Hi,
Aiming to lose 30 lbs (approx). I have decided to go the LCHF route. I joined myfitnesspal and currently put my settings as so:
Calories 1200
Carbs 45g (15%)
Protein 60g (20%)
Fat 87g (65%)
Does that seem right? In case it matters, I’m a woman in her mid thirties. I have about 30 lbs to lose.
I welcome any advice, since I’m not sure my settings (numbers%) are okay?
In addition to the above I’m doing 20 minutes on the elliptical daily. Small goal, but achievable.
it’s 20% of a standard calorie diet, so for a female it works out to about 75g protein. and you may need to part bolus for protein when on low carb.
as your carbs go down, your fats go up. eat until you are satiated.
I’m an obese T2 and couldn’t access my fat, so I was starving for 2 days and flat for a week till my fat burning kicked in. T1’s generally have an easier time.
Huh…what do you mean by couldn’t access your fat because T2? This is interesting, first time I’ve heard of this.
Insulin resistant T2’s have too much insulin and this inhibits accessing fat for fuel
Not sure that having “too much insulin…inhibits accessing fat for fuel”. I mean, one of the hallmark symptoms of uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes is weight loss. This is because the body is unable to adequately transport the energy from available carbohydrates into the cells despite lots of insulin being available. Type 2’s have lots of insulin, lots of available carbs, and are burning fat like crazy before getting appropriate treatment.
It sound like you are mixing T1 and T2, but I would suggest you research it more.
Hello, I have a question. I’ve been following the keto diet for about a month and a half now. I’m not sure I’m eating enough fat but my numbers are really on the flat line - really happy about that. I have lost a little weight 2 kilos- don’t need to lose too much. Main objective is controlling blood sugars more. I was already on a low carb diet. I was wondering if when you are on this diet, should you always have ketones? When I started ketone blood testing 1.6 , 0.8 or around there but now I am down to 0.2 or 0.3 (usual for me) Any advice?
PS I’m LADA - and have been for 22 years now. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
If I can share some experience, please consider the following:
The advantages of eating real keto is that you stay pretty full and can eat at a deficit without a great deal of trouble. It also does absolute wonders for flatlining BG (why I eat low-carb). What can be an issue is weight-loss. I can’t currently eat keto because I uncontrollably lose weight, so I have to eat more carbs (about 60-90 g net per day). It does compromise my flat BGs a bit, but I had to choose (until I go on insulin).
I’m also LADA, although only for the last year.
As for the “detectable ketones” thing, most people think it really doesn’t matter that much. If you eat very low carb consistently, if you exercise regularly, and especially if you do both together, you’ll have trace amounts of ketones (especially in the morning). It’s a bit harder for insulin-using diabetics, since every time you inject insulin it will momentarily “kick you out of ketosis.” Most importantly, though, being “actually in ketosis” isn’t the primary benefit of eating keto, at least for me (when I can): flatlined BGs, and minimal need for endogenous or exogenous insulin, are the primary goals for me.
I’ll figure this out in a couple of months, but I do understand that eating keto and using insulin does require a lot of fiddling to get basal and bolus rates right: if you shoot too much, you won’t burn fats as effectively. If you shoot too little, you have to worry (a little bit) about too many ketones, although not everyone has issues with this.
Thank you David. I am already using a lot less insulin! I’m going to take a closer look at those 5 points. I seem to be eating from 24 to 38 grams of carbs/day . Actually, I realise that I haven’t been weighing food right now and I should be! The carbs are from vegetables, a yoghurt a day and also a square or two of dark chocolate. I count some for protein and fat. I think maybe i’ve been estimating too much but even like that I’m happy with my flat line! Cutting out the estimations should help me get out of the hypos i have had (unfrequently)
I’m happy to know that I don’t have to see ketones! I feel good but was wondering if I was getting the right “energy” Thanks again.
Yep, you got the two most important parts 
You feel good and have flat BGs! Everything else is negotiable. Also, the amount of carbs you can eat per day and be “in ketosis” is really dependent on a few factors, but primarily how much you exercise and how much you eat. The “strict keto” guideline of 25g per day of carbs total is mostly there for those who need to lose weight quickly for medical reasons: if you eat that few total carbs per day, there is no question you’ll be in nutritional ketosis. For those of us who eat a lot of calories to maintain weight and who exercise a lot (like myself), it is possible to eat a lot more carbs.
Then again, there is no reason to think that people can’t burn both kinds of energy on a daily basis. Even people eating a typical, “high carb” American diet will have trace ketones in their urine and blood after a 10 hour fast (in the morning, for example). This is because your body will shift to burning fat over night, which produces ketones. The idea that you have to either be burning glucose or burning fats for fuel is not really supported by the science. Our bodies are pretty good at doing both.