So I just went and got some steaks and chicken thighs with the skin on. LOL Guess we’ll see how it goes. Now I need to find a recipe for baking those thighs so that they/the skin gets nice and crispy for me! I made a London broil once and basted it with a blue cheese butter sauce as it cooked and it was so dang good! I may use it for the steaks.
Looking For Pointers/Words Of Advice/Etc
In2steam
(Chris W)
#29
I make keto milkshakes with equal parts of HWC, & almond/coconut milk, a scoop of cheap protien powder(not needed) and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, a couple pecans or almonds if I have them laying around and ice. I sometimes use a flavoring, but I would not recommend it unless you know it does not trigger insulin. Blend in ninja/bullet machine on the smoothie level, comes out perfect.
Volume ranges from 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending upon what I am trying to accomplish, more being when I want to amp up my metabolism before a fast.
Eat oil/fat with veggies as much as possible.
I love bacon grease on my salad/spinach which I eat almost always at first meal.
Brussel sprouts quartered and roasted with salt, EVO, then put butter on them the last couple minutes(when they are nice and black) some parm, and mix up some mayo with hot sauce to dip, its just like fries to me.
cwemmons
(Tina Emmons)
#30
I’d like to challenge you to stick with it. If I can do it, you can do it. I am 15 weeks in and have lost…ready??? Four whole pounds! (Have 60 to lose) Strictly keto, accepting it as my way of life, enjoying it and had never, heard of such poor results on the scale, including my own past experience. The wise folks here, advising you suggested as they did to you, that I was actually operating in calorie restriction. I started fasting too soon, which you may very well be doing with OMAD. I have gone back to just plain eating keto(I also have zero hunger issues or…have mastered ignoring it) and I’m now doing some EF. Fasting around “life” happening and feasting when life happens. I’m so discouraged but “trusting the process” and keeping calm. Hope you keep at it!
Capnbob
(Rob)
#31
Note, you macros are not the %, they are targeted grams.
This is the tricky thing about satiety. People will endless say, “eat to satiety” but that is easy for some and meaningless to others. Especially when starting out. I’m sure you don’t purposely calorie restrict but it doesn’t mean you aren’t. If you have come from a CICO past and have eaten a certain way for a long time, then your mind and body may well be comfortable in the old habits (e.g. low calories), but this doesn’t mean it is what is best for your body. You may well have lowered your metabolic rate significantly through years of restriction and OMAD. You would be a pretty rare fish if 1400-2000 calories are enough to have a body your size do everything it should, especially at this stage of your adaptation or lack thereof.
Of course they are… any meal of 2000kcal is a big meal for anyone… and it will leave you full… but it still doesn’t mean it’s enough. That’s why I suggest getting off OMAD. It is not recommended for weight loss, more for maintenance. That Dr Jason Fung talking, not me (well, me as well).
The lean meats thing is not mandatory, but it is worth working on. It makes keto and getting sufficient energy much easier. You are working hard on it at too few calories, it would be much harder getting the energy you probably should. I agree about gristle (not fat) and flabby skin, which is why you bake/fry or whatever the buggers until they ARE crispy. I bake my salted chicken thighs in the oven so the skin is very crispy and they are lush! Find fatty things you CAN eat.
I’ll just interject my story, which is only my own but it is representative of a fair chunk of the obese people here. In starting my most recent attempt at traditional weight loss (4 years ago), I was your size and lost 75lbs through CICO and exercise in 9 months. I worked really hard - ate too little, cycled hard for 15-20 miles a day almost every day for months. The moment I stopped exercise, I put 35 lbs back on in 2 months even at the same calorie level. After that, nothing worked, I’d wrecked myself. Eating under my TDEE calories every day (which wasn’t that hard) didn’t work so I was stuck, 40lbs down but very obese and getting sicker, working hard to stay there. 6.5 months ago, I started keto and worked it… I ate more than I had in several years… and lost weight… lumpily but significantly, 50lbs in 5 months, though it took more than 6 weeks to lose anything beyond the water weight. It is counter-intuitive to eat tons of fat, eat more calories, don’t worry about the exercise, etc. but for many of the obese, this is exactly how it works. Do what you want but don’t let past failed strategies determine your future.
CandyLindTX
(Candy Lind)
#32
OK, Miss Verbose Is in the building. I actually cut this post down by 30%. REALLY. 
Welcome, @HereWeGoAgain , we’re happy you’re here. 
Lots of great advice here (and some conflicting, as usual!). There are as many ways to do keto as there are stars in the sky. But like @Rajseth said, TRUST THE PROCESS. KCKO - your 4 months aren’t up!
WHAT - that’s not enough? 
Your body has a lot to heal, and it may be doing things in a different order than you would like. Mine didn’t do the “right” order, either.
DON’T. DO. THIS! Ever heard of cortisol? You’re ramping it up and it will bring everything you want to happen to a standstill. Once again … KCKO. 
WHY??? A thigh with crispy crunchy skin is a miraculous thing. 
Since you’ve been eating OMAD forever, @capnbob is right, you need to shake up your system by eating 2 or 3 meals, at least for a while. And you need to eat more (fat) to get over the IR wall. That wall is a terribly hard thing to break down. Some of us have to learn to climb it, instead. You climb it by eating more fat.
You may need even more tricks in your book to talk your body into doing what you want it to do as you go along. We’ll be here to help you brainstorm a strategy. AND we’ll be here to help you celebrate when the scale- and non-scale victories start rolling in.
KCKO! 
HereWeGoAgain
(Shar)
#33
@cwemmons Thank you so much!! It’s nice to see that there is someone else like me. All I’ve been seeing are all these posts/people/videos of people saying how they are losing crazy amounts of weight from the get go in such short periods of time. Which is great!! But at least I don’t feel like an oddball now. My body probably just has a lot of damage. I just have to be more patient.
@Capnbob Yes, I understand about the macros. I just added the percentages for the hell of it. And yeah, people my size don’t get here eating only 1200-1400 cals/day. Don’t want you to think I’m sitting here saying I was only eating a 1200 cal/OMAD and wondering how I got this size. LOL That’s not what I’m saying. Yes, I did only do OMAD, not cause I purposely restricted. Just that’s how my hunger has been for many, many, years. However, while my OMAD wasn’t always huge in volume of food, it was in calories. A burger and some fries, for example isn’t a huge meal but the calories in it are. THAT and those kind of crap meals, and lack of exercise is how I got here/this size.
All I know is, no matter what time of day, if I had my crappy meal at noon, then I still wasn’t hungry come dinner. If I had it at breakfast, then I sometimes would still not be hungry come dinner. Just depended on the type of meal and day. But I never purposely restricted and it sucks cause I guess from eating like that for so long, it’s messed me up. I think it all stemmed from when I was a teen (didn’t have it easy then). I never found out why but for a very long time I used to get sick when I would eat. Didn’t matter how much or little I used to feel like, and often did, puke immediately afterwards. So I kinda used to avoid eating as much as I could. I also had issues with stomach ulcers as a teen and that may have been a contributing factor for those sick feelings/eating habits back then. I don’t know. Just guessing. Either way it sucks cause I think it’s a HUGE contributing factor of how I naturally eat now.
So anyway, twice this week I decided I would try eating at least two meals in a day instead of one. BUT, neither time went well. Monday I ate like I normally do around noon-2. Thinking I’d eat more at dinner. That didn’t happen. Because I wasn’t hungry. Then yesterday I ate in the morning thinking I’d just try eating again at dinner. But come dinner, yup, wasn’t hungry! So what the heck does that mean? Seems all I’ve been reading is…once you’re fat adapted you won’t be hungry…don’t force yourself to eat if you’re full…etc. So I’m over here thinking, maybe I’m already fat adapted. But then others make it sound like I’m not and that I’m just not eating enough and should be trying to eat more! So which is it? Confusing!
This is where is becomes discouraging. You hear…
Eat more…no don’t eat more if you’re not hungry
You’re fat adapted when you aren’t hungry throughout the day and have no cravings…Oh, you’re just not eating enough, you’re starving yourself!
Do intermittent/extended fasts…NO, don’t fast cause you’re starving yourself!
These kinds of things are what’s very confusing to someone like me. I feel like I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong. Am I fat adapted? Am I just wishful thinking? So many people do OMAD and others make it sound like it’s the best thing, something to strive for. I’ve already naturally been doing that for decades but I’m wrong? I’m starving myself? I don’t know. I don’t mean to come off as mean or anything but which is it?
Anyway, that’s some great progress you’ve made! Hope to be there one day myself and I thank you for your words of wisdom!
@CandyLindTX Yeah, I guess I did say “only” when referring to my issues but yes, even having just one of them is more than enough. LOL Your post brought a tear to my eye. Not sure why. I guess just the part where you said you’d all be here to help me brainstorm and whatnot. That means a lot to me. It truly does.
Sorry if at any time I come off wrong, mean, etc. I just got my period in the middle of the night and I guess I may just be a little more emotional than usual. Sorry if TMI. LOL
On a side note, I took my measurements yesterday and it appears I’ve lost 3 inches off my waist, 1 off my chest and I think it was 2 off my arms! So, I guess SOMETHING is happening and I’ll take it! Thanks again everyone!
Eclecticenigma
(Melissa Marie)
#36
This video
and this thread
Helped me tremendously in understanding what was going on with my own struggles with inches vs lbs and how the body processes things. Things are changing, but it takes a while especially with women, to see results because of how our bodies work.
HereWeGoAgain
(Shar)
#37
Great video! Thanks! Now off to look over that thread. Oh and, coincidentally, on Sunday I was wearing a pair of pants I hadn’t been able to get zipped and snapped shut for a few years. So, I know something is going on.
catsknit
#39
I grew up the same way, hating the feel of fat in meat (my mother cooked very fatty pork roasts, etc for my father - who remained thin, hmmm - but I couldn’t stand it). I have gradually increased my ability to eat fats by starting with lots of butter, coconut oil, etc. I can tolerate much more than I could before I started doing a low carb WOE eating a few years ago, but there are still limits! For chicken, the nice thing is that the thighs with skin/bones are way cheaper than any other cut and you can do a lot with them. If you can’t stand the skin right now, pull it off and the thigh meat will still have a lot more fat than breasts. Save that fat in the freezer, though, b/c one day you are probably going to love having baked/fried chicken skin as a snack!
One very good recipe for the thighs is Dana Carpender’s Wicked Wings (for wings, obviously, but I do it for thighs)
HereWeGoAgain
(Shar)
#40
So I just made up half of my chicken thighs (for the next few days dinners/lunches)…with the skin on lol…using this recipe (https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/crispy-baked-chicken-thighs/). And OMG, it took everything in me NOT to eat more than two! They were so good. And yes, I ate the crispy skin! Cause it was crispy! LOL Gonna make the other half another day with the recipe that was posted above (the Wicked Chicken). Can’t wait!
Capnbob
(Rob)
#41
One of us, One of us!!
You know what I’m gonna say… EAT TWO!!!
Do what makes you feel good, but please (broken record)… don’t fear the fat! Keep up the great progress.
HereWeGoAgain
(Shar)
#42
LMFAO!! I DID eat two. It took everything I had not to eat more! But once I had my veggies with the two I was good and full. Thanks!
Gaining in the beginning
mtncntrykid
(Ron)
#43
But see, one more wouldn’t have been a bad thing and upped your fat intake to get that metabolism running higher. 
Capnbob
(Rob)
#44
Sorry - I misread… so…
…You shoulda had THREE 
I’m just glad you’re pushing yourself to give keto a proper go. Can’t ask for more than that. 
HereWeGoAgain
(Shar)
#45
Ok, so I’m 4 days away from the end of my first 4 weeks!! Since I started this thread I’ve tried a few of the suggestions such as, I’ve added more fats in the way of steaks and chicken thighs with skin. Everything else has stayed the same food wise since it seems I had that down pat via what everyone else said.
For the past week and a half, as suggested, I’ve also been eating TWICE a day, instead of the once a day that I’ve been accustomed to for decades! Anyway, in this past week and a half of doing said things I’ve noticed…
- I have NOT lost anymore weight. In fact, I am up 3 lbs from the lowest I’ve weighed in since starting Keto
- I have been craving and wanting stuff like raisin bran cereal, yogurt, to name a few (but didn’t have them)
- Have GAINED an inch back on my waist (haven’t lost anymore inches anywhere else either)
- Have NOT cheated or gone off plan once.
Still been at it as described previously so not sure why the slight gain in lbs and the inch back on my waist. In fact, I even switched from 20 net carbs to 20 total carbs (which is MUCH harder). Everything else has stayed the same.
I still have NOT been exercising at all. Just everyday stuff around the house, chasing after grandkids, taking care of yard work, etc. It’s also NOT that time of month. Still weeks away before that comes. LOL
Still getting in my electrolytes, water, etc. So yeah, not sure why nothing seems to be happening in the way of loss. But, I’m still gonna keep at it. Hopefully things start moving soon and I’ll experience that “woosh” that everyone seems to talk about.
mtncntrykid
(Ron)
#46
I do understand your frustration!
My suggestion however is to keep doing exactly what you are doing. Remind yourself that your body has to do a considerable amount of transitioning and reconstructing to this new way you are trying to teach it to energize itself. It also has to build different enzyme families and bile salts to digest new food sources (such as the higher fats).
And yet while doing this it is working on repairing a lifetime of damages from a sugar poison high carb diet (and other destructive elements).
So it has a lot to do before tackling reducing weight. You still have to let it become fat adapted that typically will still take 2 - 4 weeks (some it takes longer) to achieve. Stay on the true path and your body will get to it. Trust the process, KCKO.