Odd and Unexpected Benefits I've Experienced

(hottie turned hag) #1

Hi guys, newbie to the forums.

Brief hx: 55y/o sedentary old bag who was always (unless pg) 115-125lb from ages 14-49 until menopause; then despite changing NOTHING, gained much weight and was really fat (didn’t weigh until weeks into losing and was THEN 146lb so had to’ve been at least 160 to start as I looked veerrry small comparatively) for several years until I started v low carb/almost keto/one meal per 24h/never count cals nor macros in Aug 2017 and lost all the weight and fast.

Stalled at 122, wanted to get to 115 so around…six weeks or so? ago I dropped: cheese and vegetables and am now 118.

After dropping the cheese and veg I started sleeping GREAT; I am a lifelong insomniac and cannot recall ever sleeping through a night, this is brand new as of the past month or so.

This prompted me to make this thread to share unexpected and/or odd benefits we’ve had from this way of eating.

Mine are these:

within few weeks of dropping carbs:

resolution of what had become daily (not exaggerating) migraines
pep galore
mood “smoothness”; I am an irritable sort by nature, the kind of person who wee events make me want to punch something, like if I drop a pen and it rolls under my desk for example :expressionless:. My irritation is way down.
keratoma on my cheek I’d had for ages, vanished
clearer thought processes
restless leg VANISHED; this had commenced after I got fat, never had it prior to that
no more oral HSV1 (cold sore) outbreaks

Past month since eating only meat and eggs:

even BETTER sleep, actually sleep through the night a few times per week, this is a first
(gross alert) perfect BMs (though sometimes only 1/every 3 days)
no more need for ChapStick; I used to always have dry lips and had to use it many times per day. Now, not at all. Wth! So weird.
hunger is SO MILD; before dropping veg/cheese, by hour 20-22 I was ravenous. Now, sometimes it’s hour 28 before I get this mild, easy hunger. It’s truly strange to feel it as it’s so different to what I always knew as hunger

I’m sure my case is not unusual; I’m curious to see if any others have similar lists.

(Paul H) #2

Congratulations on all the positives! Thanks for sharing. High protien is good for lips I guess…lol Bonus!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

You have inspired me @BlueViolet :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m going to try what you did as soon as I run out of all the yummy cheeses in my fridge that I couldn’t bear throwing out. Cheese might be a hard one for me to leave behind. Did you drop all dairy, HWC and butter too? :cowboy_hat_face:

(hottie turned hag) #4

No I use butter still, that’s the only dairy as I never was a coffee drinker so no need for cream.
What’s HWC?

I was eating 16oz fresh mozz per DAY; I adored it and miss it so but I was mad at the stall. Now trying for 110 instead of 115. When I reach it I shall add the mozz back just once per week or so just because I love it so much, but won’t buy 5 at a time like formerly :speak_no_evil:

(Ashley) #5

Heavy whipping cream!

(hottie turned hag) #6

Ha gotcha! Never have eaten it in my life.

(Marianne) #7

So happy for you - I really feel for people who have/had trouble with insomnia. I hope you continue to experience being able to sleep through the night.

(hottie turned hag) #8

Thanks so much!
It is blowing my mind.
I always awoke at least once if not more. After getting fat, it was every TWO HOURS or so.
After losing the weight it went back to once or twice per night but never, since childhood have I slept ALL night to my recollection.

Now this is happening a few nights per week; I am so flabbergasted by this.

(Marianne) #9

This is going to sound really weird, and I have no basis for it except the only thing that appears to be different is keto, however, my husband has always had nail fungus on a couple of his toenails. He had broken one of the toes as a teenager the he said the fungus came shortly thereafter. The other toe sustained trauma and he ended up with nail fungus on that toe. He doesn’t need to lose weight in spite of being a sugar addict (candy and fruit), and doesn’t need to lose weight. He works out five times a week and is fit. Anyway, he has been following keto since I started, just because he loves meat, bacon, etc. He has stopped the candy for now but has more fruit than he should, but because he is thin and in shape, he can have way more carbs than me and still be in keto. He told me last week that the fungus on his toes has disappeared. I looked and sure enough, it’s true. Nothing else has changed for him except his diet. This is a problem he has had for 40+ years. I can’t help but wonder if it is because of keto (?).

(Marianne) #10

So glad! Insomnia is a real hardship.

(Marianne) #11

P.S. I bet you can think about changing your tag line to “hag to hottie”.

:grin:

(hottie turned hag) #12

Makes sense if the high glucose diet was somehow compromising his immune system?

That reminds me of another for my above list (edited it to add above): cold sore (oral HSV1) outbreaks. I was getting them so often after getting fat (rarely before that, like every ten years) and haven’t had one since prob…a couple months after starting keto back in 2017. Immune system issues related to diet may be the reason in our two examples.

(hottie turned hag) #13

I’m WEAK
:rofl:

nah after menopause it was a fast track to hagdom. Just now I’m more of a skinny, witchlike :woman_mage: hag than a hoglike :pig2: one

(Marianne) #14

Ha, ha! I’m sure that’s not true, though. You still have your sense of humor!

I just hit 60 and I’m going to go down kicking and screaming.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

What’s this? I’ve been racking my brain to try to figure out what you were typing and how autocorrect could have mangled it so badly, lol!

(Carl Keller) #16

Hx is a medical shorthand for history. I cheated and googled it.

(hottie turned hag) #17

HA thanks @CarlKeller; I use charting shorthand sometimes without thinking :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
and @PaulL I NEVER use autocorrect (or Google as a search engine for that matter)

#geekweirdo
#Linux
#Googleisevil

(Scott) #18

I think you have been kissing your steaks lately. :laughing:

(hottie turned hag) #19

:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
I do adore them

#20

So, I’m only two weeks in to Keto. Frankly, other than feeling better (and not having stomach / intestinal cramps), I didn’t expect much to improve in so short of time.

But my gums have stopped bleeding when I brush my teeth. It seems so small and ridiculous but my teeth have bled always. no matter how much I brush, or floss, nothing changed. 30+ years of dental visits and my dentists just shrugged and said some peoples gums do that.

Two weeks on keto? No more bleeding gums. I brushed extra hard this morning just to see if I was imagining things. Nope. I’m shocked. And thrilled. but seriously surprised at this NSV.