Posted on 10/11/2023 5:13:19 AM PDT by IamConservative
I've recently lost 42 lbs on a "clean" keto diet. By clean, I mean no processed "keto" processed foods. I have 30 pounds to go! Anyone who has tried losing weight knows about weight loss stalls. They can be devastating to your will power.
I wanted to share what I've learned and what has worked for me.
The short of it is, lettuce causes weight loss stalls for me on the keto diet. Same is true for my wife. Eating salads will stall our weight loss even though there are no significant carbs in lettuce or the salad toppings.
If I stay under 1800 calories, 20 carbs and eat cooked low carb veggies plain or swimming in creamy, fatty, bacony, cheesy sauce and 6-8 ounces of protien at a meal, I lose weight at 2-3 pounds per week. If I eat lettuce at any meal 3 or more times per week, my weight loss will stall indefinitely.
I don't understand why, but I have observed this 3 times in my journey. I can turn weight loss on and off with lettuce. My wife can too.
I noticed at the zoo a few years ago that lettuce is what they fed the manatees.
Food is medicine (or poison). Good health should be a joy, not a chore. I am glad that the proper food is working & ‘joy’ is coming back!
Pretty much when the ‘white coats’ start you on pharmaceuticals for pre-diabetes or T2D, they automatically add statins.
I am glad you have a doc who will consider taking you off meds as your health improves!!
The disinformation about food is out there because of Big Ag/Big Pharma. Look at the obesity rates in this country on the recommended ‘Standard American Diet’ (SAD) - cheap ingredients/high profit for Big Ag. Big Pharma (aka Harma) are not interested in “health”, but in “patients” for further pharmaceutical sales.
Our bodies are God’s Divine Design ... he has put what we need to take care of it on this earth for us ... nutraceuticals, natural remedies. A good example of this - what is working to help Long Vax & the vax injured is not the pharmaceuticals, but nutraceuticals and substances found in nature.
I’ve learned to like spinach and trying the Keto route with some success.
The spouse doesn’t pursue it so meal planning isn’t that easy sometimes.
I’ll have to remember that.
Recommend any brands?
Eat lettuce and your body thinks you’re starving, so it holds fat. Your metabolism freaks out and slows down. Eat fatty things and your metabolism is chill and knows we good, so burn baby burn.
I am not a scientist, lol but that’s what I read once (in more articulate science-y terms)and made sense to me.
Read “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes. Written about Atkins before Keto, it’s pretty clear “calories in, calories out” is NOT accurate. Without question, carbs are a big problem
Mrs. LS is a fantastic baker and good cook. It’s REALLY hard for me to do this diet, but when I have in the past, I’ve just shed weight.
The biggest difficulty is that you have to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Fresh meat especially must be given some planning, otherwise, you’ll end up with the quick and easy bread products, crackers, chips, whatever. But yeah, this diet absolutely works if you can work it.
Well the homemade, chunkier and hotter is always the better imho. Buying it read the label esp. for calories and sugar.
What kind of lettuce?
The secret to spinach is killing the taste of spinach! Here’s how I fix mine:
Use 2 lbs of spinach
Scrub sink clean and fill it part way with 2 gals of water
Dump all the spinach in and pick over it. Tear any very large leaves so that all the pieces are roughly the same size. Stems are good to eat unless they are woody, so discard any damaged leaves or woody stems.
Place the good leaves in a large colander to drain.
Dice two cloves of fresh garlic and cut a fresh lemon in half.
Use a large pan or pot that has a lid. Heat it for a minute on the stove on high. Toss in about a tablespoon or so of extra-virgin olive oil and half the diced garlic. Stir garlic for about a minute; don’t let it brown or burn.
Immediately put half the drained spinach into the pan. It should still be damp, but not dripping wet.
Toss the spinach to coat the leaves in the oil and garlic. Cover the pan with a tight lid and lower the heat halfway. Steam for about 15 seconds, remove lid and toss gently until leaves are just barely wilted but NOT mushy.
Remove pan from heat and pour out the batch in a large bowl.
Starting with the heated oil and garlic, repeat all the above cooking steps with the other half of the drained leaves.
When all of it is steamed and in the bowl, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the leaves, add about a teaspoon of dried basil (and a small squirt of mustard if you desire), and toss gently to distribute.
Serves 4 to 6, depending on portion size. A little goes a long way.
_________________________
To freeze individual servings, spoon it into 1/2 cup containers and evenly divide the remaining juice from the pan into the containers before snapping on the lids. When ready to eat, open lid part way and microwave for about 60 to 75 seconds and stir.
Okay to drain the juice if you want to eat it on a plate; if you want to use it in soup or pasta, chop it lightly and also throw in the juice.
“The spouse doesn’t pursue it so meal planning isn’t that easy sometimes.”
################
Yeah, that’s an issue. Whoever is cooking, keep the carb separate. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice pilaf, bread, or even frozen french fries or tater tots. Then don’t eat the carb. Just eat the protein and a big salad.
I know, easier said than done.
Hey, if that works for you, cool. But for me, that’s too much process, time, and cleanup.
I just make a big salad with: spinach, cabbage, baby carrots, green peppers, tomato, celery, cukes, avocado.
Dressing is ACV, olive oil, salt, and a combo spice like Mrs. Dash or Old Bay. Stay away from all bottled dressings.
Serve that with a protein, and that’s my dinner.
I don’t use commercial salad dressings, so I’m not sure. If I’m at a restaurant, I go for oil and vinegar, and no croutons. In fact my go to dressing, is often sardines in olive oil to which I add lemon juice or cider vinegar. So who knows?
I have lost weight on keto....but I've put some back..
the last year I've eaten low carb and my most recent A1C dropped to just 6 from 6.4 ( it had been over 9)..so something is working even though I cheat a bit....
with me, I need to crunch and I need to chew....so I do need my lettuce and other raw veggies no matter what.
aiming low carb for long term is probably the way to go...
but gesh, just cutting out cookies, crackers and chips is half the battle...
I refuse to think that an apple a day is bad for you or that potatoes are bad as well....
perhaps just drop the flour and sugar...
Romain hearts and iceberg.
That was a big reason we favored salads. It takes 20-30 minutes to eat a dinner salad. Very satisfying. You feel like you've eaten a big meal and had a good "grazing."
My husband and son have been doing keto for nearly six years now.
My husband is closer to a carnivore diet, and what he does is grill a lot of meat and cook bacon on Sunday such and then eats that all week. He adds in nuts and cheese for snacks (but not much). He eats sardines for the benefits of fish, but we also eat fish a few times a week. The veggies he will eat, (when he does), are cabbage (cooked with sausage), cauliflower (made like mashed potatoes), collards, brussel sprouts, and asparagus.
That sounds yummy. Except for the fish part. I gag it down once in a while, though.
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of fish, but I don’t mind salmon. At the beach, I will eat all kinds of fish, flounder, grouper, etc… but that’s because when it’s caught fresh it is less fishy tasting (at least to me).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.