Ketosis + Help Required

[BootBlock]

Hi,
I had the TV on in the background while working away on the PC when the presenter (Kevin Trae<something>) started ranting on about The Atkins' Answer Weight-Loss "System". Having listened to what he was said, he mentioned Ketosis and that's when I started searching about the subject.

It's two days later now and I've been solidly reading about it, but I seem to be running into conflicting info and am unsure about a couple of things.

Oh first - I'm 22, 5' 10" and 322lbs (ahem). Unlike a lot of people, I want to lose the weight (not completely sure how much, I'd guess and say around half..) but I'm not actually bothered about keeping the muscle. It's not as if I get into fights on a daily-basis or anything. Although I understand you need the muscle to stop your metabolism slowing down (mine's "normal", although I've got a slightly fatty liver). I'll work on the muscle when I've got my weight down?

Here's what I've got on my shopping list going on what I could find on various sites. I'm not sure about cheese - if I can't have milk, why can I have cheese?

Fish - any
Chicken
Hamburgers
Beef
Pork
Tuna
Bacon
Eggs
Ham
Cheese (less than 0.2g of carbs)
Salami (with garlic, unfortunately - 1g of carbs)
Double Cream
Pork Scratchings (Pork Rinds)
Natural Peanut Butter

Would I be able to use something else instead of Flax Oil? £12 a bottle (I'm in the UK. $20USD I think it is) seems kinda high (no job at the moment). I heard Olive Oil was good.. although I'll get the Flax if it makes a big difference.

So can anyone help? I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, I know that I need to get the carbs down (or totally get rid of them) and get the fat intake up.

Almost forgot, I haven't currently got access to a gym. I've got some weights/dumbells/a barbell. There's an exercise bike, but I'm over it's weight limit

This is a very big change for me. If everything goes well and the weight does go down, I'll of course have to get a diet planned for the rest of my life (which may not be very long if I don't get something done about it) ..

 

[SwitchedOn]

Shopping list looks good

Ok to answer your milk question check out the label. Cheese doesn't have that many carbs in it and there is a huge amount of fat to offset the carbs and protein you're ingesting when eating it. Milk per 8 oz serving has (off the top of my head, 2%) protein- 8gms, carbs- 12gms(ALL SUGAR), and fat- 5grms. The sugar is what you want to stay away from at all costs. That's what kicks you out of ketosis, drives your insulin up etc. Now the whole idea behind the keto diet, actually the CKD diet is the preservation of lean body mass. You posted that you don't mind losing LBM and will work on gaining it back later- let me tell you this is definitely not the way to go. It's exactly what I did 2 years ago when I weighed 252- dieted all the way down to 600-700 cals/day, cardio about 2-3hours/day, and no weight training. I lost 24 lbs in 8 weeks. Not bad unless you consider half was probably muscle. Had to use 20lb dumbells for alternate dumbell curls
You can do this but it will definitely take time and alot of dedication. To start off with I wouldn't completely wipe out carbs. Decrease them in 10-20gram increments per day every week until you get down to about 50-60 grams/day. I'm 100lbs lighter than you and it takes tremendous willpower for me to go down below 20grams/day, which is basically no carbs ( not counting what is unavoidable). But you also need the exercise. At your weight I would recommend walking everyday for 30-40mins in the morning before eating. Have you done any research into the cyclical ketogenic diet? I would recommend this diet over Atkins cause of the weekly carb up period. Do a search and you will come up with all kinds of info on it.
Another thing I would recommend is thermogenics, but not sure if you should start on them right away. Not sure what your health is and at 322 it might not be a good idea. I love thermogenics and noone better flame me for not advocating them in every case where someone wants to lose weight- just trying to look out for the guys health. Well, I'd write more but already late for work I know I left out alot of useful info and I'll try to post more later for ya. Good luck, you can do it bro.

 

[Rudee34]

I strongly recommend you give your body one full month to adjust to the training and diet before introducing thermogenics of any sort.

You've done the first step: chosen the correct foods. Step #2 is determing how many calories a day you need, then spreading that out into 5-6 small meals/day. Aim for 11-13 calories/per pound of LBW (lean bodyweight).

To preserve muscle, increase metabolism, and build some extra muscle, you need to stimulate muscle growth be strenth training 3 times/week. Concentrate on basic exercises (squats, rows, presses, chins, curls, dips, etc)

Milk (skim) is ok in moderation, and cheese has been known to cause a few people problems in their weightloss progression. Experiment with cheese and see how your body reacts to it.

Flax oil is preferred, however most people avoid flax oil due to the taste. I trick I use to do to make flax oil more tolerale, was to mix it 50/50 with corn oil and add it to my morning protein shake. If you can't afford flax oil, a table spoon or two of corn oil per day works just a well. I recommend you slowly the flax/corn oil into your diet a little at a time. Start with a tablespoon a day, then work your way up to 2 or 3 tablespoons/day.

Personally, I use flax/corn oil to "bridge the caloric gaps" in my daily diet. i.e. I eat as much solid food per day as per my specific caloric requirements. I then determine my calorie expenditure for the day (roughly). I then get an idea of how many calories a day I am lacking in order to avoid catabolism (breakdown of tissue). I subtract roughly 500 cals, then the difference in calories is the amount of flax/corn oil I ingest. For example, let's say I determine I need 2000 cals/day to support my workouts and give a 1.5 drop in bodyfat per week. I eat as much solid food as possible (steak, eggs, hamburger, pork, the odd (liquid) protein shake, etc). Then if I find out I'm 300 calories short of 2000, then I simply ingest 300 calories worth of flax/ corn oil. If I'm taking in enough dietary fat and my caloric requirements are met, then flax/corn oil is not added that day.

 

[keiko]

Not that this bpard isn't frequented by gods, but if I were you, I'd log on to a Usenet newsgroup

(go to your ISP, where you get and send e-mail and look for newsgroups) and check out alt.support.diet low-carb.

The folks there are frequently starting where you are, and the daily support can be great!