A few tips for a disabled guy?

(Rusty Andres) #21

I’m getting more excited to try this bulletproof coffee the more I read about it. I’m kind of scared that Ill hate it though. I’ve only ever liked coffee that had an absolutely insane amount of sugar in it.

#22

When I make it, I use butter - 1 tablespoon, heavy whipping cream - 1 tablespoon, mct oil - up to 2 teaspoons (first started with 1 teaspoon), stevia - less than 1 of those little spoons, and a little sea salt - 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon per mug of coffee (Redmond RealSalt is good and cheap on Amazon.) The salt really cuts the bitter. Here’s an idea - maybe try adding some sea salt to your regular coffee tomorrow morning, and see if it makes a difference.

I’m on a super-tight budget so I’ve never had the opportunity to buy the bulletproof brand. I’m looking forward to hearing how you like it.

(Consensus is Politics) #23

Welcome to your new home, Rusty.

You’ve got a great head start already. I never had the will power to just ditch my diet like that.

I learned about Keto a few years ago, tried it and ditched it. I wanted my pizza too much. Then this past Aug I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Game changer. I tried following the medical advice, about 160 grams crabs a day. I wasn’t getting better. After 6 weeks of thinking I’m gonna die from this disease I went full tilt Keto. I went from 245 pounds to 205 pounds in 14 days. And I never stop talking about it!

I know they say keto needs to be below a certain amount of carbs (I have heard 100, 50, and 20). But I myself, I’m aiming for zero carbs. My deranged metabolism can’t handle even 10 without giving me problems.

If I were you, just ease off on the fruits in your smoothies, as well as those root veggies. Ween yourself if need be. It will make tolerating anything new easier. Like perhaps coffee with no sugar, :wink:.

You also sound like you are on good footing to lose more weight as well. One meal a day (if you decide to drop the smoothies) as you will find out works wonders. The secret has to do with insulin. Once you discover that, you won’t believe how easy things get. (Insulin blocks fat burning)

As for exercise… what’s that? I lost my 40 doing nothing but being a computato. Although I have recently broke out my stationary bike, to burn of all this restless energy I seem to have. I used to be tired all the time. But now I’m always wanting to get up and go.

And you thought you had a long post​:wink:. Just wait till you start reading mine!:cowboy_hat_face:

(Trish) #24

Hi there. I would recommend getting some keto sticks and doing morning urine dips. Everyone’s number for carb tolerance is different and you will be able to adjust the amount based on if you are or are not in ketosis. Also if in ketosis and you up your carbs and get kicked out then you will learn your threshold tolerance. Trial and error really.

(Rob) #25

My quick calcs from your list of smoothie ingredients suggests 100 carbs (80 net) mostly from the fruit. Fructose is worse for you than glucose so I would try to massively reengineer the smoothie or quit it.

Fruit is no ones friend and green veggies are useful from a micro nutrient POV but not essential per se. The carrier seems to be negating the benefits of the things you are trying to mask.

Brussels sprouts halved, nuked and then pan fried in a little bacon grease are great and not bitter (to me). Doused in my homemade buffalo sauce and they are heavenly. Point is find your own Keto way to enjoy veg or perhaps try organ meat for micros and try ZC?

(Rusty Andres) #26

Never heard of these keto sticks I will definitely be getting those.

Thank you all for replying. I’ve learned a lot from just this one thread.

I’m going to adjust my smoothies by ditching the root veggies and cutting the fruit content in half for now. I’ll probably start adding mct oil (can’t stand coconut).

I’m going to be ordering bulletproof coffee, brain octane oil, and stevia. I’m also getting d3 and omega 3 supplements. Eating so much salmon for dinner is getting boring and expensive.

Unfortunately, based on my experience, avacados don’t exist in the state of KY. Been everywhere from Walmart to whole foods and I still have yet to see an avacado in real life. I don’t even know what they taste like.

(Rusty Andres) #27

Interesting. It seems I’ve been misinformed about fructose. I was told it’s better because it has to be processed by the liver first before becoming glucose, so instead of spiking insulin it’s more of a slow release. I’m currently researching more on insulin so I’ll look into this too.

I think I’m going to cut out all the fruit except maybe a handful of berries for taste, and eventually cut out fruit entirely.

(CharleyD) #28

Welcome Aboard @Rusty_Andres and it looks like you are well on your way towards recovery and a diet that will benefit you and help safeguard your health and wellbeing.

@Virginia has a great recipie for her BPC, and certainly if you have cash to spend you can get the name brand stuff. There’s also Know Brainer on amazon which for around $2 per pack can make a BPC style coffee without the work to blend it up.

I also used to abhor bitter veggies and drinks but ditching the diet Dew and sticking to coffee and tea has opened up a world of real old school flavors that you may not have known existed. Also, coffee made in a french press is the only way I drink it anymore. It just doesn’t have that bottom of the ashtray taste anymore brewed right!

The charts of carbs in various foods at dietdoctor.com can help to visualize the enormity of the LCHF change for you. The longer you do this, the less you’ll really appreciate sweetness, and soon fructose will seem just too sweet.

Yeah, fructose has to be metabolized but it’s the poster child of empty calories. When you are keto(fat)-adapted, there’s no benefit to it and the trig it ends up becoming will be stored.

(Rob) #29

I’m no expert but fructose uses the same metabolic pathway as alcohol (straight to the liver) and thus has the potential and reality to create fatty liver just as alcohol does.
Humans are not well adapted to manage fructose and certainly not in the relatively massive quantities that we have engineered our fruits to be in the last century or so. Remember, primal fruits were shriveled sour little things compared to the sugar monsters we have created (e.g. wild strawberries, crab apples etc.)

(CharleyD) #30

This is a very common tactic. If you eat a variety of animal products, you’ll intake all the ‘vitamins and nutrients’ that diatetics says you’ll miss skipping fruit.

Also, as far as tactics goes, remember that butter and coconut and MCT oil are very energy dense foods, even though they’re barely insulinogenic. If you load up on them in a drink, you may by the end of the day store them. Just something to keep in mind if you hit a stall.

(Keto in Katy) #31

@Rusty_Andres When I started keto 4.5 years ago I was seeing a lot of people online raving about bullet proof coffee, and it sounded disgusting to me. I don’t like coconut either.

After a while I told my wife, “OK we need to give this a try, lots of folks say it is great.” So we made some with just a good quality unrefined coconut oil and Kerrygold butter. BPC never has tasted like coconut to me so I was fine with it right from the start. You can also add a little vanilla extract for some flavor, just an option to try.

I drink BPC every morning now and love how it makes me feel. I stopped using butter and now I use heavy cream instead. I just like it a little better. The BPC gives me sustained energy for several hours and keeps hunger away.

Too much coconut oil can be tough on the stomach so maybe start with about a teaspoon and see how you do. I am up to about a tablespoon now and that seems to be the right mix.

(shawn) #32

I agree, I’d eat a meal instead of a smoothie. If you want to try incorporating greens in another way, try browning hamburger or other ground meat, and adding cabbage, spinach, whatever spices sound good, and a favorite cheese. When you’ve got your carbs down to less than 20 grams, make sure you get enough salt and magnesium.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #33

Hey, Randy, welcome to the forums. You’ve been given so much great advice already that anything I could add would simply be redundant. As you seem to have caught on, people are offering ideas based on what worked for them. You know yourself and how you operate, so take their ideas and work them into your psychology. Your mileage is going to vary, but there are common pitfalls that a lot of us have fallen into, so when people make suggestions, it’s because we want to save you the grief we went through.

My own experience is that I am led on by good experiences. I started this way of eating by cutting out sugar and sweets and started feeling so good that pretty soon I didn’t want the bread, the rice, and the oatmeal anymore, either. It wasn’t a deprivation, it was a move to something I wanted more. I suspect that keto eating will operate on you the same way. So if there’s something you can’t give up right now, I bet that as you feel better you’ll find yourself just naturally letting it go.

You’re in for a great ride. Just Keep Calm and Keto On, bro!

#34

Do you like guacamole? Walmart definitely carries that in the produce department over by the bagged salads and the refrigerated salad dressings. If you have a Sam’s or Costco nearby, they both carry avocados and guacamole. I used to buy the little individual packets of Wholly Guacamole at Walmart and freeze it. It freezes well.

#35

Welcome.

It sounds like you are doing great so I am not sure I would change much. If you are inclined I would lose the banana, beets, mango and papaya but first see how much is really in there since that sounds like it is about 7 servings.

I have been LCHF for 8 months and only started exercising about 2 months ago, a couple of times a week when I have time. Mostly because I felt like it and swimming calms me. I have a friend with MS who does a lot of swimming, easy on the joints but again only if you want to.

I second the Wholly Guacamole. It is great and stores well. The problem with real avocados is they are not ripe and then all of sudden they are ripe and then they rot. I threw too many out

My favorite blog is IntensiveDietaryManagement.com

start reading from 2013. It explains everything about why insulin is the problem and how to repair it

I have not tried MCT oil. I use heavy whipping cream in my coffee and nothing else. I do use swerve sugar substitute for recipes but rarely. I personally find stevia bitter and prefer nothing to stevia but mix in swerve it is ok. Some people react to any artificial sugar so I try not to use it. I trained myself not to use anything in coffee other than cream over the last year.

Supposedly egg shells in the coffee filter make it less bitter but I am not sure how sanitary that is

(Trish) #36

You should be able to pick the Ketosticks up at any pharmacy. In Canada, you just ask the pharmacist for them and they’re about $8 for a pack of 50. It’s pretty much the same as testing the pool for chlorine actually LOL.

(Dan Dan) #37

You can try a Cheap Breathalyzer I think it would work better for your purpose :thinking:

“May the Force (fat adaption) be with you”

IF/EF Keto WOE is Self-Discovery :wink:

Good luck and much success in your journey in IF/EF Keto WOE :grin:

(Rusty Andres) #38

Thank you all again for all of the wonderful tips!

I have been watching Dr Eric berg on YouTube learning all about insulin, and I think it’s safe to say I have insulin resistance, and probably poor adrenal health.

Today I officially went 20 hours without eating so I am now doing the 20:4 intermittent fasting.

I picked up a lot of new things at the grocery today. I got d3, omega3, chromium, mct oil, nutritional yeast, and potassium. I also got stevia liquid and I surprisingly love it.

I just finished making a new batch of smoothies for the week and drastically altered it.

Kale
Spinach
parsley
broccoli
cauliflower
macadamia nuts
Walnuts
flax seed
Mct oil
Heavy whipping cream
mineral water to thin it out

It’s not good but much less disgusting than I thought it would be. I can chug an 8oz glass and not throw up so that’s a success in my book lol.

(Laurie) #39

Hi again, Rusty - Have you tried heavy whipping cream (HWC) in your coffee? Heavenly stuff. Also, you can try a flavored coffee - most don’t have any non-keto ingredients but check the label to be sure. I don’t taste any coconut flavor when I make my BPC. I use 1 T coconut oil and 1 T butter and the most important part is to blend it so it doesn’t taste like an oil slick :smile:
I happen to love vegetables but if you don’t, then don’t force yourself to eat them. Many people here and on other sites don’t eat any vegetables and can give lots of scientific reasons why they are not essential as we’ve been told.
You’re doing great, just try to keep learning and adjusting as you go. You don’t have to have it all figured out in a week or a month or a year.

#40

@Rusty_Andres
I found your first post of this thread so inspiring, and your later ones great as well (you’re so open to suggestions!). If your smoothie is just barely tolerable, I also wonder if it’s not quite worth it. As Laurie mentioned, some folks do really well with minimal (or no) vegetables but you could also get one of those supplements (like Amazing Greens) that are kind of like a concentrated green vegetable dose. [Full disclosure: I’m not sure of the carb content on those, and they’re not cheap, but one serving might actually cost less- and be a whole lot less work and hassle - than your smoothie ingredients.]

One of the lovely things about keto is that the food is really enjoyable, so it seems a pity to just choke something down.

And one more (completely unsolicited) piece of advice: Teresa Tapp has some really fantastic exercise videos and one of them is called MORE. I think the whole workout can be done seated and is specifically for folks with injuries or extra weight, and if you can do light yoga it’s probably doable. She herself had several vertebrae fused from an accident as a teenager and she’s really smart about human physiology. (I almost didn’t look deeper into her stuff because the website just didn’t seem a good fit for me, and you might find that even more - not too many guys on there - but it’s a supportive forum and MORE is excellent, can be profoundly beneficial in ways that extend far beyond what we usually think of as “exercise” benefits.)

Please keep us posted on how you do, and congratulations on your success and your attitude.