Frustrated and want to give up (new to Keto)

[coffeekittie]

Wow! That’s great news. So many details to play with in our food choices.
Thank you @PaulL for the videos. Gonna watch tonight.

[Katiekate]

Under eating was a huge worry for me too. OMAD just wasn’t enough time for enough calories. Then, I switched to the most nutrient dense food I could find, Steak. Roast pork. Etc.

The biggest part of my meal is meat…then about 30 minutes later a fat bomb. Yeah, I am barely eeeking out enough calories…but, I am managing.

Thing is…I just let my body do what it wants to do naturally. I do a 36-48 fast every week…not a fixed schedule…and never on purpose…it just happens, just like OMAD just happened.

[MommyJill2005]

Welcome @AllySpud we are glad you’re here! I am in my mid forties and post menopausal. Watching my hubby’s weight melt off in the beginning drove me nuts! I lost 4 pounds in the first month and u was so frustrated. Then it started to work its magic.
I have lost 45 pounds since December and almost 40 inches of size. It has been remarkable! Things that worked for me:
I eat when hungry. I keep keto snacks like cheese, pork skins, pickles, Slim Jim’s, on hand to prevent snacking on chips and crackers. (I have a kid who eats them, they are everywhere!)

I stuck with very simple meals, no fancy replacement keto breads, keto pancakes, nothing like that. Just meat and green veggies for lunch and dinner, eggs and bacon for breakfast.

I skipped alcohol, fruit, yogurt, completely for 6 months. I had maybe 2 glasses of wine during that time, and it went straight to my head! Lol

I measured my body and gauged my progress by that and how my clothes fit far more than relying on the scale.

I started intermittent fasting after 2 months. I never went to one meal a day. I still IF most days, but if I wake up hungry I eat.

I worked out some but not much. Most of my weight loss has been from diet changes.

This is an example of what changes I have seen. Keto got me is a complete lifestyle change. It has put me in control and I no longer eat my emotions with carbs or wine and I literally feel like a different person now.

Visit here often for advice and logic. Set small goals for yourself like when I lose 5 pounds I will get new running shoes, 10 pounds a new yoga mat, etc. Dont reward yourself with food, make it other things to celebrate your accomplishments.

Again we are glad you are here. Keto has changed my life and I am so happy I started this journey! I hope over time you will feel this way too.

[gingersmommy]

It’s great to use books for inspiration, but I’ve found they don’t always have the best macros. I’ve found recipes that have relatively high carb counts for how people who are trying to eat <20g of carbs a day. There are lots of sneaky carbs out there too.

Another thing is to make sure you are eating enough at each meal so you don’t need to snack. Remember, this is about carb restriction, not calorie restriction!

Agreed.

When I started this, I didn’t want to follow (or cook/prepare) any “recipes”. (Some people here make incredible looking recipes, which I am sure taste just as incredible - however, that’s not me.) We (my husband and me), eat cleanly and simply with very little prep - usually eggs, bacon, sausage, protein with mayo, pepperoni, loaded salad with full fat dressing, etc., for breakfast and lunches, and then dinner is just a nice piece of meat (supplemented with bacon grease, if needed), cole slaw with vinegar and mayo, or a steamed veggie with butter. We find this WOE very pleasurable and no trouble at all to prepare meals. Three meals a day became two, which easily became one - using our body fat stores for energy left us feeling energized and not hungry in spite of eating OMAD. We really don’t spend much on groceries now, compared to what we were spending.

It helped me to learn the carb counts in our most commonly consumed foods in the beggining in order to know how what it required to keep it under 20. Other than that, I just made sure we were eating enough fat with our foods and didn’t worry about calories.

For me (at 60), this was my last attempt at “dieting.” If this didn’t work, I was honestly resigned to being fat for life and not being able to take it off - talk about a dark night of the soul - horrible place. Luckily, because I fed my body enough food - and the right food - in the beginning, keto delivered me from hunger and carb cravings, something I had never experienced. Dieting was always white knuckle torture. I don’t really think about going off of this because I ask myself, “What’s the alternative” (there isn’t one for me). And, true you can’t have many things - however, on what other diet can we eat like we can!? This is no hardship. Plus, I am so afraid of reawakening my food addiction and returning to that hell, that I have a healthy respect for not playing around with cheating or having some of the foods that used to trigger me.

Good luck and God bless. If you like this WOE for the most part, then the sacrifices compared to the gains are small. You can lose weight, feel great, and with very little effort. Please stick around and keep us posted on your journey.

[David_Stilley]

Sorry @coffeekittie, not sure how that ended up directed at you! My iPhone usually doesn’t link to posts directly and I usually need to use the @ to get someone’s attention or use a quote.

[coffeekittie]

Nope, wasn’t offended nor concerned.

[Wendysue1960]

The My fitness pal, can also be put on a laptop.
I’ve had an account with them for 7yrs. Havnt always used them but have logged on since April every meal,
Big help.

[curtishibbs]

First off, stop the red wine. It you must drink wine find the dryest wine you can, but realize that this could be one of the things sabatoging your efforts.

In addition, depending on the state of your metabolism, you much need to be extra strict initially (until your metabolism recovers from years of abuse). I would recommend going carnivore (zero carb) for 30 days to kick start your metabolism… simply eat only things from animal sources (nothing plant based). I think the results will amaze you.

[VirginiaEdie]

The other thing to consider is healing. Your body obviously has some healing to do if you are needing to take BP medicine. Concentrate on how you feel. Notice the non scale victories. As your body heals, you will probably begin to see the weight drop off. Healing may take some time.

[AllySpud]

Thanks for all the great advice. I’m still working my through it all (the links, videos). Thank you again!

Update: I haven’t downloaded an app but I’m keeping a written tally. I’m staying at 20 carbs, I have completely cut out all alcohol. I’m avoiding processed food (I cook all my meals). I started Keto on 7/10/19.

Gained a 1/2 pound since my original post.

So, still very frustrated, but giving it another month.

[coffeekittie]

Think about giving it 6months.

[VirginiaEdie]

You may want to try listening to the Keto for Women Show with Shawn Mynar. She talks a lot about keto and women’s hormones.

I haven’t listened to her for a while, but she had some very interesting podcasts when she first started her podcast specifically on hormones.