Lost and Confused

#21

Zero carb means no vegetables, of course. Or just in trace amounts, in spices and some condiments. Zero isn’t literal, we inevitably eat some carbs even from animals.
I eat 4-12 net carbs a day if I don’t eat plants (usually around 5, 12 was an unusual day with heavy cream) but that’s fine.

#22

@Mardew
I am only a beginner too, and losing 2 kilos in 5 weeks isn’t amazingly great, but I think it IS for all that I eat. I try to keep below my maintenance Kcal which says 1992/day. Usually I come in around 1500. If I keep on keto, but the calories go higher, I think its OK for the time being, but I think it makes it harder to lose any weight. It might still work though I am unsure - as long as my carbs stay under 20g. (Conversely to make it clearer- I think if I eat less calories but 50g of carbs I would gain weight!) But I eat so much and so well and so rich that I usually dont need to surpass the 1992 Kcal. I think I have gone to 2200 twice during the holidays eating keto snacks, but I allowed myself to be bad a bit seeing it was Xmas. But I never strayed from keto and always kept my carbs low.
As for your family- honestly- I would not let these people drive you crazy. And this is what a man who is coming close to either senility or being spoiled might tend to do. Being totally honest- if I were 93, would I really want to keep up eating healthy? I might want to enjoy the last years I have in my life, and besides- he is still his own boss isnt he? He can say what he will or will not eat? I am also not a great cook but I am having fun with the keto recipes. So I would cook some good keto recipes for all and let them pick and chose which parts of it they want to eat. This whole “healthy” eating business has been turned on its head for me. I have friends who think I am crazy. One of them is a cardiologist who tells me he would have betrayed his whole profession if he told heart patients to eat a lot of butter and eggs. Thats just how it is. We on keto have to overcome what has been pounded into our brains for a lifetime and that is that butter and eggs are bad for you. So I eat another egg, or put butter on lots of foods. I made my first sauce bearnaise today and it was so good that I licked the plate - GUILT FREE. Talk about butter. It really is a change that we have to learn to embrace. So dont let yourself be bossed around by them- because otherwise you really are risking your OWN life and health for them. As hard as it sounds: start thinking about you and not them. Take care of you and let them kind of slip slide along side of the decisions you make for YOUR future and health. Who knows? They might benefit too. BTW- I had a senile father who was the big boss- always. And it was really hard to transition to my being the one who had the common sense and had to lead him in the end. All of this is hard, but you sound like you are doing really poorly and it is time to take care of YOU first.

(Maria Dewaik) #23

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I have been taking care of everyone else my whole life. And even though I need to watch Dad, I now am realizing that it’s time to take care of me first. Being a mother, wife, etc. it is always hard to put yourself first. I now am starting to accept the fact that this is okay. So now I am trying hard to get my health life back, if my dad follows what I tell him, fine. If not, that is his decision. I can’t make him eat healthy at 93, so just concentrate on doing what I feel and know is right. Thanks for letting me hear it again, that it fine to take care of me first. It’s taken me almost 65 years to realize that.

(Marianne) #25

This was me ten months ago. I am soon to be 61. I was so despondent, hopeless and depressed, all I did was work, come home and sleep (check out). Our bedroom was my living room. I slept probably 11-12 hours a day during the week and 12-16 on the weekend. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was eating and watching tv.

Keto is the easiest thing I have done. I have lost 60 lbs. since Feb. Would be at goal if I could lay off the champagne. Keto has been my miracle like many other people here. I believe it can be your’s, too. I haven’t read this whole tread, so I’m sure folks are responding already. For me, in a nutshell, it is:

  • Keep the carbs less than 20g/day, and lower if you can.
  • Go to ketokarma.com and use the free macro calculator to get your protein and fat macros.
  • Make a list of the protein, fat and carb grams in a serving of the foods you will most commonly eat - all clean food in their raw state - all kinds of meats/chicken/fish, bacon, eggs, sausage, cheese, heavy cream, mayo, butter, broccoli, greens, etc.
  • Meet or exceed your fat and protein macro per day. You only have to track for about 3-4 weeks, until you learn the values of the food you are eating and how to construct your meals.
  • Eat three meals a day (even if you never did before - believe me, it is not a hardship!). :blush: After about 2-3 weeks, you probably won’t want to eat as much or as often. At that point, you can switch to two meals a day, 16:8 fasting, etc.
  • Don’t count calories.
  • Don’t weigh too often - the scale (to me) is horrid. I am perfectly fine not knowing my exact weight for three months now. I get weighed at the doctors and that is it.
  • Drink lots of water, some of which is salted.
  • Don’t snack.

Good luck; we are all here with you and for you.

(Marianne) #26

Wow; very inspiring.

I feel the say way.

(Marianne) #27

:clap:

#28

Ooops! I just found out all the yummy béarnaise sauce I licked off my plate was something like 1000 Kcal!!! OOOPS. But I am not going to sweat it. Why? Because my carbs today are 15g! LOL

(Full Metal KETO AF) #29

@Chantarella @Mardew I think he was pretty clear if you look at the whole thing.

(Scott) #30

I agree, this is pretty much what I do.

(Paulene ) #31

That truly made me LOL. I have always ordered eggs benedict when eating out for breakfast and used to feel so guilty about all the bearnaise sauce. Now I too lick up the sauce (like, politely, with my finger!) but absolutely freak out if they put bread on my plate.

#32

@Paulene
I only started keto 5 weeks ago and in the first week I came to understand that I had some BAD grain allergy. All the cramping was gone within 72 hours- so yeah- I am going to avoid bread like the plague from now on!

(Paulene ) #33

@Chantarella I’m not far ahead of you at 12 weeks. I felt SO much better with no bread/pasta/rice - no achy joints, no bloating, and guess what - no …eerrr…farting!! (blush) I am now STRONGLY recommending this way of eating to my (noisy) husband.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #34

:crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers: @Paulene One of my own unexpected consequences of going keto. Within 2 weeks the flatulence and bloating of a lifetime ceased. I would stay keto for no other reason if none existed!

#35

@Paulene
The only one who still farts around here is my tiny chihuahua! LOLOLOL
But everybody thinks I am crazy. I have a lot of doctor friends and they all go by the counting calories fat free green smoothie formula. If I told them how many eggs I ate today I think they would choke. But it isnt just them. I have another friend who has been heavy all of her life and she is now going to weight watchers. ( Been there done that- but I dont want to discourage her.) Another friend of mine gained over Xmas and she and her husband are going to fast for 3 weeks. They simply dont believe me. Nobody can believe that you can eat a cheese omelette with bacon for breakfast and steak with béarnaise sauce and my cheese cauliflower rice for dinner and still lose weight. Nobody believes that you can actually EAT and lose weight.

(Paulene ) #36

@Chantarella yeah, ‘seeing is believing’, I’m afraid. Let’s give them something to look at.

(Maria Dewaik) #37

I agree. Everyone I talk to about low carb, they tell me they have friends who are losing but they still don’t believe it. I am sold. My problems has been my will power and sticking to it. This time around I will be firm.

It’s pretty said to know that our so called “health experts” and government had been misleading us for so many years. Now you can’t even trust them anymore. The docftors seem to know less than we do and can’t be bothered trying to find out about it.

(Candy Lind) #38

Happily, as you continue on this road, you will find more and more who DO believe! It’s an amazing feeling, taking control of your health!

(Susan) #39

Welcome to the forum, Maria =). I wish you much success in your keto journey, and if you have any questions, please ask away, we all want to see you do well and are very happy to cheer you on in your victories =).

#40

@Mardew
Yes Maria- get away from this “I can only lose in life” mentality and start eating well with keto!
Don’t rush, take your time, and watch the weight slowly slowly melt. It takes time, and you still have to get through your day, but eating keto will give you that extra punch- like a thrilling secret you carry inside. Good luck!!
PS I am making myself mac and cheese with cauliflower today! Baking it in the oven. YUM!! Check out youtube.com for recipes- they show us how to do it.

(Bob M) #41

My wife made a great version of that. This is a recipe that, for me, is one I can only have periodically, as I eat too much of it. (Yes, it’s still possible to overeat these things, just not as easy to do.)

I personally love to make new recipes and often make one every weekend or every other weekend. I’m making Alton Brown’s Turketta recipe, with smoked turkey legs, this weekend, for instance. But you can also keep it really simple, and develop some standards. My wife likes to make boneless chicken thighs wrapped in bacon, with spices, for example. It’s quick, easy. If you have a sous vide, this also opens another world of possibilities.

Turketta:

https://altonbrown.com/turketta/

I plan on using the maple sugar this time. We’ll see what happens. Then, maybe I can see about substituting for this next time.