Hello, I hope everyone is having a great day. I’ve joined because I have a unique situation and I’m looking for help. Please bear with me. I have learning disability and mental illness, a brain injury and chronic migraine so I’m not the brightest bulb in the box, with a lot of meds in the past so a lot of weight gain. I also have pcos ( polycystic ovarian syndrome/insulin resistance) and recently my family battle cdiff for a year which drastically changed the way my guts work leaving me with post infections ibs. I am also a survivor of 10 years of domestic abuse unfortunately left me with a lot of arthritis and pain so I am unable to do most forms of exercise. I’m a stay at home mom of two little kids five and two. I am 5’7, 222 pounds. desperately looking to lose weight (50-60lbs) to get healthy and be around longer for my kids but between the ibs pcos my age and metabolism I am finding it impossible to find a diet that Will help me to lose weight without putting me in extreme excruciating belly pain. I have a hard time eating fruits and vegetables since the cdiff. so I came across this diet and it sounds kinda awesome on my third day now and feeling like poop but I guess that is the keto flow so toughing out I’m sure I am stirring stuff up somewhere and I am looking for help on how to fine-tune the stuff I’m eating for my situation. I need easy fast stuff with the kids and the house I don’t really have the time or energy to stand in the kitchen preparing fancy meals. things I’m questioning most is my turkey jerky sticks, beef jerky, ranch dressing mix prepared with mayo and 1% milk, truvia in my coffee, great value sugar free JellO, natural peanut butter, and for some reason I’m seeing stuff in needing to limit your intake of cucumbers tomatoes and celery. I’m wondering why this is because I am looking to lose a lot of weight I don’t want to eat so many fats I like to eat more of the veggies and I’m wondering if that’s okay? I’m also wondering about the adding extra fats on purpose. adding coconut oil and bacon and all that I see people doing. is there a reason behind now or should I not be doing that if I’m not able to keep up on the exercise aspects other than my normal housework and keeping up with the kids? Also what is macros? I see people are keeping track of stuff they eat is this necessary?sorry for all the questions I’m brand new to this and thoroughly confused LOL. Thank you for reading all this.
Brand new and full of questions
Take some time and look around this forum. There is a lot of great information that can help you get started.
The Keto lifestyle fights against the calories-in-calories-out model of weight loss, which is also expressed as “eat less, move more” or “a calorie is a calorie,” because it is not nuanced enough to describe what the body actually does. But even the carbohydrate-insulin or hormonal model of food partitioning has to take the First Law of Thermodynamics into account. It’s just that the stridency required to get through to diehard CICO folks often leads us to forget that part.
The reason the situation is more complex is that the body partitions the fuel we give it differently depending on the type of fuel. We do not gain or lose weight depending on our gross caloric intake or our total energy expenditure, but rather in accordance with how much fat, carbohydrate, and protein we are eating.
Too much carbohydrate stimulates the secretion of insulin, which drives the glucose in the carbohydrate into the muscles for burning and into the fat tissue for storage in the form of fatty acids. Too much insulin blocks the hormonal signaling that tells the brain that we don’t need to eat for a while, which is why we feel constantly hungry on a high-carb diet. A minimal amount of carbohyrate has the reverse effect; it allows fat to leave the fat tissue to be burned by the muscles and allows our satiety signaling to work properly again, reducing our appetite while also reducing our excess fat.
Restricting calories is counter-productive, as well, because the body responds to famine by lowering its basal metabolic rate, putting a hold on non-essential processes, and grimly hanging onto its fat stores. In times of abundance, however, the body ramps up the BMR and even finds ways to waste energy, it starts growing hair and encouraging reproduction again, and even lets the fat cells and the muscles metabolize excess stored fat.
All this means that weight loss is not about eating less but about eating right. And it also means that weight gain is not about eating too much, it’s about having eaten the wrong things. The problem with the CICO logic is that it assumes that eating too much is what causes weight gain, whereas the reality is that eating wrong causes weight gain and thus causes us to need a higher caloric intake in order to supply the extra calories needed for storage.
This would be a good place to learn about Keto.
http://pwop.com/download/TheKetogenicDietInANutshell.pdf
here is a video-
and listen to the 2 dudes podcasts here.
Hi, sweetie and welcome to the forum,
Does what Ron said here make sense?
We have all been brainwashed into believing that eating fat makes us fat and that calories we eat must be offset by calories we burn. As was once stated by Yoda, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Calories are not the enemy. Sugar is the enemy. Carbohydrates of any source are sugar. When we eat carbohydrates we convert them all to sugar and that causes us to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone. Hormones decide what our body will and will not do with any and everything we put into it. In this case insulin is a hormone that stores fat. When we eat carbohydrates, insulin increases in our bloodstream and stuffs those carbs into our fat cells in the form of sugar.
Does this make sense?
This is an essential concept
When we talk about macros we must understand the effect of carbs on our metabolism
I want to help you at your level
Please let me know if you need more information
Keep calm and keto on
What a journey you’ve been on, you’re amazing to have got through all that & wanting to get some health back now! The others have explained things really well, I’d just add that the Dietdoctor website is good for beginners too, you don’t have to sign up to read through the info & they have some good recipes too: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto
As for meals, I find keto really easy in a lot of ways- I love cheese, so have lots of that, I make seed crackers which are pretty easy & keep really well for a week, avocados, lettuce & a fatty dressing. If you do have salad or veggies then add butter, or cream & cheese, have them with fatty meat or some fish, cooke enough so there’s some left over for cold the next day. You do need to eat plenty of fat though or it doesn’t work. Veggies are okay, but you do need to calculate the carbs in them, they can add up. A lot of people do use a tracker for their macros (macros is the amounts of each food group- you can use online sites to work that out, here’s one: https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/ ) , but you may not have time for that, I just worked out the carbs only & didn’t worry about the rest, but make sure you don’t overload on protein, eat fat to fill you up, not protein.
I didn’t exercise at all for the first 4 weeks, as I had low energy levels, that seems to be quite common, & I still lost weight. Don’t worry about not being able to exercise on keto, & I’m sure with looking after your littlies you keep moving plenty enough!
Good luck on your journey!
Ty so much, I’m still working out how to use this forum LOL took me a while to figure out how to come back and check to see if anyone had responded. thank you so much for the information I’m going to read through it all again tomorrow when I’m more awake 
There is so much information out there (on this forum especially), that you’ll likely still be learning new stuff even months after getting started. However, I just wanted to say: DON’T LET IT OVERWHELM YOU! You don’t have to get everything perfect all at once. You can start out very simply:
- Clean out all the processed grains and sugars from your kitchen (that means getting rid of pasta, chips, crackers, cookies, cereal, oatmeal, juices, etc etc).
- Start tracking your “net” carbohydrate intake. (“net” just means to take the total number of carbs and subtract out any fiber. So if your box says: Carbohydrates per serving: 10g; Fiber 4g; Sugar 2g, then the “Net” is 10–4=6g. The goal is to consistently keep your daily intake under 20g) There are lots of ways to track but if you have a smart phone the “My Fitness Pal” app is pretty easy to use. You can also use it on a regular web browser too. This will give you the nutritional information for almost any food.
- Add extra salt and other electrolytes because your body will flush a lot out as it clears the stored carbs (glycogen) out of your muscles.
Just take it easy and cut yourself a lot of slack. Start making these intentional changes and you’ll start seeing your weight drop which will encourage you. Obviously come back and ask any specific questions!
Wow. That was a lot to take in. Sorry about the C. Diff. problems. I’m a nurse so I know how that can ravage you…
In any case, remember that fat doesn’t make you fat. Don’t fear fat. For the next few weeks/months, check the carb content of everything you put in your body - try to stay below 20g net carbs per day. If you’re eating peanut butter, stuff with milk, veggies, fruits - you’re probably way over. So be careful.
Finally, with kids it may not be realistic to get rid of every carb-containing item in your house like it is for a single adult or couple with no kids; of course, they’re young enough that you can get them started on keto too, but I’ve never met a parent with enough intestinal fortitude to change a kid’s diet, so… Anyway, do what’s best for you, but mind your macros. Don’t worry about adding in exercise yet. Just like fat doesn’t make you fat, exercise doesn’t make you skinny. Abs are made in the kitchen, as they say. If you do well with an appropriate number of calories, 20g or fewer of carbs, adequate protein, and the rest fat, you should start to see some success almost immediately.
But remember - with keto, there’s no gray area: you’re either doing it right or you’re doing it wrong (as far as your body/health/weight are concerned). That said, there’re a lot of ways to do it right and you’ll have to start with the basics and figure out eventual ways to tailor it to your own lifestyle. Good luck!
I am at work ( on lunch) and don’t have time for long answer right now or to read all but first, I can empathize with several of your situations: not onky the weight, but I have chronic pain ( am still and always wilk be treated for and am in pain mgmt program), and have been in a severe abusive relationship previously ( more than one, about 30 yrs ago, am in my 50’s now).
I can tell you this: you ABSOLUTELY came to the right place. If you ever need to PM about anything at all, diet or otherwise, I’m here.
'm trying, Ty I have a hard time understanding there’s so much to it. I have a basic understanding about the carbs being sugars and thas bad and that we want our body to stop burning the sugar for energy and to start burning our fat as energy. so we stop giving our body the sugar so that it switches over to burn the fat. and that’s about as much as I can grasp 
there’s so many scientific details and the more I’m trying to learn the more confused I’m getting now I’ve read something about MCT oil and I don’t know if I need that or not I thought pickles were okay but I just read something that says pickles and cucumbers are not okay because of lectins…I have no idea what that means… I have PCOS which they normally treat with metformin I guess it is called an insulin resistance but I really honestly do not know what that means even though I’ve been diagnosed for over a decade I know that guy I’m supposed to follow for that is also a low-carb diet but I don’t know what insulin resistance means and I don’t know how that plays into being on a kedo diet. thank you very much for having patience and understanding for me a lot of people don’t bother to take the time. I have two small kids I’m just trying my best to figure out a way to lose this weight and get healthy I want to be around for a while for them. Thank you
Thank you so much I did not know about adding extra salt I guess I can sprinkle some extra on my eggs does it need to be a lot extra or just a little? I can’t clean out the kitchen I’m the only one doing Keto. my boyfriend and two kids are carb eaters so now I’m preparing three different meals one for me, one for the kids and one for him cause he has ulcerative colitis…I’m a busy lady lol I always used to use MyFitnessPal but it would not let me keep track of carbs without paying to subscribe and we are pretty strapped financially right now so I downloaded the carb tracker and did the macro calculator on another site. I’ve been using that the past couple days still trying to get the hang of it but I think I’ve got it for the most part but I didn’t know to count the carbs that way so that helps. thank you for letting me know I have a hard time understanding stuff this all helps so much
Thank you so much and yeah you’re right with the kids and the boyfriend no way for me to take away their carbs LOL I’ve got a couple of little tiny picky eaters and my boyfriend has ulcerative colitis so now I’m a busy lady in the kitchen preparing three separate meals. maybe I can count that as some form of exercise 
I just did my shopping today I got all-natural almond butter with nothing else added into it just ground-up almonds and I also got some unsweetened coconut flakes I’m going to mix some of that together with some coconut oil and put it in a celery stick for a snack hopefully that is an appropriate keto snack. I got pickles too because I read they were good snacks but then I seen something saying they are not good snacks because of seed lectens? I don’t know this is also confusing. But I’m trying! day 4!
Thank you very much I really do appreciate that offer I feel like I could use A keto mentor if that’s even a thing I get so confused easily and with my anxiety I get worked up too easily about stuff I’m having a hard time using these forums though I’m having to do all for my email because I can’t figure out how to use it in the actual forum. I need to figure out how to send a message. Are you on Facebook by any chance? if you are comfortable with that anyways that is a lot easier for me to use. <3
Hello and welcome! DILL pickles are definitely okay to have and so are cucumbers. You just need to count the carbs in them. Actually you may want the dill pickle juice as well because you will need the sodium to replenish your electrolytes.
From what I understand, A LOT of extra salt. But you can wait and see what your body is saying. If you start feeling the symptoms of dehydration (exhaustion, lethargy, weakness, light-headed), then you can make the change and add more intentional salt.
You shouldn’t have to pay for MFP. It gives you carbs in the free version, unless maybe you mean net-carbs? Either way, you should also check out Cronometer (https://cronometer.com/). It does net-carbs by default I think.
Remember: step 1 is just to get carbs below 20g. That will be a challenge, but there’s really no need to worry about the other macros, exercise, salt, etc until you get that first part down.
Good luck! There are some really great people on here who have a ton of information. Use the search bar for just about any topic and you’ll get free expert (if not from title, from experience) advice.
You are doing a great job! I am so happy that you found this forum.
The people here are so loving and kind. You will be very well cared for
I’m also really happy that @skinnyjeans13 is going to give you some one-on-one
I thought of a coupe of things to help you as you learn
First: are you listening to any of the keto podcasts? If yes, then keep it up. If no then I recommend you start. My favorites are the 2 Keto Dudes podcast and the Ketowoman podcast
Next: insulin resistance. This is a rather complex medical condition and I don’t know if it really matters that you understand the details. The basic idea is that our bodies have become resistant to the effects of insulin and as a result we have developed a bunch of other problems. These problems will be resolved when we improve our sensitivity to insulin. Insulin is a hormone, if you remember. It has a very specific job to do in our bodies. When it cannot do it’s job, we get sick. Diabetes, PCOS, heart disease, some cancers, some bowel diseases, some types of arthritis, some diseases of the skin or brain like Alzheimer’s are all diseases that are related to insulin. Insulin resistance can be treated. We do that by first not eating carbohydrates. We don’t consume high amounts of carbs and we don’t do it for the rest of our lives, basically.
Then our sensitivity to insulin gets better and it can do its job the way it’s supposed to
The side effects of that include much better health and, for many, significant weight loss
Third: as you move along in your very personal and individual process you will find that some of what other people are doing does not work for you. That’s good. Your body is not other people’s bodies. This should be a completely unique journey because you are completely unique. As you learn what works for you and what doesn’t come back here and share it. That’s what being a part of a nurturing community is about. We take care of each other. You have a lot to contribute and we look forward to your adventure
Lastly: love yourself. You are the most important person to your family. Those babies need a healthy mommy. We can only be healthy when we treat ourselves with the same loving consideration we give our family. You deserve it. Make it count.
When we fly on airplanes the attendant tells us to put on our oxygen mask first and then help others.
Good advice
Keep coming back here
We love you
Remember this is a process
Thank you so so much I love this place already! I haven’t listended to podcasts yet, I think there was a link on here somewhere I will look for and book mark. I’ve never listened to a podcast before lol most of my day is Mickey mouse Club house and bubble guppies lol
My very first podcast experience was the 2 Keto Dudes! Now I listen to fifteen or more every week. They are very informative and a lot of fun. Download a good podcast app like pocketcast for Android and iOS, castbox for Android, or overcast for iOS. Do some shopping in your App Store.
Have fun with it
Remember, this is not a chore, it is life