Medifast

[CATRACCOM]

Has anyone done this program? My mom is going and this is her first week. They wanted her to exercise so I had her come to the gym with me this week and do some basic weight training for 4 days. She went walking for one day. They said because she only lost 2 lbs this week that she should walk for 3 days a week instead of weights. They said that she wasn't in ketosis. She does have quit a bit to lose. Does this sound right?

[patterson678]

Has anyone done this program? My mom is going and this is her first week. They wanted her to exercise so I had her come to the gym with me this week and do some basic weight training for 4 days. She went walking for one day. They said because she only lost 2 lbs this week that she should walk for 3 days a week instead of weights. They said that she wasn't in ketosis. She does have quit a bit to lose. Does this sound right?

I have a few people that are on it. They do see weight lose but not a lot of fat loss

[MrB1g]

Has anyone done this program? My mom is going and this is her first week. They wanted her to exercise so I had her come to the gym with me this week and do some basic weight training for 4 days. She went walking for one day. They said because she only lost 2 lbs this week that she should walk for 3 days a week instead of weights. They said that she wasn't in ketosis. She does have quit a bit to lose. Does this sound right?

Sounds like absolute bull**** to me even though I'm not familiar with the program.

For one, keto? No one needs a ketogenic diet unless you're lagging pre-comp. It's just a guaranteed fail. Ketogenic diets can't be maintained long term (they can, but it's no fun) and when you reintroduce carbs into your diet you WILL regain a lot of the lost weight, especially if they're expecting her to drop more than 2lb's a week.

A simple weights program 3-4 days a week focussing on compound lifts, plenty of cardiovascular exercise and small, nutritionally balanced meals throughout the day will achieve far more.

[Amanda76]

Being in ketosis may effect the kind of exercise you CAN do (low carb diets do not support intense exercise), but the kind of exercise you are doing won't effect whether you are in ketosis. That's entirely nutrition related and she needs to make sure she's not doing anything to accidentally "kick herself out of" or prevent herself from entering ketosis. Both citric acid and artificial sweeteners have been blamed for such things. There's argument over it, but if you are doing everything exactly right and that's the last thing it could possibly be, you get rid of it. Make sure she's tracking carbs in things like dairy, nuts and protein powder (don't forget alcohol if she drinks at all) as well as more commonly thought of carb sources. You can have those things VERY SPARINGLY but the carbs in them can add up and some people do need to avoid even those sources entirely, sticking to only fibrous veggies as they enter ketosis.

Not sure what her attitude toward this diet is, but you can't have cheat meals with carbs in them while trying to enter and stay in ketosis, either. She can't take a moderate approach to a keto diet. She's either got to avoid carbs or she needs to choose something a bit more well rounded to help her reach her weight-loss goals.

Your mom can't burn enough calories walking for the same amount of time to lose weight at a significantly faster rate than she will doing light weight training (assuming she's taking it pretty easy being new). They will NOT be creating the additional 3,500 calorie expenditure needed to lose even an extra pound a week with what they've told her to do. It would have made sense for them to tell her to add some more activity, but switching her activities out like that does not. If her weight starts falling off after making such a change, it's simply that she's figured out how to do a better job with her nutrition or that her body has figured out what to do without carbs for fuel.

I'm assuming their reaction is because your mom didn't lose the quick 10-ish pounds most people do when they first drop their carbs. The greatest portion of that quick weight loss is water. Some of the reason her body might not be letting go of as much water weight could be because of the body storing fluid within the muscle/tissue because of her new exercise regimine, but only good will come of that as time goes on.

That being said, make sure your mom is drinking LOTS of plain water as her body will need extra with this kind of meal plan and her body will hold on to it's water rations if it's not getting enough to support the extra load on the liver and kidneys.

Have you checked out the keto forums here?

[CATRACCOM]

I've read a little bit about keto but not a ton. She is eating what they tell her too...I just see a piece of chicken with some lettuce so far. I know they have her eating their food too I just don't know what it is. She is all about going on these diets and sticks with them until they are over and then just lets it go. My thought is that she limited her calories before the new plan and that the new plan isn't really cutting calories for her. I have recently had both my parents switched over to stevia. Neither of them drink alcohol.
At least it's getting her into the gym. She was having fun with the weights last week and I want to keep her excited about going. Rather than doing the walking like they recommended, we cut back on the time we spent lifting. Last week we did 3 sets of 4-5 exercises 4 days...this week we're just doing one set of each. That kept her more in her 20 min allotment.
My step dad is on the same plan and did drop the quick 10.
I know what I'd rather see her do with her diet and exercise but sometimes you just can't get someone to listen. I'll let her roll with this and try to keep her coming to the gym with me. I'll keep reminding her about her water...I did get after her tonight, not bringing a bottle to the gym.

[Amanda76]

I've read a little bit about keto but not a ton. She is eating what they tell her too...I just see a piece of chicken with some lettuce so far. I know they have her eating their food too I just don't know what it is. She is all about going on these diets and sticks with them until they are over and then just lets it go. My thought is that she limited her calories before the new plan and that the new plan isn't really cutting calories for her. I have recently had both my parents switched over to stevia. Neither of them drink alcohol.
At least it's getting her into the gym. She was having fun with the weights last week and I want to keep her excited about going. Rather than doing the walking like they recommended, we cut back on the time we spent lifting. Last week we did 3 sets of 4-5 exercises 4 days...this week we're just doing one set of each. That kept her more in her 20 min allotment.
My step dad is on the same plan and did drop the quick 10.
I know what I'd rather see her do with her diet and exercise but sometimes you just can't get someone to listen. I'll let her roll with this and try to keep her coming to the gym with me. I'll keep reminding her about her water...I did get after her tonight, not bringing a bottle to the gym.

In order to do a keto diet, your mom needs to be eating a meal plan that is MOSTLY fat (typical ratio to get into keto would be 65% fats, 30% protein and 5% carbs...she may be able to maintain with slightly higher carbs, but getting into ketosis can take some more work). The chicken and lettuce example you gave is a meal that is mostly protein (even if it was from a fattier part of the chicken). If that's a typical meal, that may be the issue.

I think it was a good idea to keep her weight training (especially since she enjoys it) and just cut the activity back to what they suggested (the "cutting back" still makes no sense to me since you weren't overdoing it in the first place, though) to kinda "follow orders."

I have to say I'm in agreement with the people here who would rather see your mom on a more balanced nutrition plan, btw...

[rockangel]

Sounds like absolute bull**** to me even though I'm not familiar with the program.

For one, keto? No one needs a ketogenic diet unless you're lagging pre-comp. It's just a guaranteed fail. Ketogenic diets can't be maintained long term (they can, but it's no fun) and when you reintroduce carbs into your diet you WILL regain a lot of the lost weight, especially if they're expecting her to drop more than 2lb's a week.

A simple weights program 3-4 days a week focussing on compound lifts, plenty of cardiovascular exercise and small, nutritionally balanced meals throughout the day will achieve far more.

I agree with this. I am not a big fan of those "canned" diet systems.