Has anyone tried to maintain a keto diet after surgery? If so, what kind of macros have you been trying to maintain. I figure after all this liquid stuff is over, itll be best just to go keto, since, really, I already am carb wise

21 minutes ago, CoramDeo said:

Has anyone tried to maintain a keto diet after surgery? If so, what kind of macros have you been trying to maintain. I figure after all this liquid stuff is over, itll be best just to go keto, since, really, I already am carb wise

I could never handle the high fat part of keto. Since surgery, I definitely have fat malabsorption and if I eat too much fat, I pay for it in the bathroom. I also had fatty liver disease prior to surgery, and from what I've read, hitting the liver with even more fat is probably not a good idea. Poor liver is working hard enough to break down all the fat from the weight loss process. Maintaining a low carb approach is still a good plan, but for me the priorities are protein and then veggies, but without the high fat of keto.

Ditto what AZHiker said. I'm back on keto with exception of fat %. I use vinaigrettes for salads and some salad dressings that straddle line between low carb and low fat. I use spray butter instead of butter, avocado mayo mixed with low fat mayo or greek yogurt and I use sparingly.

Instead of full fat heavy cream, I opt for a splash fat free 1/2 and 1/2 )or vanilla protein drink). On rare occasions if overall carbs are low, I will use 1 TBSP of heavy cream in something but that is rare. I use fat free cream cheese, etc. - I think you get the picture.

On top of this, since my calories are between 700-800 a day I still can be in ketosis sometimes partly from lower calories & part from low carbs. I notice when I stick to this, I lose weight faster. If I do some of the 'low glycemic carbs' like oatmeal, sweet baked potato, beans, I notice slow down in loss but I've had these items sparingly..

My surgeon is a keto fan after full healing when he lets his us start eating "regular food" . On the ongoing nutrition plan I just received, they had the macros as follows: 800 calories with 40% of total calories from protein, 30% from fat, and 30% from carbohydrates this should help increase your rate of weight loss.

I can understand 800 cals & biggest % being protein but I was a bit surprised by 30% from fat part although I know they mean healthy kinds of fat like avocado, etc. Here is what plan says about fat:

Limit fats to 2-3 servings a day; avoid unhealthy fats such as cream, lard, butter. 1 serving of fat should = 5g fat. Some examples include: 1 tsp. oil, 1 Tbsp. regular salad dressing, 2 Tbsp. reduced-fat salad dressings, 1/8 avocado, 6 almonds, 1 Tbsp. peanut butter.

In looking at sample meal plans, I will revise it for me by removing some of the bigger carbs that the list has like once a day having oatmeal or 1 pc whole wheat toast as I need to keep overall carbs down to lose more quickly.

So the original "keto" as developed in the 60s and 70s by Dr. Atkins was much lower than todays' present iteration of the diet. For a normie Keto Diet based on Atkins 72, most fat % were in the 60-75% range. When I followed it as a normie, I had to be between 55-65% fat in order to lose the best.

Most of the LCHF/keto docs agree that the amount of fat in your diet entirely depends on the amount of adiposity on your body. That means, that even with a keto diet, you still must operate in a caloric deficit so that you burn the fat stores in your body rather than the fat in your diet for energy. And for the most part, you must expend the energy from your diet before you tap into your fat stores.

As @AZhiker and @KarenLR75 say, there is no need to inflate our fat to "today's keto" range. For most of us PO, it would be difficult due to surgical malabsorption. Even VSGers can have difficulty with higher fat.

By simply reducing carbs to 20g net or below per day and putting your personal prescription for protein into the equation (given to you by your surgeon), then you can back into your target calorie goal and figure out your fat grams/percentage based on that. Any additional fatty acids you need (and the ketones produced through lipolysis) will then be able to come from the fat strapped to your booty and middle (and total body) rather than the fat bomb or MCT oil, or butter coffee -- or whatever ridiculous bolus of exogenous and unnecessary "keto bs" you consume.

I knew that in order to lose I needed to maintain a range between 650-850 calories/day. I know, because when I got to 850 calories or above, I would stall out and not lose anything. I also knew from my surgeon and RD that I had a broad protein range (in the early days) of between 60-80g protein daily--with an optimal amount at 74g for my LBM and are based upon height, sex, age, physical status.

Males and females of a different size will have different macros. Here are the macros I've used to lose 157lbs:

Edited September 24, 20196 yr by FluffyChix

I'm a certified keto coach and after bari surgery, the rules are a bit different.

You need protein to be your focus so may be eating more often than we recommend for the average Joe and you do NOT want your diet to be 75% fat, you want minimal fat, at a later date you may be able to increase the fat a bit as your carbs are below 20g/day to be properly keto so you need energy from somewhere.

In the early days post op you just want to focus on your protein and fluids, which will put you into ketosis anyway.

Loads of different ways to do keto, there is dirty keto, lazy keto, strict keto, so while you are recovering and on low carbs anyway research lots and find a way to do it that will fit in with your lifestyle.

When I do IF consistently (16:8) I know I am in a mild state of ketosis for most of the day. I feel great and have lots of energy. So I think if the goal is to achieve an acidotic/ketotic state, there are many ways to do it, as stated by other posters. The high fat will not work for me, but I don't need it when I do IF. Throw in a 24 hour fast once a week, and I've got all the ketosis I need to gain the health benefits (except for my bones, I fear.)

PS - sorry for the italics. My computer is going a little bonkers today for some reason.

Personally I stick to high protein. Low carbs. No sugar or bad fat... Protein always comes first!

If I need a few carbs I'll throw in some berries or veggies but mostly protein keeps me feeling fuller longer

Drink plenty of water constantly...

Also need to sleep well 8 hours plus..

All good advice, Mikey. However, when in ketosis, I have too much energy to sleep more than 6 hours tops, and even that is with me waking up through the night wondering if it is time to get up yet. When I eat more carbs (training diet) I sleep better. Sleep is sooooo important for so many metabolic functions, but it is a conundrum with having so much energy from low carb eating.