Good or bad


(Chuck) #81

What do you think you have lost? If it is a number on the scales, then you are missing the real point of Keto. Keto is for your health and not so much for weight loss. I was kicked off a Facebook Keto group because I mentioned that fact.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #82

When I have a cold, my appetite increases, but it doesn’t make me want more carbs. When I have a fever, however, I generally want to fast, not switch to carbs.


#83

Well, for one, I dropped 10 pounds and my body was looking noticeably lean. I am 62 and since age 50, I had very slowly gained 15-20 pounds of post-menopausal weight. By the end of my first year and without changing anything, those 10 pounds had slowly crept back. I currently weigh 142, 5’2".

I am not overweight (for being postmenopausal). My reason for wanting to lose weight is that I have read that some people have gotten their rheumatoid arthritis to go into remission by getting their body fat really low. I don’t have RA, but I have an autoimmune/fibromyalgia condition probably due to chronic Lyme arthritis from many years ago. Keto alone helped my pain a bit at first, but it was no cure. I think I recall less pain when I was 10 pounds less, so I am frustrated it is now so hard to lose those pounds again, regardless of how much I limit carbs.

Other small things that started out great but are no longer great:
Not much energy, needing a lot of sleep.
Waking up with stomach upset, which happened on a regular basis pre-keto.
Not much brain clarity like I felt the first 8 months of the keto WOE.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #84

By “weight” do you mean you are fatter and your clothes are tighter, or merely that the number on the scale has gone up? I agree that if you are getting fatter on keto, that’s not good.

It is possible, however, to gain lean mass on keto, which doesn’t mean that the way of eating has stopped working; actually, it means the reverse.

It certainly does help joint pain to have less weight to carry around, but my body fat is by no means low, and my arthritis stays in remission as long as I keep my carb intake low. If I yield to cravings and over-indulge in carbohydrate, there is a level of carb intake above which my arthritis returns and my joints get stiff and painful, even if I manage to stay in ketosis.

Are you eating enough? Many people find that the body becomes reluctant to shed fat when we try to restrict calories, even though we are keeping the carbs low.

And you might find it helpful to review your diet for “carb creep,” because sometimes carbs sneak back into our food, without our realising it. Especially with any processed foods, because one that used to be safe can be reformulated by the manufacturer without warning to have more carbs in it.

But if you look at all these things and can’t find anything wrong, it might be time to speak with a doctor and get checked out, in case there is some other problem beginning to brew.


(Chuck) #85

I am going to ask you a few questions. First do you log what you eat? Second have you had lab tests lately.
I am 75 I log everything I eat, I am not weighing and measuring it just logging what I eat. My wife is my cook and I trust what she cooks and adds to the recipes. I started this lifestyle at what my doctor calls 60 pounds overweight I am down 31 pounds, but most importantly, I have my energy back, I no long suffer from my BP, I no longer have headaches. I no longer have aching joints and muscles. I no longer have brain fog are forgetfulness. I could go on but I believe you get my point. I understand I am male and you are female but I also see improvements in my wife’s health and my baby sister that is diabetic, overweight with bad knees and shoulders. I say revisit what you are eating and start logging what you eat.


#86

But I’m trying to get out of ketosis so I can do a restart. It’s crazy but I can’t get out. Just measured my blood ketones to be sure I am not lying, and they are currently 0.8, which is higher than my usual 0.4 when I aim for 20-ish carbs.

P.S. Don’t anyone tell me to eat sweets and huge bowls of pasta, because I didn’t do that before and I won’t do it now! :grin:

In terms of my clothes, they are all tight and it is very obvious I have lost that initial lean look I got after the first 8 months.


(Allie) #87

This was my first thought too…


(Megan) #88

I haven’t come across this idea in my readings on keto to date. Where did you hear this is something that might help?


#89

I log (using cronometer) and test obsessively. My lab tests were and still are good, although I am a hyper-responder so my cholesterol is off the charts. I guess I’m not a typical hyper-responder, because my HDL was high before and is still high; trigs were low before and still low. LDL was always high and now even higher LOL.

I realize I am not the typical profile of people drawn to a keto WOE, so when I encounter others who are also here for reasons other than healing metabolic damage, I am interested in following their paths. Many disappear, which does not give me great hope, but I won’t give up. I believe in low carb eating as the best bet for preventing a multitude of chronic diseases.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #90

Well, there’s no doubt that eating sugar, starches, and grains will raise your blood sugar enough to kick you out of ketosis. But surely there are carb-rich vegetables that you could tolerate, such as corn (maize), carrots, peas, yams, and potatoes.

Dr. Phinney claims that eating more fat on a ketogenic diet will stimulate fatty-acid metabolism, but it doesn’t sound as though you are in any mood to test that hypothesis.


#91

Just my own idea! Maybe it aligns with the premise behind the CKD? If I can ever get out of ketosis, I will report back whether it works for me.


(Chuck) #92

You may think I am crazy but I have jumped start myself but eating more that I normally would eat. I have my total carb intake set to no more than 50 grams my form of cycling is one day zero carbs the next day as many as 75 to 100 carbs. Then back to zero then back to my normal no more than 50 grams of carbs. I do it to brake plateaus and if I am not feeling as energetic as normal.


#93

I aim for 1800 but often get to 2000 calories in a day. I also let myself get hungry, which is not good. I think many on here lose weight because they are both in ketosis and not hungry (and therefore are eating fewer calories than they burn). I think if you let yourself get hungry and don’t feed yourself, you will not lose weight. I can almost feel my body temperature drop with each passing hour of hunger. So, yes, I could probably eat more…


(Megan) #94

I have no idea why you have regained what you have lost. It sounds very frustrating and disappointing. I have fibromyalgia and a lot of arthritis and the amount of pain I live with has decreased thanks to (a) weight loss and (b) much less inflammation in my body. My C reactive protein is normal for the 1st time in many decades. I hope you are able to figure out what the issue is.


#95

Interesting. I was doing the same actually. I would try to go as low carb as possible after eating 100+ on one day. But right now, I’m trying to get out of ketosis so not doing that.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #96

“As low carb as possible” would be a zero-carb/carnivore diet, actually. But you don’t seem to be interested in trying that—or did you?


#97

Then it’s a good idea for you :slight_smile:
And not for many of us. Well I can handle it just fine but if I touch bread, that’s usually half a loaf… :smiley: And it’s purely for joy, it doesn’t help me anything.

So it’s apparent and was expected that we all gave different answers and it’s fine.


(Chuck) #98

I fully understand one taste of anything with grains in it and I am hooked. The same goes for milk chocolate, I can handle intense 72% cocoa just fine. But don’t allow myself getting close to chocolate chip cookies or even any type of sweets.


#99

I thought about vegetables myself. I managed to eat more than 200g carbs on paleo and the vast majority of it came from not very high-carb vegs! :smiley: (Paleo doesn’t allow very starchy plants.) Not everyone can do it and even I only had one such day but using some of the very starchy plants it’s way easier. It’s trickier if one has physical or other problems with most of them. Some people don’t want to eat certain grains in bigger amounts but fine with others, the same with the above mentioned starchy plants.


#100

As low as possible for me means while meeting all my vitamin and mineral requirements (according to my cronometer tracking). Because I can’t stomach organ meats or really anything other than muscle meats, there is no way for me to meet the requirements without fruits and/or vegetables (or supplements, which often upset my GI tract…). I know many on here don’t believe the scientifically demonstrated requirements matter while eating keto, but I have yet to see scientific studies (as opposed to anecdotes) to back that up. I’m not willing to take the risk.