Medical Weight Loss Plan - Ketosis???

[HeatherRayne]

Man. I dunno. I have a friend who is pushing this Medical Weightloss Plan. She brought me all the info. I know several people who were obese who lost A LOT of weight with this plan. A lot, a lot. I myself have about 30 to lose.

For 3 days, or until you are in ketosis, you can only eat 14oz of lean meat per day. Once in ketosis, you can add 2-4 cups of fruits/veggies (only the ones on their list and no more than 2 fruit servings). 2 tsp of olive oil, unlimited lettuce, broth and sugar free jello. Thats it. Until you hit your goal weight. And then...I dunno...you prob gain it all back. Who knows.

And you have to drink a gallon of water each day.

They seem to discourage exercise...probably because you would DIE. LOL.

I am a foodie. I love to cook and I love to eat. I know I need to have limitations and I have been. But I don't know that I could do this.

Have any of you tried this? Would you??

[loveabull]

I did a research paper on this topic in college. At that time the Atkins diet was still ahead of the diet plans. High protein and very low carb, yes you lose weight and wreck other parts of yourself...maybe not right away but in the long run it is not a healthy way to eat. Ketosis...if you look that up in medical text it is considered a rather bad thing, so a diet where that is optimal? No. IMHO

[Pat59]

Are you talking about the California Medical Weight Loss program?  If so, I have been on it since 12/16 and as of today have lost 22 lbs.  My girlfriend, who works for this group, has also lost a tremendous amount too.  I find it easy to follow and am learning to curb my appetiate and control what goes into my mouth.  I'm learning to really read the labels and find out what is best. 

[Pat59]

The program is physician supervised and its only 3 days and then the calorie intake is increased.  In the beginning since you are not consuming a lot of calories, they do not recommend exercise but you can walk/step all you like.  I personally average 16,000 steps per day up to 25,000 and have not experience any problems.

[Dominique]

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@HeatherRayne wrote:

They seem to discourage exercise...probably because you would DIE. LOL.

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The reason for that is probably that carbs are the best fuel for exercise. Generally speaking, very low carb diets aren't optimal for people who are very active.

[Heybales]

If you can live a very restricted eating life, and exercise is Ok as just walking, not much that takes carbs specifically, it can indeed work.

But binge on carbs and you've ruined the work to get in to keto.

Many that fail with it start there, drop out of keto, figure ah shoot, and binge on carbs and calories.

Go back in to it being very restrictive, and happens again because of poor planning.

You can do more exercise, but you better learn about it and how the body works alot to accomplish it.

It's still a method of merely eating less than you burn.

The premise is with all the protein and fat you are satifisied eating that lower amount.

And since not much exercise, even lower than it could be otherwise.

And it slightly encourages the body to burn more fat at higher levels of exhertion.

You burn almost total fat anyway when resting or doing easy stuff, so no change there.

It's when you start moving around a tad more you'd normally burn more carbs, well, you still do, but just less than normal, and therefore more fat than normal.

Also, with less insulin spikes, you aren't dropping out of fat release mode as much for as long, so burning that fat after meals longer than you normally would if eating carbs. So a small improvement there.

But the excess protein you are eating get converted to carbs and stored as normal. And if you overeat by a lot you can still manage to fill those stores, and then the carbs are converted to fat.

But it's mainly about making you full on less calories, adhering to the plan to eat less than you burn.

If you can restrict yourself from almost entire classes of foods, or nearly as much.

[Dominique]

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@HeatherRayne wrote:

Man. I dunno. I have a friend who is pushing this Medical Weightloss Plan. She brought me all the info. I know several people who were obese who lost A LOT of weight with this plan. A lot, a lot. I myself have about 30 to lose.

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The problem with people recommending one particular type of diet is that what works well for them won't necessarily be optimal for you. Any mix of macronutrients that has you eat less than what you burn will cause a weight loss.

If you want to compare various types of diets, you may want to have a look at the following four-part article by Lyle McDonald:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/comparing-the-diets-part-1.html/

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/comparing-the-diets-part-2.html/

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/comparing-the-diets-part-3.html/

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/comparing-the-diets-part-4.html/

The plan you described sounds very extreme and not sustainable over a longer time period. Increase your exercise (that's what you got your Fitbit for, wasn't it), have a reasonable calorie deficit and you will start losing.

[Dominique]

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@Pat59 wrote:

Are you talking about the California Medical Weight Loss program?

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Their web site appears to be www.calmwm.com

"A combination of prescription medications, therapeutic injections, vitamins, and other supplements assures the preservation of your good health while you achieve your weight loss."

Definitely not something I would want to do.

[jennyw]

Have you heard of the Real Meal Revolution by Prof. Tim Noakes in South Africa? It is based on low carb high fat phylosophy. His book has been released here and is having huge success. He has a web site. Search Real Meal Revolution / Banting / LCHF. It's a lifestyle and not a diet.

[Dominique]

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@jennyw wrote:
Have you heard of the Real Meal Revolution by Prof. Tim Noakes in South Africa? It is based on low carb high fat phylosophy. His book has been released here and is having huge success. He has a web site. Search Real Meal Revolution / Banting / LCHF. It's a lifestyle and not a diet.

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FWIW, that book was mentioned by @liversb last June in this post (topic on carbs vs. calories).

[liversb]

I have been following the lifestyle since June last year. Lost 24 kg of body fat so far and blood tests completely normal & no more BP issues. lots of energy and sleeping better. Can recommend it wholeheartedly

[HeatherRayne]

Thanks everyone. I guess I have been considering it because I am at my wits end. I have been so strict the past two weeks without a single lb lost. I am limited as far as exercise due to some health issues. I do what I can. And I have been averaging around 1200 cals a day. I SHOULD be losing. This happened to me once before due to a medication. Once I went off of it - the weight came off within a couple of months and I kept it off with ease. Until my recent surgery which has completely ruined my body. I am completely depressed and ready to give up and just accept being a fat old lady. Even tho I am only 40.

Can I stick to something like this? I don't know. Maybe for a little while. Not for life, that is for sure. Depreivation pisses me off and makes me an angry person. But I do see this working for those who are quite obese. 

I don't know. I just wanna scream right now.

[HeatherRayne]

I think this is a little different. No meds. Just injections that are comprised mainly of B vitamins and this extreme diet. No meds. It is called the Medical Weight Loss Clinic of Wisconsin, I believe. I am sure it is in all states, however.

[Heybales]

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@HeatherRayne wrote:

Thanks everyone. I guess I have been considering it because I am at my wits end. I have been so strict the past two weeks without a single lb lost. I am limited as far as exercise due to some health issues. I do what I can. And I have been averaging around 1200 cals a day. I SHOULD be losing. This happened to me once before due to a medication. Once I went off of it - the weight came off within a couple of months and I kept it off with ease. Until my recent surgery which has completely ruined my body. I am completely depressed and ready to give up and just accept being a fat old lady. Even tho I am only 40.

Can I stick to something like this? I don't know. Maybe for a little while. Not for life, that is for sure. Depreivation pisses me off and makes me an angry person. But I do see this working for those who are quite obese. 

I don't know. I just wanna scream right now.

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Be very careful with diets that change the basic way the body works - that can totally foul up the way medicines are delivered, how they interact, the acidic level of blood they are in, ect.

Research and studies on medicine and amounts and results and side effects, are all based on population with average eating habits. Not being in keto.

Talk to Dr about that if you are still taking a medicine. 

How much are you still trying to lose, and do you log your food accurately by weight, every bite you eat?

Calories is per gram, not cup or spoonful, so you must weigh, except liquids of course, to be accurate with eating level.

If you are too aggressive with the deficit amount, you have a fight on your hands, that you'll usually lose - and not weight.

In fact, if body is in a state of stress, what would normally be a reasonable deficit would actually be too much probably. If body is trying to heal, last thing it wants is less food than it really wants. It'll adapt by slowing down so it can focus on healing.

What does fitbit show your average daily burn is?

[liversb]

Hi HeatherRayne,

I do seriously recommend the "Tim Noakes" type approach - This is not "his" diet and he never claims to have originated it - See Drs Phinney/Volek/Westman/Attia on Youtube, also "low carb down Under" with a whole lot of international doctors who promote this "low carb high fat" or "nutritional ketosis".

I have been fat for nearly 50 years and this is the first diet/lifestyle that makes logical and medical sense and is working for me - no calory counting, no hunger (after initial 3 weeks!) and an absolute breeze and only exercise I have been doing is walking (which is for health and not fat-loss). I will be maintaining this lifestyle for the rest of my life. Best book on the subject I think is the Phinney/Volek " The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" that I gave to my doctor to read and now he supportss this completely - However, as Tim Noaks and other posters have said, consult your doctor (give him/her that book if necessary), educate yourself and your lifestyle plan is specific to you. Other books I can recommend are:-

The Big Fat Surprise - Nina Teicholz
Why We get fat and what to do about it - Gary Taubes

Keto Clarity - Moore/Westman
The Obesity Epidemic - Zoe Harcombe
Wheat belly - William Davis
Pure White and Deadly - John Yudkin
Cholesterol Clarity - Moore/Westman
The Coconut Ketogenic Diet - Fife

(most of these folk have Youtube presentations which can be good introduction).

Good luck !!

[Dominique]

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@liversb wrote:

See Drs Phinney/Volek/Westman/Attia on Youtube, also "low carb down Under" with a whole lot of international doctors who promote this "low carb high fat" or "nutritional ketosis".

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Peter Attia is indeed one of the "keto-gurus" out there. He has a blog, The Eating Academy.

Yes, he's a doctor. Yes, he "eats his own dog food". Yes, he has achieved decent results on himself, as displayed on "before" and "after" photos displayed on his site:

However, he was only overweight (not obese) to begin with, and the same results could definitely have been achieved with any other type of diet and reasonable exercise.

His own wife calls him a freak (mentioned in this blog post). No wonder, if he's only eating the same food as the rest of the family on his daughter's birthday (also mentioned in same post), when he must "fall out" of nutritional ketosis.

I personally love carbs too much to put myself through such an ordeal.

[melly11]

Heather

Don't get depressed or fed up

You've already changed your life by joint the fitbit community.

Short term diets are great for fast loss but what happens when you stop?

And how expensive do they work out?

I think we should both just aim to move more and eat less.

What we do eat should be healthy and home cooked as much as possible... No more microwave meals.

That's the approach I'm going to adopt.

Perhaps you might want to add me as a friend and we can keep each other motivated☺

[Heybales]

I liked his story the most of any I've seen, because he kept a decent workout routine in the mix, figured out how to still keep performance with it, and some specific measurements on himself as to what was happening.

The increased fat use during decent endurance cardio almost had me examining it better - but I could never with free will eat that low carb for very long.

[Onikenbai]

I did this.  It wasn't a diet per se, I had to do it as a pre-op diet to shrink my liver for a surgery because I was allergic to the standard protein shakes they usually give people to tie them over.  On top of it I work outside in the summer in the heat so I was working out at the same time.  It was not fun.  You are a grumpy, grumpy bear for the first couple of days and yes, you want to DIE.  You are very hungry and you have a horrible, ear-splitting headache.  Of course, I didn't get 14oz of meat; I got 8oz. and a cup of veggies.  Do enjoy celery, egglplant and zucchini, because those are about the only veggies you will be enjoying for the month.  I wasn't allowed any fruit at all for the month, so it sounds like my diet was a bit more hard core.  My broth intake was also limited to 2 cups a day because of the high sodium content.  I could also have cottage cheese and plain yogurt.  The good news is that after about the third or fourth day, the terrible hunger and headache go away and you do find that you can live on the boring diet.  After about a week though, the boring diet gets so boring that you either abandon it entirely, or just stop eating because your sense of hunger has gone away.  Since I had no choice but to keep going with this stupid diet because of the surgery, by the end I was down to 200 calories a day.  The thought of food was completely revolting to me.  My hair was falling out in chunks and I was walking into walls.  I may or may not also have agreed to foster a pink hippo.  I lost 30lbs in 29 days.

Stay the hell away from this diet as it's just not worth the grief and the wear and tear on the body.  A good 15lbs of the weight loss is completely deceiving as it temporarily strips the water and fatty tissue from your liver, which is your immediate energy reserve.  As soon as you quit the diet, your body will put that emergency reserve back as you can't fight thousands of years of evolution.  It's a tough diet to follow as ONE cheat will break ketosis and you are back to square one with the hunger and headache.  This is nothing more than a crash diet masked under the guise of medical supervision.

[liversb]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience. However there are 40000 plus folk in South Africa FB pages who will agree with me that this lifestyle is fantastic and for those affected with insulin resistance, has lead to significant long-term fat loss. From my point of view fantastic taste and 1000 of recipes