Start with your Why


(Sandra) #121

I’ve always struggled with weight, so it’s become a personal challenge, I am stronger than my own mind!

My mom was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was 35, had both knees replaced at 45 and has countless other health issues all linked with weight. I turned 35 a month ago, and I’m about 10lbs shy of reaching her current weight.

I want to embed in my children that they have to believe in themselves and anything is possible, and that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to…I have finally understood that they cannot possibly learn this from me if I don’t teach it with my own example.

I want to feel better, all around physically and emotionally.

My husband deserves a hot wife :wink:


(Richard Hanson) #122

My how, something of an accident, came before my why.

My wonderful Affordable Care Act insurance costs me more then 20k a year for my family of five and does not pay for doctors visits until after the rather astonishing deductible is met. I was T2D and each visit to my long term endocrinologist was costing me $175. My wife has a friend and her husband has started a practice. An office visit is a flat $55, and he does not accept any insurance, so when I needed to renew my rather numerous prescriptions I packed up a gallon zip lock bag with all my medications and diabetic supplies and went for an early morning appointment. The date was July 18, 2017 and my life will never be the same.

My new doctor gave me one sheet of paper, a plan for a ketogenic diet restricted to 1000 kcal a day. I looked at that and thought hell no, that’s crazy, (there was a bit more colorful language going on in my head but I don’t give voice to profanities) but I was desperate for a change and I left the office without any new prescriptions. When I started I was on six medications for T2D including 75 units of insulin each day, a statin and one more drug for hypertension. Eight days latter I injected myself for the last time and I have not taken any medications for anything for the last five weeks. I have lost 54lb from 248 to 194 and my life has been transformed.

My Why is that I am never going back.

Since July, I have spent almost all of my spare time reading and researching and I have experienced a broad range of emotions.

Anger: I was so angry that I was never informed by any of my previous doctors that LCHF was an option. I am also angry at our government for the tremendous harm that has been done to our people by official dietary guideline.

Shame: I feel shame for how I used to think about fat people, including myself, the entire thermodynamic hypothesis of weight gain. One of my previous doctors had written a diet book and there are copies in his office. It was 100 pages long and on the front side of each page it said “Eat Less” and on the back of each page it said “Move More”. I apologize and I am deeply ashamed for how I used to think about the obese.

Amazement: I am continually amazed at how little hunger I experience even when I fast.

Gratitude: I am profoundly grateful for my new doctor and the widespread intellectual honesty of the ketogenic community.

Why? Why the hell not? I am never going back! I am eating fat for the rest of my life. I am a Fat Man.

Warmest Regards,
Richard


(Inese) #123

Omg, I can relate so much. I have feeling, that you just took words out of my mind! :laughing:


#124

Long term health benefits.
No weight to lose no metabolic syndrome nothing just seems as I read and learnt this is a healthier way to eat at least for me. I’m a savory craving person. So even before the keto lifestyle I would learn toward the butter!


(Brenda) #125

Oh, you married a smart one!


(Suzi Smotrycz-Guilford) #126

Why? My biological Dad dropped dead of heart attack at the age of 36 and my Mom has battled really bad diabetes. I have had issues with my weight and food since getting out of college. I have been able to drop almost 60 lbs and for the first time I finally have energy and feeling of satiety when I eat which absolutely amazes me. Who know this WOE would stop the cravings?! People keep asking me when I’m going of “this” diet and I tell them never!


(Arlene) #127

Yes, it feels fantastic to eat these foods and feel great. Why change a great thing? Here’s the real magic: Diets come and go, but this will sustain us in excellent health permanently. Not something you go “on” or “off” of.


(Penelope) #128

/My “Why”: Because, after one year of living vegan, which culminated on 8/31/17 with my PCP advising me that I not only needed to continue insulin and metformin, but increase my insulin AND add victoza, and after having starting lowering my carbs on 9/1, but continuing the insulin – on 9/12, while injecting my lunchtime insulin, I became enraged.

Enraged that I was such a sheep that I would take all this med when it only makes sense to NOT eat carbs - I knew about Keto, but was terrified of my heart exploding with a high fat diet.

So, I took my last dose of insulin on 9/12, around Noon. I emptied the house of flour, bread, cornmeal, insulin, metformin, statins, and started 20 grams of carb or less.

The first couple days were tough - esp buying meat - i gave up veganism as well and cried in the meat aisle that evening because I felt sorry for the animals. I also had some withdrawal from the carbs, but since then, not one problem maintaining Keto.

Twenty carbs or less (mostly less) and in a few days, no more highs or lows - just a nice steady drift that I no longer feel the way I used to. I used to feel the rush of rice or pasta or butternut squash entering the system. It was crazy.

My glucoses are better on Keto w/o insulin than they were with insulin. They are not yet normal. I am very insulin resistant, I am convinced. I have lost 25 lbs since 9/1/17 ( a little over two months).

I will never, ever take insulin again. I crave nothing from my old diet that would make me feel as bad as I used to feel (and didn’t even know it).

I crave nothing, I regret nothing.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #129

Wow! Just, wow!


#130

Hey! You telling me it’s that easy? Why am I hearing about eating 7-10 cups of salad
loads of veggies, (3-6 oz. protein each meal) etc? I can’t even eat 1 cup of salad. I’d be interested to see your menu for a few days. Any chance??


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #131

Seven to ten cups of salad would be how many grams? To ensure that you get into nutritional ketosis, we recommend no more than 20 g of carbohydrate daily. Even though salad has a lot of fiber, that’s still probably more than 20 g. Besides, if you fill up on salad, how are you going to have room to finish your bacon?


#132

My why… I felt the need to get healthier. I’m tired of being overweight and feeling like crap all the time.


#133

FYI, vegan LC is a thing. It’s fairly easy to do lacto-ovo vegetarian LC. Most LCers eat meat because they enjoy it (notice all the bacon references :slight_smile: on this forum). But if you don’t like/want meat, don’t feel like you have to eat it in order to have good health.

Though I eat a traditional HFLC diet, my sister accomplishes the same thing without eating anything that has legs. Your WOE should not make you cry.


(Jane Reed) #134

Trendy, it is that easy, if you will determine your keto method, stick to it, and not cast around for ways to tweak or game the method.

Yes, there are some people who think you have to eat a mound of veg. and some people who are happy to do it. On this forum, there is no rule about this. There IS a rule about your carb limit and even that is a bit loosey-goosey. Go to the Newbies section and read the threads about keto “rules”.

It’s good to read different blogs and forum posts to learn how others are approaching this way of eating. But at the start, it’s too darn confusing to try to align your habits with a dozen different approaches. At the start, you are better served to make it the easiest way possible for you. When you are finally fat adapted and you finally have a very good handle on how to eat, then you can fiddle with the details. At the start, it’s not useful to run around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to “get it exactly right”. There is no “exactly right”. There’s only what’s right for you and that’s only discovered over time.


(Penelope) #135

I’m not sure what you mean by easy?

I guess I wish my weight loss would be faster, but who doesn’t?

I had one three week long period where I kept playing the same three pounds over and over again; it was annoying, but I felt better and decided that that would have to suffice for the time being.

My finger sticks are frustrating, if I allow them to be.

Even though they are better than when I was on insulin and eating carbs, they are still NOT double digits. And my fasting is always 170-200; during the day I stay in the 130s to 150s, although it is slowly, very slowing drifting down.

I dream of a ‘99’ or less glucose.

And I have a blood ketone monitor - for me to get above 0.5 takes an act of congress. I HATE that! I was 1.2 today though, yay!

What IS easy is the not craving. It is the truth. And I eat far less and feel full more easily.

Generally during the week, I IF 16-20 hours, based on whether I feel hungry. I found Dr Fung pretty early on (September) and got to working on IF, which I though would be impossible - I used to eat so much and so often, frankly.

I guess I could share, but it is pretty straight forward:

20g carb or less (I try to aim low),
123 protein,
91-185 fat,
calories 1385-2237 … based on how hungry I am.

I got this range from the Keto Buddy calculator.

And I IF. Short fasts - most frequently 16-20hrs or so, sometimes 24. I did one 36 but I got a little mean.

I do record the calories and macros because, again, I am fat AND T2DM. I pretty much eat one meal a day, so it isn’t all that difficult.

I really LIKE eating one meal a day.

I’m only a couple months in, so I have a lot more to learn than teach, for sure!


(Penelope) #136

I agree Buttonwillow. As a newbie, you can get confused by the different points of view on veg, total carbs vs net carbs, etc. It can be overwhelming.

I am keeping it as simple as possible: <20 TOTAL carbs, watch the protein. No fat bombs or keto ‘sweets’. I don’t even want to go there myself - Keto cakes, etc, HOWEVER I don’t judge anyone who wants to. But, it doesn’t seem a good place to start.

Some days, I don’t eat vegetables at all, but i do enjoy about 100 grams of leafy greens with a little cuke, or some zucchini or cauliflower rice sometimes.


(Penelope) #137

I’m ok with the meat now! ;^P

My daughter is an ethical vegan. She never really liked meat, even as a child.

My husband and I decided to try a vegan diet for health reasons, but after not eating meat, it becomes difficult to consider eating. It did not pan out well for either of us.

My daughter is actually moving toward a vegan keto diet.

I have to admit, I feel better eating meat. Still, it was emotional for me at first. Maybe because veganism was SUCH a failure for me.


(Madge Boldt) #138

It’s hard to keep the “why” simple! From 2010-11 I lost over 200lbs starting with a hospital optifast program, then low carb. I got down to a comfortable normal weight. And then I must have really thought I was normal, because I let the carbs sneak back into my life and gained 10lbs/year. I started keto 8 weeks ago. Atkins was a groundbreaker, but with new knowledge about the importance of fat and salt, it’s a new world.

So… my why:

  • My knees and hips were so painful I was no longer able to go for long walks. This is slowly improving.
  • My father died a T2D. My fasting bs has been increasing. It was 100-105 when waking up and sometimes 117. Bad news! Morning bs is still 100 or so, but now doesn’t spike during the day.
  • I want to get back to that comfortable weight. I kept the clothes! It’s been slow but I’m down around 10lbs.
  • Top reason: CONTROL! Being a slave to carb urges gets exhausting. Being in control is a wonderful feeling and comes quickly on keto.

#139

Thanks for that. I just have to figure out how many calories a day. I’m not a big eater, get full on a bowl of soup. But I know I have to eat more or my body will think I’m trying to starve it. I’ll just have to keep plugging along until I can eat maybe 1500 a day. That seems to be the norm. Finally got a calorie counter today. Have to sit down & see what’s what in the calorie world.
thanks again


#140

I’ve struggled with weight and food all my life. About 4 years ago, I lost 40 lbs and thought I had it all figured out. Fast forward to now and I’ve put half of that back on and struggle with my cravings. Everything I had done before to lose weight hasn’t worked and I feel stuck. I’m tired of yo-yoing and want something I can stick with for the long-term.

My whys:

  1. To feel better about myself -mentally, emotionally, physically
  2. To help fix my relationship with food
  3. To have more energy and lose the excess weight