Looking for Reassurance

(Craig Sobel) #1

Been on Keto since 1/1/19. Things are going really well. I’m down 20 pounds and felt totally in control. I’ve been walking anywhere between 2-4 miles every day. I’m enjoying the food I’m eating and the results I’ve been getting…

I was intermittent fasting last week – for about for about five days. I wouldn’t say it was totally easy, but it wasn’t too overwhelmingly difficult, either. Then, earlier this week, I realized I was hungry in the morning, so, listening to my body, I ate a keto breakfast. Also had lunch and dinner and nearly nothing in between.

The rest of the week, I’ve had the same experience. I’m doing my best to just eat three meals and not snack – but I’m not always successful with that. My macros are in line still and I’m not exceeding 20 net carbs a day, but I am eating more than I had been. I also try to avoid sweeteners. (I gave up my 25 year Diet Coke habit! Hooray!) I haven’t weighed in the past couple days but earlier in the week, it had been stable – not losing, but not gaining.

My guess is that I’m just not fat adapted yet and I need to be patient. But I wanted the input of the community as reassurance. One side note: I’ve been drinking a TON of water – it seems to settle my hunger for at least a few minutes.

Any insight or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

#2

Craig, it looks like your on the right path. One month is not a lot of time, when you consider how long you were eating before you started keto. I wouldn’t get in too stressed out about it, if I were you.

If I read the above correctly, does that mean you fasted for five days, or you did IF for five day straight?

If you fasted for five days, that’s an extended fast, but if you were eating each day within a certain window of time, then yes, that’s intermittent fasting. Personally I wouldn’t worry about fasting right now. I would focus on getting used to this new way of eating that’s contradictory to everything we’ve been taught for decades.

My great friend @juice wrote up this wonderful guide for beginning keto. I’m not going to repeat it here, because he does a much better job of explaining things than I do. :slight_smile:

But I do want to reassure you, that it sounds like you’re doing well, and not to stress too much. It takes time, honestly. Think of it this way, you’ve got your good health to look forward to, the rest of your life.

(Craig Sobel) #3

Thank you so much – you’ve definitely reassured me.

And, for clarity, I was intermittent fasting over five days – stopped eating after 9PM and didn’t eat again until 1PM the next day. But I haven’t done that at all this week.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #4

Congratulations for this!! It’s not easy but you will thank yourself for this in the long run so well done! :clap::clap:

#5

That’s no problem. Just eat when you’re hungry. Keep your carbs under 20g.

That’s my advice for now. :+1:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

@csobel You’ve been ketogenic for four weeks now, but full keto-adaptation/fat-adaptation is still another four weeks or so down the road.

As long as you are keeping your carbohydrate low, you are doing over 90% of this way of eating. The rest is more in the nature of tweaks. The “eat to satiety” thing can be scary in the beginning, but in the absence of insulin, you are likely to find your hormonal signaling restoring itself.

In my case, it was very sudden—right in the middle of a meal—after three weeks or so. My appetite is now significantly less than it was during those first three weeks. I have come to the conclusion that all that food was initially needed to reset the famine mentality my body had been in, and once it was assured of abundant intake, it felt safe to shut off my appetite and part with some of my stored fat. So eat to satiety, and not beyond.

You may or may not have learned that the reason for the carbohydrate restriction is to minimize your blood sugar level, which in turn allows you pancreas to relax and stop secreting high levels of insulin. Since insulin is the fat storage hormone, among other things, a low insulin level not only allows the whole body to stop frantically responding to insulin, it particularly allows fat to leave the fat cells and be metabolized.

Protein also stimulates insulin, though much less than carbohydrate does, but in the absence of carbohydrate, protein also stimulates enough glucagon to keep the insulin in check and to stimulate ketogenesis, so protein on a low-carb/keto diet is pretty much a non-issue. That is a good thing, since we cannot live without protein.

Fat, which you will hear a lot about on these forums, is not a magic keto food, but merely the safest source of calories, since its effect on the pancreas is minimal. Fat calories can therefore replace the calories no longer coming from carbohydrate, with almost no effect on insulin level. The body needs small quantities of two types of fat: ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids. Other than that, it has no need for polyunsaturated fatty acids. The healthiest fats, contrary to standard dietary advice, are saturated fat (to regulate the lipid metabolism and increase HDL) and monounsaturated fat (metabolized for energy).

So, as paradoxical as it may sound, the idea is to eat fat in order to lose fat. To paraphrase Michael Pollan, keto can be basically summed up as “Eat real food. To satiety. Mostly protein and fat.”

(Craig Sobel) #7

Great stuff. Great reinforcement for the things I’m doing. Patience is hard but I’m sure it’s worth the wait (or weight!). I’m very results driven and not particularly patient, but I am totally committed to the way of life. I really enjoy it and love the results I’ve gotten so far. Thanks for the words of advice.