New to Keto - Lots of Basic Questions

(Baz) #1

Heya,

First of all - sorry if I posted this in the wrong section

I’m a 34 year old otherwise healthy slob lady who weighs about 150 pounds (was 155 b/f keto diet)… I’ve been on the Keto diet for exactly 1 full week (started last Friday). Why am I doing this diet - I will be 100% HONEST with you guys - I’ve been gaining a lot of weight in the past year and I don’t know why - diet same, exercise level same, no medications etc. Normally I hover around the 130 pound mark - no medical conditions as far as I can tell… I have tested my AC1, BG fasting/random, TSH (and other thyroid functions) etc etc. I understand I’m getting older - but 20 pounds in 1 year? Doubtful.

I did have a crash on day #3 - but I’m over it. It’s not hard but it’s not easy either I realize because I’m a super carb fan… my all time favorite foods are mashed potato, macaroni and cheese, ice cream and lots of it, anything chocolate, cheese (yay can eat in Keto!!!), pizza… basically I’m 85% carb! So yeah… currently miserable watching my friends/family eat my Christmas/swiss/truffle chocolates while I’m snacking on 30 gm of Macadamia nuts (and those are either raw/roasted since I can’t have the chipotle or mango flavors - they have maltodextrin… even though the carb count is < 1gm).

Currently, I’m am on a 1400 calorie diet - but I may need to change that… see #2

Anyway - I took my lab values at the beginning of my diet and plan on continuing my diet for hopefully 3 months to see where this goes (and retest my labs).

My observations/questions are as follows

1- I test my urine with a keto stick… I noticed I’m at moderate to low-high ketones in the AM and LOW ketones in the PM. Is this normal? How can I make it through to the high side? My diet is 75%+ fat

2- Since my “diet” (no exercise… yes I will need to incorporate it I know), I lost 5 pounds… I will assume that’s water weight since I doubt it’s humanly possible to lose that without exercise. Should I adjust my total caloric intake at this point?

3- Approximately, how will I know when my “carb stores” have depleted? Will I feel differently?

4- Ever since I started the diet (starting at day #3), I dream and dream and dream - even when I nap I dream (long naps :slight_smile: … I haven’t dreamt in months… not that it disturbs me - even the nightmares don’t bother me (they are usually about work - my boss talking to me). But is this normal?

5- I read on the forum about people testing their blood sugar… the only way I’m aware that’s done is through a blood stick - is that the only way oO? Sounds painful to do that for the keto diet alone without another compelling indication such as diabetes.

Anyway thanks!

Yours Truly,

The miserable carb lady

(Running from stupidity) #2
(Carl Keller) #3

It happened to me too. I used to eat as much of anything as I wanted and not gain an ounce. Then my 30’s happened and my metabolism slowed more than the calories of junk I was putting in and my cells started storing fat and I didn’t want to change.

Fortunately I never slipped into obesity but I had been overweight for a quite a while… and I got tired of what I saw in the mirror so I was just going to experiment with Keto. 3 days in and I was hooked. It’s done so much more than helped me lose weight. It’s given me energy, less inflammation, clearer thinking and greater patience in general.

The strips are mosltly useless. They measure excess ketones that your body did not use and are only good for just saying Yes or No, you have ketones. According to the ketone strip people, the lower the better. If you are not passing a lot of ketones, it means your body is using them and they are not being wasted or overproduced.

In keto we eat until we are not hungry. If 70-75% of your diet is fat, then satiety is fairly easy to attain without eating tons of calories. As you progress toward fat adaption, you will notice that your caloric intake is fairly low anyway, but most of us don’t really track this number. What’s most important is you try eat less than 20 net carbs per day and eat lots of fat to train your body to use it as a primary fuel source. After fat adaptation, you can eat less fat and let your body fat be used as fuel, instead of the fat you eat.

Your liver and muscles store glycogen (stored glucose) and as you deplete these you lose water (weight) because for every gram of stored glycogen there’s 3 grams of stored water. There will almost always be a small store of glycogen in your liver because in instances where your body needs fast energy, it prefers glycogen instead of ketones. The liver will hold on to this glycogen for dear life but it is possible to drop that reserve during extended fasting. This is not necessarily a good thing or bad thing but it usually comes in the form of deficated water… *all this according to Peter Attia… and the body will figure a way to put that reserve back in place.

One remarkable thing about the liver’s desire for glycogen is that it can actually manufacture glucose from lactic acid and re-store it for future emergencies (Like running from saber toothed tiger). That’s pretty freaking cool.

I think the better question is when will I know when I am fat adapted (using fat for primary fuel)? And that answer is when you have all day energy without peaks and valleys, like when you are on a carb based diet. When you can go 24 hours without experiencing physical (not mental) hunger and when you don’t have cravings for sugar and carbs. That could be a month or two. Not everyone reaches this in the same amount of time.

Your brain loves ketones for fuel. It’s a far better fuel source than glucose and many people say how their mental clarity is really amped up on the keto way of eating. More vivid dreams and dreaming more often is most likely because of the ketones. Back when I was in school, I wish I had ketones in my brain when I was testing. I bet this would have been a huge advantage.

I hope someone else can better answer this for you. I don’t monitor but the tech is there to do it.

Also, this is a really good tool to help you along in your keto journey : cronometer.com

Hope I didn’t ramble too much, and welcome to the forum. :slight_smile:

(less is more, more or less) #4

I’m guessing that was the source for the FAQ on these forums?

And there’s the more narrative-friendly intro PDF, here: http://pwop.com/download/TheKetogenicDietInANutshell.pdf

Both are great starting points for the neophyte.

(Baz) #5

Thanks for your responses and for the link! Just finished reading it. Answers a lot of my questions

Right now I’m at < 20 gm of Carbs, and using the App TotalKetoDIet to track my macros/calories. I guess at this point, for my question #2 - the answer really is until “satiety” and as long as I keep my carbs below 20 grams (or 19). The strangest thing is, I lost another 2 pounds - so 7 pounds in little over a week without exercise. That’s a lot of water weight and I’m drinking a LOT of water too. I typically don’t feel hungry - but there’s a lot of junk food at my house (it’s the season!) and I look and it and I miss it - but that’s more mental than anything. I should probably invest in some Erythritol and look up some keto dessert recipes if I plan on maintaining this regimen. Can’t maintain a long term diet/plan if I’m denying myself.

I realize now I should cut down on my caffeine intake - to help with my ups and downs with energy.

I’m still having trouble trying to exercise - each time I brisk walk or mini jog I cramp up not even a minute later. I normally don’t exercise much, but I always take the stairs at work - now taking up 1 flight of stairs instantly induces pain in my thighs/cramps (not out of breath just pain) - I assume that’s lactic acid… anyway to relief that or push through this phase quicker? I believe I should get over that hurdle eventually. I’m read that your breath won’t be very pleasant when you are in ketosis at first - is this always the case? I haven’t experienced that yet.

(mags) #6

In the past whenever I tried to do the Atkins diet I always had to give up because of horrendous daily cramps. I’ve now learnt that you have to increase your salt intake significantly and make sure you get your electrolytes. There are several threads on here about this. Sorry I’m not good at copying links when I’m on my phone.