Obese and new to keto

(Jessica) #1

Hello!
Im new to keto, only on day 9. The last 3 days I have had NO hunger. The first day I ate when I when I thought I should eat (breakfast lunch and dinner) but the last 2 days Ive only eaten lunch. I have a lot of weight to lose (started at 274), and am already down to 265 at just day 9! Woo hoo! Is the lack of appetite normal? Should I be eating more often? Im so used to being hungry this feels so strange! I havent even upped my activity level at this point. Any help would be appreciated!

(bulkbiker) #2

Yep completely normal. the joy of using fat for satiety I haven’t had more than 2 meals a day for the past 2 1/2 years after starting very low carb high fat eating. Just finished a 6 day fast with just coffee and cream and tea.
Eat when you are hungry until you are full and keep carbs very low. That’s the simple keto mantra.

(Dom DePlume) #3

The change in appetite is completely normal, and is a good sign of fad adaptation. Just make sure when you DO eat to eat up to your BMR, or else you’ll start to slow your metabolism, and stall your progress.

(Alec) #4

Agree with Dom. Eat when you are hungry. When you do get hungry, have a good fatty meal. Get calories in. Don’t think that continuous lack of hunger is necessarily good. You do need to eat. Don’t force feed, but at the same time you do need calories.

But you sound fat adapted already. You are literally chewing through your bodyfat!! Well done!:ok_hand:
Cheers
Alec

#5

Wow, awesome job, Jessica!

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #6

I am just curious why you think they are fat adapted on day 9?
That can take upwards of 6 weeks? Do you mean ketosis?

(Alec) #7

I agree that 9 days sounds like a short time to be fat adapted.

But if you are not eating carbs, and you are not hungry, this suggest to me some fat adaption. if you are fat adapted your body is eating bodyfat and does not require food, hence no hunger. If your body is not fat adapted, with no carbs coming in it would be screaming for food.
Cheers
Alec

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #8

I am 5 weeks in (Day 32)
I am barely hungry for lunch or dinner
Eat less than 20g of carbs per day
And am not insulin resistant/sensitive.
I have one BPC in the morning and can stretch lunch time out til almost 4 o clock. Would you say you feel I am fat adapted?

(Alec) #9

Yes.

(Troy Anthony) #10

I tend to see fat adaption as a place of confusion. There isn’t a moment you are fat adapted, it’s a process. It can start early but will only become more efficient. You could be adapting to using fat a week in, but 3 weeks in it should be more effecient, 6 weeks more, 12 weeks more, until you hit your cruising point. Some people take 8 weeks to even get going in the process, but it’s a process of creating efficiency mostly.

(Alec) #11

Don’t forget that fat adaption is not really a switch, it is more a continuum. Fat adaption means your body’s energy mechanisms have an ability to consume fat rather than carbs for fuel.

You can be really fat adapted ie your body has no trouble at all using fat and does it really efficiently. Or it can still be burning fat, but not doing it very efficiently and struggling a bit, but is doing it because fat is all that’s available.

IMHO, the level of your fat adaptation is pretty well described by your ability to tolerate fasting. If you can’t go one meal to the next without having a snack you are NOT fat adapted at all. If you can fast for 20 days and not feel hungry, you are very well fat adapated. Of course there is a range between these extremes.

(Troy Anthony) #12

Yes as well. I never got keto flu, just a little sluggishness early on, and felt adapted much before the 6-8 weeks mark. It continues though and only gets better. It’s like a bell curve of adaption, at least that’s how it’s been for me

(Alec) #13

Troy
Completely agree: you were drafting same time as me!
Cheers
A

#14

This is helpful, thank you. My understanding then (check me on this, if you could) is you start making ketones early in the process, hence the positive results upon testing for them, but your body’s cells take longer and over time develop the ability to use them more and more. Is that right? That would explain my annoying lethargy for sure. I’m 21 days in and showing high levels of ketones in my blood, but just tired all the time.

(Troy Anthony) #15

Yes exactly. Getting control of electrolytes is helpful but feeling sluggish during transition is normal. When you become efficient at using those ketones you might not even have many coming up on the strips.

#16

So a high number (I got a 6.9 a couple days ago on Day 3 of a fast) means you’re probably not using them very efficiently yet, it sounds like. Do you happen to know if exercise can speed this process? (My apologies to the OP for hijacking)

(Troy Anthony) #17

I wouldn’t force it, adaptation is going to happen at your own rate. I can’t say I know exactly if it would force your body to start using ketones quicker. I know for sure that anaerobic exercise burns through glycogen stores, so it can theoretically speed the process, but I can’t speak to the multitude of factors that effects adapting speed for each individual. I imagine being in good metabolic shape when starting keto helps. I can only speak to this from personal experience, and I continued exercise through transition and transitioned pretty quickly without any real problems. I’m 34 and have no history of metabolic issues. I did tire out in my workouts quicker during transition, and overall felt tired, but that’s because I was doing workouts with low glycogen, and my body wasn’t adapted. This lasted for 1-2 weeks for me, and then my workouts felt great again, energy was back and then some.

#18

That makes sense, thank you so much for explaining.

(Dom DePlume) #19

I agree totally with those above who point out that fat adaptation is not a tipping point or switch. It’s not a binary yes/no thing. In my mind, it’s more like a nonlinear curve or spectrum of efficiency or effect. It’s also more a measure of metabolic flexibility. Irrespective of ketones, when not FA, if you consume carbs beyond the measure your body requires (read: “beyond 20g” aka “typically WAAAAY beyond 20g almost all the time”) you’ll get blood sugar spikes, and store all the excess in fat cells). When you are FA, you can go over from time to time and not have it whammy you so badly. Additionally, you won’t spike quite as hard, nor for as long. This is actually quite a bonus: when you were running on carbs, getting yourself to use ketones took serious dire circumstances for your body. But now that you’re FA, you CAN use carbs when needed, or keep running on ketones. You’ve actually made your metabolism more flexible and versatile. That’s no mere participation trophy if you ask me…