Brand new but need to do something!

(Polly) #21

Sorry if I am late to this thread and saying something which may already have been said, but . . .

Please try to avoid snacks. The ideal is to eat enough at a meal to not feel hungry between. If you feel you need to snack you are not putting enough food on your plate at the meal.

Every time you eat carbohydrate, protein and some artificial sweeteners your pancreas throws a bunch of insulin into your blood stream. Insulin is the fat storing hormone, and it also puts the brakes on fat burning. If you have body fat to burn you can only do it in a low insulin mode, so having a snack defeats many of your objects right from the start.

This is why many of us are on an intermittent fasting regime as well as keto. Incidentally, keto makes IF much easier to do and folk seem to fall into TMAD because if feels natural.

The only food which does not spike insulin is pure fat. I recommend a fatty meat as the basis for a meal. That should keep you full or at least not hungry for hours and hours.

(Stella) #22

I figured that out this morning. I went to bed a little hungry last night but I didnā€™t want to cheat on my third day, so I added a little - a lot - more to my breakfast and at least a third more to my lunch since Iā€™ll be working longer today. Thanks. Appreciate it. I still crave crunch and I found on a post that pork rinds are okay? Is that right? Thatā€™s all Iā€™ll snack on I promise.

(Katie) #23

Yes those are usually good for keto. Check the ingredients list because a lot of brands add sugar and other ingredients. A lot of brands also fry them in oils that many would not feel comfortable consuming (like vegetable oil, corn oil, etc.). Try to find ones that are either baked (Epic brand) or fried in an oil that you are okay with (such as lard, Epic is also a good brand). However, you may not really care much about he oils, so in that case just check the other ingredients. Ideally the only other ingredients would be the oil and salt.

Other crunchy foods: bacon, chicken skin, chicken crust pizza, kale chips, crisped-up vegetables, chicken feet

(Jill F.) #24

Welcome Stella! I drown all my steak and veggies in butter and my cholesterol went down 50 points and I lost 40 pounds in 5 months, kept it off for 8 months. This keto thing is pretty freaking amazing! I have become a huge rib eye steak fan!

(Jane) #25

Donā€™t worry too much right now about snacking - you are only on Day 3 and weeks away from being fat-adapted where the hunger goes away.

If you are hungry - EAT!!! Just keep your carbs under 20 for the day and you will be fine. After you get the hang of this you can work on eliminating the snacking.

Best of luck.

(Marianne) #26

:cry:

You shouldnā€™t feel hungry. It seems counter-productive, but on keto, you need to eat ample portions of food at each of your meals. You should not need to snack. Your meals should easily and comfortably take you to your next meal, with little or no cravings or hunger.

Again, make sure you are eating enough - and donā€™t count calories! Keto can be the easiest ā€œdietā€ you have ever tried. You can eat delicious, rich food, and still lose weight.

(Katie) #27

Found this today that you might like @StellaH

(Tami Proctor) #28

Check it Dr Barryā€™s videoā€™s on YouTube they are free and have excellent advice. Thereā€™s endless recipes on Pinterest.
I purchased a book authored by Maria Emmerich it really helped me get started. She is a nutritionist and explains things really well and also has great recipes. Her books are for sale on Amazon.
I see an obesity medicine doctor Itā€™s really important to see a doctor if youā€™re on medication. Especially blood pressure, diabetic medication, diuretics ect. The reason he has he will be coming off these medications very quickly and you can have significant health issues if you were still taking the medication. There are some resources to find a doctor that is keto friendly and they can help you reduce her medication you can just do a web search for keto friendly doctors or perhaps someone on this form can help you.
You also need to make sure that you are supplementing with magnesium, sodium and potassium.
I take a magnesium supplement that I get from Amazon called MagSrt, I use Real Salt and Get my potassium from either Dr. Burg (google him) electrolytes or leafy greens.
I hope this helps Iā€™ve been doing keto for 26 months and plan on doing it the rest of my life I absolutely love it! The health benefits are incredible and Iā€™ve lost 77 pounds!

#29

Hi Stella ā€“ chiming in a little bit late here. How are you doing now that youā€™re a couple of weeks in to this WOE?
Youā€™ve gotten good advice so far but Iā€™ll just add my two centsā€™ worth about the bits that have proven beneficial to me:

  • I did initially count ā€˜macrosā€™ but havenā€™t done so for months (Iā€™m eating keto a bit over a year now / have lost 16 kg or 35 pounds). I think it helped me understand better what I was eating. That becomes instinctive after a while, however.
  • As @Chantarella will attest to on this forum, after a bit you not only stop feeling hunger, your carb cravings simply disappear. Itā€™s an odd thing to get used to because probably many of us understood that to just be the way eating and hunger IS. The first day you wind up not even thinking about food until itā€™s mid-afternoon will tickle you pink :-).
  • Unless you particularly enjoy cooking from cookbooks (I donā€™t), just assemble a plate of food made up from the permitted items (of which there are many ā€“ see DietDoctorā€™s visual guides to simplify things). Occasionally I make up something complex (like a ā€˜keto moussakaā€™) and in that case, I tuck portions in the freezer. What a treat later on when I get to pull one out!
  • Every once in awhile I have something not permitted, but hereā€™s something fun: I can actually eat a single potato chip or french fry and enjoy it but find itā€™s enough which makes me giggle.
  • When my family orders pizza, I ā€œeatā€ it too, but that means I eat the topping and leave the bread. Believe it or not, I do indeed end up feeling that Iā€™ve had pizza as the carb component soon feels like the dullest and easily most optional part of the meal. I wouldnā€™t call it overall a ā€˜perfectā€™ keto meal, but itā€™s good enough sometimes. Donā€™t let perfect be the enemy of good!
  • And finally, Iā€™ve been delighted with how steady my energy level is, how there are no particularly tired dips, nor are there any more headaches (which now appear clearly to have been low blood sugar).

Added up, this is the easiest and most pleasant way of eating ever for me, and I hope you have the same experience! Do NOT worry about the details just yet ā€“ just eat as much as appeals to you of the fattier foods and your system will soon right itself.

#30

@Annoula
Oooo! I love your idea of eating only the pizza topping. Never thought of that. I might order one today!

#31

Hey there @Chantarella! Yep, lord knows what the restaurant must think about my plate when it returns to the kitchen with several empty crusts (if weā€™re eating it out, duh) but thatā€™s hardly my biggest concern. If I were playing a game where I HAD to eliminate one element from pizza, Iā€™d sure rather get rid of the crust than the sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, etc. ā€“ wouldnā€™t you?
Look, the sauce might have a bit of sugar, and if youā€™re in my family, there will be a few pieces of pineapple on the pizza too. So like I said, not perfect. But very, VERY do-able within the confines of an otherwise-sound keto diet!
Enjoy :wink:

#32

We have a local pizza place that does keto/low carb pizzas. They give you a cup of sauce on the side and send the toppings of your choice through the pizza oven on parchment paper. Itā€™s a lot of cheese, but itā€™s easier than just picking the toppings off.

(Jane Srygley) #33

You are the second person in a week that Iā€™ve heard was tempted by that $37 offer. Maybe I should do that LOL Seriously SOOOOO MANY FREE resources online!!! Save your money for the food!!!

I love Thomas Delauer and the KetoConnect couple, both on YouTube. They both have beginner videos. Make sure you get an app to track carbs. I like MyNetDiary but you have to pay $3.33 per month to set your own carb limit. I just know what I want and ignore their assumption that I need a lot more carbs.

Good luck and welcome!

#34

Wow, @Bobt thatā€™s wonderful! Iā€™m guessing you live in the States? Is keto now that prevalent there?

#35

@StellaH
Use cronometer.com to track your foods and count your macros. You might not need it later when you are accustomed, but in the beginning it is really invaluable. This is especially true if you are unsure of portion size and things like that- because it is reassuring to see just how MUCH you can eat and still be on track. And it keeps an eye on your carb intake.