What is your Keto Story? What made you start it?

#1

We all have our stories that go far beyond “i wanted to eat better”. What was this pushing point for you to finally shift from “yeah…i should probably to do something about my eating” into “i am doing it and i am doing it now”?

Here is my story. I was asked to lead a group of people at my job, and i committed to it 150%. I wanted to solve problems, fix things, i wanted to make a difference that I felt was needed. And so i did. During this process my confidence grew, my relationships with people changed from “i like your shoes” to “what do you think, i need your advice”. My boss was showering me with “fantastic job”. All this reinforced my eagerness to make a difference and i worked even more. And then… it was annual review time. Not only my boss did not find time to sit with me and talk, i got poor rating and was both pissed and hurt.

And then i decided to re-prioritize somewhat. I claimed lunch time which i used to dedicate to work. I started running at lunch. 5 days around 12 i change into my gear and run for 40 min. Then shower and back to work. It was then when i decided to shake my addiction and self-medication with carbs. I knew i am sugar sensitive. I had never been comfortable even eating fruit. Even sweet pepper starts a chain reaction in me which leads to bingeing in despair of trying to regain inner equilibrium. I had to wait with the start of my diet because my boss wanted to take us out for lunch to show her appreciation… but then she forgot it, which did not surprise me. She transferred the idea of lunch into next week, which never happened again, and now the lunch is supposed to happen next week…but too late. I embarked on my journey and if i had to go for lunch (i hate going out for lunch and eat with people with whom i do not feel comfortable), then people will have to put up with me ordering tea or coffee if they go into one of those places that have pastas, rice and meats that are cooked in sugar.

I am one week into keto and LOVE it. I had keto flu on day 4 - splitting headache. Other than that, i am still slightly wobbly but gaining confidence every day! Water retention went away. And my sleep improves. So, in a long run, i am grateful for the sloppy annual review. It helped me to stop sacrificing myself at work. I still do good work but i prioritize myself over it.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #2

:clap:t4: kudos to you! You deserve to prioritize yourself, and congrats on your first week on Keto :blush:

I decided to start Keto after doing Paleo for a couple years and barely losing weight. A coworker started Keto and the weight just dropped for her. I did lots of research before starting Keto in Sept 2018, and I realized it had the potential to benefit me in ways other than weight loss. I’m very glad I started Keto. Aside from losing 45 pounds since Sept, my depression is better managed, as well as my IBS, better confidence, more focus, etc. And I no longer use food as a means of coping - food now has become for nutrition only. It feels good not to be ruled by food anymore.

(less is more, more or less) #3

I have posted my road to Damascus story here: https://people.duke.edu/~kds38/pages/my-lchf.html It’s there and not here, because it’s my story, not the 2KD’s story.

Fantastic life take-away. Much of the good in my life has come from the gutter or dregs of what I thought at that time was a loss. Including my low-carb living.

Welcome!

(Shanda) #4

I didnt actually start keto for myself. I started for my SO who is T2D. His BG was out of control and the meds and “trying to eat better” did nothing. We made the commitment to do it together. I wanted to be able to educate myself in order to support him the best I could and knew that he would never be able to stick to it by himself. The more research I did the more i realized that this could be life altering for me too. I dont have any major health issues but I am 39 yrs old and am starting to see the effects of being overweight. Snoring, numbness and tingling in my arms and hands when I wake up in the morning, lack of energy, poor sleep, etc etc. I’ve been a yo yo dieter my whole life and this is a lifestyle choice that I really think I can stick with for the long haul.
We are 2 weeks in and it hasn’t been easy. But the most glorious thing happened last night. The day before we started keto his BG an hour after eating read 273. Scary high. Last night he was down to 132. Still high but such a drastic improvement! Even if I never see a single benefit for myself (which is unlikely) knowing that he is well on his way to putting this nasty condition into remission makes it all worth it.

(Laurie) #5

Go back 18 years. I had dabbled in OA and tried many things. But I was never able to stay on any diet for more than 2 hours, because my hunger was uncontrollable. “Just eat less” or “eat everything in moderation” was a joke.

I moved to a new area and looked up local OA meetings. They were held at dinner time in a pancake house! It turned out that all the members were on Atkins and it was really more of an Atkins meeting than an OA meeting. We didn’t order pancakes; we ate things like steak with extra butter. I learned a lot, but I guess I wasn’t ready.

About 3 years later I went over the 200 pound mark and decided to get serious about Atkins. I joined an online support group, which was very helpful. I lost 50 pounds in 11 months. It was a miracle, because I didn’t feel “hungry” all the time. Then on Christmas day someone handed me a piece of pie and everyone was “Come on it’s Christmas,” and I ate the pie.

After that I was on and off Atkins for about 13 years, but I didn’t get serious until I passed the 200 pound mark again. I looked online for an Atkins support group. None was appropriate for me for one reason or another, e.g., maybe you had to be a Facebook member (which I’m not).

But it was easy to join this group. I did some research and decided keto was close enough to Atkins and maybe better. So here I am.

#6

I just made a supplementary poll for a high level look at this:

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/poll-what-was-the-source-of-you-hearing-about-keto-that-got-you-started

(Heather Meyer) #7

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead…

I began Keto when i had a WLS. I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy where the Dr removed 85% of my stomach. I was put onto a Pre-Op Low Carb Diet 2 weeks prior to surgery. When they did my surgery…instead of it being 45 minutes long…it took over 2 hours. When i was in recovery the Dr came in and said “we need to have a talk” and pointed out…

1)I just about went into full cardiac arrest on the table and they could not stabalize my heart rate.

  1. The surgery took 2 hours instead of 45 because when they went inside, my liver was so inflammed and so abnormally sized that there was no room to visualize my stomach.

  2. My bloodwork they did prior to surgery indicated that my liver was shutting down and so were my kidneys.

I was told point blank “Change your life or you wont live to see Age 30”.

I knew that my liver had been in trouble since i was 18 when i contracted Epstein-Barr induced viral Hepatitis. My liver had been so inflamed i was put on an “all carb” no protein, not fat diet from my Dr to manage the inflammation. I was also put on heavy duty steroids to get the inflammation and pain down.

After WLS i could not follow the recommendation by the Dr to follow a low carb diet. I had complications and my body did not tolerate food like it should have. Things like beef and other meats would make me sick and raw veggies became impossible to digest. I lived mainly off of yogurt and cottage cheese and carbs because it was easiest on my new stomach. I managed to calorie count and exercise my way down from 320 to 265. But then i encountered a traumatic situation and began to have an identity crisis and began to gain weight. I cheated the system. I ate and binged on food and used gravol as a means to calm my stomach when i over-filled it. I was back to the binge eating-carb loving diet i always had growing up and my weight went up. Eventually, i got to a crisis point where i was back to being unhappy about how i looked and started seeing a Counsellor. With Counselling, i felt empowered to lose weight again through calorie counting and got myself back down to 260. However, in 2015, my friend begged to me to take my baking skills and turn them into a baking business. I ended up consuming and eating many baked goods through taste testing my products and though others were happy with my food… i was miserable and i began to get sick. My whole childhood and adult life i always had stomach problems. The Doctor i saw refused to test me for any intolerences or auto-immune issues. He was convinced it was all in my head. Well, he was wrong. Turns out I actually had full on Celiac Disease and i had been destroying my intestines by eating gluten. My chronic nausea could have been treated by going gluten free. So… once i was formally diagnosed… i quit my Baking Business and spent a long time researching and developing gluten-free recipes. Also, during that time, i began Paramedic School. It was going great, my health was improving thanks to being gluten free and life seemed okay and my weight was slowly going down due to calorie counting. Until it all came to a crashing hault.

I began to have pains just under my right rib. It started off as a burning pain that would wrap into the side of my back. I noticed i was eating but feeling nausiated all the time. I was having pains on my left side as the pain spread from right to my left. The pain through my hesrt rate and blood pressure through the roof…i would break out in a sweat. I went to the Emerg one day and they gave me medicine for the pain and did blood work to rule out gallbladder and liver issues and everything looked normal. I started living off crackers and soup cause i would feel so ill if i ate anything substantial. Eventually…one visit to the ER became every night. I was in there every night in agonizing pain for 2 months. They refused to send me down island for an ultrasound because my blood work and urine tests were clean. Finally, after 2 months of Hell and now living off of Fat Free Fudgicles… i went to the ER and a Dr who hadnt seen me…sent me down immediately. Sure enough, there were multiple gallstones and sludge in my gallbladder even though i had perfect bloodwork. So i had surgery to remove my gallbladder and i thought life was okay…until i got a call.

It was a Specialist who had called me in and saud they were very concerned. They said that surgery had taken much longer than anticipated. Almost 3 hours of a surgery thats only supposed to take an hour. They said that my liver was hugging my gallbladder and it was massive. It was inflammed and i had full blown Liver Fibrosis.

I had heard of liver issues from the Doc who did my stomach surgery but NO ONE was telling me how to reverse it. Or what the cure was. The Doc explained to me, "there is no cure…you treat the pain and inflammation with drugs and you are monitored regularily to ensure its not getting worse and if your liver is healthy enough it can regenerate and if its not…your looking at a liver transplant in the future . So my option was all carb diet and steroids again and narcotics for pain management.

I left that Doctors office and said “No Thank You”.
There has got to be a different way. So… being someone who loves to research, I began looking at Harvard Medical Journals online and Cambridge Medical Journals online and began researching for studies for alternative methods of treating Liver Disease. Now, i didnt find any study specific to liver fibrosis but i did find several scientific studies and experiments in treating Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. They were just experiments and their wasnt a ton of them. I dont know that anyone conclusivly thought it was an actual treatment or cure. Nonetheless… I decided… if they have seen good results in people with Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease for pain and inflammation… im going to try it! And guess what they used??? KETO!!!

I researched to death about Keto and then put myself on it. Within 3 months i had seen almost a complete elimination of pain…within 6 months my liver panel had improved and now i have been told my liver is as healthy as can be! Started Keto and didnt look back…

I got off Keto when i began bingeing due to marital issues. I went off it after being Keto for over 3.5 years. Was the worst 7 months of my life. In that time i gained over 60 lbs…so i am back and working hard to get my health back to where it was…That is my story!

(Carl Keller) #8

Congrats! I’m sure you are going to enjoy what’s just around the corner. It only gets better. :wink:

I started keto on a whim. I spoke to a guy who lost 60 pounds in 6 months and what he briefly told me fascinated me. I was about 40 pounds overweight myself and wanted the ditch the spare tire of a gut.

Three days in, I noticed something remarkable: my energy level was through the roof and the constant nagging bodily inflammation, I assciated with getting old, was all but gone. I had barely lost a few pounds but I was already blown away.

Thirty five pounds and 4 months later, I truly feel 20 years younger. My mental clarity is A+. I have endurance and fatigue is now something other people get. I have total control of my diet and for the first time in my life, I understand how my hormones are supposed to behave.

Another thing that has changed about me is that I found a relentless desire to help others in this WOE. I truly get a kick out of paying it forward to others. I know now, with the utmost conviction, that processed foods poison our brains and our bodies. I feel so great now that I’ve weaned myself from them that I feel like it would be selfish of me to not share what I’ve learned and how I feel. There’s so many lies being told out there about what is and what is not healthy that it angers me and this is the best way for me to channel that anger.

#9

Wow! I am totally smitten by the stories! Beccs, i cant believe it - 45 lbs since September is fantastic! I would be happy with 10! But most importantly, it is freedom from the food that so worth it!

Screenack, i felt angry while reading your story - angry with all other weight management recipes, those that are based on carbs. Someone told me once: “Milky, you have low tolerance for BS” and that person was spot on. Whoever introduced refined sugar was a master of BSing. People believe that they treat themselves nicely by eating sugar left and right, but in fact they are ruining their health. If smoking nicotine was always clear that it is bad for you, eating sugar and starches is still not clear for many that it is bad. Good road to Damascus!

#10

Shanda, what a wonderful partner you are! I wish you both all the best on your journey!

Nice to meet you, Laurie. I am sure keto will help you to go where you want to go. What is your dream weight?

Port Hardy, sorry to hear about your setback. Did the marital problem go away, or you learned the way of taking care of yourself while experiencing the stress? Either way - kudos to you.

CarlKeller, thank you and i share your first impression about keto. 2 days into it and i already was blown away by the same thing - relief from inflammation. I also thought that my aches and stiffness and bliating are due to old age. Nope. Due to carbs. Maybe with old age we can not afford eating carbs. Regardless, i know what to do now.

(Laurie) #11

Thank you, @Milky. Tomorrow will mark 6 months since I started, at 202 pounds. I lost quickly at the beginning but it’s been slow since. This morning I weighed 179. If I can get to 150 by the end of this year I’ll be happy. I doubt I could go below that, but you never know. I’m 5’6", female, 66 years old, and I guess big boned.

#12

Wow, Laurie, people amaze me with how much weight they dropped on keto! I hope i will too. It feels weird that weight can go away without suffering. I am still sceptical about weight loss for me. I am afraid of scale. My water retention is so stubborn that it used to mask any weight loss. So i learned not to look the scale in order not to discourage myself. I did lose several pounds i believe, but that because of reduced inflammation and burning glycogen storage. In other words - water. I am curious to see what happens with time

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #13

Congrats and keep up the good work. You’re in the exciting new place where you are learning so much.

I did Atkins in my 20’s and it worked wonders. After a year I moved into phase two and three and sort of held steady for years but then I got into drugs and getting sober packed on the pounds. I also had a doc put me on Cymbalta with which I gained a pound a day for thirty days until I quit taking it. A few years after that I was diagnosed with cancer and spent a year on steroids which fattened me up even more. I’m currently in remission and a few years post bone marrow transplant and know that low carb works for this body so I started it in September and it’s going great, I feel better than ever and don’t know why I didn’t start sooner!

#14

I started 2 weeks ago today on Keto, so today is the start of week #3. I began because of my husband. Last year, he was diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic with fasting blood glucose at a super high 200 something. His A1C was 12. He immediately cut out everything white…so no bread, no potatoes, no starches. And he followed his Dr’s advice on the standard dietary recommendations they give to T2D folks.

He ate low fat, high ‘good carbs.’ Was hungry All. Day. Long. Hungry all the time. And he was kind of miserable feeling hungry all the time.

Over Christmas, some dear friends came to visit. They’re a married couple. They said that they’d been doing keto since June 2018 and they each had lost 45-47 pounds so far that year since starting keto. They made some AMAZING vegetable dishes for Christmas dinner. Holy cow, SO good and SO tasty! We casually started eating like them that whole week that we were here since we cooked a lot at home that week and it was just easier to have us all eat the same things rather than make 2 different sets of meals.

And you know what? My husband’s blood sugar was MUCH better! 2 hours after eating, it would be 92-100 on average. First thing in the morning? 105. As the week went on, my husband said, “Hm, maybe there is something to this keto thing. Maybe I should try it. Would you do it with me?”

At our friends’ insistence, we watched “The Magic Pill” on Netflix. It blew my mind. So compelling.

So on Dec. 30th, we decided to take the plunge. I bought a couple of keto cookbooks (same ones we’d given to our friends for Christmas), we did grocery shopping in a whole brand new way (hello olive oil, coconut oil, bacon, eggs, meat, etc.), etc.

So now at the start of week #3, my husband is a happy camper. He isn’t starving all the time. I’m not either. Sometimes, we both feel full enough that we can’t finish a meal. That NEVER used to happen! I’m now down 12 pounds. My husband has lost 8. Our clothes fit better. I have WAY more energy than I used to.

I am so grateful that our friends came to spend Christmas with us. This will probably turn out to be the best Christmas gift that anybody has ever given us.

(Shah Nejad) #15

I got serious with the keto diet around Aug 2017. What motivated me was the heart attack I had in Jun of 2016. I am lucky surviving the type referred to as widow maker. I have lost 40 lb. I am in maintenance mode. I don’t want to lose weight. I still have side effects. I stopped all my medication such as statin, blood pressure, blood thinner, and SSRI. I thought the meds were making dizzy, more so the SSRI. It has been more than 4 months since I stopped all my med. I still get strange side effects from keto diet. I get rubbery legs and feet muscles. I am taking electrolytes and oil. I am not sure how much I need. I start getting tingling sensations in my fingers and toes. It is affecting my head muscles and vision. I feel dizzy and agitated navigating diring a normal walk. Not sure what I am doing wrong. I am worried. Is there anybody out there that have experienced similar side effects? I like the diet and the healthy food I am eating. Howver, the maintenance phase is difficult to maintain. Any comment?

(Carl Keller) #16

I think the key is to get our hormones in order so that a little starch or fruit isn’t going to go straight to our belly or butt. But for sure, processed carbs should not be part of the equation. I think if you look back at the late 40s and 50s you will see the common american diet was full of whole foods that even included saturated fats, starches and fruit but diabetes, obesity and heart disease were pretty rare. The big difference between now and then is processed sugar, “heart healthy” vegetable oils and lots of bad advice.

(Cindy) #17

I started because my mom is dying from extensive stage small cell lung cancer. That might be an odd reason to start, but I spent a couple of months just eating whatever I want because, you know, cancer can come along and blindside you whenever. But I know that I’m losing her no matter what…being fatter and unhappier, on top of grieving for her, won’t make anything better.

So I started keto back in November. It’s helpful on the 4-6 hr chemo/doctor/testing days to not feel hungry. She goes in for another CT scan in the am and I’m worried that the results won’t be good. She has a tumor on her side that has gotten larger and painful so I think the cancer is growing again. Next treatment options are very limited.

How do you tell someone that you’re [spoiler]fucked[/spoiler] no matter what you do? So I try to KCKO because this is at least something I can control and I have to find a way to be happy despite knowing that I’m losing my best friend. :frowning:

#18

Mentioned my keto story on another thread, just copying and pasting it here-

When discussing my wife’s gastric bypass surgery with a doctor, and talking about how little a person post-surgery could eat and what she should prioritise, carbs were last on the list.

That got me intrigued as I always suspected that carbs/sugar were responsible for weight gain, so I did some research on the internet and ‘keto’ kept popping up.

My wife postponed her surgery and we both decided to try keto for a year to see if that helped.

We’re now three months in and we’ve both dropped 20kgs (44lbs) each.

(Scott) #19

For me it was a chance encounter channel surfing for something interesting on netflix. I spotted the documentary “The Magic Pill” and I thought this is so fascinating. That caused me to dig deeper and deeper into keto. I liked what I found, the wife and I started on July 10th. My logging scale’s graph looks like I jumped off a cliff on that day. I am currently working to get out of a stall but weight loss is only one part of the reason that I am keto. I was on MFP and would try to help others with keto but I guess it flies in the face of calorie restriction so their solution was to ban me. It worked out for the best because I landed here and don’t have to waste time defending keto anymore.

(Jeff) #20

I started 1/1/18 T2D wt. 277 no energy just turned 56 on 4 different meds. Now 208 T2D almost
reversed and no drugs lots of energy and working out on a regular basis. Best part of all this my endocrinologist said this diet wasn’t sustainable T2D couldn’t be reversed without bypass surgery
you need those good carbs glad I paid close attention while walking out the door