Hello,
I wrote the thread about prolific questions, so some background on how I’ve been eating and previous suggestions for me can be found there.
I took the suggestions to heart with enthusiasm and began implementing them yesterday. Yesterday I had an excellent day with no eating between meals, no convenient processed or mass-produced/packaged foods AND I didn’t go over my fat and protein as much as I usually do. I also went the longest baby fast I’ve ever done: 13.5 hrs.
I have been doing keto for 1 month and 1 day and 3 hrs now (but who’s counting?) and after the keto flu, I’ve actually felt pretty great. My stamina, energy, mood and joint pain have improved dramatically. I have not lost any weight, but I don’t have a whole lot to lose and that wasn’t my biggest reason for starting this diet, though it would definitely be a welcome side effect!
Back to today: it’s been 24 hrs since I tweaked my protocol by trying to eat nothing between meals and doing the mini-fast. I also cut out the fake sugar drinks / powerade zero (I only did stevia) and lemons, which I love to eat like apples. Since beginning this WOE, I never have gone over my carb macros, but I always go over my fat and protein. Yesterday during the fast, I felt great. Almost elated for no reason. My dreams continue to be incredibly detailed and vivid since I started keto (but always with the guns now! (Previously water was the common thread in all my dreams for as long as I can r/m - now it’s guns, or a single gun. Last night someone gifted me a beautiful fully functional shotgun or rifle that they manufactured themselves, with a beautiful engraved barrel and stock, but it was made of glass. Pink glass…)
I’ve always had accurate results with the pee strips. I don’t think I’ve NOT been in keto when I test, ever, for this past month. (maybe one time after my bike ride, but it showed me back in keto within 2 hrs).
UNTIL TODAY!!
Like I said, yesterday I had a great keto day. I got my blood meter last night and tested hubby and I. He was 0.5, I was 0.8. Today I had to ride up the mountain I live on, so I broke my fast in the morning, after about 9 hrs, with an avocado. I tested before I ate and the blood meter said I was not in ketosis. The pee strip agreed.I was surprised, b/c my friend said I should get my highest readings upon waking in the morning, before I eat. I kept calm and ketoed on. I had a fantastic bike ride again and had so much energy that I found myself having a cleaning and organizing frenzy. I have been scrubbing and cleaning and organizing all day long. I didn’t eat a single thing b/t meals and had cheesy cauliflower casserole w/ bacon bits for lunch. I checked my blood again after lunch. Still no keto. It’s now been 5 hrs since lunch and I have had nothing but water, and guess what? Still no keto! What the heck?!
I still feel like I’m in ketosis - I have more energy than I have a right to, I actually feel a tiny bit high, like back when everyone got so addicted to step aerobics in the '80’s and used to work out too much and didn’t need to eat. I don’t know if it was the hairspray or if the unitards were constricting vital blood flow, but it was a very nice natural high that didn’t leave a hangover after! That’s the closest I can think to describe how I feel. Also the mental clarity aspect has been very obvious for me. It’s like I had the bad kind of ADD and now I got the good kind of ADD.
There is one other thing I did, but I don’t think it explains this: I did have 2 pieces of mentos gum after dinner last night. I only chewed for about 5 minutes, and then my ungrateful and entitled children wouldn’t eat my ABC gum even though they used to suck the actual fluid right out of my mammary glands, so I threw it away. I’ve chewed the gum plenty of times on days when I’ve tested ‘moderate’ for keto, tho.
All I can think of is that my body isn’t ready to give up so many calories yet and trying to fast and stretch my meals has thrown it into some kind of starvation mode. is that possible?
I’ve already been pretty active and stayed in ketosis, so I don’t think it’s my level of exercise - which is only intense for about 1/2 hr in the mornings.
What else could be going on ???
But wait! There’s More!! I canNOT get enough blood out of my fingers for the damned keto blood meter. I had no idea I was such a bloodless bastard. I am not even exaggerating, I did 40 jumping jacks and made my 10 yo son poke the very tip of my middle finger 6x on maximum needle pokage setting this morning to get enough blood to test. That’s after turning both index fingers into pincushions. Where else is a good spot to poke? My son wants to try the veins in my inner wrist, but I suspect less-than-savory motives from him since I took his iPhone away a cpl weeks ago, so I thought I’d better ask here instead.
