I quit!

#81

Start any diet is really hard.

#82

Don’t think of it as a diet then.

It’s a way of living.

BTW, yes, it can be hard…especially the first steps. I can remember that.

But it is the right thing that you’ve chosen to do. I’ve never looked back.

(Joeb Lowe) #83

If you are eating keto, your body cannot fail to get better from the inside out. I would not be obsessed with the scale.
For me, I have been insulin resistant for years and want that part of me to go away forever, but it is being stubborn. It won’t change overnight.
Good luck with your journey. You will make it if you relax a little and be grateful for any changes that happen along the way.

(Jennifer M Worth) #84

Sorry. I understand its a long road to fat adaption. It took me over 8 weeks and I didn’t sleep well either. I kept telling myself keep calm and keto on. This is why I don’t argue that everyone should do keto(even though I believe that). Everyone is an individual and it can be trying. If I were you I’d up my carbs just a bit and still use all the purchases. There is no rush. Stay under 70g of carbs or whatever for a few weeks and still stay low carb. No sense in quitting the premise. I was thinking that might help with energy. Or count net carbs instead of total. That really helped me. I don’t really know anything… just tossing to see what sticks😘

(Kirk Wolak) #85

@laurenaGketoT2 Those are AMAZING results. There are NO DRUGS that can do what you did with diet alone. Keep in mind, it took DECADES to do all of that damage. Undoing a lot of that damage in months is AWESOME.

Yes, the scale is the last thing to move. Dr. Cywes likes to point out that once you lower your A1C, your weight becomes FAR LESS important. There are “Healthy Obese” people. It’s mind-blowing, but his point is that there are UNHEALTHY Skinny T2Ds that don’t even know they have a massive problem.

Now, being Obese is NOT “great health” by any measure. But it’s always better than Obese + T2D.

My experience is that it happened like this:
Glucose Down, (Initial Weight loss), THEN A1C changes for the better.
Then BP starts going down
Then the blood numbers improve.
But during these last 2 steps for me, the weight loss is a lot slower.
Unless I do a ton of fasting.

The sad part is that a SINGLE Meal (as I wrote) can throw off my blood/results for a week!
Because we are NOT Cured… We are Healing…

A good plan is to accept that ONCE you get to your targets, you should stay there for 1 month for every year you were overweight/struggling. (It’s Bro Science, straight up. But it’s the right expectation. 24 yrs… Plan on having to work for 24 months at it, AFTER you hit your target. No easing up once you get there… Because you are spring loaded to bounce back! I think this is the #1 reason people hit their goals and then start faltering).

Hopefully the OP finds their path…

(Lauren G) #86

I absolutely love Dr.Cywes & he has been a big educator for me. Thank you so much for sharing your insight! I truly appreciate it & will take everything to heart. I have been a diabetic for many years so I don’t see me reversing any time soon. I am very happy with what improvements I have been able to make…but it can get really difficult to remember them in the middle of stress & down moments. The good part is I have lost a lot of cravings for carbs and when I do crave I’ve learned to sub for almond flour & coconut flour based goods either I make or buy. I also do my best to limit them too which is a huge deal for me lol I really have come so far & I am excited to see how my diabetes will be in another 6 months…
I am worried about my BP & cholesterol still & I am on meds at the moment still per my dr. I have lightheaded episodes & tightness in my chest from time to time & I get fatigued very quickly these days…I just had an echocardiogram done & see my cardiologist again next month. My cardiologist told me to lay off the salt & just take my potassium & magnesium instead of the electrolyte powders I have been taking. I love redmonds relyte strawberry lemonade & lmnt citrus & watermelon & usually I do drink my salt by using them. I add it to my meals too but I mainly get it from my water intake…im ok with running to the bathroom because I do retain fluids still & want to get them out. I alternate regular water & electrolytes throughout the day. In the morning I usually have coffee or tea…because I still feel like I’m in that keto flu slump. I cop it up to my body slowly becoming fat adapted & healing…teaching an old dog new tricks is hard!!..I just turned 44 & I still feel much older…lol

(Robin) #87

Welcome to the forum… our little community.
And thanks for the good contribution!

(Kirk Wolak) #88

Well, I 1,000% recommend a CAC (Calcium Score). It’s < $200 you have to pay for it yourself, insurance won’t cover it. But it will let you know IF you have any hard plaque (calcium) in your arteries. It also gives you your odds of having a heart-attack. And a ZERO score allows your doctor to stop pushing statins (My wife has > 300 but a 0 CAC. It actually put the doctor at ease since she has always refused statins).

I am far less worried about your Cholesterol, and much more interested in making sure your Triglycerides go down. It would be nice if you shared your A1C (before/after). Because cutting it in half is great. But for some, that could be an 8 to a 4 or a 18 to a 9 (with a bit to go)…

Mine came all the way down to 4.5 (but that was after almost 7 months of eating 3 meals per week). It floats around 4.8-5.1 these days. Which I am fine with.

The “Cut salt” is only for people proven to be salt sensitive. The problem with the electrolytes you mention are that they are FLAVORED. This is “dangerous” for me because I like the flavoring so much, I will over consume them. Then consuming sweet stuff makes me crave salty stuff. Combining them seems to be a way to make them hyper-palatable and easier to over consume.
Just a thought.

Read up on Dr. Boz… He keto continuum is a great guide to understanding “where YOU are at on the Keto Continuum… Newbie, Fat Adapted, Fasting Adapted, Near Carnivore… etc”
It’s a powerful way to look at it. (Don’t rush it. Glide through it).

You should not be suffering keto flu any longer. Although, if you are not REALLY in ketosis all the time, and just surfing on the outside of it, you can keep re-experiencing it. I really recommend a Keto-Mojo and measuring your Glucose and Ketones. Like Dr. Boz Recommends. It’s a great compass… For me, it usually explains my issues!

#89

Update: I’m now on say 27 and still no weight loss whatsoever! I’ve started just buying regular eggs, ground beef, chicken thighs, bacon, steak without going all grass fed etc etc. I’m having a daily bulletproof coffee with Kerry maid butter, heavy cream and salt. Other than that I’m trying to relax but still feel super frustrated with no real energy or positive effects showing at all. Aaaarggghhhh!

#90

Not everyone get energy from keto, I never got it, not even from carnivore (maybe a tad but it was so little I couldn’t tell it’s a real effect) and I really could use some. Oh well.

If you want fat-loss, maybe drop the bulletproof coffee - but I don’t know how much fat you eat, maybe it’s not a problem for you. But it might be.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #91

So. You’ve eaten all that ‘Really unhealthy food’ and you haven’t put on weight? hmmmmm something is working then :blush: More time

#92

It’s now became my way of eating and one benefit is that I crave more of the same foodstuffs…not sugar donuts etc. I just wish I’d get this big “eureka” moment sic where I miss a meal without noticing, have heightened awareness and energy and see the scale move. Im currently still eating and hungry every few hours which I wish would change as time goes by.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #93

You do sound more comfortable. Stay with it. Must admit I was a terrible snacker. I ate 6-8 times a day, plus carby drinks so even more probably. Now I eat twice and don’t snack.
It’ll happen

#94

These things never changed for me and my fasting abilities is worse on lower carbs… But keto can offer so much more… I enjoy my perfect satiation when I am close to carnivore, that’s neat. I just couldn’t get that with normal keto where carbs interfered.
My first (and only noticable) keto benefit was fat adaptation, I got nothing good in the first 7 weeks at all. IDK how I knew that was the right direction… Gut feeling, I suppose. I was on a mission, I wanted to see what happens and fat adaptation was quite fine, it changed my hunger for the better. If one tries out keto and there is no huge hardships, they probably should wait until fat adaptation at least. Some get great benefits right away but not all. And we got different things. I wish I would get energy but thats just not my life, apparently. Possibly some other factor is problematic, eating isn’t everything, after all. And when one is a newbie, the body just started to get used to the big change…

How many times do you eat? I always ate every 3 hours on every woe. (Until carnivore-ish where I may need food more frequently…)
I never ever got what others talk about, eating a meal and then satiation for 6 hours. Nope, I have 3 (or possibly 1-2 when my carbs are really low). It’s individual. My SO is a high-carber, he easily can wait 8-10 hours between his first 2 meals and he never gets hungry in the first 6-8 hours, sometimes more. It’s not just about our woe. I can’t possibly have a woe where I can wait 4 hours between meals without OMAD and there are high-carbers eating every 12 hours.
Well, OMAD is only easy for me on high-carbs, good thing I like challenges (as I pretty much need OMAD/TMAD, personally. I actually had TMAD on my carbier keto after fat adaptation, 3 hours between my meals, of course, it was automatic and very nice. carnivore messed it up but still gave me way more benefits so I keep trying to figure out how I can eat proper sized meals every day).

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #95

Dizziness and lightheadedness can be symptoms of lack of salt. Two recent studies showed that the healthiest people were the ones consuming 4-6 g of sodium a day, which is 10-15 grams of sodium chloride. The less salt we eat, the less healthy we are. So don’t fear salt, and drink to thirst. Don’t over-hydrate, because that will worsen your electrolytes, instead of helping.

#96

People will say I’ve watched too much videos and expect too much too soon but EVERY SINGLE VIDEO tells you about these wonderful moments like “whoosh” and the weight has dropped significantly. Like “boundless energy” overnight, like “not even noticing you missed a meal” etc etc. After doing more research and reading a lot more I see that these things may never happen but my body will heal from within. Yes, it’s great if my body is healing but dropping significant weight while feeling energetic and alert is the reasons for me trying this way of eating. I was on very high strength anti-anxiety, anti depressant and anti-psychotic medications that I’ve left behind and now want to feel good about myself internally and externally. In reality all I feel is I don’t crave lots of sugar. But no real benefits per se!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #97

Firstly, we can all read the science, but we still have to figure out how our own body works. Everyone reacts somewhat differently.

Secondly, all those wonderful stories are from people who had large amounts of excess fat to shed. I am fond of saying that the first 100 kg come off much more easily than the last 10 kg. So your body may not respond as quickly as you would like. Bear in mind that a ketogenic diet is not a quick weight-loss diet, it is a diet to restore metabolic health, with the shedding of excess stored fat as a pleasant side-effect. The ketogenic diet and fasting both have very similar metabolic effects on the body, but keto does it without hunger, and (if we eat enough protein) while preserving muscle mass.

If you are no longer needing all those medications, then keto is already working for you as advertised. Many people still have to take their meds on keto, though often on reduced doses. You might want to check out Dr. Chris Palmer’s videos on YouTube, as well as his new book. He is a psychiatrist, professor, and researcher at Harvard Medical School who has had some success treating various mental health problems with a ketogenic diet.

It seems as though you need a lot of healing. The chances that keto will help promote that healing are very good, but you have to be patient with the results. Our mantra is “Keep calm, and keto on.”

#98

I watched close to no videos but I would have known anyway that life isn’t THAT perfect. Many may experience that - but not all. Not on ANY style of keto with any circumstances and health problems! Energy has multiple factors and the best woe for the person in question isn’t enough if some other things are very off.
You need to figure out what keto can offer for your individual case and decide if it’s worth it. But even that isn’t as simple. I had no idea I can get some nice benefits using another style I never thought I would be able to do… I personally like to read personal stories, I never cared about the experts, gurus, youtubers… Not like their stories say anything about my own but still. It makes sense normal people on a forum are willing to say not only wonderful things. Those too, there is a reason we are still here - but it’s not all magical and wonderful benefits galore from day 1 or at least week 7. Humans are just NOT that simple! And one can do keto wrong too, of course. One item that works wonders for one may be a huge mistake for the other, some tries specific macro ratios that worked for someone else and gain fat like crazy (it’s quite rare but makes sense that it’s possible for the right type when they force-feed themselves fat. bad idea)… We don’t necessarily do keto right in the beginning. But there is a big chance our woe gets better. Taking away carbs did good things to me, it just wasn’t enough right away.

That’s a big thing already… You are in the beginning, you easily gain some nice benefits at fat adaptation. I super slowly built better habits… My body clearly likes my carb intake being low so I know that if I follow that wish, I will be healthier. Even if I feel just like on carbs (not exactly but very close. and I felt the same on keto than on low-carb. It still was a necessary step towards even lower carbs. I want a long, healthy life, it’s not just about benefits I immediately feel - but I would quit if I felt worse).

#99

Thank you for the advice. I’ve came off those meds partly because I was convinced the weight was never coming off due to being on them. Being constantly tired, sluggish and gaining weight every month is not fixing any problems. It just adds to them. I’m not a lazy man by nature but the last few years the weight has gone up and up while in these meds. I’m often “zombiefied” and just want to lie in bed all day which the depression side loves.

(Pascal Menezes) #100

I believe that KETO is not a quickfix. I think your anxiousness is stressing you out!. Also 18 days may not be enough, in your case, to see the results that you are expecting. Some see results quickly, others take time. When I start KETO, I understood that I would have to wait at least 6 weeks to see results. And most importantly, KETO is for improving your health. Loosing weight is the consequence of getting healthy. Therefore, the most important advice is not to concentrate on the scale, concentrate on how you feel, health-wise, as a result of the changes that you have made in your diet. Wishing you all the best