Hello, new here and new to the keto way of living and I have a few questions

(Sierra) #1

First off, hello there, my name is Sierra and I have been eating lchf for about 3 weeks now. I am a 26 (about to be 27) year old female, 5’9" and weigh…a lot! (way over 200lbs) My mother and aunt both started eating lchf a few months ago and so far they love it and since I am so fat and really need to lose weight I thought I would give this a go.

Coming from a past of bulimia, severe calorie restricting (less than 500) and more recently binge eating it’s safe to say that I have not been the nicest person to my body and I really don’t know what I am doing when it comes to my diet. So…anyways, I am trying to figure out how much fat vs. protein I should be eating because some people say eat 80% fat some say 60% some say more or less and it’s just confusing.

For the last 6 months I have been pretty much eating a diet high in carbs, sugars dairy and vegetables…and a lot of fast food. The last few days I have felt somewhat bloated and almost like I have gained weight which caused me to freak out, cry and reconsider this way of eating, But I do feel mentally better eating like this and I do notice changes health wise already so I told myself to stick with it and do some more research. I read all these stories about people dropping water weight the first week or two and then losing weight the first month and I feel like this last 3 weeks I almost feel fatter or just more bloated.
Also, another issue I am having is that I am hungry a LOT and I have read that people lose their appetite eating this way so I feel like I am doing something wrong. And I mean real hunger not cravings.
I have a high stress/pretty active job where I never take a lunch break and never sit down the entire time I am there and what I used to do is not eat breakfast or lunch and would be so freaking hungry when I got home that I would just binge on everything in my house. Since starting lchf I have been making sure to eat something before I go to work and have been drinking a protein shake for lunch (the atkins ones…4 net carbs I believe) and then having a snack when I get home and then having dinner later. But even after dinner I feel SO hungry…is that normal?

I just started tracking my macros so that I can see what I am doing right/wrong so I thought that maybe posting my macros, you pros may be able to give me some advise. So here it goes:

Today:
Calories - 1,268
Net Carbs - 17
Fat - 98g
Protein - 83g

Yesterday:
Calories - 1,226
Net Carbs - 14
Fat - 86g
Protein - 91g

March 22
Calories - 1,298
Net Carbs - 16
Fat - 82g
Protein - 121

March 21
Calories - 1,413
Net Carbs - 10
Fat - 118
Protein - 77

Anyhow, any advise would be nice…I just don’t know exactly what my macros should look like and why even after eating a huge dinner I feel actual hunger. Thank you so much in advance and sorry for such a long post.

#2

HI, and welcome.

I don’t know what’s in the protein shake, do you know if it is whey protein? Because that is pretty insulingenic.

I suggest you eat real food for lunch, something with a nice high fat content, like 50% or more if you can. Bacon, cheese, butter, avacado… it is the fat that will carry you through the day, and not make you hunger and those things will not cause an insulin increase like a whey protein shake will.

Do you know what your lean body mass is? Have you plugged some numbers into the keto calculator to just get some ideas for macros… remember, it’s a guideline not hard and fast. Counting carbs when starting can keeping incidental (from green leafy and hard cheese) and under 20g, moderate protien and tons of nice health fat is the best to get rid of hunger and get your body burning fat.

(Keto in Katy) #3

I was wondering the same as @Pilotbob … might not be enough fat in the diet. Maybe something to experiment with, increase the fat and see what combination keeps you full. Good luck!

(Sierra) #4

I don’t know any information about my muscle mass unfortunately :frowning: I mean, I know that I have a good amount of muscle but I am really overweight and have a lot of fat as well…mostly in my lower stomach.

Thank you for the information on the protein shakes, I didn’t know that about whey protein. The only issue I have is that I don’t really have time to take a lunch at work so that’s why I have been drinking my lunch instead, since I can drink it as I work. I do have some plant based (non whey) protein powder that I can make my own shakes with, do you think it would have the same effect on insulin? Maybe adding a serving of nuts would be ok? I have a food scale and little snack size portion bags so I just pre measure out the nuts into servings when I buy them…usually just pecans and walnuts.

I have plugged some info in on a few different calculators online and one of them said I should be eating 80% fat to lose weight the fastest. That to me is a TON of fat considering that I have a lot of it already. I am using myfitnesspal to keep track of what I am eating and and trying for 70% fat 25% protein and 5% carbs.

I guess I will ditch the atkins shakes…see if that helps, and if not add more fat. Thank you for the input.

#5

SLL_90

Can I suggest googling “lean body mass female 5’9” " and you will get lots of tables showing the range of weights, from small framed women to large frame women. I think, given your background with bulimia, getting an idea of some data of where your actual lean body is can help to build a way of eating program geared towards facts and data, and not visual perceptions (which can be sneaky…all I have to do is wear the wrong type of jeans and I swear my ass looks twice as big).

When you have determined your lean body mass, then you have a better time building an eating regimen.

First thing is determine amount of protein that you need…which ranges from 1 to 2 grams protein per kg of lean body mass. More towards 1 for sedentary and more towards 2 for active and sporty.

Keeping carbs below 25 g is definitely going to help.

And eat fats to satiety. Tracking calories is useless. Just eat as much fat as you need, while maintaining carbs and protein grams tracked.

Hope this helps.

Please stay in touch on this forum and let us know how your progress is coming along.

(Crow T. Robot) #6

Did you mean ‘calories’?

#7

Yikes! Thank you good catch!! I’m fixing the typo now!!!

#8

Emphasis below has been added by me.

Part of the fat-adapation process is about getting our bodies to respond to dietary fat since we’re replacing the carbs we were eating with fat in order to provide the body with the energy it needs to function.

Most people that start eating this way probably don’t have the right levels of enzymes in the cells and gastrointestinal tract for properly handling fat so eating enough of it triggers a response from the body to upregulate them, especially Hormone Sensitive Lipase (HSL) at the cellular level which releases fatty acids from fat cells. HSL is inhibited by insulin and part of this adaptation is about reducing our insulin levels to let HSL do it’s job.

For people with normal weight, there’s a balance between releasing and burning fat (lipolysis which involves HSL) and storing fat (lipogenesis which involves Lipoprotein Lipase, aka LPL).

When we’re overweight, there’s an imbalance between burning fat and storing it, and until your body is ready to release it from bodyfat, you need to eat enough of it to get the adaptation process going.

Then, after being fat-adapted, you can slowly start to reduce dietary fat and let the body start releasing some of it’s own. I think the broadest sign of being ready is NOT feeling hungry after eating and realizing that when it’s normally time to eat in your routine, you just don’t feel hungry.

#9

OK so first off, welcome. Second off, give yourself a big old hug and be proud of yourself for having the courage to make big, big changes. That can’t have been easy. It sounds like you and your body have been through the wars over the years and it might takes some time for things to calm down and heal so please be kind to yourself and be patient with your body and the process. It will come good but it may take some time. Some people (especially women) have a very slow start and their bodies just seem to need the time to heal and adjust before they will let go of the weight. That is OK. That is normal. It can be frustrating as hell but roll with it.

Tracking - use it to help rather than hinder you and get you tied in knots. Really the only things you need to keep a close eye on are carbs and protein. Calories - forget. Fat - you just eat to satiety. This is especially important if you have eating disorder history - not to obsess over the numbers. Get a feel for how many carbs are in what - same with protein - so you are using the tracker as a checking device of your own instinct rather than the go to.

Protein. THis site is useful…

http://www.calculator.net/lean-body-mass-calculator.html

I have just plugged you in with age 27, height 5’9" and weight of 250lbs to get an idea. TBH there wont be a wild change much above or below that. That gave me an average of about 140lbs LBM which translates to around 63kg. So using the Dudes’ (Phinney & Volek also) recommendation of 1-1.5g per kg LBM that basically ends up with a range of 65-100g of protein per day (rounded for nice numbers!).

So keep it simple…

Carbs should be <20g per day - ideally total but net is fine (and what most people use)
Protein should be 65-100g per day
Fat to satiety - best way is to get it directly from food so fatty cuts of meat etc. but then feel free to load veggies with butter and eat full fat cheese and cream sauces and all the yummy stuff you want!

Have you had a medical check up with some basic bloods? If not, I would suggest it as being a good idea. Seeing what is happening on the inside is a great motivator. The minimum I would get checked would be the following but have a search for blood tests as there is plenty of discussion about it here on the forum.

Blood pressure
HbA1c
Blood sugar
HDL/LDL
Triglycerides

Ideally, get some wider reaching…

Thyroid - TSH, Free T3 and Free T4. Antibodies great from the start but can wait to see if needed.
Iron - blood serum, ferritin, B12, B9
Vitamin D

There are more but these would be a great start.

Then there are regular measurements you can do at home…
weight
measurements - waist and hips at least
photos - face and body shots

Journal your progress with how you are feeling. Make a note of what you have eaten and how you feel. If any problems arise it will be far easier to figure out the problem this way. It is important also though to track all the good stuff because we tend to make light of all those little things that are really, really important. When I first noticed that the soles of my feet no longer hurt when I stood up - game changer. Doing the seatbelt up on a plane - game changer. When you are going through an inevitable plateau, these little things (that are actually HUGE) will see you through.

It is important to keep an eye on things like stress and sleep as these can have a massive impact on your weight, mood and hunger. They may be something you need to work on to break a plateau but not the first thing that most people consider. It’s always about the food right? No, not necessarily.

To start with, simply feed that hunger. It is likely you will have to come up with ingenious ways to use fat to do this if you have already reached carb and protein max for the day but then there are plenty of ways to do that. As you become fat adapted (which can take many weeks, sometimes months) you will find your appetite starts to decrease. If it doesn’t the we can look again at that. You may need to work on being very mindful about eating and hunger signals and work out whether they are real or rather head hunger.

Listen to the podcasts. Think you will really like the latest one with Megan Ramos about switching things up. Don’t worry about the fasting stuff but listen to what she has to say about switching up what you eat and the amounts.

Make use of this great forum and ask lots of questions and do lots of searches. We are here to help you and support you. xxx

(gooeykablooey) #10

I know tracking calories is taboo but it is a little useful to know you definitely aren’t eating enough… I mean 1200-1400 cals a day for a 5’9" 200+ woman just starting keto? Eat until you’re satisfied. I’m 5’2" and just restarted myself on keto and while I track my macros I’m also aware of my calories and they’re around 1500-2000 a day and I’ve dropped almost 8 pounds the first week (yes I’m sure most of it was fluid )
Are you eating home cooked meals or are you including Atkins frozen meals? I found very few Atkins meals are actually keto because they contain wheat (which will cause bloating and inflammation)
Can you give us an example of what you eat in a day foodwise? I’m sure we can come up with some solutions that’ll work with your tight schedule if there’s anything that needs to be tweaked (for example purse bacon for munchy emergencies)
Hang in there! This is worth figuring out. My background is very similar to yours as far as eating disorder behaviors go

(Mike W.) #11

Don’t be afraid of eating fat. For the first couple months or so put butter on your butter. The cravings and hunger go away and it’s gloriously freeing!

(Roxanne) #12

What Daisy and Lolo said :). I suspect you need to up the fat significantly, especially for the first month or so. If you don’t have time for lunch, what about a bigger, fattier breakfasts?

Nuts are good in moderation, but try to stick to the lower carb nuts (Brazil nits, macadamia) and limit cashews and pistachios. Do you drink coffee or tea at work? Instead of a shake, try a hot beverage with heavy cream, butter and/or coconut oil.

Good luck, and welcome!

(Mike W.) #13

Or guac :wink:

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(John) #14

I did the same as daisy but with a different calculator and 1,600 calories is a 25% deficit, it should come as no surprise that you are hungry when you are eating a 40% deficit. Don’t be scared of calories, eat your macros until you are full and if after a month or so you aren’t dropping weight then work on calories. People try too much too fast.

(Keto in Katy) #15

Serious question: do we need to think of calories at all?

I started keto nearly 4 years ago and I have never once considered the caloric content of what I eat. But I was not obese or diabetic so maybe my case is different from others. Just wondering…

#16

I have to disagree, i’m sorry. I don’t think you ever have to work on calories. You may need to switch up what you eat by way of macronutrients but calories? Nope. How can you explain me adding around 1700 calories over a week and losing weight? Calories are hogwash.

Nope, not in any kind of “let’s take notice of these little suckers” sense!

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #17

I love this guy.

(John) #18

We can adapt, true, but I have never seen any evidence anywhere that calories don’t matter. I would love to see some sources. CICO isn’t important per se as everyone processes them differently, but I would be as surprised to see a study that adds calories to obese people, more than what they use in a day, and they lose weight as I would to see my kid fly around the house.

Kind of dumbfounded, not even sure where that thought would come from. You are saying I could eat 5,000 calories a week (edit, can’t find strikethrough) day without changing anything else and lose weight as long as my macros are right?

(Mike W.) #19

Didn’t that body builder dude just do this? One day was like 4,000cals of butter or maybe just fat?

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #20

@Daisy just completed a BPC experiment in this forum where she added 1700 calories to her week and didn’t gain.
Interesting stuff.