A few tips for a disabled guy?

(Rusty Andres) #1

Hey everyone, I just signed up and thought I would introduce myself and why I am here. I apologize but this post will be long.

I suffer from chronic pain from a severe spinal injury back in 2006. I also have nerve damage in my leg so I have a permanent limp. I cannot do cardiovascular exercise. I do some light yoga and a bit of strength training with resistance bands.

I started keto about 4 months ago and have lost about 30lbs from diet alone. One day I just became fed up with being a fat ass and completely gave up all sugar and carbs. I am the type of person that ate pizza all the time and drank 6 cans or more of mtn dew a day. I now drink nothing but water and haven’t had any kind of sugar or bread/rice/pasta in 4 months. I don’t believe in cheat days and have developed a great deal of self discipline.

Since I am disabled and cannot be nearly as active as I use to be, I have had to tailor my diet to compensate since I don’t require as many calories. I do not eat breakfast, only water. I have a smoothie for lunch that I make myself, and a sensible dinner around 5 or 6. I can post the smoothie recipe and what I typically eat for dinner if needed but this is long already.

I have searched around for information on how best to tailor keto for a disabled person who cannot exercise and found the internet to be woefully short of said information, so I’m asking you guys.

I seem to have worked it out for the most part on my own, but I want to be sure I’m doing all I can and not doing something very wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to research on my end. If you read all this, thank you.

(Sophie) #2

It sounds like you have a handle on it. Welcome to the Forum and congrats on your weight loss!

#3

Congratulations on your commitments and achievements! It truly sounds like you are embracing the lifestyle and working it for your needs - everyone needs to commit themselves to that level in order to see extraordinary and efficient results like yours.

Keep monitoring, continue adjusting.

Again congratulations!

(Rusty Andres) #4

Thank you.

(Doug) #5

:slightly_smiling_face: Welcome, Rusty.

Is your smoothie free or extremely low in carbohydrates?

(Rusty Andres) #6

This is how I make my smoothies. I don’t have exact measurements on hand.

Turnip greens
kale
Spinach
broccoli
cauliflower
beets
Carrots
Flaxseed
Walnuts
Half a banana
Small bag frozen mixed berries
half a mango
Half a papaya
One tub of plain yogurt made with whole milk

If it’s too thick I add some water and whole milk.

So sadly not carb free but as low as I can make it and be able to drink it. The only sugar I consume is in the form of fructose and I keep it at the bare minimum.

I make a large batch once a week.

Edit: I’d say it’s roughly 80% vegetables, 10% fruit, 10% other stuff (yogurt, nuts, etc). I drink approximately 8oz for my lunch.

#7

I bet that smoothie tastes fantastic, though for myself that would kick me out of ketosis.

(Rusty Andres) #8

It does indeed. What adjustments would you make?

#9

The fruits would kick me out of ketosis too. Could you forgo the fruits? Maybe add a bit of monkfruit to sweeten it up to make it more palatable for you? Same with the carrots and beets. Root veggies are very high in sugar. I will eat a bit of carrot every now and again, but very rarely.

(Rusty Andres) #10

I can stop with the carrots and beets. Didn’t know that about those root vegetables, except for potatoes of course. When I started this it was about 50% fruit and I’ve been slowly adjusting the ratio.

My parents were 16 when I was born and we were poor. I grew up on McDonald’s, ho hos, and soda. I’m not blaming them for my poor diet, only illustrating the fact that I didn’t have a good foundation for nutrition. So my pallet is trash and have to ease into this.

(Keto in Katy) #11

First, congratulations on your decision to fix your diet. This is a great step.

As to the smoothies, remember a general principle for keto is to consume no more than about 20g of carbohydrates per day. The fruit is likely giving you more than that which will surely inhibit ketosis.

I learned very quickly in this way of eating that I have to know EXACTLY what is in the food I eat, which means taking time to look at labels (or look up carb counts in fruits, you can find this online). Do not make assumptions because many foods contain hidden sugars and other carbs that you would not expect. Don’t guess, find out.

As for exercise, a ketogenic diet is done irrespective of exercise levels. Many people enjoy weight loss and increased energy on a ketogenic diet with zero exercise. Last year my 15 yo son lost 60 lbs by eating fatty meat and practically nothing else. No exercise at all.

Good luck!

#12

Oh, I had no idea either! I’ve learned a lot in the short 3 months I’ve been eating Keto Style! Stick around, read, absorb and you will be able to tailor your diet to help you to continue losing weight.

I started on Oct 1st, and have lost 30 pounds…just diet alone, no exercise. I’m not disabled, but have lower back problems. Working with a physical therapist to fix that, then should be able to exercise more after.

(Laurie) #13

Welcome and congratulations on your success. If you haven’t already listened, I recommend the podcasts, 2KetoDudes. Here is a guide to the episodes and particularly episode 89 http://2ketodudes.com/archives.aspx
I don’t see an episode devoted to exercise but I know I’ve heard along the way that it isn’t necessary so I wouldn’t worry too much about it for now. Just spend the time learning about how to dial in the food part and keep up with your yoga and strength training.

Make sure you are getting enough fat in your diet and think about swapping out the smoothie for real food. Eggs are pretty easy and can be made in lots of different ways.
Best of luck to you!

(Allie) #14

I would ditch the smoothie and just eat a meal. You’ve made some amazing steps in the right direction, but that smoothie really won’t be keto friendly as there’s just too much fruit.

(Ken) #15

If you really want the smoothy, make it a more occasional thing, rather than chronic. Limit it to the weekends, and perhaps on one other day in the middle of the week. That’s until your fat loss goals are met. During maintenance, you can have them more often, perhaps as often as once a day, as long as there’s no other “Carb creep”. You’ll have to experiment a little when that time comes.

#16

Hi Rusty,

I’m disabled as well, but in my case it’s due to a near-fatal stroke a year ago. There are a few of us stroke patients here - they’ll probably all stop by to say hi to you.

I am not able to exercise, either. Right now I’m not even receiving physical therapy. I’m trying to convince the insurance to approve it, but so far no success in that, so I do what little I can at home. Oh, and between the end of May and the end of October, I dropped over 50 lbs. And I’m one who has NEVER easily dropped weight!

I was able (meaning recovered enough) to start cooking everything from scratch around the end of May, and I went fully keto at that point. Oh, and since the stroke affected my right side (I’m right-handed), I’m having to cook everything with my one hand, my non-dominant hand. So sometimes that’s a challenge.

I agree with what Laurie and Shortstuff said and would concentrate on getting enough fats and also eat whole, real food instead of smoothies. Despite your weight drop (congratulations!), it sounds like you might not be getting enough to eat or may not be eating the right proportions of fat/protein/carbs. For instance, what’s in the typical “sensible dinner” you eat? There are good threads here that can help you figure all those numbers out. Or, if you have questions you may be uncomfortable posting, you can PM pretty much any of us. The people here are REALLY nice and genuinely want to help others.

Do you drain the yogurt before eating it or cooking with it? I ask because milk-based yogurts contain whey, and whey is one of the most insulinogenic things you can eat. High insulin, especially chronic high insulin, will slow down fat loss or even stall it. I LOVE yogurt and used to make my own, but I’m avoiding it for now until my insulin becomes normalized, even if that takes several years, which it probably will.

Anyway, just wanted to stop in and say hi and welcome!

(Rusty Andres) #17

The main purpose of the smoothies is because I know myself and I can’t stand green veggies. I have to be realistic with myself in order to really stick with this. As I’ve said I am gradually phasing out the fruit as my pallet adjusts, but if I do it all at once I know I will fail.

I am looking into replacements to use such as stevia, which I will be trying out, but every sweetener I’ve tried in the past I have found to be disgusting. Here’s hoping.

I’ve just now been able to tolerate things like unsweetened green tea. Black coffee is out of the question, though I am about to order some bulletproof coffee and try that. I have a very low tolerance for bitter foods, but I am training myself to change that.

#18

Rusty, please don’t take what I said as a criticism. It was only intended to help, not hurt. I’m sorry if I came across unkindly.

You are 100% right that you have to do this at your own pace and ease into it. And not liking green veggies because of the bitter taste is pretty common, I think. To cover up bitter taste, I cook veggies in a couple of tablespoons of bacon grease or avocado oil and/or butter and make sure I put a good amount of sea salt on them. You might try that and see if it helps cut the bitter. (It also helps you up your fats and salt intake.)

Also, stevia will have a vile, bitter taste if you use too much. The least bitter brand I’ve tried is called Stevia Select. If you get the powdered extract, most brands come with a tiny little spoon. That little spoonful is equivalent to a teaspoon of sugar, more or less. When I first went fully keto, I used two of those spoonfuls to sweeten one mug of rather weak coffee. One day I was astonished to find that it tasted bitter. All these months later, I’m using less than 1 of those little spoons for a mug. I didn’t try to lower it. It just kinda happened on its own. I guess keto did that for me. I think as you go along you’ll find your tastes changing all by themselves and you’ll find yourself craving all kinds of things you never could stand before. That’s when it starts to get fun!

(Rusty Andres) #19

I didn’t take your post as unkind or critical. If my response sounded defensive I didn’t intend that. Just explaining my reasoning.

#20

Very cool! Glad we’re buddies!