Do you have basic 'Keto Rules/Guidelines' you follow?

(John) #61

My grandmother was diabetic. One of my sisters is. Three of my cousins are (one of whom died rather young from a heart attack). My genetic test says I am at risk. So I have plenty of excuses there, if I were ever to need to resort to that.

However, I am a fully grown adult, parents long gone, and there is no one who I allow to be in a position to tell me what to do as far as my dietary choices.

My wife is proud of me and fully supportive. One of my doctors is fine with it, other than wanting me to keep taking my statins to keep cholesterol in line (which I am doing for now, will re-evaluate every 6 months). One of my other doctors keeps asking what I am doing because he wants to lose weight too.

The diabetic sister is not only OK with my choices, but is now following my lead and starting to reverse her diabetes. And HER doctor is now asking her questions about what she has been doing, because her success over a very short term is unprecedented, and because the doctor’s husband is overweight and needs to lose weight.

So how’s that for a ripple effect? Lost over 90 pounds myself (and still losing), my sister is on the path to reversing a disease she has been fighting for years, and TWO doctors, one of whom I have never met, are learning new things that may improve their health or their family members’ health.

I don’t have to justify anything to anyone. And neither do any of you.

Edit: To make this applicable to the topic, my rule here is: Do it for you and your own health. There is no need for excuses or explanations.

If you are successful, there may be those who are in the dark and looking for hope, who see you as a shining beacon. These, you can help, by showing them the start of a path. But they will have to walk their own path, which will be different from yours. You can’t walk it for them, nor carry them. But sometimes all they need is for someone to help them find the starting line.

Others just view your shining light as some bright flashy thing in their eyes that makes them blink, so no need to annoy them with it. :slight_smile:

#62

Same here on the Doctor’s John. Wife wanted to speak with her before starting, but I had been doing Keto for two months at that time. She was honest and said she didn’t know much about Keto, but would support us in any way. … Fast forward to a couple months ago, I too have lost over 90 lbs., wife has lost about 87 lbs., but the coolest thing was that over the past 10 months, they’ve been bragging about our results, telling all their patients about Keto, recommending the Documentary ‘The Magic Pill’ to them all and the best yet… she informed me a couple months ago while drawing some blood, that both her and her Husband have been Keto themselves since Christmas! :slight_smile: and that in just 2 months, her Husband is no longer taking his Diabetic meds himself! … And they continue to recommend and speak to their patients all about Keto, so they are definitely spreading the word. :+1:

(MooBoom) #63

That’s phenomenal!!!

#64

We wil unfuck the world!

Maybe a little explaining is good though to get them thinking.

(John) #65

I will happily explain ad nauseum, to those willing to listen. I have just learned that you can’t push, only wait. If you try to convince people, they naturally act like you’re selling them something and resist. Becomes counter productive.

#66

I’ve had a couple of times when I played the “my father has diabetes” card, one explaining why my reaction to a slice of bread was different from a normal person’s. It was well received. Another time I refused a piece of candy at the bank and the nice, older woman seemed taken aback by my refusal. I played the diabetes card again and then she was all understanding about it.

(John) #67

Gotta do what works and keeps social interactions pleasant. People are usually trying to be nice / friendly / inclusive when offering foods. It’s part of our culture! So best to just deflect simply, unless they are someone you will have to regularly interact with.

I do have that card to play as well. Mine would be “family history of diabetes so I made some changes to be on the safe side” and that’ll usually work.

#68

My experience with my FiL…he has just a little sugar… My head almost exploded :frowning: but until he’s ready, nothing will change :frowning:

(John) #69

“How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?”
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.
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Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.

#70

Whenever someone is shocked I won’t eat potatoes, bread and junk food, I tell them that this diet helped me to finally feel normal (i lost 15kg),my histamine intolerance in under control, my dad has diabetes and i need to take responsibility for my body… I either get an “oh, ok” or “just wait, you’ll cave soon…” I smile and attack my delicious meat and fat :slightly_smiling_face:

I found courage and strength while I switched to keto, grew some balls, put on some big girl pants and I stand behind my choice proudly. I wont let anyone get to me :slight_smile: This is my life, my choice and I stood up for myself-many cant do that and those are the ones that have a problem with my change, i think.

#71

i’ll remember this one, it fits perfectly :slight_smile:

(Carol) #72

For me, I’ve been doing keto a little over 9 months pretty strictly: under 20 carbs, good food and fats etc. I don’t have “cheat” days but have had a couple “off plan” days. Recently I have heard my body communicating with me. This is a new adventure! I eat when hungry and don’t when I’m not. So liberating.

I recently had 2 women approach me who are serious about getting their health and weight under control. I did a lot of research before going keto and I think this is the best approach but, I know there is a lot of misinformation out there. So here is what I basically suggested.

  1. You must seriously commit for 30 days; at the end of that time you can decide if this woe is for you.

  2. Read The Obesity Code.

  3. Keep carbs under 20 grams and get your electrolytes.

  4. Eat good food/fats, no sugar, starches, junk food etc. Try to avoid snacking, artificial sweeteners and big servings of cheese. (They can test their tolerance at a later time.) Planning meals or food prep can be very useful.

  5. Don’t think about foods you’re giving up, enjoy all the good things you can eat while getting healthy;.because once you are healthy you can have that occasional “off plan” meal/treat.

  6. I gave them links to Diet Doctor and this forum and suggested a few others. I also suggested if they had questions or concerns to let me know and I would try to advise if I can.

Oh, and to one gal who was already researching keto recipes and was overwhelmed with the almond and coconut flour etc., I told her to keep it simple and just eat good food in the beginning. She was relieved she didn’t have to buy product and learn a new way of cooking. So, in about 25 days we shall know the results. :slight_smile:

(John) #73

@damgal Your whole post is golden.

#74

You mentioned smth very smart, replacement foods and ingredients for those can be very expensive and overwhelming. I tell them that those ingredients are not needed and you actually spend a lot less on food, because you can’t eat a lot of the things we mindlessly purchased before.

(Marius the butter craving dude) #75

I guess I do have my rules. witch is better for anyone than not having any rules regarding eating.
The rules I have are more intuitive since I do not count macros a lot and I want to be flexible:

  1. Eat as less carbs and vegetables as I can in a day, possibly none. It is way more simple to keep carbs under 20 grams if you eat only meat… and you do not need to calculate carbs.
  2. Make sure I eat every day 50 gr from my home made lard tablet so that I have enough fat every day. Eating meat dose not mean that you get enough fat for keto.
  3. Give a thought at least once a week to other nutrients and vitamins found in organ meat; or just eat some organ meat once a week.
  4. Monitor my weight daily; and here I admit I am paranoid, I will never let myself go back !! I know that 2 kg variations plus or minus can mean anything other than fat tissue but I do not feel comfortable without checking my weight every day morning and before bed.

I wish that in time I will be like other people who eat correct instinctively and weight only once a week at random and they have the same weigh including in grams…

(Carol) #76

Thank you @JohnH, it was a labor love and wanting to share good health with 2 friends. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they take to it.

Absolutely! I’ve purchased a couple things over the months and some day I may make something using them but don’t find it tempting yet. :slight_smile:

I will also note that I talked with each woman individually over 2 hours - they wanted to know everything. lol I kept telling both of them to keep it simple to start. Tweaking can come later.

#77

It is amazing how simple keto is to us now and we smile with fond memories of newbie beginnings when we see our newbies jumping onboard. It was overwhelming for us, but now we have a chance to pay it forward to those who want to listen and do :slight_smile:

I recently removed myself from a few groups on FB (i am not familiar with the new “rules” these days on what we can say and names we are allowed to write) for the same reason… I just didn’t agree with the method anymore, a lot of people struggle and it leads to even further complications because you really need to watch portion sizes and carbs, at the same time waving all those delicious recipes+books and telling people to count total and under 20g of carbs - it feels like such a hassle, it sets us up for failure and makes us feel like we’re back on diets again. I didn’t want to work myself up again, so I took myself out of the groups and let people do their own thing. Maybe I’m just grumpy lately and things are bothering me more… I hope I just know better and try to do better :crossed_fingers::joy:

(KCKO, KCFO) #78

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

Well said. This is what we have to do to get healthy, lose weight and stay that way.

(traci simpson) #79

I still have moments of “Should I be eating all this food at one time” moments and it still seems crazy that this works! : )

#80

Totally agree :slight_smile: my husband calls me an animal :joy: