I’m a newbie to all this- just two weeks in and loving it so far… but I’ve got a couple of questions and hopefully someone can help…
I’m doing this for weight loss but also because I’ve had an under active thyroid for years and I’m hoping that this will help with inflammation.
I’ve been using the keto strips … which mostly says I have trace ketones… sometimes one step darker…
But I’ve been quite bloated and I wanted to know if this is something people experience at the start and if it is an indicator of anything. I’m cutting back veg so maybe not enough fibre?
Otherwise, and I know this is wildly different from person to person, but I’m nervous about weight gain because o do seem to be eating a fair amount of food.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#2
Any sudden change of diet can be the cause of intestinal disruption for a while as the micro fauna readjust to the new foods. Fiber would likely do nothing to help and might simply prolong the agony. But, yes, we’re all n=1 experiments. In my case, a lifetime of bloat, gas, reflux, indigestion all went away within a couple of weeks of starting keto! If I never experienced any other good things from it, I would continue to eat keto just for those benefits.
Generally, for most folks the hardest thing about starting keto is getting overall carbs below 20 grams per day and keeping them there. You do not need to eat carbs and the fewer you eat the better.
The second hardest thing for many folks, especially those who are trying to lose weight/fat, is to accept that carbs are the problem not how much fat and protein you eat. Keto is a metabolic normalization process, that includes weight and body comp normalization. You have to give yourself enough energy to get the job done. Restricting calories to some arbitrary daily deficit just makes it harder. Reduce carbs and eat enough fat and protein that you don’t feel hungry all the time. Hunger before a meal is OK, just the way to remind you it’s time to eat. Hungry all the time is not OK - it’s the way to tell you you’re not eating enough.
Lots of folks mistakenly just make keto a low carb version of CICO. Then they wonder why it didn’t work.
That’s really helpful - thank you. I must admit that having spent a lifetime counting calories and staring at the scale (and I used to work for weight watchers!) it’s hard to get my head around this. But I do feel better even two weeks in and I’m trying to think health first and the weight will follow.
I’ve not found it too hard with the carbs, though I’ve had to give up milk in tea. I’ve found it hard to make up the fat intake when it’s not linked to protein though, so have ended up eating too much protein compared to what the macros say.
I guess it’s a whole new way of looking at things- but thanks again!
Don’t count calories, because that can have unintended consequences. Let your appetite be your guide. In my case, that meant eating a lot of food for the first two weeks or so, until my hormones kicked in and my appetite dropped markedly. It was the first time in decades that I understood the difference between “full” and “satisfied.” Eating to a caloric target runs the risk of triggering metabolic consequences, but relying on appetite hormones does not have that effect.
The key is to reduce your insulin level (and we do need some, just not too much) by reducing your glucose (i.e., carbohydrate) load. You have no need for any carbohydrate whatsoever in your diet, because your liver is perfectly capable of making all the glucose your body needs (and we do need some, just not too much). Since insulin is the fat-storage hormone par excellence (it has many other jobs in the body, but this is an important one), keeping it low is the key to being able to shed any excess stored fat that has accumulated.
Remember that you want to lose fat, not lean tissue. You can even afford to add muscle and increase bone density, so weight is not precisely the issue. If the scale doesn’t move, but your clothes fit more loosely, that is a sign that the ketogenic diet is working for you.
Don’t worry about anything but keeping carb intake low. Eat enough protein and fat to satisfy your hunger. You won’t need as much fat to replace the carbohydrate, because it contains over twice as many calories per gram. Just eat when hungry, and stop eating when satisfied.
I love this. Keto in simplified terms. It really couldn’t be simpler and there really is no mystery beyond this.
Like most of us, I came here to lose weight because I was so depressed about my size (230 lbs). I felt and looked horrible and pretty much lost all hope of ever being thin and healthy. By some divine deliverance, I found dietdoctor.com and read all of the success stories - 2-3 times over. These people were all speaking my language. I knew they had lived how I had lived for over 50 years and came out the other side. They said keto was “easy,” and I couldn’t help but believe them because I knew from their stories that they had experienced the same struggles with food and weight as I had, so I didn’t think they’d lie about this. I read everything I could on that site and then found this forum, which was the catalyst to my starting and my greatest tool. I lurked here for about two weeks just reading all the advice everyone gave to newbies, developed a database of foods that were acceptable, and jumped in.
I made a database of all the “keto” foods I liked and could eat, and their protein, carb and fat macros. I got my daily macros off of ketokarma.com and pretty much threw “meals” together based on my food list and meeting or exceeding my fat and protein macros, while keeping the carbs under 20. It was nothing elaborate, I didn’t “cook” anything complicated other than pan searing a piece of meat for dinner or making eggs or bacon, etc. I never counted calories, ate well, and trusted. It worked - and has been my miracle ever since. I am so grateful.
Over two years later, I am continuing to lose (almost at goal weight), and have cheated only once. I love what I eat and every meal is delicious and satisfying and something to look forward to. I don’t obsess about food or eating, my weight, or how much I am losing. I don’t log or chart anything or weigh myself, except when I go to the doctor’s.
My advice is eat natural food and keep the carbs under 20, or lower if you can. Don’t count calories. In the beginning, I ate three meals a day (which I had never done), and did this until my bodily naturally didn’t need to. I could easily make it on two meals a day without trying. Now my husband and I eat only one meal a day. I can do heavy gardening or other exercise and still have no desire to eat before dinner. If I am ever “hungry” before then, I eat something (bacon, cream cheese, olives, hard boiled egg, etc.). Don’t force anything, just eat to plan. All of the positive changes you experience will occur as a natural progression. For about a year, I ate a lot of mayo, which isn’t the worst thing, however, I stopped after learning that it is made with bad oils - even the “olive oil” mayo (only a small portion is olive oil). If I weren’t so lazy, I’d try making mayo, but then again, I’m fine without it.
The people here are the “experts.” Besides living keto, many of them have undertaken the study of the science behind keto and can relate it to the rest of us in understandable terms. If you have a question or issue, post it. People will respond immediately with guidance and support.
This is all so helpful thank you! I’ve been counting carbs but also protein? I thought you had to count protein to make sure you weren’t eating too much. Is that not right?
I’m trying to do away with calorie counting and just eating when I’m hungry. I’m at the stage now where I do feel less hungry however I think I still feel the urge to snack on nuts between meals. It’s not that I feel hungry as such but I think I’m used to feeling full as opposed to, like you say, satisfied. But this is all so helpful. I’m looking forward to feeling healthier.
I haven’t suffered from the headaches or anything yet so it made me worry that I wasn’t doing it right!
The amount of protein we need is under dispute at the moment. The standard recommendation of this site is 1.0-1.5 grams of protein for every kilogram of lean body mass, but I’ve seen recommendations as low as 0.6 grams and as high as 2.0.
The fear used to be that excess protein would automatically be converted into glucose by the liver (a process called gluconeogenesis), but this fear is unrealistic. For one thing, gluconeogenesis is fairly tightly regulated, since excess glucose in the blood can cause problems. For another thing, the liver is perfectly capable of storing excess glucose as glycogen, for distribution later, when needed. Not to mention that the body is perfectly capable of excreting unneeded nutrients.
There is some indication that excess dietary protein might lower the amount of circulating ketones in the blood, but Dr. Paul Mason, an Australian sports physiologist, argues that it is not circulating ketones we are aiming for, but the metabolic healing that results from eating a ketogenic diet. In the absence of an excessive amount of dietary carbohydrate, the body can pretty much be trusted to regulate itself.
There are also indications that all mammals, including us, have an instinct for getting the amount of protein we need. So if you crave meat, then eat more meat. (It is much harder to get high-quality protein from plant sources.) You may have to experiment to see how much protein you need. The fat that comes along with the meat should not be feared, since it will also help satisfy your hunger. But no amount of fat will satisfy you, if you’re not getting enough protein. Of course, it is equally true that no amount of protein will satisfy you, if you’re not getting enough fat. So if you’re hungry, eat!
Without a sample diet it’s just guesses. I’ve also dealt with severe bloating and gas issues. Doing a gut fixing protocol now and so far so awesome! Also have a crap thyroid which I’m nursing back to health (about 50% the right way, 50% cheating with thyroid hormone). But ultimate goal is to support it naturally. Toss the ketone strips, they’re pointless and tell you nothing.
Many here will tell you that you don’t need fiber, many people do fine without it, many (like me) absolutely NEED it to run correctly, I pushed it to the point of being constipated for like 2yrs (still went, but constipated by any normal standard) just to wind up getting a colonoscopy in my 30’s to be chewed out by the doc for not eating fiber, didn’t think he was right but gave it a shot anyways and within days I was running right, pooping daily for the first time in years and the majority of my digestion issues were correcting at that point.
I’ve found anecdotally that it seems it’s those of us that also have gut / digestion issues also seem to need the fiber in there to run right. Fiber isn’t digested like normal carbs, I wouldn’t worry about it.
It seems you want to know how much protein is enough or “too much.” If you’re eating a pound of meat/fish/cheese/eggs per day, you’re probably fine. If you eat 2 pounds, you’re probably fine. If you’re eating less than a pound or more than 2 pounds, you might want to ask for further guidance. Best wishes.
This is great, thanks. Yes the thyroid is a bit of an issue and has always caused me weight issues. I’d read that an anti inflammatory diet would help and that’s partly why I’m giving this a go; because it strips out a lot (although not all) processed food.
To be honest I haven’t missed the carbs but I’m naturally greedy so struggle to know when I’m really hungry or just wanting to eat… practice makes perfect with that I suppose!
I think I agree on the strips too… for no apparent reason, after 6g carbs all day, it tested me negative for the first time and ironically, it was the first time I’d had a headache since I started!!
Me and intuitive eating doesn’t work. My hunger and what I actually need are two VERY different things. I gotta track or I REALLY over eat.
Many doc’s for some reason never want to treat people with sluggish thyroids, they want to wait till they totally crap out. That’s why I dumped mainsteam doc’s. I’ve tried everything (I think) with zero result. Some docs my give your Armour Thyroid which is a dedicated thyroid supplement, but real T3 will immediately start burning fat off you. My doc (who prescribed a lot normal doc’s won’t) still didn’t want to give it to me, so I prescribed it to myself, hello metabolism! I don’t take it for long periods of time though, just to smash plateau’s and jump start fat loss when I need to.
Funny you should say that because I went to a specialist years ago who upped my medication because he said that doctors never prescribe the right amount because they prescribe by blood result whereas, he said, the dose should be by weight. That meant me having a 25mg increase. But my normal doc refused because of the risk of brittle bones so I’m convinced I don’t take enough now.
I think I need to eat less because of the under active thyroid but it’s difficult to know how much. I really only have proper results when I’m down at 1200 but I struggle to live like that…
You can either have your RMR tested so you know more or less where to start from, or track accurately and find your tipping point the ol’ fashioned way. Best way is to work on getting the metabolism up, whether it be reverse dieting or increasing physical activity.
Thanks for this. Reverse dieting is a whole new ballgame for me… and something that would be overwhelming atm. Gonna try to stick to this and see what happens. If the weight normalises that would be great… I do feel a lot less hungry and I’ve stopped picking as much, especially at weekends. So hopefully I’ll find a balance somewhere…
Some are wrongly afraid of protein because they think it turns into pop tarts when they eat it, not true. Make sure you’re getting enough protein, you don’t want to loose “weight” because you’re loosing muscle mass.
Because you seem to be in the same boat I was, this is what happened to me, I didn’t want to count calories so I “ate to satiety” and because at the time I thought calories were BS and pointless nor did I like weighing myself (was allergic to scales and cameras) . So I ate until I wasn’t hungry… except I had no metabolism (thanks thyroid) so it took very little to satisfy me, so I under ate constantly for a long time, then I plateaued because I was under eating, so I started fasting (which is VERY easy with no metabolism to speak of) and I made the issue worse. I didn’t eat a lot of protein because I though it all turned to glucose and was no different than sugar (wrong) so end was even slower metabolism, weight loss was a little fat and a lot of muscle loss, and because I never weighed I never saw it happening in progress. 3 huge middle fingers to me!
I needed to track to force me to eat more! Sometimes is was straight up force feeding, which is how I wandered into reverse dieting and that’s what ultimately fixed everything along with cranking up my protein to start regaining muscle mass.
Just keep an eye on everything regardless of what you do, if you track nothing and everything goes to crap, you have no way to figure out what did it, what makes things better, or what makes things worse! I spent months spinning my tires trying to get a hold on why I was so screwed up. A lot of mindsets had to change to fix it all.
Thanks again for this! Really helpful.
I had a look at the BMR you suggested yesterday and that suggested 1600- 1800 for me so I might try to stick to that for a bit. I’ve been trying to stick to 1200-1300 so that will feel like a lot more food.
I’m glad about what you say about protein because I find it easier to get the fats in if I have it with meat!
It seems I have a lot to learn and as you say, mindsets that need to change.
God bless! I think you said in your original post that you are two weeks in (?). If you are experiencing cravings or the urge to snack (even on keto food), consider eating three meals a day for 2-4 weeks. They don’t have to be huge or elaborate meals. Maybe just two eggs and some bacon or sausage for breakfast; eggs, tuna, cream cheese, leftover piece of meat, etc. for lunch; and then what you would normally eat for dinner. The purpose of this is to fuel your body and help with the metabolic conversion to keto. Although I had never eaten three times a day, I found that this removed all of my cravings for carbs or to have a “snack” entirely. I enjoyed the food and it was pleasurable - and I still lost weight. After a short while, you will naturally reach a point where your body doesn’t require this much sustenance anymore and you will naturally progress to two meals a day with no issues. You may “think” of your favorite foods from the past, however, that’s all it will be - a passing thought - not a horrible craving or an urge you have to fight.
Regarding the protein macro, if I exceeded it, it wasn’t by a huge degree so I didn’t sweat it. Same with the fat macro. Main thing is to keep the carbs as low as you can.
Thank you! I’m more of a two meals and snacks type… I have very little issue in the week but of a weekend I like a bit of wine and that’s usually when I’d have got a carb loaded take away too!
I do feel fat less ‘podgy’ the last few weeks already. I lost 4lbs the first wk but nothing this wk. I’m trying to stay away from the scale though…
Since insulin traps fatty acids inside fat cells (among its many other jobs), the goal of a ketogenic diet is to keep insulin as low as possible for as much of the day as possible. A rise after meals is to be expected, but it is helpful to avoid eating all the time, so that insulin has a chance to drop between meals, as it is supposed to. So the idea is to eat enough at meals that we can go for some time until the next meal.
It you must snack, make it a fatty snack, so that the insulin response is as low as possible, but then be sure to eat more at the next meal. As I mentioned in my earlier post, eating to hunger may initially seem like too much food, but often our body needs that extra in order to start the metabolic healing. As @gingersmommy suggests, until you are fat-adapted, you don’t need to be forcing yourself to eat only two meals a day. Eat to hunger, and don’t eat when you are not hungry. Things generally sort themselves out in a few weeks, at least for most people.
