Reddit reviews Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It

T2DM here. I went on Atkins, then keto in January of 2011. I was able to cut back (then eliminate) my meds (Metformin) and now am not taking any meds for it.

Later that year I was diagnosed with rectal cancer, although it was an early stage. I stayed on keto and I believe that it helped with the treatment, although my oncology doctor was reluctant.

Anyway, after about 2 months of treatment (chemo and radiation) I became cancer free. And I intend to stay that way, partially by keeping my blood sugar and serum insulin low, so as not to encourage any incipient tumors.

It's true. It does mean giving up foods I was used to and foods I liked. But having been through chemo and radiation, I don't want to go back to that again.

Also, a few years before that, I had both knees replaced, as they had worn out. I'm sure the weight contributed to the wear. I definitely don't want to go through that again.

Taubes' Why We Get Fat is probably the easiest read on the subject and his lecture at the Walnut Creek Library is a good (but long) summary of it. Phinney and Volek's The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living is a heftier tome but by two doctors. and Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars is explicitly about this, and he's a T1DM himself. But he also deals with the larger population of T2DM folks.

I'm recommending a bunch of books because it appears that an argument from authority is about all that is likely to work on mom (unfortunately). But I'm 70 and I did it, so age alone is not a preclusion.

Tomatoes and carrots are carby. Remember. Tomato is a friut, and carrots grow under ground. Green veggies that are grow above ground are usually lo-carb.

Use heavy cream in your coffee.

Not everyone gets the keto-flu.

Read this book.

There are lots of hidden carbs in everything. If you keep your count at about 10, you are probably really at 20.

Some artificial sweeteners trigger an insulin release in some people. Avoid them for the first 3 weeks or so. A splenda in your coffee is fine, but the sugar free coffee creamer is full of bullshit.

Physical activity above and beyond normal everyday getting around may make your tired and hungry at first. Your body is use to using carbs to fuel your soccer games. With out carbs what is it going to use? When you become 'keto-adapted' (3-6 weeks) your body will start burning fat for fuel. Until then you are going to be in limbo. You body may slow down your metabolism to conserve energy and your weight lose can plateau. And your body craving carbs will make the diet harder to maintain.

A lot of factors dictate how much you need to eat. For example, Age, sex, how active you are, etc. you should estimate your BMR here

This Basal Metabolic Rate will tell you what your body needs day to day just to sustain itself, and from there you can have a good idea of where to go. Ideally you want to eat an extra 500 calories each day in order to have a 3500 calorie surplus each week, to add on one pound of weight which is an accepted safe limit in the fitness industry. However, you may find that by eating more and chowing down more frequently, you actually speed your metabolism up, so you may need to actually eat closer to 750-1000 extra a day in order to gain a pound per week.

My advice, do a 3 day food diary and post it here, we'll go through it and see how much you're actually getting at the moment and can help with getting more food into you!


You'll get a million different answers for much protein you need, some people claim a high protein/fat diet and zero/low carbs
(Read Atkins diet) is great for weightloss, others will say you need to eat lots of protein to gain muscle. Personally, I only think 20-25% of your calorie intake needs to be protein, with a much heavier focus on carbs 60% and the remainder as Fats.


On a side note, I'd swap the Smith Machine press, for a free weights version. The Smith Machine is on a fixed plane, which means it does nothing for stabilising muscles - In other words, will have very little transferability into being useful in the real world - and is going to place a lot of stress on the elbow flexor and shoulder joint due to restrictions on how the bar moves.


>Source: - Schwanbeck, S., Chilibeck, P. D., Binsted, G. A Comparison of Free Weight Squat to Smith Machine Squat Using Electromyography. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2009. 23(9)/2588-2591.

>Source: Any Charles Poliquin Book

>Source: http://www.mensfitness.co.uk/exercises/2124/charles-poliquins-bench-press-tips

EDIT: Words