New to ket

#1

Hi everyone. I’m new to keto and I started April 30. I’m doing this to lose 100 plus pounds and improve my health. I’ve been keeping my carbs well below 20 eating high fats, moderate protein and intermittent fasting. I haven’t had any symptoms of the keto flu or other symptoms and used some ketostix that says i’m in ketosis which I heard is useless. I want to keep going and stay motivated but I feel like I’m not doing well. Any advice on what I can do to improve my chances of success. Thanx

(Jay AM) #2

Why do you think you’re not doing well? What does your food log and calorie intake look like? How do you feel?

(LeeAnn Brooks) #3

I wouldn’t say the sticks are useless, they just aren’t precise. I’ve been using them regularly and it always shows I’m in very high range. So I decided to test them on my husband who doesn’t do Keto. They said he had none.
So if all you want to do is just keep track that you remain in ketosis, they can be a good guide.
If your goal is to track and see which foods cause numbers to go up or down, it may not be as effective.

#4

I just feel like I’m not. Maybe because I don’t have a good support system. I feel normal with no symptoms of being in ketosis or the keto flu.I drink lots and lots of water and drink 2 cups of bullion broth a day. My calories are no more than 1,100. I’ve been using the carb manager app to keep track of what I eat. I eat breakfast around 10am which consists of some type of protein(bacon,eggs etc), some type of greens(spinach,kale etc) and use butter and olive oil. Then ill have a snack around 2pm like pork rinds or a cup of unsweetened almond milk and then dinner no later than 6pm which consists of protein like a 4oz steak with 2tbs butter, 1 1/2 cups of salad with1/3 cup of full fat ranch 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and 1tbsolive oil and water water water

#5

Ok Thank You

(Jay AM) #6

Ketostix show you ketones you are wasting, you don’t want to waste ketones. Eventually they will show trace and that’s the goal.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #7

I’m wasting a lot! I know I’m not fat adapted yet. Fingers crossed, soon.

#8

Ok Thank You

#9

I hope I get there too. Good luck to you

(Randy) #10

Try to think of keto as a long term project. It will likely take several weeks to switch your metabolism to effortlessly burning fat instead of carbs. It took me a solid month to where I felt like I was fully adapted.

My personal opinion is that many people calorie restrict too much in the early stages, which makes fat adaption harder. Just make sure you’re not going hungry at all.

(Jennifer ) #11

The ketostix are more like a pregnancy test than a blood sugar meter. They tell you “yes” or “no” to the question “am I in ketosis?”

Not “how deeply into ketosis am I?” or “Am I doing this keto thing right?”

Many of the effects of the keto flu are truly just electrolyte issues, which you are likely mitigating with the broth and drinking lots of fluids. I didn’t get any symptoms my first time. Other times I did. YMMV.

One tip to keep yourself sane: Control The Controllables.

Controllables:

-what you eat
-planning
-buying the proper food
-getting enough electrolytes and water
-continuing with your new way of eating day after day, even when it’s hard

Not controllables:

-the scale numbers
-the color of your pee strips
-whether your get the keto flu or not

#12

Ok Thank you for the advice

#13

Thank you very much. I’m gonna keep pushing myself to do this.

(Celi Liu) #14

Don’t feel discouraged. Any beginning of a new diet is difficult and faced with uncertainty. You’ll see changes soon. Before and After pictures usually help and always stick to forums for support. It’ll turn out well in the end.

#15

Thank You very much

(Candy Lind) #16

(Sorry in advance -long post!)

RED ALERT WARNING SIREN!

You, my darling girl, are not eating enough.

When you begin the keto way of eating, you must do three things to teach your body to burn fat:

  1. stop eating carbs (under 20 grams, looking good), only 5% or so of calories.
  2. Ramp up the fat to 70% of calories (you’ve got a start on it)
  3. Eat enough to get over the insulin wall that your body has built in front of your fat storage. 1100 calories? NO — CICO does not work. In fact, CICO is (cough, excuse my French) horse-shit. If you have 100 pounds to lose, you need to up that to somewhere between 1300-1500. Or simply quit worrying about calories for the next few months. Eat until you’re not hungry! Hallelujah!

If you did a macro calculator and put in a caloric deficit (to lose weight), go back & recalculate it with the selection to “maintain.” Keep your protein intake (you know the carbs & fat routine) there until you are not just in ketosis, but fat-adapted. You can look up the difference here in the forum by searching for “fat adapted”. Then you can go re-calculate. Counting calories is really something you shouldn’t have to do on keto, and it’s very freeing to not have to, after having it beat into you forever. Track your food to make sure you’re eating enough fat, but try to ignore the calories at first. I know, it was hard for me, too, but trust the process.

What will probably happen is this: at first, you might gain (DON’T PANIC! It won’t last), but all that fat is going to take away your hunger, and it will also get your sugar cravings under control. If you’re like me, this is a HUGE thing. Then, the water weight will fall off and changes will start to happen. Your body may start to do some healing if you’ve got other issues besides weight (hormones, auto-immune, etc etc) before it decides to attack your fat stores. PATIENCE.

We always tell Newbies: low carbs (<20), moderate protein, and eat fat to satiety. Say it while you’re doing yoga. :smiling_imp: You should NOT be hungry between meals - if you need to snack, you didn’t eat enough at the last meal. Eat when you are hungry, DON’T eat when you’re not. This retrains your body to understand hunger signals.

Try to keep it simple at first - eat the foods you like, but try to choose higher fat choices (chicken thigh with skin, not boneless skinless tenders), add fat to everything, and think of the carbs as fat carriers. Your food choices sounded like you have the idea, just ramp it up.

I’ll now open the floor up for questions … :wink:

The other thing we always say is “KCKO.” Relax, you came to the right place! We’re here to help in any way we can.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #17

You have a support system here, Urine strips may be useless. I’m four weeks out and show only trace. Kinda disappointed but, can’t afford blood test. Just keep going, I did this four years ago and didn’t even know it was keto. Lost 20 pounds. Reach out if you need help! Up the fats.

(Candy Lind) #18

Don’t be, it means your body’s gotten more efficient at using the ketones.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #19

@Msmimi2424 What Candy said! :bacon:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #20

Update!! I ate a whole avocado today rather than a half and for the first time I am finally showing pink. It’s always nice to have confirmation. But for others out there who are unsure, like I was, the answer is definitely fat!