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Hello, I'm new, and I'm interested in losing about 60-80 pounds. I was hoping to use a ketogenic diet to lose about 40 of those pounds and then lose the rest getting back to a balanced vegetarian diet with an appropriate amount of exercise incorporated. My parents were both vegetarian and they're almost 60 and look like most people do in their 40's so I have no doubt on the healthfulness of a vegetarian diet.
I know a bit of biochemistry and endocrinology which is what started my interest in a ketogenic diet. I'm definitely overweight(5'11", ~240, not athletic), if not borderline obese and that initial push from the rapid ketogenic weight loss is what I think I need to get me to a healthy weight. My problem is/has been, when I go to the gym or start trying to lose weight, is that I get discouraged or become shy about working out in front of other people. I'm hoping that losing ~40 pounds without having to worry too much about how /much/ I eat as long as I minimalize carbs is going to help me get over this shyness and the rest will just do itself. I'm 20 years old and I like doing athletic activity but I'm ridiculously shy about doing it in public with the fat jiggling around so the problem has compounded over the years. I've been overweight most of my life (after 8 yrs old, which is when I immigrated to the US), mostly because of the resultant inactivity compared to where i came from, rather than a bad diet habits. When I got to college, I exercised more but ended up developing really bad eating habits due to availability of food and stress eating. I have gained about 25 pounds since I began college, so what was once a manageable small overweight problem has increased into something that requires serious attention.
I do have a few questions, for example what sort of foods to avoid that might have more carbs than one would suspect. Not all the foods I eat have nutrient info panels on them, and I, so far, have been avoiding stuff that looks like it has anything other than just meat, poultry or fish in it.
I began a few days ago, my diet has mostly consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, beef, burgers, tuna, deli turkey and some other things that are mostly meat. I try to keep it simple and not risk eating combined dishes like chop suey or sloppy joes (again I eat mostly at college dining halls so sometimes there is a good range of selection and other times there is only deli meat or tuna). I'm not so sure if cheese is okay to eat but I believe I remember it was pretty low in carbs and I have been eating it with my foods as well as tobasco/hot sauce to give it some sort of flavor.
Any tips to stay on this diet without getting bored or cheating (though I have had very little inclination to do so) will be appreciated. Oh, and I love splenda and I have a stash so that if I ever have one of those craving for something sweet/carby that I've seen people talk about on here, I plan on substituting with that. Also, I try to exercise whenever I can to try and increase HDL levels so that whatever extra cholesterol intake I might be getting is being managed. Please let me know if I missed anything that would help me keep some of the adverse health problems associated with Atkins away!
I hope this works out and I am pretty optimistic about it!
p.s. Does anyone here get Growth Hormone supplements? Do I just talk to a doctor about getting those prescribed? I know athletes try to illegally use them as performance enhancers but they are much more useful in creating a ketogenic like condition for overweight people (in that your body doesn't allow your skeletal muscle to use blood glucose, saves it for the brain, and forces muscles to use free fatty acids that it also stimulates the breakdown of). This isn't that necessary but it would allow me to move my end date up by at least two months. I was just interested in seeing if other people had tried them and their experiences with it.
p.p.s. and oh, does it matter how much I eat as long as my carb intake is low enough? I mean, if I eat less while on the diet, will I lose weight faster or is the success of the diet largely dependent on the lack of insulin action?
I know a bit of biochemistry and endocrinology which is what started my interest in a ketogenic diet. I'm definitely overweight(5'11", ~240, not athletic), if not borderline obese and that initial push from the rapid ketogenic weight loss is what I think I need to get me to a healthy weight. My problem is/has been, when I go to the gym or start trying to lose weight, is that I get discouraged or become shy about working out in front of other people. I'm hoping that losing ~40 pounds without having to worry too much about how /much/ I eat as long as I minimalize carbs is going to help me get over this shyness and the rest will just do itself. I'm 20 years old and I like doing athletic activity but I'm ridiculously shy about doing it in public with the fat jiggling around so the problem has compounded over the years. I've been overweight most of my life (after 8 yrs old, which is when I immigrated to the US), mostly because of the resultant inactivity compared to where i came from, rather than a bad diet habits. When I got to college, I exercised more but ended up developing really bad eating habits due to availability of food and stress eating. I have gained about 25 pounds since I began college, so what was once a manageable small overweight problem has increased into something that requires serious attention.
I do have a few questions, for example what sort of foods to avoid that might have more carbs than one would suspect. Not all the foods I eat have nutrient info panels on them, and I, so far, have been avoiding stuff that looks like it has anything other than just meat, poultry or fish in it.
I began a few days ago, my diet has mostly consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, beef, burgers, tuna, deli turkey and some other things that are mostly meat. I try to keep it simple and not risk eating combined dishes like chop suey or sloppy joes (again I eat mostly at college dining halls so sometimes there is a good range of selection and other times there is only deli meat or tuna). I'm not so sure if cheese is okay to eat but I believe I remember it was pretty low in carbs and I have been eating it with my foods as well as tobasco/hot sauce to give it some sort of flavor.
Any tips to stay on this diet without getting bored or cheating (though I have had very little inclination to do so) will be appreciated. Oh, and I love splenda and I have a stash so that if I ever have one of those craving for something sweet/carby that I've seen people talk about on here, I plan on substituting with that. Also, I try to exercise whenever I can to try and increase HDL levels so that whatever extra cholesterol intake I might be getting is being managed. Please let me know if I missed anything that would help me keep some of the adverse health problems associated with Atkins away!
I hope this works out and I am pretty optimistic about it!
p.s. Does anyone here get Growth Hormone supplements? Do I just talk to a doctor about getting those prescribed? I know athletes try to illegally use them as performance enhancers but they are much more useful in creating a ketogenic like condition for overweight people (in that your body doesn't allow your skeletal muscle to use blood glucose, saves it for the brain, and forces muscles to use free fatty acids that it also stimulates the breakdown of). This isn't that necessary but it would allow me to move my end date up by at least two months. I was just interested in seeing if other people had tried them and their experiences with it.
p.p.s. and oh, does it matter how much I eat as long as my carb intake is low enough? I mean, if I eat less while on the diet, will I lose weight faster or is the success of the diet largely dependent on the lack of insulin action?
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