I really could use some help before I give up on Keto

(Alejandra Altamirano) #41

Hi David, are you following a program? Or how do you know what to eat or not ?? Keto beginner!!! Also can i use splenda ??

(Full Metal KETO AF) #42

@Alejandra_Altamirano I don’t follow any program. I just try to use mostly single ingredient foods and cook from scratch. I make exceptions to this rule for bacon and some other meat products, some condiments, and cheeses.

I worked restaurants for years and created original recipes for them, baking and cooking. I am pretty skilled in the kitchen and enjoy the creative process. I don’t do restaurant work anymore because of my leg missing. But I miss the work and carry on in my own kitchen. I avoid eating in restaurants because I know that everything is about profit and your health isn’t generally considered, and very little food in restaurants is really keto friendy. There’s usually a compromise. I make occasional exceptions to this rule but still only eaten out maybe 8 times in as many months.

Your main focus should be counting carbs and keeping them under 20 net carbs per day. Don’t try to hit that number, it’s a limit. Less is best. Eat enough protein to satisfy your hunger and be liberal with fats to have sustained energy to get you through till your next meal without snacking. Work towards eating twice a day, I have breakfast and early dinner/late lunch. I go 5-7 hours without food before bed. If I feel hungry between meals green tea is a lifesaver, satisfying, hunger suppressing and a little energy boost. It’s helpful for loosing weight too. Try this basic guide to get started, I call it @juice’s Keto Manifesto because it will get you where you need to go.

Keto Is This Easy

I recommend using an app for carb tracking, I really have gotten to like Cronometer. You can enter your own recipes that you use often and there’s lots of useful features that I like including mineral and vitamins content if your food, and graphs with your average nutritional make up over time (much more important than a daily analysis). And you can track weight loss by updating your profile with new weight information as you go. It’s inspiring to see your progress and if it’s not working you’ll see that too and you can tweak your diet to get the ball rolling again I recommend using a custom setting in your diet settings. It’s going to tell you your carb limit based on percentage but ignore that and just keep carbs under 20. It says I can have 17 carbs per day but no need to obsess over any of these figures. I have been at keto for about 8 months now so I am definitely fat adapted and my daily carb consumption is anywhere from 7 to 27 a day but my average over time is about 15 carbs per day. You’re going to naturally have variations daily in carb/protein/fat amounts unless you eat exactly the same thing everyday. Some days I am way over my protein and fat macros and other days under. It varies from 80-150% but I don’t find those high and low days affect me over time I am hitting all my macros almost perfectly. So don’t worry about high and low days, eat till satisfied, listen to your body and keep going forword and you’ll get results.

Splenda is probably okay, some people have problems with sugar alcohols and many don’t. I wouldn’t use it a lot if you can help it. Your tastes will change as you get away from lots of sweet flavors if you give it a chance. I used to be addicted to coffeemate flavored creamer in my coffee, now I love espresso with heavy cream better. :cowboy_hat_face:

#43

Splenda (sucralose) isn’t a sugar alcohol and it’s usually tolerated by virtually everyone and most people find the taste is most similar to regular sugar. It’s what I prefer of all the artificial/not-sugar/low-carb sweeteners. However, the stuff in the yellow packets has about 1g carb per packet, so you need to count it. If you get the granulated version (large bags that measure like sugar), it’s about 1g per teaspoon (about 48g per cup). The liquid has no carbs, but is insanely sweet and I find it lingers in odd ways.

The Splenda company says “The carbohydrate and calories in these products come from maltodextrin and/or dextrose. These are common food ingredients used in other no-calorie sweeteners that add bulk but only minimal carbohydrate and calories to each serving.”

Other sweeteners like stevia or Swerve have no carbs, so they’re better choices if you find you’re okay with the taste–but I’ve never been able to get used to them.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #44

I have erythritol, allulose, and stevia… I avoid the formulated brand stuff and mix or choose from these depending on the use. I don’t have any of them everyday but use them in cooking Chinese food and things like that mostly, not in my daily drinks. I thought Splenda was sucralose. :cowboy_hat_face:

Your comments about maltodextrin confused me there for a minute, I didn’t realize Splenda is a blend or that sucralose wasn’t a sugar alcohol. I’m dealing with my autistic son at the moment. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Sheranda Key) #45

I have issues with late night hunger also. I boil 18 eggs at a time and I also bake 3 lbs of bacon. I bag 2 eggs per snack baggie and 3 slices of bacon per baggie. So when my husband and I get hungry, we grab a bag of eggs and /or bacon. We also love to throw a little mayo on the eggs and add some green olives to the plate. We keep a container of pork rinds next to the bed for a lazy, late night munchie! :blush:

Hang in there!

#46

I’ve done some digging into it, since I’ve found I really don’t like the other sweeteners. The biggest issue I’ve had and I think is a problem for others is that it’s labeled as zero carb, because it’s under .5 g/serving. But it’s not, so you have to do research to find out the true carb counts and then enter these as new foods into whatever tracking program you use, so you get the numbers right.

Also, I think my math above was incorrect: A cup of granulated Splenda has 24g/ carbs, which is about .5g/teaspoon. It can still add up to a lot if you’re using a cup or more in baked goods.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #47

A couple of thoughts:

Your first time around, you may have been more insulin-sensitive than you are now, so now you might have to be more rigorous about keeping carbohydrate low.

Be sure to get enough food. If you deliberately short yourself on calories, your metabolism will get lower and lower to match, making it that much harder to cut calories. Instead, eat to satiety—to satisfy your hunger. At first, this will probably be a fair amount, but once your hunger and satiety hormones normalize, you will find yourself cutting back, because you will stop being hungry past a certain point. Your stomach won’t be full, but you will be satisfied. And this doesn’t count as “cutting calories,” because it’s your body telling you you gave it enough, it’s not you telling your body to make do.

Artificial sweeteners affect everyone differently, and each artificial sweetener can have a different effect. One might be very helpful in keeping your sweet tooth in check, while another might spike your insulin and thus prevent weight loss. It’s completely individual, and you will have to do some testing to figure out the sweeteners that are okay for you, and those (if any) that pose a problem.

Even people who can metabolize lactose without a problem can be sensitive to casein (milk protein), and a casein sensitivity can hinder weight loss.

Fat is our friend, because it is a source of calories that has almost no effect whatsoever on our insulin levels. But stick to fat sources that are high in saturated and monounsaturated fats, avoid seed oils (cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, soy, corn, etc.), because they are very high in inflammatory polyunsaturates. If you cook with butter, lard, tallow, bacon grease, and the like you will find the fat tasty and satisfying. Note that some people need proportionally more fat and others need proportionally more protein, in order to feel satisfied—another area where a little experimentation will pay off!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #49

You got that right! The tracking app like Cronometer will reveal what happens when you put in a zero carb food, and decide you need 30 servings to make your recipe and all the sudden your zero carb ingredient has 24 carbs!

Have you tried allulose yet? It , and makes syrups and all kinds of things other substitutes seem to fail at. Erythritol doesn’t dissolve or recrystalizes in liquids at a certain absorption point. But sometimes I like how erythritol retains a crunch, like as a coating on top of a muffin or cookie.

#50

I haven’t tried allulose. I’ve heard good things and at some point I’ll try it. But I don’t like erythritol or stevia and can’t have xylitol in the house because of the dog.

(Justin ) #51

I do IF and have been able to go 42hours and it was pretty easy actually. One tip is to drink water with himalayan salt, it curbs my appetite and the odd black coffee or tea helps as well.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #52

:sob:
It’s statements like this that confuse people to no end. On the one hand we tell newbies to eat sub-20 grams of carbs per day to stay in ketosis. Then someone says “I can eat 100 grams of carbs in a day and remain in a continuous state of ketosis”. Newbie thinks “Whaaaaa??”

At 100 grams of carbs, I don’t think you are ‘in a continuous state of ketosis’. For you dropping in/out of ketosis may not matter. But the OP can’t even make it through the night. He’s eating far too little overall as others have pointed out. Telling him YOU can eat 100 grams of complex carbs without a problem because you also fast is not helpful - in my humble opinion.

@Sheranda_Key was more helpful with her boiled eggs and bacon suggestion. A very low or no carb pepperoni stick (yes, they do exist) would also be a far better choice than the pork rinds and Atkins bar he’s been eating in the middle of the night.

If OP has a problem cutting the carbs, then he’s going to have to deal with it or simply be content with going ‘low carb’ instead. Plenty of people lose and control weight and have healthy lives without eating a strict ketogenic diet. You may be one of them. :wink:

(Retta Stephenson) #53

Hi Tommy

You’ve gotten loads of good advice already. Here’s some more:

  1. Keep it simple.

@ZuleikaD was spot on when they basically said the same thing. It can be overwhelming when so much complicated (and at times conflicting) advice is thrown at you all at once! People really do care, and I’m convinced we all here just want to help, and want you to be successful. But… Keep it simple, okay?. You can tweak it later.

  1. First, get fat-adapted. THEN worry about being “in Ketosis”.

This will simplify things. And once you are fat-adapted, that sweet tooth and cravings will calm down. So when you feel hungry, you just ride it out a little bit (maybe with a glass of water) and your body will visit some of that “stored energy” we have hanging around and burn it up as fuel. Honest, it won’t be that hard LATER to do that, once you are fat-adapted.

ZuleikaD was right: One step at a time.

And: “This is a big part of the equation. We get that people aren’t perfect, but until you’re truly fat-adapted (no more cravings!), every time you “take a day off” you set yourself back several days.”

  1. About the night time eating: Make a deal with yourself, and keep it.

This is just speaking from experience. I was the classic, hard core night time eater! A few years ago, my top weight was 460. Dieted, lost and regain, repeatedly over the years. Went low carb, then eventually Keto. Eureka, this stuff works! But… I’m now 68 and for some people, it’s slower going the older we get. Anyway, I’ve lost 199 pounds now. Yep, 199 gone.

A BIG part of that started with a deal I made with myself about that night time eating. For the first YEAR or so, I bought the best tasting sugar free chocolate bars I could find. Expensive?? Eegads, yes. But that was my deal. I would have that each evening with a cup of hot tea, and that would be my treat, cost be hanged. It felt luxurious. It felt indulgent. And it worked! Nowadays, the expensive chocolate lasts me a LONG time, so in the long run is not that expensive anymore.

Here is my current favorite (just in case the idea appeals to you):

Then again, you might be a bacon n egg kinda guy! :smiley:

  1. LOVE Dr Berry’s videos. LOVE Dr Fungs videos and book, The Obesity Code.

Here is my all time favorite Dr Fung quote. It says what I need to remember in a nutshell:

“The secret of success is NOT to limit some of the calories all the time (deficit dieting), which lowers metabolism. Rather, to limit ALL the calories SOME of the time…… which is called Fasting.”

PS: It is highly recommended to do fasting AFTER becoming fat-adapted. Much easier! :smiley:

My best to you,

Retta

(Empress of the Unexpected) #54

My breakfast:

Bacon, salsa, and onion

Lunch, nuts and cheese

Dinner, pork, guac, green beans and butter

(Bunny) #57

That hungry feeling is when I would eat, forget about the BLD clock, just eat when you feel that hunger craving no matter what time it is or when that is or the body will just hold onto the fat even more and will fight you!

The reason I would pay careful attention to that ghrelin (hunger) and leptin (I feel full) signaling (if you are leptin and insulin resistant with a high T3 count) is because you want to eat more food but not junk food, eat more of the keto foods you enjoy until actually feel full and do not count the calories/carbs when you first start to do this so your body gets use to it for a few weeks, then gradually start spacing out your eating windows, then start slowly reducing your carb intake from 200 or more to 150 grams and try that for few more weeks then go to 50 grams for few more weeks than to 30 grams etc. and follow that same pattern until you can hit 20 grams and your seeing the burning body fat but be mindful of exercise like lifting weights because you may require more calories.

If you straight out start reducing your carbohydrate to 20 grams constantly with leptin resistance, that is probably why your can’t lose any weight and burn any body fat because your metabolism has slowed down so drastically your older now so your slowing it down even more by nose diving into a 20 gram carb restriction?

References:

[1] “…It Can Lower Your Metabolism**. In fact, researchers believe that this lowermetabolism may partly explain why more than 80% of people regain weight once they go off their calorie restricted diets (10). One of the ways that calorie restricted diets slow your metabolism is by causing muscle loss (11, 12, 13). …” …More

[2] “… So if you were to do a keto and intermittent fasting program, you would not lessen your calories, instead you would eat the same amount of calories but lessen the frequency of eating (meals). And lastly increasing your thyroid function can also increase your metabolism. But hashimotos disease *hypothyroidism" can be caused from consuming GMO foods, so eating organic is a must. Also other causes of a slow thyroid is either having a gallbladder or liver problem or high estrogen, in which case you would need to improve those two problems. …” …More

#58

It is time for Omad my friend, imo things like too much protein, dairy, nuts, calorie free sweeteners are often more individual problems and are fine as long as they work with the individual. 1200 cals is not enough for u, u dont wanna slow ur bmr even more hence ur age with too low calories, eat as much as u are hungry for also exercise will ramp up the bmr as well.

I get it cooking can be a lil yikes, i used to be like that too, i would literally only eat cold cuts of meat/cheese, nuts and cola, that was my keto diet when i started. Sure it worked out cause carbs where low enough, but ever since im making my own food from fresh whole ingridients, it is so much more delicious u wont belive. You also should never feel hungry in keto, get adapted first.

(Cynthia Anderson) #59

I haven’t lost weight in forever. However I’m losing inches. Pre Keto this skirt was too small.

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#60

I do think clean keto eating (whole vs. processed foods) is ideal, but I frequently do “lazy” keto and have no problems with it personally. One thing I’ve been doing more lately for the nights I don’t want to cook, instead of eating something like cold cuts and cheese or ketofied fast food, is to get meal delivery. There are a number of options and threads on this forum that list a bunch of them. I got turned on to kettlebellkitchen.com by my sister, who does Crossfit, as they deliver to her gym. The meals are fresh and ready to heat and use clean high-quality ingredients like grass fed beef. They have a number of keto options and some of their core menu has reasonable carb counts. I now regularly keep them on hand.

(hottie turned hag) #61

Hey Tommyboyy,
just a few random-ish ideas from my own experience:

eating once/24h and in your case, as late in the day as you can since you get night cravings, works for me because I enjoy being able to have a large amount at once rather than smaller amounts all day; this is somehow both psychologically satisfying and craving- eliminating in my case. Not for everyone, but maybe worth a try anyhow.

I adore cheese and was eating 16oz per day; I lost much weight then stalled. I dropped all cheese and veg as well and immediately started to lose again. For many others, cheese and veg are no problem and they weren’t for me until I got within 15 or so pounds of goal. I upped meat (esp deli meat) to replace the cheese and my appetite DROPPED; hunger is now way reduced. I am satisfied on far less. This is an awesome feeling.

Hard boiled eggs are better with hot sauce

A really good, easy lunch: sliced deli turkey, put pico de gallo/other salsa in middle, roll up in romaine lettuce leaf. Add cheese if cheese doesn’t stall you. I can eat a BIG PLATE of these easy. Alternate stuffing I use: olives, pepperoncini.

Drink much water; I am always amazed at the amount of fluid I used to retain when on carbs, and even now after a big meal there is some, that is shed when drinking a lot of water. One must drink to diurese; I used to hate water. I have to add TreuLemon or lemon juice to it always.

SELTZER is my jam. Love the fizz, add lemon and it gives that fizzy fix an ex soda addict (me) needs.

Hope these may help a tad! Don’t give up. Keep tweaking until you see what works; I am 55 and get the age aspect being in our disfavor.

(Catherine) #62

I ate keto for about 3 months and I would yoyo 2-3 pounds. From 20-23 pound weight loss and I was struggling. Finally, I’ve been doing more of a carnivore diet this past month and I got through it and I’ve lost 31 pounds. I eat all kinds of meat (beef, chicken, pork, turkey, seafood) and products as in eggs butter cheese etc. And yes I eat deli and canned meat as well. I do not over do it with my cheese (I know this will stall me). I can’t drink milk. I will allow myself to have no sugar added ketchup or sugar free bbq sauce. I’ll have black coffee with coconut oil in it occasionally but I mainly drink water and alot of it. I only eat when I am hungry (sometimes once a day and sometimes three times a day).

I do not follow macros or calories or even log my food. I was at first and it was frustrating. But since going carnivore, it has been easier.

We all have different reasons for changing our eating habits/lifestyle. Pay close attention to your body.

  1. Are you really hungry?

  2. Does the food you are eating have sugar or a sugar substitute in it?

  3. Are you eating too much dairy?

  4. Are you eating too much veggies?

  5. Are you eating enough fat?

  6. Are you drinking enough water?

  7. Maybe try to get as close to 0 carbs as possible.

These are just questions or possible suggestions. Everyone may have an opinion. I can only tell you for myself, what as personally worked for me. Remember, everyone’s body is different and will react to changes different. Good Luck - hang in there.

(Jennifer M Worth) #63

I feel you. Keto is undeniably a commitment. I have a designated “cook day” and this keeps me prepared. I think once you make the decision to do Keto: its balls to wall. You just gotta do whatever it takes. Maybe watch a few youtube videos just to learn how to cook the basic stuff. I put spinach and kale in coconut oil on the stove in a pot. Chicken in the oven breaded with parm and pork rinds. Brown some beef and put some shredded cheese on top. Once you get better at the simple, the rest of it will follow. Although Carl’s pad thai recipe takes some doing: You won’t regret that effort. I feel amazing now and it keeps me motivated. But in fairness it has been a lot of years of feeling like crap to be able to recognize the difference.