I quit!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #8

Maybe you feel so bad and taking a while to adapt? Or …
Dr Ken Berry says he couldn’t get into ketosis on a Keto diet, he went carnivore and it happened!

#9

Yes - but the “not to do” list is equally as important. Like the oils & heavy cream you mentioned you were drinking. I highly recommend tracking what you are eating, at least for now. I use the Cronometer app.

Salt is good but remember sodium is only one of the electrolytes. Try lo salt which contains both sodium and potassium (around £1 or £2 from Tesco) and use a quarter teasy of that instead. But again - not too much water lest you pee them all out quickly.

PS: Lidl & Aldi are also great & cheaper grocery stores - as you may already know. There is no need for all this “best & expensive” foods.

Finally, maybe stay off YouTube and forums for a while. This stress can’t be helping. You know the basics now of getting into ketosis. I say do that & let’s see where you are in 3 month or so.

(Robin) #10

Sorry it didn’t work out for you. I hope you find what works for you.

#11

Thank you so so much for the long and detailed reply. It’s very much appreciated. Am I being impatient? 18 days on ANY OTHER DIET I can guarantee you I would’ve lost weight. 18 days with No crisps, pop, sweets, cakes… I would’ve definitely lost SOMETHING! Would I be feeling better? Possibly. How can there be so many differentials from all these different people they’ve had success? I see a thread saying “Keto is this easy” :rofl::rofl: it’s the most complicated way of eating to fuel and heal your body I’ve ever heard of. Again though, I’m very appreciative of all advice and try to take it onboard. If I’d lost 2lb I’d be happy, if I felt more positive I’d feel happy, if my clothes fitted better I’d feel happy. But all I feel is drained, depressed and stressed.

#12

Why are you spending all this money? It’s not at all necessary. Plus, it sems to make you angry and contribute to your frustration.

What are the negative effects you mention? Are they just the normal issues people go through while adapting to Keto? 18 days isn’t all that long.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

I don’t remember whether you are a man or a woman, but if the latter, be aware that many women need at least a month on a ketogenic diet for their hormones to re-regulate themselves, before fat loss starts. Also, not eating enough can cause the body to hang onto fat, which is why we advise eating to satiety.

Also, it’s concerning that you are spending so much money. All you need to buy and eat is meat and a few veg. Organic, grass-fed and all that stuff is a great idea, but not necessary. Dr. Eric Westman had a homeless patient at his weight-loss clinic who lost 80 lbs./36 kg by eating at McDonald’s. buying burgers and salads without the fries, buns, or sweet fizzy drinks.

If we can persuade you to keep trying for a little while longer, check out this thread in the Newbies section:

Not to mention the Tips from the Oldies sub-forum:
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/c/newbies/tips-from-the-oldies

and our Keto on a Budge sub-forum:
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/c/food/budget

#14

Thanyou for the reply!! Yes, I’m just really really frustrated that I’ve seen zero progress or benefits thus far. The grass fed/finished products all came from watching Dr Berg videos. I thought I’d I’m going to heal my body and give it the best fuel I’ll give it the best of what I can afford whether by foods or supplements.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #15

I oversimplify things but I do know if your body can’t burn carbs it must burn fat. Stored fat.
My expense was £5.75 on ketosis test strips (Ketostix) Make sure your in Ketosis.
I think it’s important to know.

(M) #16

Maybe starting out on a paleo low carb diet and keeping with that for a long while, then slowly introduce keto again if you want to. Set.a limit for your carbs, and do mostly root veggies because they are nutrient dense. Grass fed grass finished are better for you, but it’s not always doable. Try the next step down and do mostly pasture raised.

I too have wasted a lot of money trying things to help my gut while adding calories in a keto way. When I get frustrated and feel hopeless, one thing that helps me is meditation. I like to listen to Andy of headspace. Just his voice calms me. Believe that you will find your way eventually.

#17

I don’t but if you do, why didn’t you do any other diets then? If fat-loss is so very important and urgent for you? As I wrote, I don’t know your motivation, I just followed my old carb lowering journey myself, it was pretty clear what to do, no doubts or option of quitting for good. Of course it’s quite fine to test a new woe… But it’s very, very normal not to get quick success on all of them. Sometimes our body has way more important things to do than just to shed a few pounds, I heard this many times regarding keto (I don’t lose fat as I eat too much, I know that - not 100% but close - but others often work differently). Maybe you eat much on keto too, all those fats while it doesn’t happen “all the other diets”. I can’t possibly know but some people do overdo fat on keto in the beginning.

It is simple (well, it can be. vegan keto isn’t simple let alone easy in my eyes…) but not necessarily easy. It may be impossible, depends on the person.
Just eat (the proper kind of but it’s not about fancy grass fed, organic or whatever) meat and bam, you are doing keto (IMO. I don’t care about this “carnivore isn’t ketogenic” things, that’s not the point here) and there is a big chance that you get all you need. Or some change, IDK about numbers here but it works for many and meat is very nutritious indeed. Of course it may be impossible or hellish, I wouldn’t eat like that and I like being very close to carnivore. But not that strict, never!
And isn’t normal eating difficult too if you are health-conscious? So many things to consider. But if you get rid of a bunch of more or less clearly bad items, it gets simpler and better. I had that when I went low-carb, it was amazing. But I had to evolve further. Some people stay there and get success. I got some but it stopped.

What is complicated in eating low-carb items? I really don’t get it. Maybe because I am very different from you or because I had several low-carb years before keto…

#18

Thank you, I’m only taking all these days fats as bulletproof coffee etc is what has been recommended on almost every YouTube expert video. Eat fat to get used to fat utilisation and watch your body adapt to being this fat burning machine. “Don’t fear fat”

#19

Keep it simple. Stop listening to all those “experts”. Just follow simple keto: No more than 20 carbs. It’s that simple.

(Joey) #20

You raise an understandable question. Various answers are posted all over this forum, as you’ve read and rightly observed. And they’re clearly not working for you.

We’re all wired differently and your expectations and timetables are what they are.

So perhaps it’s best for you to simply return to whatever lifestyle you grew used to before - i.e., the one that brought you to the point where you gave keto a quick whirl.

Doesn’t sound like it’s for you at the present time.

So go back to whatever you were doing for a few more years and see how that works out for you.

:vulcan_salute:

#21

Easy, because you want a result, and you can have it, but clearly what you’re doing isn’t working. So take that in your face messeage your body is telling you, and don’t go down the rabbit hole of insanity but doing the same thing and expecting a different results.

You don’t (have) to eat grass fed beef, load up on organs, drink a bunch of bone broth or consume a ton of sale. What you really should do is track what you’re eating, if you haven’t lost, you’re not at a deficit.

I ran into a HARD stall, for a long time while THINKING I was eating at a deficit, until I actually got it measured and realized how much I was over eating, it was BAD! When you eat a lot of fat, which has over twice the calorie density of carbs and protein, it’s VERY easy for that to add up.

No shortage of us do NOT have working hunger and satiety signals, and for us, not tracking is a guarantee of failure. I went and had it measured, but now there are apps that make that irrelevant and a waste of money. I use the MacroFactor app, which if you track accurately, it’ll figure out your TDEE after a couple weeks and you’ll be on your way. You can pick Keto as a WOE and it’ll recommend macro limits, or you can do it yourself. Once I actually saw how low my TDEE was and worked with those numbers, the scale started dropping after a VERY long time if staying still.

FWIW though, that’s very quick to assume you’d see a real change, for any dietary change, but in realtiy you should have seen something by now. Wheter you stick with Keto or not, you’re still going to want to lose, I’d strongly say give MacroFactor a try.

I was in the 250’s I think when I started with it, BF% around mid 20’s I think, I’m currently floating around 210lbs and my last DEXA has me back in the 10’s. I’ll never go without that thing!

(KM) #22

I suggest trying a fast. You are probably not fat adapted yet but 18 days you shouldn’t be miserable on 36 hours+ of water / electrolyte only fasting. This will absolutely insure you’re in ketosis, kick start weight loss, not trigger any food allergies, and it’s free! I typically maintain weight with keto and use fasting to drop.

#23

No more “experts” for now.

Don’t fear fat = Eat the whole egg, not just the egg white. Eat the chicken breast with the skin on, not a skinless chicken breast

It doesn’t mean drink more fat on top of what you are eating normally with your protein.

#24

When I read “I quit”, I thought I was going to read about how somebody quit sugar and processed foods.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #25

Ah that would be a good luck story Franko … this one is a harder nut to crack. eeeeek that’s me back on nuts again.

#26

Well said. Some people do need extra fat, it depends on the person but many of us get enough fat from our protein sources.

@Hketo, you wrote you see losing even in 18 days on any other diets. Do you drink fat galore on those diets too? No wonder you don’t get success if you overdo fat and as really, just don’t follow experts without thinking over it, well trying is fine but if the advice doesn’t work, abandon it. There are so many experts saying different things (often different things than they said years ago) but even if one is so great and knowledgeable, we are all different and need our own style.
I overeat fat without BP coffee so I obviously never use that, it would be massive overeating for me… (And I don’t need a breakfast anyway.) But if it works for some others, good for them. Just don’t think that if you try keto in one style and it doesn’t work wonders right away, keto just isn’t for you. Maybe not or not yet, we can’t know that. But if drinking a lot of fat while doing keto doesn’t work, maybe stop doing that, not necessarily keto…
But if keto is new to you and too restrictive, maybe try low-carb as I did originally. maybe I hinted at it before, I don’t remember. I surely mentioned I went high-carb -> low-carb -> keto and it was smooth enough that way and got some success on low-carb. Not everyone need to go so low or not right away. It’s no good if you hate your woe, no wonder you are impatient then…

(Marianne) #27

I haven’t read through the thread, so I’m sure you got a lot of good feedback - even though you aren’t looking for it.

For what it’s worth, keto for my husband and I has been more economical than the way we used to eat. Junk food adds up and what was really expensive was all the take-out and restaurant food we were eating. Combine that with drinks (cocktails), tip and tax (25-28%), and the typical trip to a restaurant was no less than $60.

We purchase the cheapest cuts of meat. That seems to be pork and 73/27% hamburger, which luckily we love. We don’t take any supplements or do anything else special. Eggs are another staple and they are a good value. In the beginning, I ate three meals a day until my body said “no more.” Eating amply prevented keto flu for me and lack of energy. When I became fat adapted after about four months, I had all the energy I could want. For a long time, I eat generally once or sometimes twice a day and the food we eat is a pleasure.

Good luck to you. I hope you find something that works. Keto is always here if you ever decide to return.