Long Intro because I gotta tell someone

#1

Hi there! Lurking for a few weeks and finally joined. Love this place…love the science and the fact it isn’t covered with photos of salad with croutons and the latest dessert like a few FB corners I’ve been kicking around. Love that there are also lots of people here doing this to just plain feel better.

So I have to get my story off my chest because it includes an interesting side victory. I’m 47, and up until about a year ago, was sitting in my home town eating, drinking, and generally spending my life in front of my computer except when I was at the job I hated. Something clicked and step one happened. I got the hell out of my rut at least geographically and took a travel version of my profession. I spent 6 months in one of the most beautiful locals I have ever seen, and continued to be miserable. Depression, carbs and booze followed me.

I next ended up at my current location, which I despise. Thanks to no longer at least being able to get out for walks and hikes, combined with once again being in a sedentary job (my dumb ass took a permanent position because $$) I packed on even more weight. At 47, I felt like, and probably was, on my way to death. Another little snap happened. Despite the world thinking I’m nuts, I quit the job I came out for and took another here that totally changes my specialty (I’m a nurse) back to an active one. During that time in between the two, nine days, the lights started coming on. The drinking had to stop but I couldn’t see a way to make it stick. Unfortunately, AA is not an option for me (long story and this is already going to be a novel).

The new job makes it impossible to drink during the work week. I need my brain for this one, unlike the desk job world. That was step one. The new job also plunged me into a hell of pain, that woke me up to the fact that if I didn’t lose weight, I was not going to be able to continue. Foot and knee pain (I’ve got something wrong with my heel) was insane. When I get up from a chair, I have to kind of lumber back and forth until things warm up and I can walk normally.

Two weeks in, I finally started a half ass low carb shift. A week into that, I went nuts and threw out all the carbage in my kitchen and went full on keto, obsessively reading and planning and being amazed at what an easy time I was having sticking with it.

A funny thing happened on the second weekend in. I drank half a bottle of vodka. Hey, no carbs, right? I was so incredibly sick the next day, I thought maybe something was truly wrong with me. I have since not wanted to trade how great I feel every morning for that hell and for the progress I’m making in fixing my body. I’m slowly learning that I just don’t need or want it anymore and I no longer get what I’m hoping to get from it.

So…TL;DR…with this WOE, I’ve managed almost a month now with no booze and it’s been kind of like falling off a log. Interesting thing I noticed when I was trying not to drink before is that sometimes I’d need, yes NEED to eat candy to the point I couldn’t get the package open fast enough. I truly think it all ties in for me.

It’s early in the game, and I still hurt a lot, but it’s slowly getting better. I’m losing weight very nicely so far. But I’m in this for the long haul. It’s an amazing burden to be lifted when you finally feel hope that you can fix yourself.

Thanks for reading this far if you made it. I’ve had myself trapped in a pretty lonely prison for quite a few years and I sure hope I can make some connections here and enjoy the community and support.

(Jessica) #2

Welcome! Wow! What a story! Sounds like you’ve got a great outlook! For me, this place keeps me on track. I read here and it makes me want to be better.

(Ellie) #3

Welcome! And what a story!
Amazing victories already, it sounds like you made massive positive changes. Congratulations.
Remember to keep track of all the little non scale victories to keep you feeling positive if the scale slows down.

(Karim Wassef) #4

welcome!

(Jennibc) #5

Alcohol hits you much harder when you are on keto, good to stay away for a bit. I can have two drinks max now and then I feel incredibly intoxicated by it.

#6

Oh, I think it’s guaranteed the scale will slow down, and highly likely it’ll even stop for awhile. This has already become about so much more than that for me. Sometimes you don’t know how truly awful you feel until you start to get better. I’m sure I’ll have trials along the way. I have a plan. I’m not changing one single thing I’m doing right now and if things slow down, I’ll begin the experiments on what I need to change. Chronic, serial dieter here. That has to stop.

#7

Amen to that. I think the thing that is a game changer for me though, is that the control has changed. I’m not a person who is totally powerless over a liquid and must never touch it again. I’m just an average Jane who has decided that crap makes me feel like death now and I am making the choice not to go there. Forever? Dunno. I don’t have to deal with that right now though. This feeling great when I wake up is pretty amazing, and neither cinnamon rolls nor wine are worth the results they give.

It’s crazy what your own brain can do for you just by changing how you look at something.

(Andi loves space, bacon and fasting. ) #8

Hi! I’m new here too and loved reading your intro! I’m 43 and was also drinking WAY too much and had depression like a tidal wave. I got started here after finally having the courage to get help for the depression. For me, that started a snowball effect that led to giving up alcohol, wanting to read everything I could get my hands on about IF, LCHF and keto, and feeling like I’m no longer on the way to death.

Thanks for sharing your story!!

#9

I probably did this all backward and if I’d started with the depression, might have turned around sooner. The cool thing is though, the removal of the damaging habits is solving the depression problem for me. Thanks to you too…it’s good to know I’m not the only one battling this.

(Andi loves space, bacon and fasting. ) #10

People have posted here about how keto really helped their depression. Somewhere I read (maybe in The Obesity Code?) that insulin resistance in the brain is a cause of depression. The take-home message is IT’S ALL RELATED. That’s been absolutely mind-blowing to me, that my life long habit of eating too many carbs has caused my obesity, my depression, problems with my feet, an itchy auto-immune skin condition - basically everything bad that has happened to me is the result of my diet.

The really awesome upside is that it’s all fixable!!! Eat keto or at least LCHF, fast occasionally and all of these bad things improve!!

So glad I found this lifestyle :heart_eyes:

(Robert C) #11

This is a great habit to not have anymore!

When I was initially going Keto I too noticed (and was truly happy about) the lessening of the carb urge. I couldn’t tell how much was physical and how much was mental. The good news is that it is likely going to get to be less and less of an urge until it goes away (that is what happened to me). What I notice now, when I go to the supermarket, is that I see pizza crust as cardboard, pasta as plastic, the whole soda isle is chemicals in water - basically almost every “food” with a multi-month or greater shelf life is simply dead material that I do not want. A very different point of view than I had before starting this journey.

This sounds good coming from a newbie. Keep going slow and keep in mind both scale and non-scale victories. Stalls may come and go but, probably your foot / knee / heel pain will get noticeable better as the weight goes down. Avoid getting upset about things you read on the internet about people losing dramatic amounts of weight in a short time - this is mental poison to a good long-term plan and doing anything drastic has a better chance of making you fall off the wagon that it does getting you a permanent gain.

And Welcome! :grinning:

#12

Rob~ I just got back from the grocery store (we’re getting ANOTHER foot of snow today) and as I was strolling through, the thought occurred to me looking at the bread isle that those items may as well just be poison to me. That’s my frustration with some of the other places on the internet I’ve wandered through. I am truly trying to change my mindset about what constitutes a healthy diet, not trying to figure out what kind of dessert I can entertain myself with every night. I hate to sound like a budding keto snob, but I very well might be. The whole goal for me needs to be a complete shift in the way I view food, not just a fad diet because I’ve been through those and they don’t work.

The whole food industry is kind of interesting and scary when you sit back and look at it from a profits perspective. It’s not unlike the tobacco industry in some ways. Keep people addicted and the profits rolling in. Make sure the “officials” (healthcare, gov, industry lobbyists) for the most part continue to preach outdated info. Uh oh…I’ll end up traveling down a rabbit hole here :smiley:

(Robert C) #13

Two things I’d like to mention:

  1. It might be a good idea to not let the food industry / government problems get you down. Best to not ruminate or go down non-positive rabbit holes. That is exactly when you might think some alcohol will help (it won’t and it can do real damage to your progress).
  2. I do not know if - as a nurse - you have heard this 100 times or not but, I like it and think it is a good idea so I will write it here “Treat yourself as you would treat one of your patients”. All of the kindness, compassion and understanding you give out each day should also be directed at yourself. It is all too easy to kick yourself over and over again for some slip or mistake - turn that voice off and keep in mind the long game - a happy and healthy you!
#14

If anything, thinking about how the food industry gets things wrong just makes me want to get things right :slight_smile: I prefer not to let myself be a victim.

Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes we are indeed not the kindest to ourselves.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #15

Your story is so inspiring, thanks for sharing and congrats on your progress so far! Welcome to the community :blush:

(Andi loves space, bacon and fasting. ) #16

Knowledge is power. I did a major clean-out of my refrigerator and pantry. I even found that pre-grated cheese has corn starch to keep it from clumping! As far as I’m concerned, sugar and heavily processed foods are poison. Especially sugar.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #18

Welcome and thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing you around and hearing about how this woe helps your pain levels. For me, PN caused by chemo, it has helped tremendously. I can freaking use these useless feet again (and wear cuter shoes now).

#19

Thank you, thank you for sharing your story! It is inspiring. Someone already said it and I agree that sometimes you don’t know how bad you were feeling until you start feeling better! For me, I am working through a long plateau, about 6 months now. I just keep reminding myself how much better I am feeling and how, on the few special occasions when I have had some sweets, it has really affected me. Your story is another reminder to stay the course!

(Ellen) #20

Welcome! Good work so far, it’s a great feeling when you realise you can help yourself isn’t it.

(Consensus is Politics) #21

Number one tip. Increase your salt intake. If you get legcramps at night, low electrolytes is normally the cause. A near instant cure for thise cramps is pickle juice of all things. Its well documented, and cures the leg cramp in less than two minutes. I think 2-4 ounces it all it takes.

Keto Vitae!