A keto forum? Cool

(Katie Woods) #1

Hi all, I’m new around here and new to keto. Doc told me to do something or I was heading toward diabetes. Not quite there, but all my labs were creeping that way year after year. His recommendation instead of meds for high chelsterol and triglycerides was keto. He believed it would and will take me to where I need to be. I of course procrastinated because of the holidays and being scared of losing my favorite foods. (yes, I am a stress eater.) So I started. It’s been 20 ish days and I’ve lost 18lbs… Being tired and grumpy last night I caved… I ate pizza… I am paying for it today… My body hates the carbs now. So any tips you can give would be awesome! I’m looking forward to being healthy again!

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #2

Welcome and good for your doc for recommending it. Great success with the losses.

Eating off plan happens. The goal is to get back to it the next day and stay on track. It’s a learning process and hopefully the side effects of eating a bunch of carbs are a deterrent.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask and remember, the scale is only one marker of success. Losing inches and experiencing the numerous non-scale victories are sometimes better than the weight loss.
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/search?q=nsv

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

REMEMBER YOUR PIZZA RELAPSE.

You’re on the right path and you know it from yesterday’s experience. Stay with it and things will only get better. You and I both have keto supportive doctors. This is a priceless thing most here don’t get that kind of support from an MD. I am in a very similar boat that you’re in, pre diabetic because of prednisone in my case, a necessary evil as I have a kidney transplant.

(Robert C) #4

Tips?

Review what you are eating very carefully compared to the keto plan described on this forum.

Why do I recommend this?

Two reasons:

  1. 18 pounds in twenty days is near fasting level loss (even with some initial water weight). Check to ensure you are pulling down 2000 plus calories (fat to satiety) on your way to becoming fat adapted vs. too few calories on your way to metabolic slowdown. Fat adaptation usually takes months BTW.

  2. You ate pizza. Not conclusive but, this could be a sign that you a restricting and then rebelled. (You could have stayed keto with a butter covered ribeye.)

You really do not want to let the keto WOE turn into just another failed restriction diet. It does really take a multi-month period of (what feels like) overeating of fatty meals to rev up you metabolism and convert it to fat-as-fuel mode (where you can then leverage it to save your life).

Metabolic slowdown will just have you bounce - and probably higher than where you started.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #5

In case you don’t know about it, search for fathead pizza on the forum, or google it. It will change your life.

I don’t agree that eating the pizza means you are being too restrictive. Pizza is good. If you learn how to make a keto friendly version (it’s easy) then knowing you can have it when you want it makes self control easier. Fathead pizza still isn’t an everyday food, not for weight loss. But having the option is powerful. I never got big into fat bombs or other sweets replacements. But the occasional pizza or keto crepes are as good or better than the original in my opinion.

Also, welcome!

#6

Drink lots of water and do a weekend fast.

#7

It works great for my seizures and migraines. I go back through my food journal when ever I think of eating forbidden foods

(Consensus is Politics) #8

Initially, ignore all the advanced advice. That meaning fasting x number of days, or specialty salts with minerals, special water with whatever added. Keep it simple. Stick with the ketogenic basics.

  1. Keep carbohydrates as low as possible. 20 grams or less a day if you manage it. 50 grams a day maximum. Some people can do 100 or so, but if your health was heading to diabetes you really want to push back hard. I went total zero carbs when I started. This forum was invaluable for that. I had no idea what to do, and through this forum it was a cakewalk :cowboy_hat_face:

  2. Keeping insulin low is the key to keto. Keeping your insulin levels low for as long as possible allows you to burn fat. When insulin levels are high, a biological switch is triggered and we store fat, and make access to it nigh impossible.

  3. Insulin can be triggered by different things. Diet sodas with no sugar, artificial sweeteners, black coffee. All have been shown to trigger insulin in different people. Not so much in others. If you are watching your BG (blood glucose) levels, you will know when you’ve had insulin triggered because of a sudden drop in BG for no reason.

  4. The keto test strips are really just for “gee wiz! I just wizzes some ketones!” They only measure ketones in your urine, which is leftover ketones. If your body used all the ketones you produced you could very well see nothing on the test strip. They really are almost useless. I use them once in a while, just really for that gee wiz feeling.

Stick with eating very low carbs. Moderate amount of protein. And lots of fat. Stay away from most veggie oils. Olive oil and avocado oil are pretty good. Anything that’s been hydrogenated is not good at all. That’s 99% of the cooking oils and margarine.

If you fall off the horse, don’t worry too much. You will recover. Next day have some bacon and eggs. A very nice fat/protein combo.

Pork belly is unbelievably delicious. It just has a learning curve on how to prepare it. When pan frying it tends to pop in your face, a lot. I mean A LOT :face_with_head_bandage:.

Pork belly (not pork stomach :nauseated_face:) an important distinction. I had a local grocer order 100 pounds for me and when I showed up they ordered stomach not belly. I don’t shop there anymore.

If you’ve eaten you daily calorie intake, and still feel hungry, it’s ok to eat more. Just eat more fat, no carbs, and don’t go over your amount of protein. You will be amazed how hunger just disappears.

Oh!!! Salt! Your electrolytes will suffer. Easily remedied by increasing salt intake. I say this because I didn’t hear about this for a couple of months. Oh my the cramps I would get in the middle of the night. Here’s why… when insulin is kept low for extended periods, which allows us to get into ketosis, for all the benefits it brings, our kidneys get to relax a little (oversimplification, I know, but it works for this explanation). Our kidneys loosen up a bit you might say. And allow salt to filter out with the waste and toxins. Normally the kidneys retain our salt, but now they allow a lot of salt to filter right on out. Sodium (aka salt) is the kingpin of our electrolytes. When it’s low it affects how the others are able to do there jobs. That equals cramps from hell. I have made it a habit to have a 1/2 liter bottle of water with 1 tsp of salt (I use kosher salt, because I can :cowboy_hat_face:). If I forget to do this, I wake up about 3 am with massive foot cramps, and once a neck cramp on one side. I swear I thought I was dying.

I typically take 3x the USRDA of sodium, and last time I had blood work done, my sodium level was perfectly in the middle range of Good.

Speaking of labs… cholesterols will self correct as well. It takes a while for your body to get to fat adapted, and you will have a lot of excess fat floating around your system. Which means cholesterol will be produced to pick this fat up and transport around. So it’s not unusual to see high cholesterol for a while. But it’s fine. It’s doing it’s job.

Ok, I’m getting long winded again. Just on a roll.

Welcome home.

Keto Vitae!

#9

Katie let me tell you about my experience of losing my favorite foods. Okay, so I thought I had favorite foods. I thought I had foods that I LOVED to eat. When I started eating low carb, I realized I had NO IDEA what good food tasted like!

I eat meals now I can’t take long enough to chew, because I’m savoring the taste SO MUCH! I never did that with my high carb “favorite foods”, NEVER!

Low carb has introduced me to a whole new level of good food, and I couldn’t be happier. Welcome to a new world, Katie. Welcome to your new favorite foods!

Just check out the “What Did You Keto Today” thread, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I wish you success, and welcome to the forum!

(Carl Keller) #10

Welcome Katie.

It can do that and more. We need more doctors like yours. Most are incorrectly taught the opposite of what he recommended to you. Bad advice is the norm when it comes to a healthy diet.

And that is what you should remember the next time you catch a piece of pizza staring at you or calling your name. My advice is to crack some eggs and make an omelette the next time you are tired. It takes 5-10 minutes to be eating a meal.

(Josh Caballero) #11

Hey Katie how is it going with your Keto diet? You still on it?

(Mo Ait) #12

well done.

(Ken) #13

Welcome.

Above all, understand this is a long term adaptive process, with the ultimate.reward being good health for the rest of your life. It takes patience in the beginning, but eventually just becomes a way of life.

(Susan) #14

Exactly this, spot on, Ken =).

(Bob M) #17

This is an old thread, and I’m not sure any of those posters are still here.

I’d guess that people who had food cravings before going keto might have food cravings afterward. Jen Unwin wrote a book, where she said she had to quit eating carbs – for good. Otherwise, she’d go back to eating them.

Now, I see people who say that they no longer desire carby things. I am great at not eating carby things, even those in my house. But if you get an ice cream “cake” for a birthday and everyone else is having a piece, I’d eat a piece, eat a second piece, and want a third.

Stick that ice cream cake in the freezer in the basement, and I have no problem ignoring it. Bring it out and serve it, a different story.

Do I “desire” carbs? Hidden elsewhere, no. Right in front of me, yes.

Anyway, I think – like most questions – the answer is, it depends.

#18

Keto did wonders to my food cravings, actually but it’s nothing compared to carnivore. That only failed regarding coffee but if I hide the coffee jar, I may have a few peaceful days…

Being able to eat only little of something we desire is another thing, I am great at moderation if it’s about some items and totally awful if it’s about others, I just will eat until none is left, usually… If I don’t touch it and stick to my normal carni food, it’s fine. Unless it’s something too exotic that I just need to try out of curiosity.

These things are surely very individual.
But time, training, a good woe helps tremendously.

(Joey) #19

… or even ALIVE?! :crazy_face:

Sorry, just kidding. Couldn’t resist.

Some are, some aren’t (I mean, still here - not otherwise departed :wink: )