Going back to basics - is it the right call?

(Marianne) #21

The pork steaks we buy are usually anywhere from 12-20 oz. I eat a whole one.

I eat big meat pieces, whether it’s pork or beef. With pork loin steaks (usually about 8-10 oz.), they are so dense and lean (only a small fat cap), that they are like hockey pucks and just lay in your stomach (and I don’t overcook them). I supplement with additional fat, however, sometimes I have trouble finishing one because of they are so solid.

Honestly, I was obese for so long that it was physically and emotionally debilitating - and I couldn’t seem to do anything about it (through years of conventional dieting). It was just a dark abyss. When I discovered keto and I lost 60 lbs., it was a miracle to me and I felt like I had my life back. Going back to that is terrifying to me.

(Marianne) #22

I have a bladder issue - long story - I went to a urologist for many years. Not much they can do. I use a catheter every few days to open things up. My mother had the same thing (low bladder capacity/trouble voiding). Usually, I’m able to get back to sleep again within 5-10 minutes.

(Joey) #23

Understood. But this can certainly interrupt deep and REM sleep cycles.

I’m not suggesting it’s something you can change, but insufficient periods of proper sleep do contribute to raised insulin - something well documented.

Just something to factor into the mix as you explore what might be going on with the concerns about weight plateau.

[BTW, being retired doesn’t necessarily mean low stress. On the contrary, when I became a full-fledged geezer, I discovered plenty of time to find new things to stress over that I’d never considered before. A mind is a terrible thing to waste :wink: ]

(Marianne) #24

God bless. I appreciate everyone here so much. :sob:

PS, Geezers rule. Next year, Medicare, baby! :hugs::innocent::laughing:

#25

If that’s what you’ve been eating and it hasn’t worked, then no, it clearly won’t. You gotta track, you’ll never know what will work when you’re not. If you’re sedentary, that’s a lot of fat. I can’t eat that much and lose and I lift 6x a week and do cardio 4-5x a week and have a physical job.

am staying at this weight while seemingly eating clean and not overeating.

Who says you’re not over eating? That’s not a lot from a calorie standpoint (low actually) but if your TDEE is extremely low from chronic under eating and being sedentary, then it still is, for you. That’s why tracking is important. By what you gave that’s around 1200 cals, I really wouldn’t want to go under that, I’d work on burning more. Is being sedentary not optional for you?

#26

Not for a normal person… You are very unusual, sometimes I wonder how your body works… Do you need to eat super high protein then? 100g fat is so little, even with my high protein intake it would be low-key starving to me! Okay, it’s me but eating 1200 kcal can’t be too much fat for basically all of us.

And 1200 kcal is so low, I would wonder about a slowed down metabolism and definitely would try to eat a bit more (probably more fat and more protein but it’s very individual, I can’t possibly know what would be best for Marianne. 78g protein is enough for many women as far as I know so raising only fat sounds okay but raising protein sounds good to me as well. I just would raise the calories in a way that feels right). Of course, exercise is a great idea too, I wrote about that before I can’t imagine life without it, it’s part of a healthy lifestyle…

#27

I’m far from it. Go over to any other Keto forum that doesn’t live by the always adding fat mentality, and no shortage of people dumped the high fat for lower fat and higher protein and busted though long term plateaus. As a religious tracker for a long time as are many others no shortage of us have seen that correlation.

That said, even here, many have made that change in the last year or so with positive results.

(Marianne) #28

Do you use a macro tracker?

#29

Yup, I currently use MacroFactor, which is different than a lot of others as it figures out your TDEE for you with AI based on the goals you set, and the results you’re getting. So awesome in situations like this. Prior to that I used Cronometer for years which is also a great tracker, but the one thing they refuse to add to it is the one thing that (to me) is the most important.

To me the cost of MacroFactor all year is cheaper than having my RMR measured once, so it pays for itself IMO. Last time I was plateued bad, it was getting my RMR measured that made me adjust accordingly to get things moving again, and it was WAY less than I thought it was sadly.

#30

I do my best to MINIMIZE fat but I need calories to avoid starving… 130g fat is very little, I need about that much even if I wanna lose fat, I can’t help that. And I overeat protein already, not like that helps much with calories.

You are VERY unusual if 100g fat is too much food for you. I am pretty sure most of us in this forum aren’t like that and most of us probably have a lower energy need.

But give me numbers. How you eat little fat if you need, what you say usually, 3500 kcal?
I can’t do it for 1600-1800 and those are my rare low-cal days! (Okay, my protein need is less but I do high protein just not very high. I minimize protein first, fat second as I tend to overdo both.)

Of course, the OP probably needs lowish-cal but 1200 kcal is probably too low. So the fat can’t be too high unless she is unusual like you, I don’t know how your body works but I accepted that there are interesting things…

#31

People aren’t VERY unusual because they don’t eat the way you do!

That’s correct, you don’t clearly. Doesn’t stop you from repeatedly making the claim I’m “very unusual” though does it? Nothing “very unusual” about me other than rather than constantly do something that doesn’t work, I figured out what does, and did that. Now I’m at the best weight and body comp I’ve been at in years.

(KM) #32

When you say pork steak I’m assuming that’s like a slice of pork loin? If so, my favorite way to eat it is to cut it in half or even thirds so it’s about 1/2 inch thick or less and then pound the heck out of it. Season, then pan fry with butter Just until it’s not raw. Thin plus the texturizing of pounding and the butter and the short cook time … Melts in your mouth compared to a thick solid piece.

#33

First off thing to chat with ya to get a handle on is this BIG statement. YA FEEL FINE AND FEEL YOU LOOK FINE. Key to it all. YET YOU THINK…worst thing that can happen.

For ‘’’’‘maybe’’’’’ people like you and me we lose the entire sight of it all. You said what it is, you FEEL ya look great but…hey I did it. I lost 70lbs on starve diet back in the day and I also felt I ‘looked fine’ and I knew I felt great…but I was size 10-12. I WANTED size 10 and not ever into that 12s range, back to younger day sizes LOL believe me that f’d me up. I focus’d only on that and I couldn’t starve more to ‘get that solid 8-10 size I wanted and A’backslidin’ I go…ugh.

Now this is ‘just chat’ on life as we live it and my experience.
One thing I said is ‘when I get to where I feel I look good, feel great and thrive’ then I call done deal. Cause there is a point where we are not happy with our success even ‘tho WE are’ yet we ‘feel somehow less than’ and that is what made me gain back 80 of that 70 lost and YRS!! of trying to figure it out. But omgosh, IF I HAD JUST ACCEPTED me as I knew I felt fine ya know…I would had years of insanity to ‘do it all again’.

key being I am like 15 or 20 or heck year 30 more to go super slim into my frame but in the end, I don’t give a rats butt if I drop even any more cause I did it…how much ya lose to look and feel great.

I think our brains have to accept and come out of our ‘diet phase’ to hit some ‘who knows what picture’ of ‘what’? Yea society and more, media and more, I know.

OK this is just a chat. But girl ya said it above and I feel ya on it. Plus IF you let it go…eat your plan as you do and feel great, ya know one thing, the body will change more. It will but not on your timeline. I lost about 10 lbs over 2 yrs in my zc so I will take it cause I thrive on plan, ‘feel I look good’ but darn if I can drop weight slowly, even just eating my plan and holding, no matter now long it takes, yes I am going to smile and be present and happy exactly where I am today and you said it it…

cut yourself a massive break here :slight_smile: I had to. There is a point GM where we have to ‘stop dieting mentality’ for something we don’t ‘really feel we’ require cause once ya said you feel you look fine…girl embrace it to a level you never thought you could!!!

you know this is ‘an issue’ out there in diet land…when are we allowed to be ok with ourselves? and WHO determines when in full truth against our success? it is a big chat I had to have with myself too…one thing I didn’t bank on, our mindset change about our lives and how we fit into it against ‘what life is today’ and how we feel in it. Darn it can be rough for sure, lol. I did tackle my mindset on alot of issues and became more well rounded in my thinking against ‘what I read, see, am told, and pushed toward’ and more. When to come out of 'diet mode cause I am less than some ?? and into thrive into life and grab the bull by the horns and live? Yea I had to have those chats with me. So again always say just chat, if something hits ya then great :slight_smile:

ok again just chat :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#34

Of course not :slight_smile: Who said that? People thriving on high-carb aren’t unusual, for example :smiley:But they have carbs for calories. Without enough fat, the lever on keto, you pretty much starve… And we need plenty of it normally. I am aware low-fat keto is a thing but it only works with a very small energy intake and not for everyone. Protein toxicity is a thing but it’s not the best to stay just below that for many of us… And even so, protein can give us so many calories and it’s not even very good as energy, we loses from it… Hence the need for a decent amount of fat. It’s basic on keto, there are some odd people doing differently but most of us go for fat for fuel.

#35

But you ARE super unusual and I am very curious about your macros but you refuses to tell me. 600g protein? That gives enough energy but that is protein toxicity… I know you eat plenty of carbs but not enough for a high energy need… Or you eat very much fat now but ate little when losing fat…?

I may know little about the body but I know basic math and it just doesn’t work… High-fat is needed for most of us to avoid starvation.

Btw nothing is wrong with being unusual/unique, I am that too, sure. Just don’t think that what works for YOU works for most people… Not in this case, we do need fat and 1200 kcal is too low so raising fat, the lever seems the better advice (I am careful with my words here as people are so unique, who knows what works best? but the protein seems okay, the calories low… of course one thinks about raising fat).

And I try to communicate but it doesn’t seem to go though. Maybe I should use simpler questions? But I did it already.
HOW should we get our energy if not from fat? What macros do you think would be good for the OP? (I don’t expect a perfect answer as no one has any idea what would be best, just an educated guess would do.) 200+/70/15? I am truly curious, I don’t get some enjoyment from (pointless) arguments here, I would like to know as I don’t see it as it’s just not there, fat is needed…

#36

wondering.

I put 600g protein is how much on google and it comes out to this:
600 Gram = 1.32277 Pound

I will always, always be the first to have issues in conversions of grams to lbs. to kilos to lbs to grams and more…honestly I just eat HAHA and when one says 120g protein or this or that I just lose focus totally, cause I am one of those, yet others get it where I kinda don’t but also don’t care in a way.

so am I wrong on this? I have no idea LOL

#37

And to me, pound is a weird one. But oz is even way worse. Well after all these time I can do something with 1 pound of meat or 20 oz meat but that’s it. You say 5 oz cheese and I am lost before I calculate it in grams…

But macros, we all use them in grams, aren’t we?

#38

see no clue, I did like macros try for a wk or 2 as I hit extreme into carnivore and I plugged that into ‘some app’ and then heck wasn’t sure what I was reading!! I despised any tracking any way so I am not one to ever ever figure it all out HAHA

oz I get, grams I don’t LOL

I tell ya it can be hard for ‘me’ to figure this out cause I got 0 interest in doing just that :slight_smile:
then I read the protein in a gram vs. a protein amt from carbs and it ain’t equal I guess I did read and more…truly when it comes to ‘stats’ it means 0 to me :sunny: I am more artistic type and not math type HA

(Edith) #39

I had to stop trying to intermittent fast. I found that putting off my meals, made me hungrier and then I ate more at mealtime. The large bolus of protein would make me sleepy, especially after lunch. My body is happier having three small meals then one or two big meals. I also cut back on my protein a bit and added a bit more fat, based upon some other women on the forum who posted they really needed to up their fat.

I don’t know what my macros are, but I am keeping the meat portion to about four to five ounces per meal. I did start weighing my portions because I needed to recalibrate my portion size in my mind. I haven’t lost weight, yet, but I stopped the upward creep.

There’s been a lot of chatter lately about blood sugar creep and eating higher amounts of protein. I do think that’s a real thing and who knows it may pertain more the women then men? @Azi on the carnivore thread had to cut back on her protein because her blood sugar was going up and she was gaining weight. Once she cut back her protein (and if I recall, started eating smaller meals) her weight started to come off. She can correct me if I’m retelling her story incorrectly.

I hope you figure something. I would love to lose my last ten pounds, but at 57 and finally heading into menopause, it has been a real challenge. Plus, I went back to work full time about two years ago and my daily activity level took a real nose dive. At least I’m not gaining any more at the moment.

(Marianne) #40

Thank you for that reminder. For so long on keto, I lived happily and without “dieting.” It seems like after I refrained from drinking for two weeks, my weight loss expectations kicked in. I was pretty despondent over it for a couple of days. Today I feel better. Do I plan to make a few changes - yes - but nothing radical or extreme for me.

So true. Again, I will make a few modifications, but then I am just going to stop focusing on it and be content.