still working, I’m 64. I do love exercise though.

As for losing weight through exercise it is a long game and may not help you if you are not into exercise as one has to do a lot of exercise to lose weight, but some exercise is better than no exercise, not just for weight loss, but for heart health and vascular health.

Muscles utilize up to 70% of glucose intake. They are the biggest users of energy so it makes sense that increasing muscle mass means more blood glucose is used up, but this depends on how efficient your metabolism is. Most T2’s have a lack of insulin sensitivity, which means that the body is not great at utilizing that blood glucose.

I’ve digressed, but in my view some exercise is better than no exercise for the reasons above.

Thank you for your reply. It isn’t that I do not like exercise. I used to exercise 5 times a week but I am wheelchair bound until my hip replacement.

 

[Pipp]

Thank you for your reply. It isn’t that I do not like exercise. I used to exercise 5 times a week but I am wheelchair bound until my hip replacement.

Hello, former wheelchair user here.
I needed surgery for botched gynae and abdominal operations. Started out with chairbased exercise. Progressed to swimming pool, before I had surgery, and before losing 49kg. The water bears your weight, so moving is not painful like it is on land.
The exercise is not what causes weightloss, but it does improve muscle tone, and prevents muscle loss, too.

I do understand how difficult it can be, though, when the pain and need to use wheelchair takes so much effort for everything you need to do.

 

[Outlier]

I went down 5 clothes sizes on keto diet and no extra exercise added to what I used to do when I was bigger. Sorry can't quote weight loss as don't know what I weighed when I started