I’ve been following your story all along and feel for you!
At the same time, I am full of admiration for you for sticking it out even without obvious results. Not many have the strength to do that.
Although you may feel plenty frustrated, maybe you don’t know how many of us here you are inspiring by your sheer determination. Like me.
KCKO!
Irrespective of weight loss, did you have other improvements in HbA1c, blood sugars etc?
Because this is just as important.
KCKO!
True and thanks for bringing that up!
I was fortunately never considered pre-diabetic so I never had my A1c tested before. But I have a brother and cousin who are diabetic, so I knew it was a matter of time. I recently tested my A1c with a home kit and it was 5.1. I’ll retest in a couple of months. My blood sugars are usually in the low 90s, but I’d like to see them a bit lower.
Actually, once I learned about the power of keto, avoiding dementia and cancer are two of my biggest motivators because they both run in my family!
Gatita, that 5.1 A1C is sweet! Thinking about dementia and cancer - it seems very fast, to me, since it’s only recently that I’ve been paying attention, but the evidence of blood sugar’s involvement really is piling up.
Um this is exactly what I needed right now!
Cf my latest frustrations with plateauing: The last 10 pounds
Slow clap from the girl in the back.
This. This statement is everything, and often something I need to remember. 30 pounds down in two months should be good enough, but I get so impatient. Thank you for saying exactly what I needed to hear today.
KCKO!
I started on a keto diet just under a month ago. Had been on something resembling the McDougall diet for quite a long time and the weight was going nowhere. Even cut down and exercised more. Nothing. It was as though I was locked at 285 pounds.
I had broken a leg very badly back in January of 2015 and was not allowed any weight bearing on it for 4 months. I had to have surgery to put it back together again and while I was in the hospital, there were two numbers that I remember. Weight was 262 pounds. And a random blood sugar was 182.
I didn’t like the blood sugar but no one said a word about it. I wasn’t too upset with the weight but I’d just gotten off of a seasonal job where I’d been walking maybe 5 miles or so a day. It wasn’t like I was getting no exercise and yet the weight really was higher than it should have been even then.
So about 4 weeks ago, I made up my mind that I had to do something, I was setting up for a heart attack or diabetes or a stroke or who knows what. Found some videos by Eric Berg and Sarah Hallberg. They made sense to me. So I figured, why not give it a try.
Understand, I was raised on potatoes and bread and also love pasta. Sweets, sure, I was always up for a treat. But with McDougall in my mind, I was figuring that potatoes and my own whole grain whole wheat bread must be good.
Cold turkey: No potatoes. No bread. No grains. No pasta. No sugar, and no honey or maple syrup either. And no beans, with the exception of maybe some green beans.
The diet has been eggs, fish, a little beef or buffalo, lots of salads (I love avocado in my salad), leafy veggies and non-starchy veggies. It’s a good thing I really like broccoli and cauliflower.
I dropped 10 pounds in the first week. And it stayed there for a week. And then, slowly, it continued downward. Today, the scale said 266 pounds! It’s not quite a month and I’m down 19 pounds.
I don’t have a schedule. I don’t count calories. I don’t go crazy figuring macros. I eat when I’m hungry but find that there are days when I may only want my coffee in the morning and then a small supper and I’m completely satisfied. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat a little something, even if it’s just a spoonful of peanut butter. I found out that I don’t need nearly as much food to satisfy me as I used to. For the most part, I don’t get to anal about there being a tiny amount of carbs in some breading used to make a chicken or fish patty. I don’t go nuts if there happens to be a tiny amount of sugar in the tomato sauce in the homemade chicken parm or zucchini lasagna. But I’m faithful to the concepts. My wife, however, would say I’m being quite strict. She’s not so into it. She’s also not losing as much weight or as fast and does a lot more cheating. (Hey, she doesn’t have to answer to me.)
I haven’t weight under 200 pounds since we got married 16 years ago. I think I was in the 190’s and that seemed like a good weight for me. That’s my goal. I’d also like to be healthy, and I think the keto type diet is pretty healthy, at least I think it can be. I try to be careful to buy as good of quality stuff as I can, both animal and vegetable products, often organic when I can. I am hoping that I can incorporate some of the things I used to like, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, and beans, back into my diet in limited amounts, even some more fruit. But I know what happens to me when I put away the starches and I don’t ever want to approach 300 pounds again, ever.
I haven’t been exercising much. I think I would like to get started into something like that again. I may look towards getting an elliptical machine. I had one at one time but I exceeded the weight rating and busted it. My wife also mentioned she’d like to have one again so maybe that would be good. I wouldn’t mind doing some weight training but don’t really have access to a lot of room or a gym where I am. I’m thinking at least a little cardio would be a good thing.
Thanks for letting me chime in! 
Great post, Bellyman. 
Really had to smile at you saying you’d not been under 200 lbs. since getting married 16 years ago. It was 17 years ago for me, and my wife has never seen me under 265 lbs. Could possibly get back there by the end of this year. Like you, I don’t ever want to be thinking about 300 lbs. or approaching it any more.
Thanks, Doug!
My wife and I both put on the pounds over the years. We didn’t do it all at once, it came over time. But it’s the recent years we’ve been saying, “We gotta do something about this.”
I’m pretty sure I won’t see 200 pounds this year. But hey, it might be close, this is only August.
Years ago, we did pack up some clothes that we got too big for. They’re in a storage unit. I do have the dream of, one day soon, having to find that box again, affectionately labeled as, “The I Have A Dream Collection.” LOL!
Good luck!
That’s me these days! Keep up the great work.
I work out at home just before bed with free weights and freaking Richard Simmons videotapes on an old tv lol. So no gym needed!
That’s quite a word picture… free weights and freaking Richard Simmons videotapes… LOL!! Talk about entertainment! 
Awesome little Cat
Yeah that’s my strategy too.
So some science to go along with your story … fat cells live roughly 10 years, and any single year about 10% of our fat cells die from old age and release their contents into circulation and their job gets taken over by a brand new baby fat cell. Those nascent cells never knew the bad days of when they had to live in obese bodies so they are a lot better at responding to signals than the ones that they replaced.
Eventually after 5 years half your fat cells are newbies, and half are the old ones that are still cranky about what we did to them.
This is my secret. I am outliving the cranky ones. Keeping calm and ketoing on.
Whoooooa… dude. That is crazy but makes perfect sense! I always thought fat cells lived, like, forever.
PS. Which makes me think: I really like the idea of having, say, a 5-year time frame. It’s like the time I walked a 10K race and made it my goal to come in last.
Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum.
What a great post “KCKO:Patience pays off”!
I just went off Keto. I originally lost 10 pounds quickly then nothing for weeks and weeks. I gave up. I don’t really know if going 20 and under carbs also needs to be low calorie. I have not been minimizing calories but just eating when hungry.
Maybe this is a common post. I apologize if it is. Can someone share the perplexity of counting calories on Keto? Maybe I will go back on if I can get some experience from this group.
Thank you.
Heidi
This thread really resonated with me. Been Keto since January and have lost > 100lbs but there were times in that period that the scale would go up a couple pounds or be stuck at one weight for a couple weeks. I have learned to be patient and things will catch up. It took me a long time to realize that the scale just won’t go down every day or even every week and that your body needs time to find a new normal (often at each step of the way). Early on, spent time bummed if I was stuck or even backwards a pound or two. As long as my other indicators were good and I still felt good, I’m still good.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Short answer: Most people here DON’T worry about calories, but there are other threads getting into the details. I certainly don’t count calories, but others may chime in.
