30lbs is a lot.Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:45 amI tried the Keto diet for a while about a year ago. I actually stayed on it for about 5 or 6 months and lost about 30 lbs. Gained it all back when I gave up the diet. Just couldn't stay away from bread and pasta. Maybe I'll give it another try. I don't remember feeling any sharper on the diet, however, I wasn't really paying much attention to that aspect. I was more interested at the time in losing weight. Thanks for the tip.Sculptor wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:41 amHave you considered the KETO diet? The brain and heart work much better on ketones than they do on glucose.Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:13 am
Longevity is something I doubt I will have. Already at the age of 55 my brain is deteriorating, possibly with early onset Alzheimer's or dementia. I kind of wonder if I'll make it past my 60s. But that's just as well. Mental illness, sleep apnea, and other conditions have destroyed any love I might have had for life. If anyone needs to perish young, then I suppose it best be me.
At age 62 I have found this year my mental acuity has increased by banning carbohydrates and processed foods from my diet. This has also allowed me to control hunger to such a degree that I have managed to reduce the number of meals to one or two a day, and I have lost 45 lbs in the process.
I have been a serial dieter all my life and followed the guidelines dutifully avoiding fat. But all that happened was that each time I got hungry and tired; tired of counting calories too. And as time passed my "normal" weight increased, despite annual lost of up to 20lbs.
With intermittent fasting and carb avoidance I no longer have trouble sleeping; I think more clearly; I have reversed my pre-diabetes; reversed my fatty liver; reduced my asthma and sinusitis.
I now enjoy fish, meat, eggs, butter without guilt; but I eat more brassicas, and salad foods than before, and do not miss the bread, pasta, rice, chips, and sweet things to which I was previously addicted.
There are really good metabolic reasons why this has all worked and I am now healthier than I have been for 30 years.
I only wish someone had told me about all this 10 or more years ago. And that is why I wanted to share my experience with you.
It's a shame you went back to pasta. Ask yourself - was it really worth it. Pasta is pretty bland.
Some find it works to have a cheat day once a week to satisfy any odd cravings. As a rule of thumb if they are under their weekly target they can relax.
The mental sharpness is probably more to do with the intermittent fasting than the keto. The keto contributes the satiation which makes the fasting possible. When your body has adapted to burning body fat then hunger is pure psychology and not driven by hormones.
The carbs instruct the body to store fat, by suppressing the Leptin receptors. When you are burning your own fat the only feelings of hunger are through mental expectation by habituation and the physical empty stomach. Drinking some water can steady the stomach, so you just have to habituation yourself to expect fewer meals. This only takes 3 days or so.
For the most part I lived on one meal per day. I waited till about 3pm, and cooked from scratch non processed food. Despite being on keto I've probably had more veg than any year so far. Just no rice, grains, potatoes or other root veg. Maybe a carrot in my homemade coleslaw was the only major exception.
The only time I broke this pattern for variety was to eat some dense grain bread, but nothing with flour. And xmas I was back on the sugary crap for 3 days.
I've followed this regime for 370 days and have no intention of going back to the old bad ways.
The only blood marker that worries the doctors, but not me, is LDL. All other blood markers are in the right direction.
It turns out that high LDL is not a problem because it is only a specific type of LDL damaged by glycation that is problematic to atherosclerosis, and they do not usually measure that. It also turns out that older people with high LDL live longer because LDL is part of the immune system.
I 've lower my BP meds and stopped 3 other medications.
I'm the weight I was 35 years ago, and healthier than I have been in 20 years.
It's become a bit of a hobby horse, as I've read several books on metabolism this year and as work is quiet post-lock down, I've made this my main interest.