Hi everyone! I have a couple of questions, but I’d like to give you a little background on my self first. just began my keto journey about 4 weeks ago. I’m 34 years old, 5’4", and currently 184-ish pounds. 4 weeks ago I weighed in at 195 pounds, my heaviest ever. My weight has steadily been creeping up over the years. Throughout my 20’s I was always able to stay around 140-145, but then I hit 30 and BAM! All of a sudden I was 150, then 165, then 185, and then 195! Ugh! A few months before my 31st birthday I was diagnosed with PCOS. I had all sorts of bloodwork done and the results were actually really good, including no signs of IR. Everything was in the normal range – my reproductive endocrinologist said he wished all his patients had my results. But still at 180 pounds at the time I felt anything but healthy.
I’ve tried all sorts of diets, diet pills, supplements, eating a vegan diet, and exercise and NOTHING ever worked. The scale never budged (except for going up, of course). Then about 6 weeks ago after a meeting, 2 of my co-workers started about keto! One mentioned the 2 Keto Dudes podcasts mid-conversation and I was like ok, I need to make a mental note there, and I kept listening to them talk about the kinds of food they ate, and I’m thinking wow, I like all that stuff, this could work. Chris even told me he’d lost 80 lbs in 6 months! So that had me even more interested. And then there it was, NO BREAD. My hopes and dreams shattered lol. I kept thinking about everything they said though, and being so miserable in my body I was like you know what. I need to research this on my own. So I got in my car, got on my phone and found the Dudes podcast, and listened to the first episode my whole drive home. And everything I was hearing just made SO MUCH SENSE! I had to do this. This WOE is something I can actually be excited about! After listening to podcasts for about a week, I look the leap. I started eating keto. Then I decided to download The Big Fat Surprise and listened to it (I do a lot of driving for work) and was just so amazed at all the lies we’ve all been fed for years. No wonder I couldn’t lose any weight. Whole grains, lo-cal, low fat. What a joke!
So now here I am, 4 weeks in, and I’ve never felt better! I don’t feel deprived at all and that’s always been my problem with other diets. In fact, on Wednesday I ate a hard boiled egg, a few pieces of cheese and some pepperoni around 3pm when I finally felt hungry, and that was it. I didn’t feel hungry at dinner time, so I didn’t eat. And then I woke up yesterday morning and still didn’t feel hungry. In fact, by 6pm last night, I still didn’t feel hungry. I think I drank about 64oz of water (with added electrolytes and minerals) throughout the day. The only reason I ate something was because my joints were aching so bad!! I figured it had to be something to do with fasting.
So that brings me to my first question, are body aches common with fasting? Do I need to up my salt intake to prevent this in the future? That’s the only thing I can think of…
Nest question, do I need to force myself to eat even when I’m not hungry? I’ve read posts in other forums where people say you have to meet your macros no matter what if you want to lose weight on keto. This seems counterintuitive to me, why would I force myself to eat if my body isn’t “asking” for food?
Last question, should I invest in a blood glucose/ketone meter even if I’m not and never have been diabetic?
Thank you for listening! I look forward to some good insight!! This group is amazing, I love reading everyone’s posts and I’m so inspired by all of the progress pics you guys post!
Some people get aches when fasting, especially when they are fairly new to it. I’ve heard it described as symptoms of detoxification, and that sounds good to me (if perhaps a little romantic if we really don’t know). All the intricacies of inflammation are beyond me, but I’d say things will likely get better over time. Some people take painkillers.