Keto Newb

#101

Update-Survived another weekend. As expected I met out some old friends Saturday. I knew I would have some drinks. First the bad-Instead of zero carb whiskey I had beer and it was not the light stuff. I did not want to seem like an alcoholic ordering the hard stuff while others were getting beer. Then I decided it was my time to get one of the Christmas seasonals. I got a wrap with grilled chicken and cottage cheese. Now the good-I got a wrap with cottage cheese. :grin: I could have done way worse. I only had 2 beers. I probably ruined this week as far as weightloss goes.

What I learned-I learned I can screw up and live to tell about it. I was good the rest of the weekend. In the future I would like to make better choices on the food. I will say eating out to me has been one of the worst parts of this diet. If I was in California there would probably be lettuce wrap everything. Unfortunately, we do not have that and so my choices are salad (which are sometimes worse than sandwiches) or ordering a sandwich and not eating the bun.

Tomorrow is weigh in. I am lowering my expectations and willing to face my punishment head on.

(Running from stupidity) #102

Two things - ā€œseeminglyā€ is all too often the key word there. But even if they are, itā€™s extremely unlikely that even if theyā€™re not losing the weight that theyā€™re not getting other (less-visible to other people) benefits.

#103

Another 4 lbs!! Shocking since it seems like week 2 is usually a disappointment. The body seems to be adjusting so it seems like in the past I have lost little to no weight in week 2. Plus I cheated Saturday.

I worked out this morning. I actually felt stronger today. I was able to increase weights for the first time. I am still get the hunger pains though. :frowning: I am hoping that goes away soon.

(Running from stupidity) #104

I have a highly effective method for getting rid of hunger pains.

#105

Eating?

I guess I am confused. I read about people doing 30 hour fast, 3 day fastā€¦I am just trying to go 4-5 hours without feeling hungry or getting headaches. I thought this was a benefit of keto. Am I wrong?

(Running from stupidity) #106

Got it!

Youā€™re not fat-adapted yet. Ignore stuff like that which we fat-adapted people do, itā€™s irrelevant to you at this point.

Your mission is to get to the fat-adaptation stage, and you do that by feeding yourself plenty of the new fuel so your body can work out that is what the future holds for it so it had better get adapted to burning fat. Once you reach that stage, you can start to do that sort of thing and it will be pretty easy, most likely.

For now, make sure you eat a keto meal that will get you through to the next meal without issues.

#107

Ok. Thank you for clearing that up. Hopefully I will get there soon but for now I will keep eating!!!

(Janelle) #108

I just kind of inadvertently did a 22 hour fast. I ate a large lunch at a Brazilian steakhouse yesterday. Dinner - not hungry. Breakfast not really hungry. Lunch - somewhat hungry so I ate. Iā€™ve been doing keto 8 weeks this Thursday. Itā€™s taken this long for me not to feel like I was going to starve to death when missing a meal. I didnā€™t feel euphoric (which some people claim) while fasting and my brain (which is usually very clear) was sluggish - so I may not really be ready but it does get easier.

Glad you are losing too. Iā€™m still 8 lbs for almost 8 weeks.

#109

Oh manā€¦8 lbs. in 8 weeks. I know we are in it for the long haul but it seems like you should lose more than 8lbs. Maybe you do not have much to lose.

Were you able to avoid carbs at the brazillan steakhouse? Seems like there may be a potato or rolls in there somewhere. My biggest issue with the keto is the eating out part. There are a lot of areas that can trip you up. I also do not like its either salad or meat and broccoli. I usually eat enough salad during the week so it becomes meat and broccoli. :frowning:

(Bob M) #110

I lost about 30 pounds in about 1.5 YEARS, so 8 pounds in 8 weeks is great. I then proceeded to add intermittent and long term (up to 5.5 days) fasting, and lost another 20 poundsā€¦again in a YEAR or more. I wish people would stop looking for 100 pounds in 6 months or whatever people are looking for. Does it happen? Yes. To how many people? A very select few.

(Janelle) #111

Other than a Caesar salad (sans croutons) and some cheese - no carbage. People donā€™t seem to believe me but I do not cheat. Yep. A pound a week after changing everything about the way I eat - I have 70 left to lose (woman, 5ā€™9ā€ 240lbs). Im even seeing an obesity specialist and occasionally logging so I can show him what Iā€™m eating.

On the other hand, I am no longer gaining - which I was and kind of quickly. In addition, there are the multitudes who like to tell me that a pound a week is good. Iā€™ll believe them because it is what it is. Other than calorie restriction (ie starvation - not good) and longer term fasting, the next step is surgery and thatā€™s not happening.

(Bob M) #112

Donā€™t get me wrong, I hope you continue to lose 1 pound per weekā€¦just donā€™t freak out if you donā€™t. I canā€™t tell you the number of times my scale showed no loss or my weight went up, but I could tell Iā€™d lost fat (e.g., my belt needed tightening).

(John) #113

1-2 pounds a week long term is considered a good, sustainable weight loss. Our problem is that we have shorter attention spans than the time it takes to achieve long-term results.

When I consider my weight gain over the past 9 years or so, it averages out to about 8 pounds per year, or about 1/6 of a pound per week. But whoa, 8 x 9 = 72 pounds!

So if I were to lose weight at 6 times the rate I gained it, or 1 pound a week, I could reverse that in 1 year and 5 months. In 2 years at an average of 1 pound a week, Iā€™d lose 104 pounds.

Consider that to be successful with long-term weight loss and then keeping it off, you have to permanently change your lifestyle. So whether itā€™s 6 months or 2 years, you can get there. The only difference is when. Since you arenā€™t going to be changing your lifestyle back to what you did before (are you?), what does the timing matter?

Personally, I have a three year plan. 2 years to get to my goal weight, and then 1 year of maintaining it, before I will consider myself ā€œcuredā€ of obesity and on a good, consistent health track. That is all based on about a 1-pound per week weight loss expectation (averaged over the long term). That may be overly optimistic. Iā€™ll let you know in a couple of years.

I try to set long term goals but focus on short term effort. The long-term will take care of itself if you just string together a lot of ā€œtodays.ā€

(Janelle) #114

Really good perspective.

#115

If the scale is not moving but you are losing inches (tightening your belt) where do the inches come from? Muscle? Water is an option but I believe that happens early on. Regardless it has to come from somewhere right?

#116

I think we are talking different things. Long term it averages out. Sure. I am talking early on when we have our most weight to lose. I provided a link higher up about people losing weight faster in the beginning.

(John) #117

I was primarily replying to @CatGirl who has expressed a concern about her 8 pounds in 8 weeks.

(Running from stupidity) #118

These things.

(Janelle) #119

Yep. Today is my 8 week ā€œketoversaryā€ and given Iā€™m still at 8lbs lost (despite a 24-hour fast). One pound a week. Patience is truly a virtue.

#120

Just found out my daughter (the swimmer) gained 2 of our 4 lbs back:( I felt bad for her. Seems impossible since she is in a pool for 5+ hours. The body is a crazy thingā€¦