When the surgeon informed me I must lose weight before my replacement knee operation in order to aid a quicker recovery, I wondered where to start. AND, I got the usual COVID lecture re obesity which puts me at higher risk. Great! How can you lose weight when you can only move at the pace of a snail with a limp?
Anyways, I set myself a realistic target (or so I thought at the time) of 10kg weight loss in ten weeks. I cut down my meal portions and tried to cut out cakes and other goodies. Yes, I succumbed a few times but 90% of the time I stayed focused… Honest!
After six weeks, the scales debated whether I had lost 1kg or 2kg but finally settled on 1kg. Feeling rather demotivated I was tempted to binge on a bar of chocolate but the thought of supporting my body weight on forearm crutches soon banished the thought!
Several people suggested I tried the Keto diet so a couple of weeks ago I joined some Keto Facebook groups which are okay but I am not a fan of Facebook for longterm interaction. AND, there are too many trolls waiting to pounce… .
After lurking for a few days I made a post to query my breakfast options. I am greeted with: ‘Oh, you’ll love it, you can eat eggs and bacon for breakfast’ followed by a whole list of cooked greasy options including eggs. Oh, and I could not have milk in my morning cup of tea, I had to have ghee or another weird option. Or worse still I was advised just to have strong coffee and skip breakfast.
Er … no, I can’t think of anything worse when I first wake up in the morning. I am a creature of habit and my morning cuppa must have a dash of milk. Plus, I like rolled oats, plain soya yogurt topped with some chia seeds, and goji berries. I am not a morning person and I need something simple and basic to start the day. I don’t even like fruit that early in the day. And as for just drinking strong coffee and skipping breakfast that is NOT a healthy start to the day. I am beginning to think the Keto diet is wacko.
Wading through pages of advice I am greeted with a whole new vocabulary that I need to digest (no pun intended) before I can even begin to understand the diet. My head is now spinning like a whirling dervish as I try and grapple with kcal Base Metabolic Rate and daily energy expenditure etc. etc. Apparently, my kcal daily energy expenditure based on my height, weight and a sedentary lifestyle is: 1445 kcal Keto Calculator
Then I need to take skinfold measurement or I can just match up my body shape with these body fat comparison pictures
so I have 45% of body fat.
and now I need to learn about my optimal macronutrient ratio. Holy moly, this gets more complicated by the minute.
And then there are potential side effects when you first start which is generally referred to as Keto Flu.
Over the last ten days, I decided to work on a compromise diet until after my operation, stay in hospital and I am once again head cook. I will revisit the Keto diet then and reaccess.
For breakfast, I still have my cup of tea with a dash of lactose-free milk and I have significantly reduced my portion of oats to just one tablespoon with the goja and chia seeds and I only eat a half portion of yogurt.
Meals: I have cut out all rice, pasta (I adore pasta), pastry, bread, cakes, biscuits, crisps, potatoes, and even bananas. Oh and beans … I love hummus so that is also off the menu.
Changes to my diet include eating an avocado pear four times a week, salmon fillets or smoked salmon a couple of times a week, and an egg every day and some hard cheese and a few nuts.
Natural tinned tuna, mackerel or sardines, and masses of salad including watercress and spinach when I can get it. Thanks to COVID we only shop once a week so no popping to the shops. We eat what’s in the storecupboard. We also use good quality butter and olive oil instead of margarine or other processed products.
Another ‘naughty’ is probably the small glass of freshly pressed orange juice I have once a day. While I want to lose weight I am aware I need to maintain my natural intake of vitamin C
In conclusion, in the last ten days I have lost a further two kilos and most of the bloating I previously experienced has now disappeared. This means when I look down at the floor I can actually see my feet without leaning forward!
Useful references:
What foods to eat and avoid on Keto – this is an excellent reference I have bookmarked and refer to often
I have bookmarked this page as I never understood the difference.
I now need to find a useful Carb App for my phone. Any recommendations, please?
photo credit: Image by https://pixabay.com/users/RitaE-19628
Piglet in Portugal 
I’ve no info to help you but good luck
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a strange diet. I can see people do lose weight but for me there are too many associated health risks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Eha, the more I read about the keto diet the more I realise it is not suitable for me as it is not only too complicated but too risky healthwise. I am now being super strict on processed carbs and so far so good. As for potatoes and bread I am not missing them at all. I will try some of the Keto recipes as they look delicious but apart from that I will follow your advice. As for exercise, my knees are too painful at the moment but I have been looking at some chair exercises on line and see if I can create a daily routine. I’ll let you know how I get on. Thanks for the tips, Eha, very much appreciated
LikeLike
When i was running regularly – marathons etc, my average weight was around 70 kg.
These days I mostly walk and jog a little and my lifestyle is more sedentary – working at a computer rather than on my feet. Naturally the kilos piled on.
Apparently the average calorie requirement for a bloke my age and height is around 2000-2500cal. (for a woman I think it’s about 1500?)
To figure out your average intake write down everything you eat and drink over a 3 day period; look up the calories, add it all up and divide this by 3 to give your average calorie intake.
To make any sort of inroads in weight loss without an negative health issues I read that you need to cut 500 calories per day.
So, I walk briskly for around 30 minutes every morning (with the dog – up from 20 – I put in an extra 2 blocks) and have reduced my calories by 500 plus.
To date ( 12 days) I’ve gone from 86.1 kilos to 83.7. I’m aiming for around 75-77kg.
I cut about 80% of my bread intake, no sweet biscuits or cakes, chocolates ( and there are loads of this stuff in the house because of the business!) and no second helpings.
I drink a but more water and get about 30 minutes more sleep( go to bed earlier)
Nothing special, nothing fancy no different food. No sweat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
While I don’t think I’ve reduced the calories because I’ve been eating plenty of avocados, cheese, olive oil, butter, etc I have lost weight which amazes me. I suppose it’s the shifting of emphasis on what i eat overall. Well done for losing a couple of kilos in 10 days. And well done for getting that weight down before it takes hold. I should have done that years ago. But dieting was always tomorrow. Now all the tomorrows have finally caught up with me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Except tomorrow … and the tomorrow after that and …and!
I find writing stuff down helps me organize things- I used to record all my runs in a log.
Maybe you should start writing all these things down too? Maybe it’ll help? You never know.
Again I am not eating anything different.(You know I am vegetarian of course, yes)
So I’ll start with a black coffee. Take the dog for a walk for 30 ins, Have a glass of water on return, a single egg omelette and another coffee for breakfast, then start work.
But you have to exercise a bit, even if it’s ten minutes every morning walking round the garden or up and down the road.
It will make a world of difference, I promise. And you’ll fell good too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry, I just remembered you are currently not very mobile. Didn’t mean to be insensitive about the walking.
I know you have probably mentioned it before but why is surgery necessary? Is there no way physio or exercise/stretching can help?
LikeLike
Hey, no worries, Ark. I’m not precious about these things. Shit happens. 🙂 I have grade 5 arthritis and it’s now bone on bone. Both knees need replacing. Hence the lecture from the surgeon and the urgency to lose weight to take the pressure off my knees moving forward.
Even though I was overweight I used to be fit with pilates, Zumba, hiking and swimming. I still can’t believe how quickly the arthritus has taken hold.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OK – I got my medical degrees in my early twenties and have learned nutrition at University level since 1994 – still learning. Only saying that I actually do know !!! NO diets unless one has Diabetes 1 !! NONE – just sensible eating and, yes, I am a foodie who has eaten in many of the best restaurants in the world. What I do: Three meals a day !00% enjoyed ! Barely anything containing sugar and as little saturated fat as possible. 40 % healthy carbs, 30 % healthy fats, 30 % lean proteins. Roughly !! A dinner plate should have half vegetables and/or salad, 1/4 brown rice or other noble grains or wholemeal pasta or unpeeled steamed or baked potatoes. Learn what a ‘serving’ is – most people think it is twice as large as it should be. NO soft drinks or anything as criminal as Nutella. As little in the way of prepared salad dressings or sauces: OK, my diet is 70% Asian and I do use some sauces but make up for it ! Lots and lots and lots of herbs ans spices. Only black, rye, whole-seed etc bread or wraps. I have not put a piece of cake or a biscuit in my mouth for 30 years – never liked them . . . OK, eg had anchovies atop hard-boiled egg on black bread with an orange before and a mug of black coffee, no sugar for breakfast . . . an oven-naked osso buco with polenta and a huge salad for lunch with a couple of glasses of dry white wine . . . for the evening a huge wholemeal wrap with avocado, ricotta, steamed fish and a pile of salad, then cheese and fruit and a mug of green tea . . . all loved . . . ordinary day . . . just a few ideas, but PLEASE no diets and not so much thinking about food which should be enjoyed . . . . BUT you HAVE to exercise: what is wrong with chair exercising twice a day 🙂 ?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Eha, the more I read about the keto diet the more I realise it is not suitable for me as it is not only too complicated but too risky healthwise. I am now being super strict on processed carbs and so far so good. As for potatoes and bread I am not missing them at all. I will try some of the Keto recipes as they look delicious but apart from that I will follow your advice. As for exercise, my knees are too painful at the moment but I have been looking at some chair exercises on line and see if I can create a daily routine. I’ll let you know how I get on. Thanks for the tips, Eha, very much appreciated
LikeLike