I don’t know why we’re hearing so much more about diets this time of year. Maybe people are trying to slim up before the holidays and New Year. Somehow it’s already October, which means it’s less than three months to Christmas and the overindulgences of the season. What am I doing with my life? Anyway Tamra Judge of Real Housewives of The OC went on a Keto diet and didn’t last a month. She’s a bodybuilder and is super fit but I guess she wanted to try it out anyway. She told Bravo TV Blog The Feast that she did Keto (a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet according to Wiki) and that she only lasted a month because she got sick. Apparently this is a common side effect of the diet. We just heard from Savannah Guthrie, who said she’s been doing Keto for weeks and hasn’t lost any weight. It can make you sick in the beginning too. Here’s what Tamra told The Feast:
She was on board for about a month, Tamra recently revealed to The Feast, “until I got sick. They say there’s this Keto flu you get, and I just I fell off the Keto wagon.” (The Keto flu is real — just ask Katie Couric, who experienced it too.)
So yes, Tamra tried Keto — but no, she wasn’t sold. In fact, like many health and nutrition professionals — and like Andy Cohen, who thinks Keto is just “dumb” — Tamra has serious doubts: “It concerns me.”
“OK, so here’s my thoughts on it,” she told The Feast. “I’m sure it works, but I cannot wrap my brain around eating that much fat. Bad fat — cheese, sour cream, butter, all that stuff. So, I like to do the good fats — like I’ll do the avocado, but I’m not gonna drown my eggs in butter and throw the cheese of top of it. Just — I can’t.”
Tamra’s well aware of the wide obsession with the diet trend (who isn’t?) but it just strikes her as outside the realm of logic. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me because it’s just not healthy eating,” she told us. “So I worry more about what it’s gonna do for, like, your heart, your cholesterol, and things like that. So I pretty much stick to a similar diet, but I just don’t go for the bad fat.”
Here’s the main thing about Keto, according to Tamra: “The problem is it doesn’t work. You have to put your body in Ketosis and if you don’t, then you’re just eating a s—load of calories. You have to put your body into Ketosis for it to work, and then you burn the fat. But if you’re eating carbohydrates with that and sugar — all you’re doing is eating a whole lot of calories. You know what? It’s not gonna work. I think people don’t quite understand how the Keto diet works.”
I don’t have a dog in this fight and I learned not to criticize keto or the low carb dieters will come for me. I don’t have room to complain about it either, since I eat a lot of crap and would surely feel better if I limited sugar and processed foods. The thought of not having cake or bread makes me shudder, but as my Instagram timeline keeps showing me there are all sorts of keto desserts and they’re supposed to taste great. Going through carb withdrawal sounds like it’s just awful though. I’m sure plenty of people will now explain to me how much better you feel afterwards. I get it! I’m just not ready to do that and give up one of my last vices. See Terry Crews’ explanation of a carb coma here. I know you crash hard but I love that feeling.
She probably was carb-starving herself is the problem. You have to eat A LOT of fruits and vegetables to keep up if you’re completely cutting processed carbs, and as a body builder, I’m sure her diet restrictions are even more intense than the majority of us.
I don’t watch the show, but I pick it up occasionally because my friend does. I have to admit Tamra is probably one of the more appealing cast members. She has a lot more “fun” drama than drama drama.
That’s kind of the cornerstone of keto. NO carbs.
It’s not NO carbs. It’s 20-25 or less. You have to eat a lot of green vegetables to reach 20 net carbs.
Keto Flu is just people jumping in without knowing what they’re doing. When you don’t eat sugar/grain carbs you don’t have carb bloat. Carb bloat holds electrolytes in your cells. When you low-carb or Keto you pee out a lot of your electrolytes and you need to replenish them. Keep your electrolytes balanced and you don’t get Keto Flu.
The choices of veggies you can eat are very limited, certainly when you have a list of all veggies & then see the ones that are low enough in carbs for Keto.
My daughter was on the ketogenic diet for her epilepsy many years ago. It’s so weird for me to hear that people are doing it to lose weight but it kind of makes sense. My daughter had to go off of it b/c she was starving on it. She actually chewed her thumbnail off to fight off hunger pangs.
I said something similar below about a friend’s daughter, I also cannot imagine anyone willingly doing that diet. I hope your daughter is doing well.
@ESmom – I did it willingly. My body was going through some crazy metabolic issues/food reactions and my health insurance at my new job had not started yet, so I did it as a means to troubleshoot. I researched a lot of different options and decided on keto because a lot of people do get results with it, and I was worried that picking something less strict would not be as effective for me. I also do not react well to fatty greasy foods so I did a modified version like Tamra that was most limited to good fats.
It was miserable in the beginning but once the cravings stop and my body adjusted I actually did start to feel better. I did not lose much weight but that was not my goal. Cutting out sugar and a lot of processed foods/carbs actually helped my metabolism get back on track, and the inflammation I was experiencing (mostly my joints but also swelling, hypertension and headaches) have all but stopped.
It is not something I would generally recommend without the aid of a doctor or a true medical reason but that was not an option for me at the time. I did not experience this flu that some people seem to get however it was tough in the beginning.
Thank you! She’s doing much better. 🙂
I just read about Keto for epilepsy. Fascinating, said the diet lowers the brain’s threshold response to a naturally created anti seizure hormone the body releases when it thinks we are dying.
Why didn’t she just eat more? There’s no carbs in meat and barely any in cheese. I literally stuff my face all day long and I’m never hungry on keto.
I did the Atkins diet once which is similar and effective but I regret doing that has i do believe its not healthy.
Here’s another (balanced) way to lose weight without losing lifestyle: have a nice breakfast like a pain chocolat and coffee and eat healthy the rest of the day lots of veggies limited and mainly brown grains, almost always skip the rice and bread especially late in the day, and stop eating early 🙂 if you’re hungry or unsatisfied at night at least you’ll know you can wake up and have something really nice. It worked for me. I can’t imagine giving up completely certain unhealthy foods like baguettes and croissants that I associate with my cultural identity. Also fatty meaty meals hurt my tummy now
Stop talking so much sense lol. You’ll never sell that! (you described precisely how I eat to feel/look my best) It’s not quick but it works and is SUSTAINABLE!!!
She is as tacky as can be-but has an amazing body-so not sure why she’d even bother trying keto to begin with. I definitely feel better with no sugar (it is truly terrible for you in all sorts of ways) but it’s so hard to keep up with long term. I want my nestle tollhouse cookies!
I don’t know that’s it’s a flu she’s describing but simply the body rejecting that kind of diet. My friend’s daughter had to go on a ketogenic diet for epilepsy that was resistant to any medication and according to protocol she was hospitalized her for the first few days because she was so sick, throwing up and with diarrhea. It’s a shock to to the system.
Knowing what she went through, it’s hard for me to imagine anyone doing that voluntarily. It did stop her seizures, though. Amazing.
My coworker went on the diet and didn’t last a week. Her stomach was killing her.
Also slightly hilarious but there’s an ad for a keto cookbook on the top of this webpage on my phone 😂
I”m seeing an add for Reeses Peanut Butter sauce
Keto is definitely not for everybody, but I love it. It’s the only diet I’ve ever tried where I feel full and satisfied, Iand it hurts my cravings for snacks and overeating, which is the big reason why I gain weight in the first place. it’s not realistic for most people to cut out bread and pasta and stuff forever, but it isn’t designed to be for life. Even the Atkins diet introduces whole grain Breads and stuff after you’ve completed the weight loss you want.
I’ve lost 50 pounds on the keto diet so it definitely helped me. The keto flu is not a universal thing by any means. You just have to be diligent about what you eat.
I did the Keto diet for about 3 months, to lose weight. I tried it because I was in need of something drastic to get myself back in gear, I had lost all motivation and was in a funk. I dropped almost 30 pounds in about 8 weeks. I didn’t get the Keto flu, but I definitely had a lack of energy. I didn’t miss the potatoes, or the bread and such, but I found the limited allowed fruits and veggies hard. Then, after about a week of putting cheese on everything I couldn’t poop! You really have to watch that the fats you’re consuming are good fats and not just cheesy goodness! Lol. Once I had my groove back, I wasn’t as strict but still definitely try to stay away from processed foods and white sugar.
I lost 40 lbs doing a Keto diet and have kept it off over 2 years. I still eat fairly low carb and I always keep track of my calories on MFP. It’s just a routine now. I’m not crazy strict but it’s a lifestyle I feel much better on.
The idea that Keto is unlimited fat is so incorrect. You still have to make the fat you eat fit into the calories you need for the day! It’s a balance!
^ This, 100%.
Good for you Tina. I’ve also had a lot of success with keto. I eat very healthy; proteins, vegetables, berries and healthy fats. I never have cravings and feel super satisfied with my food. I’ve never felt better. Yes, I did get keto flu in the beginning and I felt crappy for about 6 days. It subsided after that. I think if you want to abuse a diet you’re going to do it regardless of what diet it is.. You can do keto eating bacon all the time just like you can do weight watchers eating Twinkies. But I will say this. The MOST effective weight loss plan for you is the one you can do for the rest of your life. For me, that is keto.
I’m doing Keto and have lost 20 pounds in two months, but attribute it more to actually tracking my calories on MFP than to the diet itself. The high fat keeps you sated for longer, so, in theory, you should try to eat mostly healthy fats. I think some people just hear high fat and take it as license to eat nothing but cheese covered steaks. The carb restriction works to eliminate water weight, but once up your carbs again that comes back, so I don’t count the first five pounds. Anyway, I miss fruit, so I’m going try dropping it and just tracking my calories on MFP for a while.
As I get older I am much more interested in eating a whole-food plant based diet than fads or potentially damaging long term diets such as this..and honestly the almost complete lack of fiber would be horrific! I have several friends on Keto diets and they eat so much cheese, bacon and processed meat that it turns my stomach…
Avocados, nuts, olives!
Yum!
These are all keto and there are keto vegetarians and keto vegans. Keto is not synonymous with bacon and cheese!
oh totally, I’m not saying that vegan Keto doesnt exist, I’m just saying that my friends versions of Keto seem to be full of processed fats and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how that is healthy! and also..they are always half constipated, which would make me very miserable lol
Everyone I know on Keto eat lots of meat. Not to say that’s the rule, but it’s what I’ve experienced.
I too am over here eating my whole foods, lots of fruits and veggies, and whole grains. No crazy diets.
YES! Eat REAL food, not so much and cut out the processed, sugary crap. Indulge on occasion, not hard! It’s a sustainable lifestyle without feeling completely deprived of anything. I have been slowly changing my diet (not a diet but my diet) for about 2 years now and I have managed with the help of exercise to drop 30 lbs over the last 2 years and keep it off even when I have a weekend of indulgence or don’t eat enough vegetables, etc. To me, I’d rather sustain a healthy lifestyle as opposed to dropping weight quick by depriving myself of things that my body really really wants from time to time.
If they’re eating processed meats, then they’re not doing it right, haha.
All I got from a Keto diet was high cholesterol, when it had never been an issue. People all process fats–even healthy fats–differently. Be careful to monitor your total fat intact and cholesterol levels. Especially watch out for coconut oil, yes it has MCTs, but it also has saturated fat.
This happened to a good friend, to the where her doctor wanted to put her on a statin. She asked for two months to try a lower fat, plant heavy diet and dropped 30 points!
I’m on Keto for my epilepsy and it kind of annoys me to read about people trying it as a trendy diet and then going on and on about how it doesn’t work. Most people aren’t even doing it correctly. Why in the world would anyone who wanted to get fit be stuffing their faces with bacon and eating tons of calories? Keto is about sticking to a correct ratio, but if you want weight loss and fitness you better not be overdoing it with fats. It also requires a lot meal planning, especially for me since I’m a vegetarian. It works for me and my seizures have decreased drastically so I’m a big proponent of it.
Wait, you mean a diet based on the expertise of the internet might not be great? I am SHOCKED.
I’m another person who has a friend with a kid that uses keto to manage severe epilepsy. The level of care and vigilance that goes into that diet is unreal.
If you think this diet was made up by the internet you’re sadly mistaken. It is used and prescribed by several industry leading expert doctors to reverse type 2 diabetes and Obesity. Google Dr Jason Fung and Dr Sarah Hallberg for 2 such examples. It was originally developed to treat epilepsy but has had profound success in reversing type 2 diabetes and helping overweight and obese people with insulin resistance.
It’s so funny the misinformation that gets spread about keto. First of all, there is no such thing as keto flu. What that is is your body lacking electrolytes. A keto diet is dieuretuc in nature. when your body has been running on glucose (carbs) for energy the carbs hold on to sodium and water. When you switch to using ketones for energy, your body releases water and thus the sodium. You absolutely have to supplement sodium on this diet (1.5 teaspoons either taken with water or added to food) as well as magnesium and often potassium as well (though this should come from food not supplemented).
People who think this diet is dangerous or stupid need to research it better. Sure it’s not for everybody but if you have insulin resistance (pre pre pre type 2 diabetes) which they estimate half the American population has, then this diet is profoundly beneficial. You just need to do it properly.
Google Dr. Jason Fung, Dr Sarah Halberg, etc. They’ve all used this diet to reverse type 2 diabetes, kidney issues and obesity.
The problem is also that alot of people don’t follow this diet properly and give it a bad name. It’s not all bacon and butter all day long.
I should have read further down, I just posted about electrolytes up above. You explained it better than me.
Yup, no such thing as keto flu, or carb withdrawal, did the writer say that? If you have low energy or feel flu-like you are not getting your electrolytes or you actually have the flu.
Not everyone doing keto subscribes to eating cheese and butter on everything. I’m vegetarian and focus on vegetables first and protein. The fat is to help you feel full. After maybe 2 weeks I had zero hunger, apparently that was becoming fat adapted. It was so liberating but also a strange and new normal to get used to! It has done wonders for my energy level and general anxiety and depression. I don’t completely understand it but when I eat carbs I have almost no energy and then I feel depressed, not a fun cycle!
Same here! My whole life I struggled with my weight and it seemed even looking at a bagel would cause me to gain weight. Low and behold I was diagnosed with insulin resistance which if left unchecked would eventually turn into type 2 diabetes. If I eat carbs I feel like shit to be frank. No energy, no motivation, depressed. Keto has been life changing for me. Not only have I lost 60lbs but I dont constantly obsess about food like I did before and I have tons of energy and feel happier.
I also get regular bloodwork taken and checkups and I’m doing good great.
Thanks for this perspective. I got the information from People, which said:
“The keto flu is a well-known side effect, with dieters experiencing influenza-like symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, dizziness and nausea. According to Women’s Health, doctors believe that its because the body is going through withdrawal as it switches to burning fat for energy instead of carbs, a process called ketosis (which is how the keto diet earned its name).”
https://people.com/health/tamra-judge-quit-keto-diet-sick/
Keto flu is lack of electrolytes. Had Tamra Judge had a bone broth drink or saltwater I can guarantee she would have felt a million times better. It can actually be dangerous to eat keto and NOT supplement electrolytes.
I missed the ‘flu’ part as I knew about electrolytes going in however no one warned me about the rash. Apparently very few get it I just got lucky with that.
When you realize you’re lucky to even have food, all arguments about fad dieting become irrelevant. I’d appreciate these celebs way more if they turned conversations like these around to talk about food deserts and the diets of the children being held in camps. And I don’t mean talking about a hash tag “look at me I’m helping” PR initiative. I mean just turning it around to make it common dialogue. It will help elieviate self esteem issues in the gp and maybe get some kids fed I think.
“Fad” diets don’t work longterm and some are harmful. Eat a balanced diet, practice portion control and get some kind of exercise regularly.
Glad that works for you, it doesn’t for everyone.
This is what has been published in peer-reviewed medical literature for decades.
I know it has. So has low-carb/Keto diets. Not everyone has a “one diet fits all” body. I can’t eat grains or sugar. I just can’t. I gain weight and I get sick (high blood pressure, etc). My son is the same. My husband eats crap all day and is skinny with perfect blood results. It’s just the way it is. People need to find what works best for their body.
Humans naturally ate a low carb and oftentimes ketogenic diet for hundreds of thousands of years. Look at the Inuit for example. I fail to see how eating this way is a “fad”. The intense focus on carbohydrates making up so much of our diets has only been in the last 50 some odd years. Funny enough that’s also when the rates of obesity and diabetes skyrocketed.
I went on a keto diet, called the Cambridge diet. It was a meal replacement diet and I lasted 6 days. I went into ketosis and was feeling fine at first. I followed the diet precisely but I had a hypo (i’m not diabetic) and then got acute gastritis due to the physiological stress going into ketosis put on my body. It was moe than just keto flu. I was told it was rare but not unheard of for someone to react badly to a keto diet. My friends lost a lot of weight on the diet so I’m annoyed my body reacted in this way, but I’m only starting to recover from gastritis now and wish I never went on it.
What were you eating as a meal replacement? Normal keto is healthy non processed foods. Grass fed beef for example. High fibre veggies and nuts. What you’re describing is like going into ketosis from being an alcoholic and not eating nutritious food. You can’t blame a physiological function with damaging your body or causing issues when you weren’t eating real food.
I would be wary of any diet that encourages the use of meal replacements.
I can’t stand her but damn she looks good!
These trend diets are scams.
THAT’S NOT KETO, THAT’S ATKINS! Let me break it down for you. Bacon and eggs with butter and cheese is ATKINS. Chia pudding with full fat coconut milk, MCT oil, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, and a sprinkling of berries is KETO. A huge fatty steak is ATKINS. Stir fry veggies with spiralled zucchini noodles, sesame oil, coconut aminos, hot sauce, and ground pork is KETO! Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Hahaha bless you! So much misinformation out here it drives me insane.
Noone who sits here eating pizza and pasta and sugar is going to tell me my chicken breasts, Brussels sprouts and macadamia nuts is dangerous or going to kill me.
OMG Sunshine! Put down that brussel sprout before it kills you!!! Lol
My 16 year old niece went on Keto with her mom. She was downright angry on that diet. I remember her ranting at a family gathering that she couldn’t eat apples (I know, I know, you cant have like 2 IF you ate no other carbs at all that day). So it does seem to go against common sense, that you literally can’t eat a bag full of apples if you want. No one can get fat if they ate only fruits and veggies.
I am an awful dieter- i cheat a lot. Cant be a cheater on a keto, thats for sure!
I crave carbs. I tried keto and didnt last more than 48 hours- i had no energy for orange theory, hot yoga or running.
I have to just restrict my calories and junk food. So much harder to rely on exercise only once i hit my mid 30s.
Diet is everything boooo
A coworker has been praising Keto as healthy, but she has an unhealthy relationship with food, getting so thin 10 yrs ago her boss called her mom as she was so concerned. A new study of 40,000 people over 20 years shows the people who eat mostly a plant based diet, healthy fats, medium carbs (so not lots of sugary junk food), whole foods, healthy grains, not much processed foods, they live 4 yrs longer than the people who eat low carbs. And those eating high carbs even live longer than the low carb group. That being said, if you love that diet great, but I dislike someone trying to sell it to me as “healthy”.
Slathering your food in butter and cheese is the wrong way of going about it, lol.
Not sure about keto. Can’t people just go plain ol’ low-carb? I do, and it’s not that difficult. I don’t mean that to sound like an infomercial hack, like, “if I can do it, you can too!,” but I think just keeping your carbs low but not THAT low should be good enough. You don’t have to drown your food in dairy if you don’t want to (I don’t because I can’t do dairy), or feel deprived and starved.
Man I just want what she’s having.
Honestly, though, I found keeping track of food calories works slowly but surely. I try to keep a certain count per day and I hate, hate!! Exercise in the conventional way. I prefer every day walking as much as you can or simply, moving around. Diets never work for me…I just try to make healthy eating a way of life although I “fail”at that often, but I shrug and try to do better next time. Eating well just makes me FEEL better, more energy, less depression/anxiety.
My body knows and reacts quickly.
If you take in less calories than you burn, it’s good, too, IF trying to lose a few lbs. in my experience. Slow and steady is better than fast and crash. Mind you, even sleeping burns calories.
That is why I usually dont understand most of this popular diets
I cant wrap my head eliminating whole food group and doing it for a long run (this not include people who has dietary restriction n healthy issues)
It seems like most diets are just for a short term but I always wonder what happen when you stop and start introducing other foods/not as strict as before?
I also see the list of limited veges and fruits and that what stop me from going further… lol
I dont mind the fats but I like my variety of veges and fruits
Moderation and sustainable, that is my mantra.