It's Easy...Until It's Not...And then it it's Easy Again

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #22

@devhammer
Where is this elusive egg not recipe you speak of? I did a search without luck…

(G. Andrew Duthie) #23

Here’s one I’ve used. I’ll post it up over on #food:recipes-recipes-recipes, too.

(Jennifer) #24

I am in my first week and most definitely have decreased my carbs to way under 20 net a day. I have a habit of getting on the scale everyday and I think that is my problem. I started last Saturday at 195, Monday was down to 193.3, today I am back up to 195.3. I do not understand it, unless it is because I am getting ready to start my cycle. it is very frustrating but at the same time, I do not feel bloated and my clothes are a little looser and more comfortable. Any advice for a newbie?

(Erinn) #25

Wow this totally came at the right time. My bf and I started keto in July. I stayed on for about 2-3 weeks but then wasn’t feeling good, felt tired, depressed, bored with eating so I started eating some non keto foods which derailed me. He kept at it and is down about 50 pounds. I’ve restarted and am back at about the same 2 week point and am feeling very similar and again eating non-keto foods. I’m feeling bored with the food–it all is so rich, creamy, meaty which I am not used to and find it hard to be with friends etc at restaurants. I don’t really know what my question is–I guess tips to get through this hump and how long might this jump last? My bf is feeling great and has no desire to not eat keto because he is feeling so good. I want to get there too.

(Arlene) #26

Erinn, Wrapping our heads around NEW habits is very challenging. Making a new habit stick is about making it comfortable. Invest in yourself by spending time to find healthy foods you enjoy. If you like to cook, invest the time to find new recipes. Many restaurants offer low carb options. Go ahead and spend time with your friends, but challenge yourself to make wise choices. It all boils down to your reasons for doing this. Continually remind yourself WHY you choose to eat this way. Soon you won’t need to remind yourself.

#27

Hi Jennifer- Congrats on starting out on Keto!!:smiley: A lot of people say don’t worry about weight and they’re right. I’m 3 months in and weighed myself every morning and evening at the same time and wrote it down for 2 months. I guess I’m one who likes to analyze the data. I did tell myself all the time not to obsess about each weigh-in; though- ad I really didn’t. As you get further into keto and feel better- sounds like maybe you are already- you will definitely see your weight trend down. I noticed my morning weights could be 2 pounds lighter than my evening weights. I also noticed just some weird weights; but the trend has persisted- over time. I once read that you really shouldn’t make any judgements about weight in less than a 1 week period.

If your feeling good and clothes are looser- your probably on track. Keep it up- it will likely get even better!!:smile:

(Mary) #28

You cannot imagine how timely this post is for me today (although you wrote it 9 months ago!). The keto feasting/fasting I’ve been doing since the 12th has left me feeling really crummy for the past couple of days. I was worrying that my electrolytes were out of whack or I wasn’t eating enough fat or or or… All of those may be true but the problem could also simply be the Keto flu. I’d figured since I’d been doing Atkins for so long (liberally sprinkled with months of not doing Atkins, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here…) I figured I was keto adapted. Perhaps not.

Anyway, I just wanted to say “thank you”. You’ve really helped me to KCKO (love that acronym!)

(Paul Maeda) #29

Update: It’s been about a year since I posted that comment about not progressing. I started back strict again recently and I’ve lost 10 pounds in about 4 weeks. I realized I wasn’t nearly as strict as I should’ve been last year. I remember being too relaxed with it and being over confident that I’d lose weight eventually. I was having a little breaded chicken with my salads, I’d have sugar free chocolate or candies here and there, I was eating a handful of nuts multiple times a day just because I felt like snacking. I’m super focused this time around and I’m dropping weight steadily. I hope this update helps people that are feeling like keto “doesn’t work” anymore.

(Michael King) #30

If you do not integrate fasting and use keto as a way to easily fast for 16-48 hours then you miss out on so many benefits. You can eat keto and not fast and you will lose fat, but without fasting you may not see reversal of insulin resistance. Fasting is the reason I was able to lose so much weight quickly after getting the keto part down. If you can get to a point where you can easily fast for 36 hours then workout at the end of the fast that reinforces the fact that your body is actually using fat for energy. How else can one run 3-5 miles without eating for 36 hours and not run out of energy? Fat is being used as fuel. When you experience that you will laugh at the hard times because it does get easier when the body fat adapts and is “in ketosis”. My transformation happened over four months, but the biggest transformation happened doing back to back to back 36 hour fasts with workouts at the end. Then I ate as big as I could usually greens,1 lb of grass fed ground beef including the grease, added 4oz. of kerrigold grass fed cow butter, cheddar cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning, with a small amount of salsa. If I eat that while in ketosis I can easily go 36 hours. It will almost make me nauseous which is just how I like it to kill any appetite.

(Arlene) #31

What do you mean by back to back? Do you eat in-between these 36 hour fasts, or are you actually doing a 72 hour fast?

(Michael King) #32

I apologize if that was confusing. What I was trying to say is I’ve seen best results when I go 36 hours without eating approximately and then eat one big meal all within the keto type of eating parameters and then repeat that again and again. Sometimes I fast 16 hours and then 24 and then 36 and then 18 and so what I’m trying to say is instead of fasting all over the place each day I’ve seen best results when doing the extended fasts day after day. Since it is over 24 hours you can’t say, “I’m fasting 36 hours every day” because there only 24 hours in a day. So if I can string three 36 hour fasting periods together in a week I’m going to burn a lot of fat that week. And the crazy part is I don’t so much notice it (I rarely weigh myself), but my clothes start not fitting. I went out and bought 34 size pants because I didn’t have any jeans that fit anymore (38s and 36s no longer fit). Then I did this again and within 10 days of buying those new jeans the 34s didn’t fit well anymore. So now I’m just using belts until I get where my waist doesn’t shrink anymore. I am 6’4" so I doubt I’ll ever be smaller than 32 in waist, but I also thought the same thing about 34s when I got those.

(Arlene) #33

Thank you for the clarification. It sounds like you’re mostly fasting, but eating plenty when you decide to eat. At 6’4", it’s no wonder you keep losing weight, though I suspect this much fasting would produce results for just about everyone.

(Michael King) #34

Correct. And my body is in ketosis the majority of the time. I don’t eat more than 20g of carbs on most days and get approximately 75% of my calories from fat. When I come out of ketosis though the fasting is not so easy.

(Reid M) #35

Thank you for this post. I’m on week 2 and struggling with keto-flu despite having read up, drinking loads of water and broth and supplementing in electrolytes. I’ve hit a low today. I ran a search on giving up and found your post. This is exactly how I’m feeling. But I will soldier on…

(Laurie) #36

I’m glad you’re not giving up, @Reid . Good luck getting through the hard part! I hope you’ll feel better very soon.

#37

That’s me exactly! Did it last May to lose weight for July hols and had tremendous success - lost 20+ lbs in about 8 weeks, looked and felt great.
Then went on the hols, let everything go, and just never went back to keto.
I was actually surprised that I stayed the same weight (ish) and on same belt buckle for ages, so thought fine. Then from November onwards (and of course hols) and into January, eating loads and stuck in lockdown, every mouthful I took seemed to put on a few lbs and I started putting on weight, until back to where i started (15 stone).
Anyway, 3 weeks in again and touch wood all has been good. I think i felt a bit rough and grumpy about 14 days in, but now back to feeling good, so stick with it.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #38

What is your salt intake? This is key to managing all the other electrolytes, since the bodily mechanisms that regulate these minerals are all interlinked. Try to get 4-6 grams of sodium a day, which translates to 10-15 grams of table salt. Some studies that came out a few years ago all showed that people whose salt intake is in this range are the healthiest. If you are getting enough salt, you should not be experiencing the lightheadedness, dizziness, headache, and constipation that are signs of the “keto flu.”

(Reid M) #39

Thank you. I hope so too, I really do! :sweat_smile:

(Reid M) #40

I actually don’t know my precise intake. I am mostly fine and feel a sense of contentment in myself that I haven’t felt for a while. Dizziness and sometimes tiredness, like I’m knocked out and want to sleep, those are the only “symptoms” I have.

Should I notice a craving for salt?

Two things I have noticed so far:

I no longer get hangry. I’ve always had very bad crashes into hangriness in the past, so this is an interesting development indeed. I do find that it’s a hard habbit to break to be looking out for hanger signals and thinking at certain times in the day, I must eat or I will crash. Feeling hungry is subtle now, before it was a cavernous kick with time related desperation (how quickly can I make a sandwich, warm frozen food, or will I just eat a slice of bread?).

The other thing is a sense of well-being. I don’t know if that’s only psychological or not. I suspect not being a slave to blood sugar lows helps a lot. It is definitely also be because I have consciously decided to go down this route. It’s a small part of my life I now have complete control over. In lockdown with my daughter (who turns 6 today), facing a house move and employment uncertainty in the future, this is actually a big thing for me. Although I’m a bit of an emotional wreck yesterday and today, hormones :blush:

And breath!

:sweat_smile:

(Reid M) #41

Thank you, good luck with your second go!