Advice needed for newbie

newbies
#1

Hey all. I’ve been keto for just shy of 3 weeks now and haven’t noticed a difference. I have dropped 12 pounds however. I’m just wondering if the benefits come when you’re fat adapted or before? I hear so many people saying how good they feel after a week or even sooner. I’m doing keto primarily for the cognitive and anti inflammatory benefits. I suffer from some pretty serious mental health issues as well as TMJ disorder and hoping keto will help that. Advice would be appreciated. I am getting my electrolytes also.

#2

So you dropped 12lbs… yet haven’t noticed a difference. I’m thinking a difference of 12lbs is a little more than nothing.

TMJ as in your jaw? Keto can’t do anything for that.

#3

I meant a difference mentally. Also, I’ve read of people with tmj who found relief on a keto/carnivore diet. I was just looking for hopefully some more info.

(Jane) #4

You dropped water weight, will probably stall and then start losing again in a couple of weeks. Totally normal.

The health benefits my husband and I experienced from keto take much longer to manifest. But if you stick it out for 6 months or so you will get them also.

Keto is not a quick-fix miracle way of eating that heals EVERYTHING unlike the hype. But over time you will notice small changes and victories as your body heals from eating a high carb, processed food, seed oil diet - which does a lot of internal damage we can’t see or feel for quite some time.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

What you experience depends to large extent on what’s broke, how complicated the mess and how long it takes to fix it. Keto is not magic nor miraculous. You don’t include your age, but as Jane mentions, eating SAD causes damage to almost everyone to some extent. Maybe you’re still young enough not to have been damaged badly. Maybe you have been. Or maybe you’re a :unicorn: who survived SAD relatively unscathed. There are such people. Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone started from a different place. Subjective descriptions can be confusing and misleading. Everyone experiences things uniquely to large extent. There’s also a lot of wishful thinking and wish fulfilment. Keep the carbs sub-20 grams per day or less, stay in ketosis as consistently as you can for at least the first several months or year. You’ll do fine.

(Edith) #6

I will add that damage occurs over years. The damage doesn’t get undone overnight. Three weeks is a relatively short period of time.

@Jb1093, What you may be noticing by now is more sustained energy due to smaller blood sugar excursions. Maybe no afternoon lulls, for example. In general it takes 6-8 weeks before your cells start adapting to fat as their fuel. You will most likely feel like lead at first and then gradually that lead-like feeling starts to go away. That 6-8 weeks is less for some, more for others. Other benefits will come, but it does take time.

(Joey) #7

@Jb1093 Welcome to the forum and CONGRATULATIONS on your decision to give keto a serious try!

You didn’t elaborate on the nature of your mental health issues. It really depends on your situation (little of which you’ve provided above), but if you are struggling with mood disorders/depression/bipolar issues, cutting out the carbs has been found by many to produce meaningful benefits in stabilizing mood, tempering high/lows, etc.

As noted above, cutting out carbs doesn’t typically produce an immediate miraculous effects, but over time many individuals with mood disorders have found it can make a meaningful difference for a happier, more stable order to life.

Please keep us posted - best wishes! :+1:

#8

It’s individual. Ketosis gave me about zero benefits until fat adaptation when my hunger changed, it was great but not THAT big a change but well, I ate “much” carbs (40g net and lots of total as it was the lowest possible for me), I was merely in ketosis… Going way lower (carnivore or close) brought more significant changes but it doesn’t mean I got more energy, more mental clarity (no idea what it is, I am fine with my old one) or could lose fat, nope. It’s just some nice changes regarding my relationship with food, feeling a bit better physically (I was fine before, it’s just these things always can get a bit even better)… 1.5 years on/off carnivore-ish and now things get even better… Just like my fat adaptation probably deepened after a few years on/off keto? Or whatever is the thing when one loses the water weight changes, I guess my muscle glycogen reserves are fine even without carbs now and that sounds good.

3 weeks is a very short time. My body was totally confused for way longer on carnivore (changes happened instantly but not everything worked well right away. it passed). Not everyone has any big changes for months. Or later. It’s very, very invidiual. Keto (or the style they do) isn’t even good for everyone, I read stories where it was a suffering for many months… Definitely not some instant miracle for everyone. I wish I had more than low energy if I go below 10g carbs, well, nope. My energy is always low-ish but it’s a tad higher in average if I eat less carbs… I am not a miserable zombie half of the day (especially in the morning) just a normal zombie… Of course eating is only one factor but I seem to do most of the others right quite often and still, low energy all the time. It could be worse but it’s not so great.

If you don’t feel right enough even later, maybe you need to restrict your keto more. Or less. Different macros, different items, different timing? I would suffer on a keto not right for me! While my ideal style is a different, way better world :slight_smile: So maybe you need some tweaking. But it’s very early to tell this at this point and it’s possible you aren’t ready for your final woe yet, it happened with me.

It probably matters what your previous woe was like and how long you were on it and what happened to your body. Not all of us comes from some bad woe, I didn’t. My pretty healthy body LOVED my health-conscious low-carb woe but it wasn’t the best (maybe the best I could do at that time but that isn’t enough for me long term), I had to go lower. So I did but woe changes and positive changes regarding my body and mind took a lot of time…

(Ohio ) #9

Benefits come before & after fat adaption. The thing with fat adaption for me is appetite suppression. Being able to skip eating for a day has advantages.

As far as TMJ goes I’d be optimistic. Fat adaption ended my plantar fasciitis, tendinitis (knee) and some minor arthritis. Be very optimistic on the TMJ with fat adaption, science doesn’t understand TMJ very well, I know of 0 studies & I had TMJ but I’m not sure it ended with fat adaption because I’ve had other problems that dwarfed that issue, but it may have ceased with fat adaption as well. I don’t remember.

(Joey) #10

To the extent that this individual’s TMJ is due to, or aggravated by, inflammation, it is possible that reduced inflammation from restricting dietary carbohydrates could reduce the discomfort.

Would be interested in hearing from @Jb1093 if/when this might be experienced.

(Ohio ) #11

Exactly. We are about to learn new keto info on another disease.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #12

I suggest you read and listen to Carrie Brown, the dudette, here is search results for you.
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/search?q=carrie%20brown%20mental%20health

Good luck sorting yourself out. And it does take your body and mind time to health.