Newbie here 🤗

(Tara) #1

Hay everyone! I’m Tara just turned 29 and I’m so glad to have found a forum with lots of people who are new and experienced with this! I’d lost about 6 stone 4 years ago but unfortunately done it in a really unhealthy way then had my second child and went on many medications so gained it plus more back. I started keto 2 weeks ago tomorrow with my sister (who’d done it before) I lost 6lbs in my first week, it took me quite a while to go into ketosis (I believe its because of the medication I’m on) anyway really happy to be here. 2nd Weigh day tomorrow :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers: hope it goes well. Anyway hope to get to know you :blush:

(Laurie) #2

Welcome! You’re off to a great start. Nice to have your sister’s support.

(Tara) #3

Thank you. I don’t think I will have lost as much this week as I think it may have been water weight. But any loss is a bonus to me :purple_heart: and yeah we don’t live close to each other but I must have messaged her more than 10 times a day in the first week just asking questions haha :joy: xx

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Just keep your carb intake low, and eat enough protein and fat to satisfy your hunger, and you’ll be fine. As soon as your body uses up its stores of glucose it starts making ketones. But there is a period of adaptation during which cells have to reactivate the metabolic pathways that handle fat metabolism, so don’t be discouraged if fat loss takes a bit of time to get started. This is not a quick weight-loss diet, it is one that restores metabolic health, with shedding excess fat as a delightful side effect, so be sure to give this way of eating time to do its job.

We should probably warn you that fat loss does not happen in a linear manner. There may be days on which the scale doesn’t appear to be cooperating. But don’t worry, it will all work out over time. Also be sure to keep track of the fit of your clothing as well as your weight; sometimes we can get thinner without the scale registering a loss of weight.

(Tara) #5

I’m currently having 15g of carbs due to my medication it makes it harder for me unfortunately to get and stay in ketosis. Its weigh day tomorrow not sure how I’ll do but like you say the scales aren’t always accurate with loss. If I’d weighed yesterday I’d have felt like I lost whereas today I don’t feel I have. I saw someone I hadn’t seen for a few weeks yesterday and they said it looked like I lost some weight I can’t see anything though. But last week (my first week) I’d lost 4 and a half inches all over. So I just don’t know. I’m a very obsessive person so have to be careful even trying to weigh weekly is so hard. I felt slimmer in my clothes yesterday but not today I do have a common cold though and that makes me feel a bit meh. I’m not looking for a quick fat loss if I’m honest sorry if it read like that but I done that before and I became very unhealthy. I want a lifestyle change because what I was doing before wasn’t working. I’ve seen many success stories but it’s taken them time. I’d like to reach half my goal weight by August next year for my 30th xx

(Tara) #6

Ps I’m not hungry so feel like I’m doing something right lol I track what I’m having and all seems to be in the right area so that’s a good start xx

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

I didn’t know that there were any medications that required carbohydrate in order to be effective. I can see how that would hamper you. Just work as hard as you can to keep your carb intake as low as you can. Especially avoid sugar in all its forms. A number of people find that they add a bit of lean tissue (muscle and bone, especially) while shedding fat. This confuses the scale, but since lean tissue is denser than fat, we can still get more slender without losing weight. That’s why I make a point of talking about fat loss rather than weight loss.

(Polly) #8

Welcome to this forum @Tarabrown91.

Is the 15g carbs included in the medication itself? Are there any other options for similar medications which have the same active ingredients but without the carbs included? Or is it necessary to eat the carbs when taking the medication?

Sorry for so many questions, but trying to see a work around for you.

(Tara) #9

Hi there thank you for the welcome. If I’m honest I’m not 100% sure they’re antipsychotics and mood stabilisers because I have bipolar and schizoaffective disorder. I’m expecting a call from the psychiatrist either this week or next so I’m going to ask then. The reason I’ve lowered it to 15 is because I wasn’t going into ketosis at 20 so not sure how the medication mix’s with it all :thinking: but it definitely does but like I say I will speak to the psychiatrist about it. I was also addicted to laxatives I was taking a extreme amount for a long time and that has kind of messed me up so not sure if that has made things harder.

This seems to be working for me currently though as I’ll be in week 3 as from tomorrow and I’m definitely in the groove of it now xx

(Polly) #10

Sounds as though you have found the right way of eating for you now. It should help resolve any damage you have done to your metabolism through over use of laxatives and bad eating plans in the past.

(Kathy Timmons) #11

Welcome Tara,
Keto is a great WOE and is so easy to maintain. I too have had to take a lot of medications during my journey. Just keep your dietary carbs <20 and it will happen. It is so worth it! It helped me to measure my body each month, so when the scale didn’t move, I could see that I was getting slimmer. Good luck and ask questions…we are all here to help!