The Keto Diet

Listen to the Registered Dietitians (RDs), not the celebrity magazines.

As a personal trainer, I am exposed to all types of questions regarding nutrition and diets. Majority of the time I have an answer and provide the information they need but that isn’t always the case. Recently many clients have been asking about the ketogenic diet and if it is right for them. Initially, I always say the same thing when it comes to a question on a specific diet – if you can’t do it for a lifetime, don’t do it at all. Therefore, the ketogenic diet (a low-carbohydrate diet, higher fat consumption, higher protein consumption and scheduled fasting stages) is something that isn’t recommended. I did want to find out more information on the diet itself and what our registered dietitian (RD) thought about it.

Carbohydrates are your brains main fuel source

Rachel Suba, RD, LD is currently the online registered dietitian for Full Scale Fitness. She also is the head of the sports and nutrition program at the University of Oklahoma. Rachel is a highly sought after in her field and I 150% take her professional and clinical word to be the truth. So I asked Rachel, “What is your professional opinion on the ketogenic diet?”

She responded…

“My professional opinion on the ketogenic diet:

  1. It’s only been scientifically proven to be beneficial for those with the medical condition epilepsy. Even so, only been found to be effective in children.
  2. The diet itself puts you in a TOXIC state of ketosis and those in ketosis (for medical purposes) are monitored by a physician.
  3. It cuts out key food groups with key nutrients the body needs.
  4. Carbs are you brains MAIN fuel source and even some brain cells cannot function without carbs.
  5. As far as sport performance, research does not show an improvement in performance and in fact even shows decreases in performance since the body has to work harder to process foods and therefore it takes longer to get the “energy” from the foods.
  6. The long term impact is that people regain the weight back (if they’re using it for weight loss).
  7. Other negatives – Muscle loss (due to the lack of carbohydrates to supply muscle growth), constipation (missing a lot of fiber), high cholesterol (due to the high fat consumption), and deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.

Overall, it’s a fad diet and isn’t advised by health professionals.” – Rachel Suba, R.D., L.D.

Please keep in mind that carbohydrates are what fuel your body to keep going! Carbohydrates are digested and stored into the muscle tissue / liver as glycogen. This glycogen is then extracted and broken down by enzymes through a process called glycolysis and formed into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is what your body uses for physiological processes / muscle contractions and is found in all living tissue. Therefore, a decrease in carbohydrates equates to a decrease in ATP production and that is not beneficial for any athlete or individual exercising (again, see bullets 5 & 7).

You heard it here first folks! Avoid the ketogenic diet unless you’ve been suggested to do so by a licensed physician and/or registered dietitian. If you’re looking for help on finding the right “diet” or nutritional program to follow, contact us at Full Scale Fitness! We will gladly help you out. Our personal trainers are always eager to help clients out in the nutritional field and for those that need the extra assistance (such as a meal plan or consultation), our registered dietitians are here to help as well!

Andy Hanson, M.S., DBC-1

Life-Styling | Not Dieting

There was a time when I wanted to have a lifestyle not dieting when I was trying to lose weight. I have tried and done it all!  Whether it was trying to do different types of diets, I tried cutting out all things sugar, I tried depriving myself of yummy food, I even tried unhealthy ways (just not eating). It’s not that I was never “fat” but I was never happy with my body. Being a three sport athlete, I still weighed 20-30 lbs heavier than my teammates and I had NO idea how they could be so small by eating worse than me and we exercised the exact same amount. When I went to college my lifestyle changed. I was no longer exercising like I was in high school. My sleeping schedule was horrible, I was sitting most of the time, and I couldn’t afford healthy food.

It's a lifestyle, not a diet.

In high school I was about 150 lbs and when I came home from my first semester of school I stood on the scale and I was 179 lbs! What?! How in the world did that even happen! Some people say Freshman 15, I was more like first semester freshman 30. It was CRAZY! I immediately joined weight watchers and I started working really hard. Even with my hard work,  I only lost 9 lbs! Something had to change! I finally threw everything out; tossing my recipe books, my food diary, I smashed my point calculator and I decided to do things differently.

By the end of it I had lost 50 lbs. and went from 180-130 in about 6 months. I know I had the benefit of only being 21 years old, but I also worked really hard to get there! How did I do that?

The Lifestyle Approach

  1. I found an exercise program that I enjoyed! I was tired of doing exercises and workouts that I hated and would dread. Who would be motivated to follow a routine that they hate? That is why I started my search for an online personal trainer who could write me workouts that I was able to do and more importantly, workouts that I enjoyed doing! This is how i stumbled upon Full Scale Fitness. After reviewing the company and what they stand for, I moved forward with online personal training. From there, they started me on a Phase 1 Program with my personal trainer and I loved every minute of it. This was almost like a reintroduction to exercise. Since then I have advanced into Phase 2 of my programming and I’m having great success.
  2. Meal sizes had to change! I ate until I was comfortable but I never over ate and that wasn’t always the case. Seeing food as fuel helped me eat things that I knew were healthy and good for me, but they weren’t so extreme. I didn’t just eat raw tuna and dry salad for each meal. Potatoes, bread and even cheese were a part of my diet! But I ate it all in smaller doses!

  3. If I was craving something, I would let myself have it. There were times where I wanted some McDonald’s French fries then I would go and get a small fry. Depriving myself from things that I loved made dieting almost impossible and when I would be around that food I would binge eat, because I hadn’t eaten it for so long. I lost WAY more weight by occasionally letting myself have a small craving (small being the important word).

  4.  

    Comfort eating was no longer a “thing” for me. It was hard to realize how much I was eating because I was sad, lonely or bored. I started really thinking about whether or not I was hungry or having emotions convincing me to eat. This was probably the most important development that I had to make!

  5.  

    Drinking more water was a necessity for me. It surprised me how often I was just thirsty instead of hungry. I started drinking 10 cups of water (yes I counted) each day and I would find myself not snacking as much. If I started feeling hungry, I would drink water and if I was still hungry then I knew that I was actually hungry and not just thirsty.

    Remember – It’s life-styling, not dieting! If you need help on your diet or getting your fitness in-line, give us a call! Check out our personal training options here: www.fullscalefit.com/services-all

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