Hello From Another Newbie lol

(Carl D Black) #1

Hope this is the right place for introductions.

I’m 54 years old and 270 lbs at 5’11". The last time I was my proper weight I was 19. It was downhill from there.

I have exercised very little, but have been fairly active most of my adult life being a remodeling contractor. I was out of work for a long time due to the Great Recession and was very sedentary during that period. That is when I gained the most weight.

Now? My business is doing well, stress is much reduced and now I want to get my health back. I began Keto for weight loss five days ago and, man, what a journey! Constant education, research, watching videos, etc… I’ve learned quite a bit, but have a long way to go.

I finally found a Keto calculator and am working to maintain 20g carbs (very difficult), 116-134g protein and between 154-184g fat, roughly 2200 calories. I’m following some of Dr. Berg’s guidance on basic Keto foods like eggs, bacon, unprocessed meats, cheeses, pecans, walnuts,…I have cut out entirely all the foods in the Avoid list. The only thing left I am still having trouble with is International Delight in my coffee in the morning. It is my one delight to start my day. But it’s sugar, 5g per tbspn and I’m easily using 4-5 tblspns. So I’m reducing that and eventually will drop it altogether. I’m trying stevia, but it’s just not the same.

Anyhow, haven’t lost more than a couple of pounds so far. This looks like a good place to come and share and learn and, most of all, get encouragement. I’ve spent my life not taking care of myself and really am committed to improving my health. Any suggestions and similar testimonials would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

(Running from stupidity) #2

But it’s sugar, 5g per tbspn and I’m easily using 4-5 tblspns.

It’ll be impossible while you’re using up the entire allowance on that.

Without it, however, it’s a breeze.

(Cindy) #3

Carl, I’m not a serious coffee drinker, but I was a serious sweet tea drinker. If you’re putting 4-5 tablespoons in your coffee, you’re easily getting 30+ grams of carbs in that one cup of coffee. As painful as it might be, you HAVE to stop using the creamer. Now, that might mean you temporarily quit drinking coffee (that’s what I did with tea) because it really isn’t the same without the sugar. But you have to re-train your taste buds, and the rest of your biochemistry, to NOT want that sugar.

That might be why you haven’t lost as much weight as you’d like. You’re probably NOT in ketosis with that much sugar each day. What weight you’ve lost is probably due to calorie restriction only.

My advice? Jump into this with both feet for at least a week or two. Give up the coffee…drink some water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it. Be very cautious with the nuts…they’re high in calorie and relatively high in carbs. So unless you can portion them, maybe ignore them for a while, too.

Don’t use the artificial sweeteners to compensate for the sweetness you’re used to. They’ll just have you still WANTING sugar while it really isn’t quite the same as sugar. If you stay away from all of it for a while, you’ll find that your tastes DO change. Remember, this is from a diehard sweet tea drinking. Now, I can drink my tea either unsweetened or with 1 packet of something artificial and that’s sweet enough. No, it’s still not quite the same, but it’s good enough and it doesn’t trigger other sugar cravings. Also, I occasionally drink coffee with 1 packet sweetener and some HWC and that’s very yummy to me…and this is from someone who used to use 4-5 of those creamer containers.

(Troy) #4

First of all…
Welcome aboard😄

(Carl Keller) #5

Hello and welcome Carl.

Congrats on you trying to get your health back in order. I’m sure if you stick with this and do it right, your life will change for the better. I know how overwhelming the information about keto can be but in the beginning, it’s very simple if you follow these things. Also, don’t worry so much about what macros tell you as far as how much fat or protein to eat. Let satiety be your guide. It’s very important to not eat too much and to not stuff yourself.

Keep net carbs under 20.
~You can likely start a bit higher and work your way down but 20 is a good honest number that will allow you to eat plenty of vegetables along with fat and protein.

Use a carb tracker like cronometer.com
~so you can accurately track your carbs. It tracks many other things but this is the most important

Feed yourself plenty of fat and fairly moderate protein
~These two things are your best friend in regards to keeping hunger and cravings in check. You should not gorge yourself on these things but eat until you are not hungry. It’s very important to not starve yourself, so eat when you are hungry.

Keep your electrolytes up.
~At least 64oz (2liters) of water and 2+ teaspoons of salt per day. We don’t retain either of these very well on a ketogenic diet and those two things are paramount for reducing/preventing the Keto Flu

Don’t stress and get plenty of sleep.
~Growing, healing and losing weight work best when we are relaxed. So try to get 7-9 hours per day and don’t obsess with what keto is not yet doing.

I have to agree with @juice about spending too many of your daily carbs on the sugar. I was hesitant to give up my sugar in my morning coffee but it can be done. I do use stevia and it took a little while to get used to but I found that buying better tasting coffee helped the transition a lot. I also use a little heavy cream instead of creamer or milk.

Making this sacrifice is a very small price to pay for what rewards await you:
Consistent all day energy
No cravings
Reduced hunger
Less body inflammation
and the list goes on.

(Carl D Black) #6

Thanks. Yeah, I hadn’t measured out the creamer until a couple of days ago… I couldn’t believe how many tablespoons I had been putting in… Oh well… I may try that popular bulletproof coffee thing… Any ideas on that? Coconut oil… Butter??

(Carl Keller) #7

I’m a fan of coconut oil (in coffee and for cooking). The ketones it makes goes straight to the brain and gives it a good boost and has a lot of other health benefits. Just be warned, some people’s digestive systems don’t take kindly to CO. Try a small amount the first day and if you get the runs, it might be best to drop it.

(Cindy) #8

This is just my opinion, but no. You’ve said you began keto for weight loss. That means you really shouldn’t be drinking your fat. Eat enough fat in your meals so you feel satisfied, but don’t add a bunch of extra fat beyond that because you have an “onboard” fat supply.

(Carl D Black) #9

Well, that’s the real trick, isn’t it? Based on my macros, how do I know how much fat to eat? Stay within the macros? Or tweak them as needed if not losing weight? That is… the fat macro…

(Empress of the Unexpected) #10

@CarlKeller, I have to comment on this. I started keto with GI issues. Four months in I tried coconut oil (an eighth of a teaspoon) - it was a disaster. But they say work up to it. Five months later, I am now cautiously up to a teaspoon a day. Maybe something else was going on the day I first tried it. But so far, so good. Not sure I can work up to the two recommended tablespoons a day, but I cook with it and eat a teaspoon.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #11

I had no idea about coconut. My husband once bought a coconut from the store, and drank the juice out of the coconut. Nobody could figure out why he was vomiting afterwards. It was so weird. I remember when I was a child, everything my mother baked had those weird coconut flakes in them. Zero problems with those. What is it about coconuts that hit a lot of people the wrong way.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #12

May I add that coconut is de rigueur in shampoo products!

(Karen) #13

I do use Splenda zero in my coffee. I don’t crave sugar and I haven’t used it in 10 years. Keeping my coffee sweet doesn’t make me want sugar just makes me happy. Is it good for weight loss probably not, but I don’t know for sure because I don’t know what my insulin does. Still it’s probably best not to use sweeteners at all

(Carl Keller) #14

The thing is processed carbs train us to be hungry all the time so satiety is a pretty foreign concept until we wean ourselves off of them. Until you’ve done that it’s going to be a guessing game. You should just plan some basic meals and try not to snack but if you must, make it a small fatty snack, and those meals can be what you think is reasonable. The point is don’t leave the table with your stomach growling and don’t leave the table so stuffed you need to loosen your belt. Let the macros fall where they fall and just keep your carbs restricted.

For example: when I was 210 pounds (5’10"), I would eat a few eggs and 3-4 strips of bacon for breakfast, a 2 cup salad with cheese, dressing and 2 chicken thighs for lunch and maybe a steak and a couple of eggs with a cup of broccoli for dinner. The key is to try not to fall into the carb influenced mentallity of “this tastes really good and I WANT to eat more because it tastes really good”. It takes some time to work on this and it takes some guessing but you will know if it was enough, if 30 minutes to an hour later, you are not hungry.

(Carl D Black) #15

Yeah, I’m not getting the cravings, thank God. And my mental clarity is off the chart… Good stuff… Just need to get through this adaptation phase… Ugh

(Running from stupidity) #16

Sure, sure, but what if it DOES and you DO?

(Carl Keller) #17

Then you can wave at the 100kg zone from afar. :stuck_out_tongue:

(Cindy) #18

Carl, again, this is just my experience so far, but I don’t eat according to macros. I think it’s more important to listen to what your body is telling you. If you’re hungry, eat. Eat protein and fat, limit carbs as much as you can. So a meal might be a ribeye and some broccoli…add butter to your broccoli, maybe some cheese if you like that. Or make a keto moussaka using eggplant, ground beef and cheese. A stir fry with cabbage, beef or chicken, some onion and whatever other veg you like. Don’t be afraid of fat…add it to the skillet, use butter, eat avocado and mayo…but don’t intentionally ADD a bunch of fat either.

Once you’re in ketosis, you’ll be surprised at how much you’re NOT hungry. Or you’ll have one day when you’re just not interested in food much, another when you want to eat. If you’re eating to macros, then you’re not listening to those signals.

(Running from stupidity) #19

I think I’m in the 100kg zone, heading towards the 90kg zone :smiley:

OTOH, You’re probably still correct :slight_smile:

(Scott) #20

Put down the sugar spoon and slowly back away so nobody gets hurt. You are going to have to find another way to drink coffee to make this work.