[livyodream]

Help!!

PS: I started dieting exactly a month ago.

January 18 - 85.5
February 18 - 78.6

As of today i.e. March 3 i have just lost 1.5 KGs that is 15 days since my last quote.

Strict on diet and timing, still sticking on to OMAD. Maybe 3 moderate cheat meals till now.
Exercise has gone down, but still looking at Calorie in and out, the weight loss should have been much aggressive(as per me).

whats going wrong here? Should i shift from OMAD to 20-4 or 18-6?

[doxinboy]

Originally Posted by livyodream

As of today i.e. March 3 i have just lost 1.5 KGs that is 15 days since my last quote.

You are doing excellent man! Dont get worked up on numbers, you are in it for a long haul. The initial weight is most likely your water weight, the real fat game starts now. Use resistance training to build lean muscles. I look at lean muscles as hungry dogs, that loves fat. More dogs, the faster they eat fat.

Also try to confuse the body in changing the timing you consume the meals. If you have access to gym, look for InBody stats that gives real time data about fat percentage.

Keep going and hit hard.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

But the bigger question is, is it sustainable?

Our Indian diets are predominantly carb rich. Being on keto is a lot of work, personally. And once you are back at having carbs, the weight creeps back really fast.

Have been doing some research on this. From some articles I read about tuning a long distance athlete to burn fat, it is not necessary to be in Keto for life. Instead, follow keto a couple of months which makes the athlete fat adapted. After this the athlete can enter a phase where they can have some amount of carbs. This is between 120 grams to 150 grams of carb a day. Once an athlete is fat adapted this moderate carb will be mostly used to replenish glycogen stores which the athlete would deplete during some of the high intensity efforts during training.

I think this can be easily followed. Switch from very low carb (<30g) to moderate carb (120-150g), and supplement this with consistent workouts which include strength training and HIIT (high intensity interval training) that will use the glycogen stores. This way, you will be able to follow a sustainable diet and at the same time not bring back the lost weight.

And 120g - 150g of carbs should be easily doable in Indian diet. Just add a chapati or two, or millets in one of the meals, and keep the other meal low carb, have nuts for snacks etc.

Originally Posted by Asish_VK

Thank you . Hoping to continue till I get my desired weight and switch to clean eating and workouts to get a good physique.

Is it safe to continue for long term in Keto ? I have read that Keto is safe for only short period, like 45 days etc.

As far as I know, what is lacking is research on long term effects of Keto on health. But it hasn't been proved that keto is not good in the long term as well. I know many people who are on Keto for a long time (like a few years), with no ill effects.

So, you don't have to limit to 45 days. It should be perfectly fine to do this for a few months. Once you reach your goal fat %, switch to moderate carbs (120-150g), and continue with your workout routine to maintain.

Originally Posted by livyodream

Help!!

As of today i.e. March 3 i have just lost 1.5 KGs that is 15 days since my last quote.

Strict on diet and timing, still sticking on to OMAD. Maybe 3 moderate cheat meals till now.
Exercise has gone down, but still looking at Calorie in and out, the weight loss should have been much aggressive(as per me).

whats going wrong here? Should i shift from OMAD to 20-4 or 18-6?

1.5kg in two weeks is still 0.75kg a week. I wouldn't call this a plateau yet. Observe for one more week. If you are stuck at the same weight, then bring in some variation like a few days of three meals a day, and then go back to a mix of 16:8, 20:4 and OMAD. Also definitely add some exercise (preferably resistance training, or atleast 45 to 60 minutes of brisk walk). Usually such a variation will bring your body out of plateau.

Originally Posted by FORTified

Be strict about the diet, timings and the exercise and you will get there before you know it bro!

I went from 78 to 65 in 50 days.
Surprise! A week of cheating in Switzerland, where not-so-wrong food, wrong timings and no exercise resulted in no wait gain.

Can you share some details on what you followed to achieve this fantastic result? Did you do IF, or low carb or exercise or a combination of these?

Also, it would be great to know what type of diet you followed as you are vegetarian. I usually become clueless when a vegetarian asks me for diet suggestion. Your experience can help other vegetarians out there

[FORTified]

Originally Posted by graaja

Can you share some details on what you followed to achieve this fantastic result? Did you do IF, or low carb or exercise or a combination of these?

Also, it would be great to know what type of diet you followed as you are vegetarian. I usually become clueless when a vegetarian asks me for diet suggestion. Your experience can help other vegetarians out there

After listening to the guru [read GRAAJA] during our KodiBengre trip in november, I decided to give it a try.

My target wasn't wait loss. I am 5'7" and weighing 78KG, Over weight but not a lot. I am a diabetic for last 6 years and found that the medicine that I use, only suppresses it temporarily. Neither cures it, not controls it. The only way is life style adjustment - Diet, exercise and medicine.

The first thing I threw out was SUGAR. In the process, I got myself rid of caffeine too. The last coffee I had was on our way back from KodeBengre, on 23rd November, 2019. No black/green/whatever teas, coffees, colas anymore.
I switched to Low carb diet. Already out of white rice for some time, and was using Foxtail millet [This also has carbs, but complex carbs, that may not cause sugar spike in your blood stream and hence insulin spike].

Next, I stopped Wheat. In fact, Wheat seem to have more carbs than rice, Only advantage being it has more soluble fiber. Disadvantage is - it has gluten, not good for diabetes.

So,lunch will be covered with millet food - One box of sprouts, one box of millets, one box of vegetables and one box of curd.

But, what to do for dinner? I literally ran out of ideas but slowly options emerged. I decided to have one big bowl of soup and one bowl of stir fried vegetables. Included a lot of healthy fats like Butter, coconut milk, cream, olive oil.

The following are some of the soups I used:
1. Palak soup
2. Sweet pumpkin soup
3. Mushroom soup
4. Lentil soup
5. Cauliflower soup
6. Broccoli-Almond cream soup
7. Green pees jade soup
8. Sprouts soup
9. Spicy carrot soup
10. Cabbage soup
11. Mulligutwany soup
12. Manna - This powder is available in market
13. Mixed vegetable soup
14. Sweet potato cream soup
15. Mexican chili
16. Tomato soup
17. Veg clear soup
18. Cucumber cold soup - This is so easy to make and amazing taste.

Advantage of soup is that it is tasty, satisfying and fills you fast.

For the stir fries:
1. Cauliflower
2. Broccoli/Onion
3. Panner/Onion/Capsicum
4. Tofu - pickle it for 3-4 hours and fry
5. Soy chunks/Onion/Capsicum
6. Mushrooms/capsicum/Onion
7. Mixed sprouts
8. Soaked Rajma/Onion
9. Black chana/Onion
10. Cooked Sweet potato
11. White pumpkin salad

Used combinations of a soup and a fry. So, you can go for almost 200 days without repeating the combination again.

To add to this, I created some dips similar to Hummus and used Cucumber,Carrot, Capsicum, White radish pieces to eat them with.

If you observe, I did not go for any expensive, exotic rare ingredients.
The most exotic being broccoli. Rest are commonly used ingredients.
I didn't even invest in any microwave or anything special. Its regular cooker, mixie and skillets.


Now that we dealt with WHAT to eat, next comes WHEN to eat.
I went in for IF, in 16:8 format. Used to finish dinner before 8.00 PM and lunch the next day at 12.30PM. Between Lunch and dinner, some roasted almonds or salted channa or nothing.
Skipping breakfast was difficult for three day and after that, I never felt the need for it.

And yes, in the dinner, sometimes, I included fruits too - Papaya, apple, peach, guava - All low in sugar content.
I added Water melon, musk melon and pineapple too - but rarely as they have moderately high sugars.
Avoided Chikku, Banana, custard apple - for obvious reasons.

Introduced a morning walk from second week of IF/LCHF.
10000 steps in the morning, around 400KCal of burnout. Took around 70 minutes. Slowly increased it to 90 minutes of brisk walk - 15K steps, 500+KCal [Again, no SkiFi gadgets for me, just what my Samsung phone measured]
Throughout the day, I used to cover 12km, 20K+ steps.
Others take coffee break, I take a walk-around-the-building break.

Results :
1. Went down from 78.9 Kg to 65.6KG in 90 days
2. Waist reduced from 34 In[ tight] to 32 In [Loose]
3. TShirt size went down from XL to L
4. Getting better sleep in the nights
5. Staying FULLY awake throughout the day [This was quite a task previously]
6. Feeling a lot more energetic and yes, LIGHT and lively

LAST but not the least my diabetic numbers [Pre/post] went from 145/260 to 95/125 and My HbA1C went down from 72ish to 63 after 3 months.
Planning to continue this for 3 more months to target a HbA1C of sub 6 range.
My doctor cut my diabetes medicine in half. Now, I am taking only one pill a day. He said he will reduce the dosage after 3 more months, if need be.

Thats the journey so far and the important part is that I am enjoying it and as the results start showing, commitment increased.

it certainly opened up new opportunities. I am dreaming of a marathon run or a cycle trip BLR-Tirupati. Lets see what time has in store for me.

NOTE: This 90 days included enough cheat days too, but had not much negative impact.

Hope this helps.

[NPV]

^^^Wow, @FORTified, what a complete transformation, simply unbelievable and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

Last year I had mentioned about LCHF to a couple of friends who were on pre-diabetic medications and both have successfully brought their blood sugars to normal levels and are off medications all in about 4-5 months of getting their diet under control and exercise regularly and have made it a lifestyle now.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Being on keto is a lot of work, personally. And once you are back at having carbs, the weight creeps back really fast.

Well my experience with Keto has been different.

Two years back I tried Keto and reduced my weight from 93 to 83 kgs. Then I slacked and got back to eating carbs for almost 6 months.

The weight did creep up, but I never hit 93 again.

Highest was 88 kgs. I guess it depends from person to person. But I agree, it is for sure a diet difficult to sustain in India and I have realised the ideal one is which you can make lifelong. Still for someone looking for quick gains or looking to break a plateau, it could be worthwhile to do Keto for a short while and then settle down with IF and lower than normal but higher than keto carb intake.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by FORTified

My target wasn't wait loss. I am 5'7" and weighing 78KG, Over weight but not a lot. I am a diabetic for last 6 years and found that the medicine that I use, only suppresses it temporarily. Neither cures it, not controls it. The only way is life style adjustment - Diet, exercise and medicine.
...
LAST but not the least my diabetic numbers [Pre/post] went from 145/260 to 95/125 and My HbA1C went down from 72ish to 63 after 3 months.
Planning to continue this for 3 more months to target a HbA1C of sub 6 range.

My doctor cut my diabetes medicine in half. Now, I am taking only one pill a day. He said he will reduce the dosage after 3 more months, if need be.

Wow! This is so inspiring. Hats off mate!

Thank you so much for writing such a detailed post on your lifestyle. This is going to help so many. You have achieved wonderful results without all the fancy stuff like carb counting, strict keto etc. You have also broken my belief that it is difficult to get results for a pure vegetarian. And you have created a fantastic combination of meals and broken another belief that it would be a boring lifestyle for a vegetarian. I have learnt a lot from you

I have bookmarked your post. When a vegetarian friend asks for diet recommendation, I have to just send this link

Thank you once again. Continue your lifestyle and keep inspiring.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by FORTified

My HbA1C went down from 7.2 to 6.3 after 3 months.

Super duper achievement .

My doctor cut my diabetes medicine in half.

I am sure even this half dosage would go away soon with your lifestyle changes.

[GTO]

Guys,

1. Seeing some pictures, I think a couple of you are becoming "too thin". Would suggest putting a handful of kilos back on to look healthy & handsome. I did the same. Got feedback that I'm looking too thin at 72 kilos, so I consciously put on 3 kilos and am now 75. Added bonus = it was fun to put on .

2. Alcohol is the weight-watcher's enemy. Don't miss my latest thread (Zero-Alcohol Beer: Your best friend if you are driving back your friends from a party).

[FORTified]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys,

1. Seeing some pictures, I think a couple of you are becoming "too thin". Would suggest putting a handful of kilos back on to look healthy & handsome. I did the same. Got feedback that I'm looking too thin at 72 kilos, so I consciously put on 3 kilos and am now 75. Added bonus = it was fun to put on .

2. Alcohol is the weight-watcher's enemy. Don't miss my latest thread (Zero-Alcohol Beer: Your best friend if you are driving back your friends from a party).

You specified the problem [looking too thin] and provided the solution too
THANKS!!!

[gadadhar]

I did LCHF year back and weight dropped from 92 kgs to 81 kg in few months, but it went back to 92 kgs once I came out of the diet. I have again brought the weight down to 85 kgs in last 3.5 months through jogging and very little diet control.

I am tempted to take up LCHF again for the quick gains, but last time experience is pulling me back

[graaja]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

I did LCHF year back and weight dropped from 92 kgs to 81 kg in few months, but it went back to 92 kgs once I came out of the diet. I have again brought the weight down to 85 kgs in last 3.5 months through jogging and very little diet control.

I am tempted to take up LCHF again for the quick gains, but last time experience is pulling me back

LCHF is not a diet. It is a lifestyle. Only if you can adapt to LCHF as a lifestyle, you can maintain your weight. Once you reach your goal weight, you could have some moderate carbs, but going back to regular carb loaded diet will bring back all the lost weight and some more.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by graaja

LCHF is not a diet. It is a lifestyle. Only if you can adapt to LCHF as a lifestyle, you can maintain your weight. Once you reach your goal weight, you could have some moderate carbs, but going back to regular carb loaded diet will bring back all the lost weight and some more.

Agreed. But there are multiple viewpoints on adapting LCHF for longer duration, and there are no enough studies and evidences on the long term impact of LCHF.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Agreed. But there are multiple viewpoints on adapting LCHF for longer duration, and there are no enough studies and evidences on the long term impact of LCHF.

In the lack of such long term studies, I think the only way is to do our own research and seek for answers. As LCHF is going to take people off money making medication like diabetes, cholestrol, blood pressure etc., and from money making food for the packaged food industry, I don't see any pharma companies or food companies funding such a research.

Though there are no studies on long term effects of LCHF, I find the fundamentals of LCHF to be strong. There are highly qualified Doctors who are backing this lifestyle.

Personally, this is how I see this. I know for sure that our conventional high carb diet leads to all lifestyle diseases. I do not know for sure if long term LCHF is going to lead to some problem. But all the theory about LCHF suggest there may not be any long term problems.

Road #1 leads me to certain bad health. Road #2 has a 50:50 probability (with all the information available, I would say 80:20 probability or even better). Hence I choose Road #2 I really don't want to die of heart disease or diabetes waiting for long term research.

PS: This is totally my personal view.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by graaja

Road #1 leads me to certain bad health. Road #2 has a 50:50 probability (with all the information available, I would say 80:20 probability or even better). Hence I choose Road #2 I really don't want to die of heart disease or diabetes waiting for long term research.

PS: This is totally my personal view.

That is sound reasoning and I think that has nearly convinced me to go for a second stint