So happy I found Keto by accident

(Jeremiah) #1

This may get posted alot but here goes.

I’m so happy I found Keto! My brother has a nerve condition that no one was able to solve (including brain surgery) and one day his doctor recommended keto and sure enough didn’t it fix him right up. He also went from 280lbs to 230lbs.

It was the weight loss that attracted me. I’ve been forever struggling with my weight, made fun of in school as far back as I can remember, was a “tshirt in the pool” kid my whole life. I’ve spent 14 years as a professional wildfire ranger and have the heart\legs\lungs of a horse but could never seem to shake the jiggle in the torso no matter what. Other than work itself my excercise regimen included 4km daily hikes on a variable terrain outdoor trail with a 75lbs weighted back. I did this for years and STRUGGLED to drop weight! Like I said, healthy on the inside (in theory) but too many lbs. It was hard on my joints, I’ve broken bones and torn ligaments in this line of work and extra weight is not kind to those. 36yrs old and only getting older every day, it was time for a change.

I’m 6’ 4" so I’m not a little guy, throw on the muscle in there from my job and it adds up. At my biggest I was 326lbs but had worked down to 294lbs and stalled. I started keto 3 weeks ago tomorrow and I have already made it to 281lbs! I haven’t seen a number in the 270 range since highschool and it may just happen this or next week! No I don’t care how much is water weight, the point is the number is dropping finally!

I got the keto flu on day 2, and again about day 8, each for only ~12hours. Water and salt fixed it fast. My insides feel so much better, my joints feel better, I feel “clearer” somehow. My VORACIOUS hunger of my old life is totally gone, if I sat down with an extra large loaded pizza a month ago I could eat the entire thing, now I do coffee with coconut oil and an avocado and I’m full til the next meal!

My house is filled with every carb imaginable (my wife and 2yr old are on regular meals) and I’m not even tempted. It’s so weird moving bags of chips with no care at all only to find the cans of tuna or olive oil. In the past I would have ate the entire big bag of chips just as a snack between meals only a few weeks ago.

I did feel a bit of “recovery” loss after my trail hikes, my legs feel tired longer the next day, but I’ll work my way back up to that. If I can hit 250lbs I will be so happy, it would be the first time in my life I wouldn’t feel secretly awful in my head about the way I look. I know the world isn’t about “looks”, but for me this would be a big deal, and the health bonuses far outweigh that anyways.

(mole person) #2

You are doing amazingly! Don’t worry about the hikes, I noticed my energy for exercise started to improve significantly after the fourth week.

(Jeremiah) #3

Awesome, glad to hear it got better!

I forgot to mention in my original post, I’m treating the change to keto as quitting an addiction as well. So I’ve spent time purposely avoiding the “well maybe I can eat this…” or “it wouldn’t hurt if I just put a little bit of that in right?”. It’s a cold turkey change and so far 0 cheats at all. I even bought 4 cans of diet coke thinking I could use it as a “dessert” after dinner, I drank 1 can, and then realized I was just continuing my addiction with that crutch so I ditched them.

I quite smoking in 2004 and never looked back, didn’t do “light” cigarettes, didn’t do an inhaler, no nic gum, nothing, just “get out of my life”!

(Laurie) #4

Hi @Guyfromthenorth! I could relate to much of your story. So great that you found out about this while you’re still young. Good luck reaching your goals.

(Carl Keller) #5

Hi Jeremiah and welcome.

I enjoyed reading your story and look forward to seeing how the next chapter plays out. Please do let us know how things are going in the future and if you have any comments or concerns, feel free to air them out.

I see a lot of people discount water weight as if it’s not real mass. But it is. It’s stored glycogen being released and it does affect our appearance since it’s not just coming from the liver. It’s also coming from our muscles. This is a very necessary step in losing fat. Once the glycogen stores are gone, body fat is the next thing to go.

As long as you remember that, a stuck scale won’t be so frustrating. Good health is a whole lot more than a number on a scale.

Congrats on your success so far.

(Jeremiah) #6

Thanks Carl, I appreciate the reply.

Today was official, I hit 279lbs. I haven’t seen a 270 number is forever, and definitely never saw that on my old diet and excercise. My breakfasts have turned into black coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil and I feel perfectly fine til lunch. No calorie counting or even macros at this point, just avoid carbs like the plague and ensure fats are going in along with tons of water.

My recovery is better too, I did my trail hike yesterday and my legs don’t feel like jello today. I still find on the long uphills my legs burn a bit more and I feel more winded than usual, but nothing detrimental. It’s getting better and that’s the point!

I would have done the trail more this week but it’s been cold, a few days of -50 (-78 with the windchill) so rather than burn my lungs I just took it easy. My wife is also getting on the keto train starting this weekend. I’ll report back when I hit the 260’s next!

EDIT: I almost forgot. We tried making a Keto pizza a few days ago. I know it’s NOT zero carbs so I was hesitant (because as I mentioned, I’m treating this as an addiction). I stared at it on the plate for a long time, it looked like actual pizza. I finally took one bite and my brain lit right up. It was -amazing-, and that was the problem. It was too amazing, too good, and I immediately heard the voice in my head rationalizing getting 2-3 more pieces.

“Oh it’s like a cheat day…but it has Keto in the title so it’ll be fine!”
“You made it this far, things are good, spoil yourself tonight it’ll be fine!”
“It may not keep in the fridge overnight, so why waste it, have some more it’ll be fine!”
etc etc etc

As soon as I recognized that I finished my serving, went to the fridge, grabbed some regular cheese and some leftover pepperoni and finished that instead. I didn’t grab another piece. That is a HUGE step for me, in the old world I would have finished the entire pizza and hated myself 5mins after doing it.

I still think keto pizza is great for people, but the way my brain IMMEDIATELY tried to mutiny on me I think it’ll be found in my house at most once a month, maybe less!

(Sophie) #7

Bravo!!! :clap::clap::clap: You’ve done an amazing job. Just wait until you’re fat adapted, you’ll be walking on air! :smile:

(Carl Keller) #8

As your body gets more accustomed to using ketones, you should discover your hikes will continue to get easier. A few months ago, I went with a friend to pick up some really cheap firewood. Some of it was fairly massive and we had to spend a fair amount of time chopping it up into reasonably sized pieces, not to mention loading and unloading it. I fully expected to be sore the next day from all the straining and such but I woke up the next day with only a few scrapes and callouses to remind of what I had done the day before. :slight_smile:

Exercise is definitely good for you but as far as weight loss goes, it’s only 5% of the ideal plan, according to Dr. Fung. He says if Batman is diet and exercise is Robin, Batman is 95% of the reason why this duo is successful. Batman can do just fine all by himself but Robin can’t say the same. I’m certainly not trying to discourage you from exercise, just trying to point out it’s a just small part of a successful weight loss equation.

Hehe this is why I cut the normal fathead pizza recipe in half. I try for a 4 slice sized pizza so I’m not tempted to overeat it. If you do make a full sized recipe, try to get some friends or family to help you out (get rid of it quickly).

(Jeremiah) #9

Day 45:

Killing it! I still have never felt better in my entire life. I do IF between 1800hrs til 1200noon the next day and still don’t feel hungry. My excercise is good now, I find large muscle groups (legs mainly) get burning faster than before but the endurance is still there so it’s easy to play through, also the next day recovery is faster than ever.

I’ve lost a total of 28lbs, I haven’t been this “low” on the scale since highschool.
I went from a 42 jeans waist to a 38.
My wedding ring will need to be re-sized soon lol.

(Jennibc) #10

So exciting! Congratulations! Feels great, doesn’t it! Don’t ever forget this feeling. At some point you might hit a stall but remember back to this because most everybody stalls at some point. Just keep the faith, tweak a few things and keep going!

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #11

It’s so thrilling to see those numbers go down and sizes shrink.

I agree about the fathead pizza I don’t make it anymore as it look lights up that area of my brain. Maybe once or twice a year. I have decided to view it as a treat.

Sounds like you have a great job.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #12

I find the same exact thing with myself. I work my legs pretty hard with stairs, squats, incline runs and jacobs ladder. My job is sedentary so everytime I go to the bathroom (I drink a good amt of water), I do squats of varying leg width. I’m a nerd, foreal lol.

My endurance is quite good but my legs are being a pain in the butt. Tomorrow Im going on a 10mile hike and for sure my legs are going to cry foul.

Youre doing awesome and youre inspiring! Keep up the great work, man!

(Jeremiah) #13

Sorry to the long delayed update everyone. Life got busy!

Still on keto. Still feel better than ever before in my life . In fact I wonder if I always was allergic to gluten and just didn’t know it. At any rate heres my progress:

-Last month I officially broke the “lost 70lbs mark”.
-Jeans size went from 42 waist to 36 (34 in some)
-Shirts went from XXL to L

Big wins never seen before in my life.

(Scott) #14

This is a big one for me. My wife was a “don’t tuck it in” when I was XL. Now that I am medium she can say “tuck it in” without looking to see if it looks bad. She used to make me try it both ways.