Am I sabotaging myself?

#21

Hello and welcome,

I don’t know if you’re considering Hormone replacement therapy but I know that can knock everything around a lot and I think the modern consensus is not to touch the stuff?

Actually any medication whatsoever can change the entire keto story. Dr Ken Berry rattles off a big list of meds…

All those berries and Stevia and stuff are on the the don’t touch list. Once we are firmly established in ketosis, for a couple of weeks at least, then we can think about adding them slowly.

In my humble opinion there are too many things going. Simplify, establish, then experiment slowly

(Sue) #22

Welcome Susie. I second everything everyone said - watch out for the low carb wraps, pancakes berries etc.

At the same time, menopause plays a role too. So just be patient and consistent. Both Gary Taubes and Atkins have said that everyone has their own individual threshold for carbs (and insulin). So though 20 net carbs may work for most people some of us may need to go lower to see results. Personally, for me, the scale never budges if I have more than 20-22 total carbs (not net) and use any zero calorie sweeteners.

(Sue ) #23

Thanks everyone, you guys are the best! I’m going to simplify my eating this week and stick to the basics. The good news is I put on a pair of jeans today and they were loose :blush:.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #24

It’s pretty clear that you are doing fine. Don’t worry too much about the scale; as long as your clothes are loosening up, you’re on the right track.

I noticed one point in your OP that raised something to bear in mind: a lot of people will get an insulin spike from one or another of the artificial sweeteners. (Note that all artificial sweeteners are guaranteed to have no effect on your blood glucose, or they couldn’t be sold.) Doesn’t mean that the Swerve is a problem for you, but if you think you might have a problem, eliminate it and see if that helps (insulin is the fat-storage hormone, so we want to keep the level as low as possible for as much of the day as possible).

The good news is that most people don’t react that way to every artificial sweetener, so if Swerve should turn out to be a problem for you, some other sweetener will probably be fine. (Be aware that xylitol is fatal to dogs, so it’s not safe to keep in the house if you have a dog.) Every sweetener causes an insulin spike in someone, but almost everybody is fine with at least one artificial sweetener.

(Sue ) #25

Paul, thank you! I’m going to start by cutting out berries and low carb wraps/low carb pancakes for a couple of weeks and see where that gets me. I use those urine test strips this morning (I know they aren’t hugely useful once you’ve been on keto for awhile) and they registered with moderate-to-high ketone levels so hopefully that means I am on the right track.