Hello everyone. Call me J. I started keto with IF about 1-2 months ago after seeing videos on YouTube from Dr. Eric Berg. I like how I feel, and I like how my health is improving. The keto leg of my weight loss journey is relatively new, but I started taking my health seriously a couple of years ago when I weighed in at 417. I decided to go to the doctor and found that I was Type 2 Diabetic. Metformin was part of my life. I was on a plant based diet, on the advice of my nutritionist. I continually felt worse and worse because my blood glucose and insulin levels were going up and down. After starting keto with IF, my blood glucose bottomed out at work, and I had to get a few glucose tablets from a coworker to start feeling “normal” again. After roughly 1-2 months on keto with IF, my PCP took me off the Metformin. Keto and IF have enabled my body to manage my glucose levels better than the meds could. When I started the keto leg of the journey, I was 400 lbs. I’m currently sitting pretty around 377 lbs. I’m recovering from a medical procedure I had yesterday, and I decided to do my first extended fast while I heal. After 1 day of recovery, I feel almost fully healed. I’m excited to see how I feel tomorrow after another full day of fasting. I was turned onto 2 Keto Dudes by a friend, and I’ve been binging the podcast from Episode 1 for a couple of weeks now. I’m learning so much, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of the community.
Hello, from KetoJ_42
Welcome to the forums.
While plant-based keto is possible, it is difficult, and you will probably need supplements, unless you are willing to eat eggs or fish, or to incorporate meat into your diet. Fat loss will proceed at its own pace, so it is best to think of a ketogenic diet as primarily a way of eating to promote metabolic healing with any fat loss as a pleasant side effect.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to keep your insulin as low as possible, for as much of the day as possible, by keeping your carb intake as low as possible, getting a goodly amount of protein, and filling in with enough fat to satisfy your hunger. Keeping insulin low will allow fat to be mobilised from your adipose tissue, and eating fat helps because it has only a minimal effect on insulin secretion. No need to go crazy eating fat; but it contains over twice the calories of carbohydrate, gram for gram, so you will need far less of it to satisfy your hunger.
Don’t try to cut calories on purpose, especially at first, since that risks putting the body into “famine” mode, in which it will try to hang on to your fat store until the famine ends. As insulin drops, it stops interfering with the appetite hormones, and people eating to satiety usually find themselves eating an amount of food that allows both dietary fat and excess stored fat to be metabolised. The metabolic rate adjusts to match input, up or down, so many researchers have found that people’s fat metabolism actually increases on a ketogenic diet.
We don’t normally advise newcomers to this way of eating to fast at first, but if you are enjoying it and not finding it to be a problem, then go ahead. Just don’t be afraid to eat, either. Many people find, later on, that they start to skip meals because they are simply not hungry, and that’s the point at which fasting might or might not be something you want to embrace. It’s certainly not necessary, because the fasting state and a ketogenic diet eaten to satiety are essentially similar, metabolically speaking, so there is no need to go hungry, if you don’t enjoy it.
Thanks Paul. I realize how my intro read and realized I unintentionally left out some information. When I started seeing my nutritionist, I was eating plant based. With the guidance of my nutritionist, I started adding eggs and dairy, then added fish. I decided on keto on my own and told my nutrition after the fact. You can imagine how that went! LOL. He has expressed that he’ll support my keto diet, even though he doesn’t agree with it. So that’s something.
I appreciate the warm welcome and the advice. I finished my fast today that I wrote about, lasting 37 hours and 6 minutes. For my first extended fast, I’m proud of my accomplishment. I’m curious to see how this period of time fasting will impact my weight, blood glucose, and overall health. I’m excited about my keto diet, eating meat regularly, exploring new food, learning the science, meeting people, and finding a “yes” in a new chapter in life. I have hope for my weight and my health for the first time in years.
Welcome to the community. Come for the fat loss, stay for all the amazing health benefits (and the fat loss, too).
Why did your doctor take you off metformin? From what I’ve researched, it has little to no unfavorable side effects and helps control hepatic glucose. That seems odd to me as most of what I read or listen to most will get patients off insulin if they’re taking it, but continue the metformin.
Regardless, keep those total carbs low and you will continue to improve your health dramatically.
Good for you - and welcome! Sounds like you are doing well. Congratulations on getting off the metformin! That is a huge indicator that you are on your way to improved metabolic health.
Ugh. “Plant based diet” is the new koolade, as evidenced by the fact that people can still feel like crap and be unhealthy while eating it. Most people I know feel they are taking optimum care of themselves by eating “low fat” and natural foods that come out of the ground, although many of them are very overweight. The thing that really slays me is the concept that fruit is such a great alternative to desserts or sweets. Of course, it may be the lesser of two evils, but it’s still pure sugar in another form. From what I see, my friends and family who eat this way, along with giving themselves permission to eat the bad stuff “in moderation,” have no way of ever being thin or reaching metabolic health - yet I’m the one who is doing myself a disservice by following keto. I have only shared with a couple people that I have been carnivore for a year and a half. My family in particular would freak out and give me a rash of you know what. I will add that my cardiologist, whom I really respect and who doesn’t really agree with my HF/LC lifestyle, is dumbfounded by my high HLD levels and concedes that he doesn’t have an argument to that. He knows I am carnivore.
The beauty of keto is that we can all proceed as we see fit while following a few guiding principles. I would just offer that you don’t need to fast if you don’t want to. I did a 24-hour fast once a week (and 20/4 daily), and found that I didn’t like it. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it comfortably. I just felt better, more emotionally than anything, I suppose, with eating - so I stopped and it was okay. I don’t “fast” anymore or follow any set schedule. I eat during the day if/when I’m hungry, and have dinner at night. This has worked for me for a long time now, and I just prefer it.
Best to you and looking forward to reading more about your journey and self discovery.
That’s impressive, even getting down to the minute.
You’ll see various thoughts about fasting. I personally try to fast >36 hours every week, but have only made maybe 2 out of 4 weeks. I also try to do a 4.5 day fast periodically. Only made one last year, though.