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My friend, no matter what you eat, you will lose weight! I ate everything I could possibly get my hands on, and lost several kgs. It didn't last ha ha.
Thanks!!! I thought the menu meals would be like you stated.The menu peregrinos tends to be carb heavy - pasta or soup, protein, chips, milky pudding, wine or beer, salad sometimes. The menu del dia will have more options but still may not meet your strict dietary requirements so be prepared to to put more effort into getting fed than most pilgrims have the energy to do.
A diet of chorizo, jamon, lomo and vino tint might do you nicely but you may also be intrigued by the impact on appetite of 35Km and a 8Kg rucksack day on day.
Buen provecho
Chorizo comes picante or dulce, spicy or not. Salami comes from Italy :0) (other cured meat products are available).
Enselada mixta comes with canned Tuna and as much olive oil as you care to add.
@JJinWI , I'll be intrigued to learn how you get on. Much that I've read suggests the keto diet is excellent for establishing life changing weight-loss but I also read of significant detrimental impacts on endurance athletes and high risk of pancreatitis in long term exposures and high demand activity. Early research focused on the Sans who we're famous for their ability to spend 24 hours running down an antelope and were apparently reliant on Ketosis for their endurance and athleticism but later stuff seems to suggest that researchers ignored their reliance on nuts, berries and roots overwhelmed by the spectacle of a bushman in pursuit of a bushbuck. Please let us know how it goes.
I wouldn't count on eating anything you want and still losing weight - some people do, some people don't. It really depends on a person's individual body - chemistry, fitness, fat ratio, etc. Like they say, YMMV
Getting what your body needs is important though - whatever that is - not just calories in vs calories out, but the nutrition too.
For someone on a keto diet, I think breakfast can be a challenge since it is usually fairly carb-heavy - often toast with butter and jam. But you can buy your own food. There are supermercados and small stores along the way where you can buy things. Albergues often have some kind of refrigerator for pilgrims to use. Hardboiled eggs are common - you can find them at supermercados and small stores. A breakfast of hard boiled egg, some nuts, and dried fruits should do you well. Then stop later for a coffee and a tortilla (egg and potato omlet) a little later for 2nd breakfast. The potatoes will be more carbs than you might otherwise eat, but it should balance out. With all the walking, your body might tolerate the extra carbs better than at home anyway.
Lunches shouldn't be too hard - often I'd eat a green salad - ensalada mixta - which usually comes with tuna on it - good protein hit. Normally I don't like tuna, but it was good on the salads. Soups are often available too - lentejas are a great option - it's a thick lentil soup, usually with chorizo or ham hock. Lentils, of course, have carbs, but they are complex carbs, so your body will probably like them better than things like bread.
Spain has bunches of choices when it comes to cured meats - some spicy, some not - Spanish food overall is not particularly hot when it comes to spices.
I low carb, 50ish. grm carbs per day but periodically keto, less than 30 grm. per day, for weight control and I found it tricky. I usually carried canned fish, tuna or sardines in olive oil, sliced peppers, cheese, olives, plain or stuffed with anchovies, nuts, salamis, chicken, small packs of pate, chorizo, and a variety of other dried meats. You can also add eggs to this. I did not as I have an aversion to them. Some if not all of this is available in village shops but you may need to stock up for a couple of days at supermarkets to ensure you have something. iplocks and couple of 300/400 sealable plastic boxes are useful. All cities and most medium sized towns will have a supermarket of some sort.
The meals, as said above, tend to be carb heavy which will not be a problem if you don't mind coming out of ketosis whilst you walk and then re-establish it when you finish, possibly the easiest solution. Eggs and a variety of dried meats along with oils and fish are fairly readily available but you may need to carry your own stash for lunches and breakfasts. For oils it may be wise to carry a bottle and decant oil into it for carrying, a half litre of olive oil can be heavy. You may find part full bottles of oil in albergues. Cafes and bars tend to serve carb heavy food for breakfast and lunch. Evening meals, menu del dia or menu peregrino, tend to be carb heavy but you can often pick from the menu and end with a reasonably low carb meal, often based around a salad.
As I was low carb, was not not in ketosis and therefore not worried about maintaining ketosis I could and did eat occasional carb heavy meals. I neither lost nor gained weight during the whole of the walk from SJPD to Santiago.
If your keto diet is for weight control and not blood glucose control you could come out of ketosis whilst walking, probably not gain weight, and re-enter ketosis on completion, blood glucose control will possibly take care of its self with a raised carbohydrate input because of the high level of exercise.
Having said all that if you are used to a keto diet the higher carb input may be positively unpleasant.
With planning, flexibility and learning as you go it is possible to do, I'd be interested to see how you get on..
I hike a lot and since going keto in March have experienced a couple of bonks - when I suddenly lost all energy like hitting a wall. I therefore plan to access carbs at crisis moments.
I'd be interested to read how you get on. Buen camino!
Im looking at doing a similar thing, starting the CF early May. See here for some more info:
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/keto-on-the-camino/16731/3
I have been doing the keto diet for the past year, including three weeks of walking the Geneva route last July. My regimen is about 50 net carbs per day. In France, for breakfast I added butter to my coffee (ersatz Bulletproof) and ate a Sola seed cracker with Justin's almond butter. For lunch, picnicked on cheese and nuts. For dinner, I took the demi-pension meal, eating the meat, salad and green veg, but avoiding the potatoes and bread. Skipped dessert, enjoyed the wine. Everything went fine, weight maintained at the reduced level and energy level during the day was much better than when I was carb-heavy.
TLDR: You will need to carry more of your own food supplies if on a keto-Camino.
Congrats on loosing all that weight.
As for following that diet on the Camino, just let me share this: I used to assist with coaching an outrigger paddling. We'd have guys come out who were on keto / extreme low-carb diets. They'd look great, leaned and muscled and what you'd think an athlete should look like. None of them ever lasted a season. Not a single one.
You're on a diet now to help you loose weight. In Spain you will need a diet that will help you walk 500 miles and stay healthy.
We ate ensalada mixta (lettuce tomato boiled eggs and tuna mainly) and a meat for the second course. You can eat the potatoes if you’re still hungry. I saved the tomatoes and bread and bought salami for lunch. I always ate my dessert for the extra calories. Once in a while you can find bacon and eggs too. I never ate pasta.Greeting All,
I'm starting my Camino Frances on May 22. To prepare for my adventure, last summer I lost 55 pounds (25kg) while on the Keto diet. This is a high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb diet. My caloric intake is roughly 60% fat, 30% protein, and 10% carbs. I aim for ~10g of carbs per meal OR 30g of carbs for the day. YEAH, I know it sounds crazy, but it worked for me & there is lots of science behind it.
I got to my desired weight last fall, but have remained on the Keto diet because I feel much better while on it. I just take in more calories (mostly fat) to maintain my weight.
So, I have a couple questions:
THANKS!!!
- Have any of you done the Camino while on the Keto diet? How did it go for you?
- Are the "pilgrim's meals" heavy carbs???
- What can I expect on pilgrim's meal?
-jj
Oh, at last! Some good nutritional SENSE.Please speak with a health care professional how a Keto diet and heavy exercise will mix. Your muscles will need the carbs to recover from the exercise ...
Buen Camino, SY
For me Keto is a lifestyle! I feel great, all blodtests are perfect. I plant to stay Keto on the Camino to. For me elektrolyts will be importany during the day.
I plan to prepare breakfast the day before, eggs, avocado, cheese, veggies, chorizo.... what I can find.Nuts will be my trailsnack - so carbs will be more than when I’m at home anyway.
As long as i keep away from sugar and gluten i’m ok with eating the odd potato during the camino - even if thats not Keto
Please - post and tell how you get along! I’m leaving in september.
Buen Camino
Thanks!!! I thought the menu meals would be like you stated.
I'm thinking I will be eating lots of salads with cheese, salami and lots of olive oil
Is the chorizo spicy OR like salami???
Is salami readily available? ??
Thanks!
Thanks!!! I thought the menu meals would be like you stated.
I'm thinking I will be eating lots of salads with cheese, salami and lots of olive oil
Is the chorizo spicy OR like salami???
Is salami readily available? ??
Thanks!
Nuts should be easy to find in a grocery store. The general word for nuts in Spain is "frutos secos". Spain is a world-wide top producer of almonds, particularly delicious are Marcona Almonds (no idea where they fall in the "keto-friendly" category). Hazelnuts are also grown in the Mediterranean. Walnuts are common, as are pine nuts and pistachios. If chestnuts are on your list, they are abundant in the fall. Are sunflower seeds in? If so, those are EVERYWHERE as individual serving bags of "pipas" (also the number one snack at soccer matches!).
Here's a listing from a Spanish grocery chain to show their offerings, by way of example:
https://supermercado.eroski.es/es/supermercado/2059987-conservas-y-cocina/2060076-frutos-secos/
First post on this forum, and planning to walk the Camino in 2020. I’m 70 and have been on a keto diet since being diagnoses with diabetes in January of this year. My diabetes is now reversed, but will return if I go crazy and up the carbs too much, for too long.. I’ve found that, to initially lose weight, I drove the carb intake down to under 20 per day. However, as I approached “normal” BMI territory, I had to primarily base my keto food intake around calories. I’m currently I taking 2800 calories per day with a self-imposed carb ceiling of 25 per day. To achieve my calorific goal, my macros are currently around carbs, 20, fat, around 180, and protein, around 130. Fat comes from avocado, olive oil, eggs and nuts. In the training I’ll need to do for the Camino, my carb ceiling probably won’t change much, but my calories per day will, and more of my energy requirements will be met from fat-heavy sources.just as well I enjoy munching on nuts as I walk! Please don’t tell me that keto-friendly nuts are not easily found on the Camino!
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