Starting Saturday 24th Nov...eek!

(Emma) #1

Just done my shopping and bought so many green vegetables I felt virtuous packing my bags. So much meat, eggs and avocado though - it’s expensive! I’m starting on Saturday and I’m working Sat and Sun so hoping being busy will help. I’ve got my meals planned for week 1 and loosely following Diet Doctor’s 2 week challenge (swapped a couple of recipes I didn’t like the look of).

I’m scared of failing and of feeling out of control, hungry, cravings etc. I don’t know what to expect as I haven’t been able to go without carbs ever. I really want to do this and i’m going to focus on what this diet will give me long term. My ‘why’ is to not have to think about food all the time and thinking about where my next sugar fix is coming from. I want more energy, better cognitive function and a healthier body that will be stronger and leaner than ever before. I want my kids to grow up in a low sugar/no sugar environment and listen to their bodies, enjoy real food, so they don’t end up obese or diabetic like so many children are these days. I have about 10-14lbs of fat I would like to lose, which I know may not fall off but it would be great if my clothes fitted me again!

How did you all find the first few days and then weeks?

(Emma) #2

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#3

…eek? That’s a funny way to spell “exciting”! :grin:

Just take it one day at a time. That’s all you can do. Life with less carbs can be wonderful, and I’m excited you’re doing this!

Don’t make it too complicated, mainly focus on keeping your carb count under 20g a day. I think it’s easier to track whole carbs instead of net carbs, but if you want to do the math, and take out the fiber, you can. But if you count whole carbs and keep it at 20g, then you know you’re doing good. Also, be sure you’re getting plenty of sodium. This is so contrary to what we’ve been taught for so long, but it’s true. You’ll want to make sure you’re getting around 5g of salt a day. CRITICAL!

Stick around here to help answer any questions you may have, and get the support you need.

I wasn’t on this forum when I started keto almost 2 years ago, and I had NO idea how great my future would be. I think you’re already ahead of me in this department. Seriously, Emma, I’m SO excited for you and your future with keto!

Great to have you around! :+1:

(Natasha) #4

It was that way for me in the beginning too but I am nearly 4 months in now and my appetite is so diminished that my grocery bill is much much less every week!

The first week is the hardest but once you are over that I think what you will experience is the exact opposite!

A great ‘why’ to have! Be encouraged because that is definitely achieveable… freedom!

The first week is the hardest. My best advice is be ridiculously strict on your carbs, but if you’re hungry or craving, eat. I chose slices of ham and cheese, tuna or egg mayo, heavy cream in coffee, salami etc and made sure I didn’t ever feel hungry as I knew that would derail me. After a week or so, my hunger was totally under control and I easily went to 2 meals a day, no snacks but a HWC coffee in the morning.

Make sure you drink enough water and eat enough salt to avoid keto flu. I use lo-salt as it also contains potassium and I also take a magnesium supplement but these aren’t strictly necessary.

Best of luck to you, focus on the long game!

#5

GREAT ADVICE, @Natasha!

I’d give it a “like” :heart:, but I’m all out, for an hour at least.

(Carl Keller) #6

Hello and welcome Emma. :slight_smile:

I started keto with a “I will see how it goes” mentality. I honestly didn’t have great expectations but lo and behold, on my third day when I started experiencing less hunger, increased energy and reduced inflammation, I was hooked.

This is what carbs do to us. The energy they provide is very short term and when that energy is gone, the cravings arrive. Best to feed those cravings with a small fatty snack ( a few nuts, a few pork rinds, a deviled egg) if they are intolerable. Repeating this will retrain your brain to realize fat is the preferred fuel source. It might take a week or three but you can and will be able to go 8+ hours without experiencing hunger as you knew it. At this point, snacking is unnecessary.

Because you are not far from your ideal weight (I assume), losing might be slow but at the very least you can expect greater energy, greater mental clarity, reduced inflammation and a whole slew of other positives.

Yes I thought so too at first but after I cut out snacking and I started intermittent and extended fasting, I saw my grocery bill drop significantly. Of course IF and EF are not necessary in keto for all people, it’s just a way to ramp up the fat loss and inspire other health benefits.

I recommend removing all high carb/sugary items from the house to reduce temptation in times of craving. Also try to remember the drink lots of water (8cups or 2 liters) per day and makes sure you are getting plenty of salt (2+ teaspoons) per day. That should help you avoid the keto flu (carb withdrawal). And keep your net carbs under 20 per day!

Best of luck to you and your loved ones.

#7

Excellent points @CarlKeller!

I’m glad you commented. :+1:

(Kimberly) #8

Good luck! I too was HIGHLY addicted to carbs and sugar when I started tracking macros before I began 80% of my daily diet was carbs and I thought how can I possibly do this?? I downloaded an ebook the 30 day keto challenge and I thought well I can do anything for 30 days…I’m still doing it and that was 6 months ago! I lost 15 lbs in the first 19 days and have never felt better! I’ve never eaten this GOOD before real food!! The high fat keeps hunger at Bay I never experienced the keto flu but I did a lot of research as to how to avoid it and my saving Grace was learning how to make fathead bread and dough i can now have muffins biscuits and pizza again! Just made a batch of cookies I would recommend the cravable keto cookbook it was a game changer for me and made me realize I could do this forever! Good luck and were here when you need us!!

(Emma) #9

Thank you so much for your very supportive and helpful reply Low Carb Avenger, it means so much to have other keto peeps to chat to. I have told no one about what I am doing as I don’t expect a positive response. Or I just get “you don’t need to lose weight” or whatever. But they don’t realise how much of a slave to sugar I am. Even if I’m not clinically overweight, I’m craving carbs all the time, I feel so unhealthy and lethargic. I will tell people after I’m over the worst, but only of I need to.

I’m excited too but I’ll be more excited when I’ve got over the first week! :grimacing:

(Emma) #10

This is what I am hoping!

Thanks Natasha for taking the time to respond :blush:

(Emma) #11

Thanks @CarlKeller good to know.

I am clinically a normal weight but I have gained a stubborn 10+lbs this year and will continue to gain if I don’t change something now. I’m comfort eating, having sugary foods every day, and not exercising like I used to, plus I started night shift working which has added sleep deprivation into the mix! I read that the less you have to lose the harder to can be to shift.

Once I’m settled into keto the plan is to incorporate some IF, probably 16:8 to begin with as I am least hungry in the morning. But thought I better make small changes and keep it very simple when starting out. I want this to be a permanent change so I suspected rushing into changing everything would set me up for a much bigger challenge!

So glad I’m not doing this alone!

(Emma) #12

You guys are just awesome!

Thanks @Lilmaz for your experience. I’ve seen some great keto dessert recipes I can’t wait to try out!

@CarlKeller unfortunately I live with my 2 young children and although they have a low sugar diet, I’m not quite ready to push them to cut out carbs yet (need to get myself through it first!). So there will be carbs in the house and I will be preparing meals for them with carbs too. I just have to accept that temptation will be there and choose my other keto options instead. But that does worry me if I get weak. All the more reason to find support here in this lovely group :sunglasses:

So glad I found this forum :v:

(Kimberly) #13

I have 4 others I cook for none of them are doing keto so I am here to say that you can keep and even cook carbs for others. Stay focused and determined and if your family backs you it makes it even easier! I make sure that there’s something that I’m cooking for them that I can have too. I make keto biscuits and pizza so when they have that I can have my own too. Use zoodles instead of pasta my family lives that too. Make sure you have snacks on hand so you don’t feel deprived.

#14

Personally I think this is a great place to be in and a wonderful attitude to have. You realize there’s more to it than just weight loss, and I suspect you’ll be looking for other benefits than just a drop of the scales.

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s harder to “shift” if you have less to lose, but it may be harder to lose those few pounds. Shifting to nutritional ketosis isn’t a matter of your weight. I have a co-worker who had NO weight to lose, but she was always tired and sick to her stomach. She immediately could tell a difference being on a ketogenic diet.

Fret not, I think you’ll do great!

(Empress of the Unexpected) #15

Welcome Emma! You are going to be a welcome addition to the forums - we are so happy to have you! You have a great “why.” I had 20 pounds to lose, and they are gone! My triglycerides were high, and now they are low. Blood pressure lower. I cannot say enough good things about this WOE. As for the very beginning, I don’t recall much because I was in the middle of bronchitis when I started. So, I didn’t have much of an appetite for the first few weeks. I have never counted calories (I tried once - it lasted a couple of hours), so I thought the extra 20 pounds was just going to stick around forever. I did not have a sweet tooth, per se, but I ate carbs every hour. However, keto is a perfect fit for me, as I have always loved meat, bacon, butter, cheese. On rare occasions I will have a few carbs, but will never go back to my former diet. If you use the search function, upper right, there are many threads on how to save $$ on meat, etc. You may not believe it right now, but even I am able to sometimes eat twice a day. I just finished a breakfast of bacon, sautéed mushrooms, and macadamia nuts. I am stuffed, I do eat vegetables, and eat twice what I ate before. Ignore the naysayers who say this way of eating is not healthy, I am in much better health than I was six months ago. Really.

If you have not already read this, this is a great introductory link.

Again, best of luck, and please post often, there are so many helpful and knowledgeable people here.

(Emma) #16

That’s so good to hear, @Lilmaz thanks. I’m hoping over the next few weeks they will try what I am having and enjoy it so much they have it too. My eldest is 5 and he won’t eat vegetables unless they’re hidden in a curry or stew but he does generally eat meat and fish quite readily. Here’s to hoping!!

(Emma) #17

Following Dr Fung, 2Ketodudes and others have convinced me keto with or without IF or EF is just amazing for all sorts of things and feeling the way I have physically for the last year or more, the only way is up!

I’m so grateful for all your support, thanks :blush:

(Emma) #18

@Regina, thanks for these nuggets. Will definitely look at that link and do some strategic searching. I have questions about every little thing but I suspect much of it will become clear once I’ve started. I’ve done my research and planned out the first 2 weeks so I hope I’m not going in completely blind, but it still seems a scary and unknown road. I have stock cubes (bouillon cubes) at the ready :wink: As long as I don’t get hungry or bad cravings I will be fine!:crossed_fingers:

(John) #19

You’ll do fine. There is a lot of information but in the end it is really simple - you are eating normal, healthy foods in normal portion sizes. The only thing that changes up from what you are used to is the relative ratio of carbs, fat, and protein. And that there are some foods you are going to completely eliminate (sugar, starchy carbs) and some that you will significantly limit (non-starchy carbs).

And if you do just that, after a few weeks you will find that your body does just fine with fat as a primary fuel and a low amount of carbohydrates, and your appetite and hunger signals self-regulate down so that you naturally tend to eat less often, or get full from less food and just naturally don’t want to consume as much.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #20

You won’t, if you eat enough, and particularly get enough fat to satisfy your hunger. Paradoxically as it seems, fat is the best food to eat in order to encourage the body to dispense with excess fat, because it hardly stimulates insulin secretion, so you can eat till satisfied and your insulin will stay low, thus allowing your fat cells to release fat to be burned.

At first, you will probably eat a lot. Don’t worry about it. Somewhere along about the middle of week three, your satiety signaling will kick in, and your appetite will drop noticeably. Just get through the initial period without worrying how much you’re eating; the body seems to need the reassurance that there is an abundance of calories, and then it will tell you how much to eat so that you can burn off some of your extra fat. The key is to eat so little carbohydrate that you are able to metabolize that excess fat.

P.S.—You’ve gotten some great comments here. Let me just add that cutting out sugar is easier, physically, if you go cold turkey, but psychologically it’s better not to tell oneself you’re swearing off for ever. Take it one day at a time. You can have all the sugar you want, tommorrow; for today, just don’t have any right now.