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Comment by fixxer | Hacker News Reader

So far, after 20 years of competitive rowing and an office job, I've found the best advice for me is simply don't get injured, remain active (get out!), and cook more. All these fads might work (IF, keto, crossfit), but I think they mostly answer other questions than fitness or health. People want to feel like they are getting results fast... That is rarely sustainable in my experience and observation.

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Not getting injured is the one I have always struggled with. As you have correctly pointed out it is probably the most important thing you can do to keep fit. After 17 years of stop start I had gone from potentially world class athlete to unable to even do a sit up without agonizing pain. On the road to recovery again now (2.5 years in), hopefully for the last time.

This time I have invested heavily into medical help to solve the problem from the core and not just from the pain perspective. It seems to be paying off so far and I would recommend the course of action I have taken to anyone else suffering from back problems (severe scoliosis in my case due to office cave man exacerbating underlying imbalances from a serious accident). My regime is chiro, sports massage, a physical therapist who doesn't hold back when doing active release and core strengthening exercises once capable.

Also know when is enough. It took years to start listening to my body and to realize I couldn't train like I used to.

keto is the best way to lose weight, period. You lose weight while not even trying ... it really is the miracle diet, for most people anyway. Gives great mental energy as well. (yeah, sounds like bullshit, but turns out to be true for lots of people)

Anecdotally true or verifiably true?

Both. For the former you can start with success stories on the keto subreddit. For the latter there is decades of research on the subject. You can start with this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC_qBC1EEvw

Not necessarily talks by professors, but scientific papers published in respectable journals or on NCBI.

> Not necessarily talks by professors, but scientific papers published in respectable journals or on NCBI

well the professor in the talk has published dozens of papers so it's a good way to start. I'm not going to provide you with a literature review sorry :)

Yeah, I don't disagree, but that isn't my point.

I have much experience with keto. For loosing fat it can be a tool in the arsenal but it is not everytime goto tool that it better than anything in every situation that some people try to make it is. As for the mental clariness, my experience is that I constantly have some kind of mental fatigue on keto, sometimes so much (after training) that I am funny to speak with (bugging out to much). That persists even after 1-2months on ketosis, cyclic or not, does not matter.

Hard to be a great athlete without protein AND carbs.

You don't need to be a great athlete in order to be fit, which is what this is about.

Let me rephrase: hard to have optimal (or even suboptimal) athletic performance without carbs.

yes I've heard about other people in your case. I probably shouldn't have overstated that point. Do you eat enough fat? It's easy not to eat enough I find.

On my first attempt of ketosis I underate fat. But that was many years ago. Now I eat about 1:1 ratio of protein and fats in grams. About 150gr each. And 10-20gr max carbs all from veggies.

Are there any peer reviewed (or not) evidence that the keto diet provides additional weight losses beyond that which can be explained by calorie deficiencies?

Anecdotically you'll find lots of testimonies (including mine) arguing that it's much easier to control hunger on keto. I don't have food craving since I started and I get to eat as much as I want. So it's a lot easier to not overeat. Scientifically it's well known that eating carbs (especially fast acting carbs like sugar) triggers storage of fat.

I agree that, for a given caloric deficit, a ketogenic diet produces less perceived hunger, so you "lose weight while not even trying". However, keto also keeps your glycogen stores low, which reduces cardiovascular performance while the diet persists. This makes keeping muscle harder, especially if you have a lifestyle with requisite cardio (e.g. bicycle commuting). I don't think high-intensity cardio + keto is a good idea because, in the absence of glycogen, the body can tap muscle protein as a peak-power energy source.

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