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Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Mon May 23, 2022 11:41 am

AdamR wrote:I've tried a Keto / low carb - high fat diet before with good success but I wasn't doing much exercise at the time

I'm going to try this again to shift some excess weight but i'm also spending 6-8 hrs a day, 2-3 times a week walking hills this time.

Before trying keto I'd just have a couple of cheese & ham rolls & maybe a flapjack or haribo. However, on keto I can't live off just pepperami, cheese & smoked sausage when i'm walking, as tasty as those are. (I don't like jerky or biltong).

Does anyone else follow this diet & do lots of walking? What do you eat?


So, I did a keto diet a couple of years ago. I found it to be very good to drop weight but not sure its a long term sustainable change but it definitely changes the way I eat long term. Once I had gotten in to the ketogenic state my energy levels were good, or at least didn't feel any different.
I struggled to start with for food to take to the hills with me but managed to find quite a good few, decently high calorie, low carb replacements which weren't overly expensive. That and a lot of nuts and cheese for snacks were really quite helpful.
I'd be happy to update with some links to what I used if you wanted them?
I wouldn't worry to much about taking some higher carb snacks for energy if you think you need them. You might knock yourself out of your ketogenic state but because you've already done the hard work to get you there initially so you'll get back in to that quick (just be prepared for the inevitable gut change for a day or so and the potential "keto-flu" feelings)
Lastly, be prepared for your weight to fluctuate a bit during this, this is mostly water weight though as when those carbs come back in they store more water. (Apologies if this is information you already know).

I've since sort of changed my diet to a kind of keto one as it's a hard one to sustain. I still eat much less carbs than any other proteins or fats, but I keep them low and try and have at least one starchy carb a day, but I am doing a lot more training these days (weight training and cardio) so I feel I need them as I don't think Keto is sustainable for a highly active lifestyle.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Mon May 23, 2022 11:43 am

jupe1407 wrote:Each to their own but I wouldn't fancy trying a challenging walk on any sort of sustained reduction on food intake. Basically on a day when I'm walking, I'll maybe take an extra wrap or protein snack or two.

On wider note, I've tried various diets previously with mixed success. Instead of trying 8 weeks plans and all that sort of baws, I instead modified what i was eating regularly to still be tasty and filling but have a slightly higher protein/lower carb content. Basically on a normal day i'll consume between 1800-2000kcals, on a big walk I'll eat an extra 500 or so.

TBH If you're planning on doing that much walking on a regular basis and eat even relatively healthily, the weight will fall off.


Good advice - there's too many "diets" out there that boast about losing weight quick. But then you just put it back on.
It needs to be a lifestyle change to make you eat better in the long run and keep weight off and generally feel better about yourself and your health.
Though keto doesn't need to be a reduced food intake - that's any diet. Keto is mostly about changing how your body gets its energy so it gets it from fats instead of carbs and will use the fat in your body to power itself when you're on a calorie deficit.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Mon May 23, 2022 11:47 am

TheRealLurlock wrote:
Sethy2010 wrote:I think taking loads of food on walks is more psychological really.

This is a strange and potentially dangerous notion. Can you survive a multi-day walk with very little food? Probably, provided nothing else goes badly wrong. Is it wise to begin such a walk without a carrying a calorie surplus with you for each day? No, it isn't. If you are badly injured in a remote place or are benighted by bad weather, you would be better off relying on food rather than adrenaline to get yourself out of the situation. Physical weakness brought on by insufficient food might make the difference between getting injured or not in the first place. And if you're going out in the cold, do you think it's sensible not to carry more hot meals than you think you'll need?

I don't know what a multi-day walk in ketosis is like because I have never tried a ketogenic diet. But let's not pretend that it isn't a highly unusual situation and that you can draw any conclusions from it which apply to the ordinary hillwalker.


You may have the wrong idea of a keto diet here. Its not about reducing the food you take, its about changing the food you eat and taking appropriate snacks.
Doing a keto diet right means you'll change how your body creates its energy.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby AdamR » Tue May 24, 2022 11:26 am

[/quote]
I struggled to start with for food to take to the hills with me but managed to find quite a good few, decently high calorie, low carb replacements which weren't overly expensive. That and a lot of nuts and cheese for snacks were really quite helpful.
I'd be happy to update with some links to what I used if you wanted them?[/quote]

Some good advice in your posts David.

I'd be interested in links for the snacks you used
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Tue May 24, 2022 1:11 pm

AdamR wrote:

I struggled to start with for food to take to the hills with me but managed to find quite a good few, decently high calorie, low carb replacements which weren't overly expensive. That and a lot of nuts and cheese for snacks were really quite helpful.
I'd be happy to update with some links to what I used if you wanted them?[/quote]

Some good advice in your posts David.

I'd be interested in links for the snacks you used[/quote]

No worries! Other than the usual cheese and meats (Tesco do packs of gouda sticks wrapped in salami which are amazing!) and the nuts (I relied a lot on salted peanuts and the Graze punch nut power packets - regularly at £1.50 if you've got a clubcard but not too much because its easy to go overboard on these), I used the following, bearing in mind it will definitely cost a bit more, but I'm sure you're aware of this having done it before :)

Lo-Dough - https://lodough.co/products/lo-dough I used these to replace bread and wraps (and also make pizza!) a wee bit tasteless, but very decent when toasted. Packed them full of spinach and chicken and other veg as wraps (they do other snacks, but they're quite high in carb content)
Boostballs Keto Snacks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GSXPDP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 They're a wee bit chalky but the mint ones were excellent, 250kcal's a packet, but only 4grams of carbs. High fat content.
Fattbars! - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DFNQTHP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 These are a bit weird and to be honest I didn't enjoy them too much (they kinda remind me of suet bird feeding balls)
Pork Puffs - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N2NKV1Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 Honestly, these were to satisfy my crisp addiction more than anything else but they were pretty decent.

That was mostly what I used. I didn't mind the extra carbs I would be taking in on the hiking days because, even if it did take you out of ketosis it was really easy to get back in after a day or so. Hope it helps!

PS - can't forget the humble BabyBel :)
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby jupe1407 » Tue May 24, 2022 2:20 pm

Please to see Lo-Dough get a mention :lol:

We switched to those last year for pizza bases. Anne and I's food intake has changed a fair bit, both through generally wanting to eat better stuff and also as a result of research into things that might help Anne's condition. The general rule of thumb is that "clean eating" is pretty beneficial, so we tried to lose as much processed food from our diets as was realistic.

I'll batch cook chilli and curries etc from scratch (well nearly :lol:). I also binned breakfast cereals two years ago and have 200g of mixed fruit with 150g of high protein yoghurt each morning, chicken and chilli bean wraps (for example) for lunch and one of the above main meals for tea, with various healthy snacks or fruit in between. We'll treat ourselves to a monumentally unhealthy takeaway once a month and if I'm away for a hillwalking weekend or a week, then i'll revert to carby stuff out of convenience as much as anything else because i know full well I'll easily burn off additional calories.

Overall it's worked fairly well. Since making the changes i dropped 2st and my fitness levels are massively better than they used to be.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby LisaP » Tue May 24, 2022 2:54 pm

I feel like this post, instead of helping you get good keto suggestions for hiking, ended up with lots of people with no actual medical knowledge, are giving their 2 cents on whether keto is healthy or not....

"Everything in moderation" is a phrase commonly used, but food isn't the same over the world. Some things in moderation will kill you. Just because it's seen as "normal" to eat lots of grain here doesn't mean the human body requires it, or that it's a good source of fuel or nutrients. Mediterranean diets have been time and time again come out as best (based on numerous good peer reviewed studies) for weight control and overall health (high in good fats and low in processed carbs), as have things like intermittent fasting. Plus, everyone is different! I don't currently do keto as beer is so good.. But have done it in the past and I lost weight, felt healthier, had lots of energy, and didn't get slumps of post carb tiredness. Some people are also more insulin sensitive, high GI carbs spike insulin, which results in weight gain and swings in energy. So keto can be great for them.

To answer the actual question, I love misfits protein bars, they are pretty low carb and handy for a backpack! Have also made some nut bars with a small amount of oats, nuts, protein shake, peanut butter, and mix and bake them (pretty sure good recipes online as that's pretty vague but I can't remember the exact recipe!). Eggs, cheese, salami, nuts, roast chicken!

:)
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby LisaP » Wed May 25, 2022 9:44 am

LisaP wrote:I feel like this post, instead of helping you get good keto suggestions for hiking, ended up with lots of people with no actual medical knowledge, are giving their 2 cents on whether keto is healthy or not....


(Ok I jumped the gun, there were also some good suggestions too but every time I've spoken to anyone about keto is the same 'it's not a good diet' or 'it's a fad /makes you ill' comments like a few here hang around so it always irritates!)
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby simon-b » Wed May 25, 2022 10:28 am

Basically I agree with Jupe's each to their own principle, not just in terms of taste but also in terms of listening to your body and finding out what works for you. Different medical and nutrition experts have different opinions too.

Having said that, I, like Jupe, have been cutting down on the more processed foods where possible. I find eating clean and staying active helps your body to let you know what you need. We might not all be medical professionals but we can research what they say, or listen to those who know us and our own health status.

Sorry if this might seem like a digression from the subject regarding hiking on keto, but it could be relevant in making the choice between clean and dirty keto (or using the convenience of dirty keto energy bars etc. while on the hill then balancing it with clean keto when back at base!)
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Fri May 27, 2022 2:27 pm

jupe1407 wrote:Please to see Lo-Dough get a mention :lol:

We switched to those last year for pizza bases. Anne and I's food intake has changed a fair bit, both through generally wanting to eat better stuff and also as a result of research into things that might help Anne's condition. The general rule of thumb is that "clean eating" is pretty beneficial, so we tried to lose as much processed food from our diets as was realistic.

I'll batch cook chilli and curries etc from scratch (well nearly :lol:). I also binned breakfast cereals two years ago and have 200g of mixed fruit with 150g of high protein yoghurt each morning, chicken and chilli bean wraps (for example) for lunch and one of the above main meals for tea, with various healthy snacks or fruit in between. We'll treat ourselves to a monumentally unhealthy takeaway once a month and if I'm away for a hillwalking weekend or a week, then i'll revert to carby stuff out of convenience as much as anything else because i know full well I'll easily burn off additional calories.

Overall it's worked fairly well. Since making the changes i dropped 2st and my fitness levels are massively better than they used to be.


That's very nearly like me as well. After I learned that a lot of cereals were full of sugar and really not that good for you I dropped them. I still enjoy the odd box of Frosties or something if I am away. Its the same with bread; absolutely love a mothers pride chip butty, but I find that bread products that "rise" really bag me up and make me feel horrible now, so I cut down when I have them.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Fri May 27, 2022 2:31 pm

It is interesting to see what everyone thinks.
I for one think I have felt a lot better after dropping so many of the "bad" carbohydrates out of my diet. But I think the normal diet is so full of them it can be hard to see any other way.

I also find it quite hard to find something nice to eat if I'm travelling around Scotland, outside of major cities. Everything is the stodgy food - burgers, fish and chips, pastry. All stuff that I feel lethargic in to the next day after eating. It would be nice if there was more healthier alternatives (that aren't just a salad, but even they are rare)
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby AyrshireAlps » Thu Jun 02, 2022 12:44 pm

I also find it quite hard to find something nice to eat if I'm travelling around Scotland, outside of major cities. Everything is the stodgy food - burgers, fish and chips, pastry. All stuff that I feel lethargic in to the next day after eating. It would be nice if there was more healthier alternatives (that aren't just a salad, but even they are rare)


Absolutely, for a country that likes to pride itself on produce, most places out and about are pretty grim.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby AdamR » Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:10 pm

An update!
Well after doing this for a several weeks now. My observations after sticking to a strict keto plan throughout.

I've never been hungry once, while eating very little. Energy levels are generally much better, I can cover flatish ground with ease probably quicker than before. However on steep ascents I struggle, I have to stop more often & definitely take longer.

I did Devils point, Angels Peak & Cairn toul from Linn of Dee last week & Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Bhreac this weekend. Managed both with no carbs or a craving to have any.

For endurance it's seams much better but for short bursts where I need energy quickly not so good.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby CharlesT » Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:51 pm

AyrshireAlps wrote:
I also find it quite hard to find something nice to eat if I'm travelling around Scotland, outside of major cities. Everything is the stodgy food - burgers, fish and chips, pastry. All stuff that I feel lethargic in to the next day after eating. It would be nice if there was more healthier alternatives (that aren't just a salad, but even they are rare)


Absolutely, for a country that likes to pride itself on produce, most places out and about are pretty grim.

Nothing changes then! Fifty years ago my wife to be and I spent a week in a friend's cottage in Kingussie and were shocked at the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in the locality and the poor quality and stodgy fare on offer in local eateries. Recent experience reinforces my view, there is a limit to how many fish suppers you can eat day after day.
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Re: Keto / low carb - high fat diet & walking

Postby DavidShepherd » Wed Jul 20, 2022 12:35 pm

AdamR wrote:An update!
Well after doing this for a several weeks now. My observations after sticking to a strict keto plan throughout.

I've never been hungry once, while eating very little. Energy levels are generally much better, I can cover flatish ground with ease probably quicker than before. However on steep ascents I struggle, I have to stop more often & definitely take longer.

I did Devils point, Angels Peak & Cairn toul from Linn of Dee last week & Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Bhreac this weekend. Managed both with no carbs or a craving to have any.

For endurance it's seams much better but for short bursts where I need energy quickly not so good.


That's what I found as well. You're never really hungry because there is much more fat in your diet, but fat isn't as good an energy source as carbs are.
Thanks for the update :)
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