Hi all. It’s been a couple years since my last post.
I fell out of love with keto to be frank. I hit the mother of all plateaus a couple years back and seemingly no matter how hard I leant into keto, no matter how (reasonably) long I fasted, the scales were not budging. It’s not the first time I’ve hit that roadblock, not nearly. Being a potential candidate years ago for bariatric surgery thrust me into a program of dietitian monitored eating and testing, going through the usual routine of journalling food, cutting calories, not losing weight, in fact gaining weight on the first few iterations of the dietitian’s diet, having them thoughtfully scratch their chin and loudly announce that I must be lying about my eating because the weight’s not dropping away…
Keto was and is the first “diet” that resulted in substantial weight loss - around 15% of my weight came off in the first year. It was the first calorie restricted diet that left me satiated and not wanting more. Blood tests all went positive and there is no doubt in my mind that nutritional ketosis is a fantastic state to be in. I still believe strongly in keto, but I relaxed the calorie restriction and, honestly, I relaxed the 20g carb limit I was striving for. And the weight slowly crept back over the last 20 months or so.
Enter liraglutide. When I started liraglutide in October last year I actually had tapped out slightly heavier than when I first started keto many years ago. I’ve always believed my weight problem was hormone driven. From being a “normal weight” kid until ballooning right at the onset of puberty. Liraglutide messes with some hormone paths and the science on it is still new and unclear, but to put it simply, it activated in my case almost like a switch. Without barely any effort since October last year, I’ve blown well past any previous plateau and continue to shed pounds unhindered at an average of about 3 per week. Something remarkable has happened using this drug. I don’t know what, but my family doc is stunned by the results and want to do all sorts of testing and referrals to learn why its working so well for me and not (all) others.
Anyways, to get the point of this post, I wanted to say to those that are still struggling, please try if you can all the tools in your toolbox. I’m not pushing liraglutide. It’s just another tool. You just can’t tell what may be the tool or combination of tools that really work well for you. Don’t ever give up until you find it. I don’t know if I will reach my goal weigh or zoom past it. Honestly I don’t care to think too hard about it right now.
Finally, my doc warned me that this drug can drop blood sugar significantly, both from a reduction in eating and the way it plays with insulin production and glucose uptake/release, but my secret weapon has been keto and for that I’m very grateful to the folks that know and understand how keto and gluconeogenisis call on the liver to do what it does best.
Keto absolutely rocks.
The dudes have been my guiding light since almost day one. 'Just hit a brick wall and was about to give up all hope.