Help with keto diet for pcos

amother

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 7:49 am

My teenage daughter has been diagnosed with pcos and is trying to follow a keto diet.

We're hitting a problem where she really feels hungry - she is also very fussy about what she eats which doesn't help.

What snacks can she take for school on a keto diet which do not contain any milk (lactose intolerance) no fish (she hates in all shapes and forms) no soya (allergic) no vegetables (she says they go soggy in school) and that she can eat in the lunchroom without feeling weird?

amother

Birch

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 8:27 am

amother OP wrote:

From your question I can tell that you don’t understand the keto diet.
Are you working with a keto expert?
Is she trying to do low carb or keto, because they are 2 different things.
Keto is a HIGH FAT/LOW CARB/MODERATE PROTEIN lifestyle.
Unfortunately with keto it’s ALL or NOTHING because you are either in ketosis or you are not.
If you are NOT in ketosis and you are eating high fat it is worse than SAD (standard American diet) and could lead to more health problems.

I will attempt answer some of your questions but I am no expert
For me- it is very difficult to keep and not sustainable.

If she is hungry she needs to increase her healthy fats.
Milk and Soy unfortunately are NOT keto
No veggies is ok since they are limited on keto
There is no snacking on keto. She will never be in theraputic levels of ketosis to make a difference in her PCOS if she snacks.

At school you can make her celery sticks with egg salad, but make the egg salad with TONS of homemade Mayo, 2:1 ratio 2 parts fat to 1 part eggs. She could also have lettuce and make lettuce wrap.
You could make spinach kugel , but add LOTS of homemade Mayo to it.
There are treats called fat bombs, but I don’t know what you can sub the dairy with.

With keto you need to know your macros and stick to them
For theraputic keto you need to keep it as anti inflammatory as possible
Macros are
CARBS- No more than 20g of anti-inflammatory carbs only
PROTEIN- 1g for every kg of lean body mass (this would need to be calculated
FAT- as much as needed to stay satiated from 1 meal to the next.

Every time she cheats it will take at least 3 HARD days until she starts to be in ketosis again
So if she is eating Challah on Shabbos (even the low carb one) it will take her until Wednesday morning to start being in ketosis but she’ll need to be on theraputic levels.

amother

Blushpink

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 8:34 am

amother Birch wrote:

Of course she can have dairy, vegetables and snacks on keto!

Vegetables are unlimited, unless they are extremely high in carbs, dairy is perfect so long as it’s not regular milk, but cheese, butter, cream are all great.

And she’s a child. Of course she can be snacking.

I’ve followed a keto diet for years for health/ pcos reasons too. It’s a game changer for me.

She needs to consume a lot of veggies, full fat proteins and some extra fat. It’s not that complicated once you figure it out.

You need to follow a professional for guidance. Especially being that she’s a child.

amother

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 8:51 am

I'm using a dietician but 90% of the foods on her list are not foods my daughter will eat.
I do understand keto (at least I think I do!) and she is eating max 15g of carbs per day.
Her dietician encourages dairy a lot but she's lactose intolerant.
She won't eat mayonnaise, I'm struggling with finding healthy fats that she'll eat that will keep her full. She's totally on board with the diet but she's really hungry. She's still growing.
She's eating only keto friendly vegetables, she eats veg at home but she doesn't want to take to school because she says it gets soggy.

About the snacking - I wonder if we're talking different languages? I mean snacking as in eating between meals - it can be keto snacks. Of course a growing teen needs to eat more than 3 small meals a day.

I was wondering if anyone had any out of the box keto ideas that she would enjoy eating?

Nuts is a good idea.
She won't eat avocado.

amother

Pansy

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 8:59 am

Salad for school with dressing in a separate container. She can keep the cut veggies separate from the lettuce too, if she doesn't want the lettuce getting soggy. There are special salad containers designed for this. Seeds and nuts for crunch. Plenty of olive oil in the dressing

Keto cereal and almond milk

Keto muffins and cookies

Low carb soup in a thermos

There are Keto friendly dairy subs. Look into miyokos butter and cream cheese

amother

Maple

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 9:04 am

amother OP wrote:

A few things.

She's hungry because you say she has e SMALL meals. She should be having BIG FILLING meals. Then in addition you can have some snacks as recommended here. Big filling meals with lots of fat, protein and veggies. It does not sound like she's getting that.

She is not "on board" if while being lactose intolerant and on keto- she's refusing half of the options that are good for her.
It is hard, but you definitely need to have a discussion with her about what she wants and what sacrifices it will require.
Does she want this? Or do you want her to do it?

As for the veggies: what does them getting soggy mean? Take different veggies that are more sturdy! Take them in a container so they don't get mushy! Take roasted veggies in a container!
She needs to want to make it work, or it won't.

amother

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 9:42 am

She has small meals because she has a small appetite. She's always been a kid who eats small amounts frequently. What's wrong with that?

She wants this, it was her decision not mine. She is on board but for goodness sake, she's a kid, she has a hard time eating stuff she doesn't like.

I thought this might be a helpful thread and I'm finding a lot of aggression here for no obvious reason. First accusing me of not knowing what keto is and now saying that it's her fault because she obviously doesn't want this enough.

I'm bowing out of this thread and not coming back. Imamother is not the supportive place it used to be.
I mean, even an informational thread about keto can't be supportive? It has to be an attack? WITW?

amother

Birch

Mon, Nov 06 2023, 12:05 pm

amother Blushpink wrote:

Ok so this is LOW CARB not Keto
There’s a huge difference