Third day of keto

keto
newbies
food
exercise
(Crystal) #1

Good morning everyone. I thought I would give an update.

I dislike saying that I have depression but I have it and it won’t go away any time soon. I do take meds for this. I was raped and got herpes that spiraled me into depression. Due to this depression, I gained a lot of weight (~30lbs) that I am trying to lose. I have always been fit, working out everyday while still enjoying food. I unintentionally did IF because I would be going over to my crush’s place and usually wouldn’t eat (so that I could look slim) and this actually helped me maintain my weight. How did this lead to keto? I heard from a friend and my nurse practitioner that keto helps you lose a lot of weight so I am trying that out now. I want to lose weight and gain my confidence back but also keep a diet that I can enjoy. The hardest part is probably eating out and baked goods. I continue to hit the gym everyday and lift weights and stick to my routine (washing my face, putting on lotion, etc) bc it helps with my depression. My anger management and anxiety have become worse due to my depression. I seem to get agitated more easily. I’m hoping to get all of the benefits of keto but also gain my confidence through weight loss and also better focus on life (school, work, etc).

I have been trying keto for over a month now (try-fail-try-fail…) and I’m still trying and trying NOT to fail. I need to remind myself of how I felt like crap when I wasn’t on keto and ate all of this junk food. I also need to remind myself that my goal date is May. Today is my third day of trying again and I’m feeling a bit angry/anxious because I ate late at night which makes me gain weight. I ended up eating late last night out of stress. I will go straight to my room next time and read a book or something. But yesterday was also my first day that I didn’t eat during my lunch break. I am trying this thing where I will eat pre and post work because it takes me about 6-8 hours to get hungry.

Here is what my day to day schedule looks like:
WEEKDAYS:
7AM-10PM: work - school - gym
WEEKENDS:
7AM - (maybe go to church if I feel like it - I’m not super religious at all) and hit the gym
take it easy for the rest of the day = study/read

On the weekdays, I pack 2 meals that should be sufficient for the day with no snacks. No snacks b/c I used to snack on nuts and cheese and realized that I will eat the whole bag of nuts and cheese even when I go home. So, I no longer eat nuts and cheese unless its shredded cheese on my scrambled eggs. I also pack 2 keto protein brownies for each meal. Yes, I know I shouldn’t be eating sweets but I’m not going to go cold turkey on it. Instead, I’m going to slowly wean off of it until I can stick to keto. So my plan is to bake a few batches of keto brownies and keep on eating 2 brownies per meal until I can stick to keto and then slowly wean off of it. Once I can stick to keto, I’ll shorten it to one keto brownie per meal until I feel like I don’t need it at all anymore. But I will still make keto baked goods because baked goods always come in at work and they are my weakness. Hopefully, I get to the point where I don’t even desire baked goods and I won’t even care.

My main goal is to stick to eating keto foods. I’m not counting anything besides carbs (roughly estimating but looking at nutrition labels). Trying to stay at or below 30g for the first few weeks or months until I get a hang of things. I’m still learning on which methods work best for me.

My breakfast today consisted of:
ground sausage salad with diced onions and Cholula. 2 keto brownies for dessert.

Next meal will be post work:
4 mini beef patties, 1 egg mashed with mayo and 2 keto brownies for dessert.

GOAL FOR TODAY: STICK TO THE FOOD I BROUGHT TODAY. NO OTHER FOOD.

It’s been a few hours since I’ve eaten my first meal and I’m still feeling pretty full and satisfied which is great! I tested it out yesterday and did have “hunger” (mind is hungry but body isn’t) pains but I pulled through and found out I didn’t get hungry until about 7 hours after my first meal. I’m trying to listen to my body more than my mind. I will focus on the mindset that food is for nutrition. It’s hard when I have I think an eating disorder and I think about food all the time and turn to food for stress/depression/boredom but I AM trying to get better.

(Ethan) #2

You are on day 3 and doing well. It’s early on and will get so much better.

(Felix) #3

Just popping in to give you encouragement: go for it!

From my experience, keto helped a lot with anxiety and depression. At the beginning, also doing anything for my body that feels like self care and comfort was really helpful. I replaced eating my favourite soothing carbs with hot baths, body moisturizer, piling into bed with all fresh linens, hot tea. A massage would be heavenly, if possible to arrange. These small indulgences really do work.

(Crystal) #4

I post on reddit too and just read a lot of people hating on me about how I am eating way too many desserts after I pointed out that I am JUST beginning keto and that sugar is ALL AROUND ME and that I canNOT go cold turkey on it just yet. So, what do I do? Eat keto brownies. Why? Because I’m stressed and they were in my car. I’m mad at myself for having those keto brownies but also semi happy for shoving that up their faces. I’m trying my best here and it’s hard when people post anything negative about my hard efforts.

(Felix) #5

The awesome thing about low carb is that you don’t have to change everything immediately. Even little changes add up fast. Do what you do, one step at a time. And the people who harp on perfection can take a seat. (Maybe don’t post on Reddit? People here seem much more chill.)

#6

Hey Crystal,

Just here to post some encouragement, and reflect a bit on the accomplishments youve already made so far.

But first, an important, corny pun…

image

Congrats on …

  • the strength it took to share
  • the decisions that led to you taking the situation into your own hands and trying Keto
  • the bravery to try,knowing that trying is hard work as well as great rewards
  • the choice to reach out to gather support, because isolation would only make your goals harder. And, like trying, reaching out can be hard work too and not always give perfect results i.e. whoever was giving you s*&t on Reddit! I second the forum-er who said the folks on here are nicer. They are one of the most supportive and kind and encouraging groups of people Ive personally come across, and I hope you gain confidence and trust the longer you’re on here. These guys have SO much collective wisdom from experiences. And from life experience comes humility and grace. These guys rock.
  • the insight you have to see your own behavioural patterns as they develop (the cheese and nuts!)
  • the wisdom to be able to adapt your behaviour after the insights, and actually develop even better strategies than before
  • the foresight to have benchmarks and specific plans: 2 keto friendly brownies for now, then 1 etc…; having a date goal of May and not ‘absolutely right now this minute’
  • the insight to be realistic about your current needs (the brownies)
  • having a warrior spirit that gets up again after every perceived fail so far, and tries, tries, tries

These are only about half the observations of impressive achievements I can see clearly in your post, even though you might not have perceived them like that. And you have made all these hard decisions and kept going like this on top of depression!? I hope that lovely friend and the nurse who suggested Keto are also around to give you a much deserved high five. And here’s one from me, for what a random stranger’s worth :raised_hands:

It may well feel, and be, the hardest place ever where your head is right now - but from the outside looking in, you’re an amazing, determined, smart, resilient person who is literally an inspiration. You’re kicking butt, and I hope you keep it up.

For what it’s worth, Im only about 10/12 weeks into Keto and the few times Ive caved and had a carb fest I was surprised by what a hormonal bitter angry mood I was in the next day. I wasnt even annoyed about caring itself, it was just a nasty mood, and its been consistent when Ive eaten carbs now. So Im guessing its a hormonal reaction to being out of ketosis. That may be hitting you too, when youve eaten carbs, and be doubling down on the depressive symptoms for a day.

Congrats to you for continuing to try, and thanks for sharing :sunflower:

(Crystal) #7

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I agree that changes take time but that they will add up. I hope that I can achieve my goals one day

(Crystal) #8

Wow. I didn’t know that my post did all that. So thank you. It means a lot to me that you say all of those things because I didn’t think i was doing anything at all. On a scale 0-10 (10 being extreme efforts), I thought I was on a 0.1 but you made me feel like I was at an 8-9 after reading that. And I agree that people on here are much more encouraging and understanding. I definitely want and need the support from this forum and am SO glad I found this forum. S/O to everyone on here for being an amazing support group.

(Crystal) #9

I will definitely look back at these responses when I feel down about myself. Thank you!

#10

[> quote=“new2keto1000, post:8, topic:31077”]

Wow. I didn’t know that my post did all that. So thank you. It means a lot to me that you say all of those things because I didn’t think i was doing anything at all. On a scale 0-10 (10 being extreme efforts), I thought I was on a 0.1

I suspected that might be the case, just from how you were describing things. So I’m glad I was able to help you see your efforts and behaviour in a more realistic light. And I meant it about that only being half of what I saw! There were a bunch more. I just didn’t want to ramble on :smile:

Your response reminded me of a phrase - “Depression is a Liar” and it’s very true.
It mocks us and tells us we’re doing terrible, when we’re actually moving forward and being brave.
It highlights our mistakes to us, and pretends our accomplishments were no big thing.
And maybe the worst thing it lies about is telling us that people don’t want to hear from us, and prevents us from seeing all the support that’s out there for us. And I’m pleased as punch to see that you’re checking in each day and tellin us how it’s all going. Just so you can see how much support you personally attract with your own unique sincere journey. And kick depression’s butt a bit while youre at it!

Keep being awesome and trying and reaching out and
We’ll keep cheering you on through your Keto WOE :star::raised_hands::+1:

PS great choice to save any posts ou find supportive so you can return back to them! Sometimes what ive done is actually print out stuff like that and keep it where ill see it every day for a while!