I hope this is helpful to others…
I am a 53 year old, menopausal woman, 5 foot 11 and started keto at 200 lbs. I wanted to lose 25 lbs.
I have spent most of my life struggling with weight, on calorie controlled diets losing a few pounds and then putting it all back on again. After gaining even more weight as I got older and particularly after a surgery, I started approaching dieting in the way I approach other aspects of my life…science and research. This is when I drastically cut down on simple carbs (not keto) as part of a calorie controlled diet and lost 2 1/2 stone. I changed from cereal, bread, rice and potato based diet to largely proteins and vegetables and cut out most sugars. A couple of years later as menopause hit and carbs crept into my diet a bit, I realised I had put a stone back on and also found my previous approach no longer worked. I just could not lose any weight. Low carb had worked before so I embarked on keto to step things up.
For 6 weeks I have been 20 to 25g carb a day and eating to a feeling of fullness. I have got the majority of my calories from fat and followed the plan to the letter. Here’s what I learned…
- I felt nauseated alot. The fatty diet does not sit well with me and I swing between constipation and lose stools with cramps.
- I never had keto flu. I read about this and braced myself for it but never happened. I felt fine. No difference to energy levels, good or bad.
- Eating high fat filled me up. I wasnt hungry at all which was a huge relief as I am used to feeling hungry a lot!
- I felt more in touch with when I was hungry. Without carbohydrate fueled highs and lows I felt less cravings and was able to recognise more when and when I wasnt hungry
- I realised I was quite afraid of fat. It has been drummed into me that fat is bad and will turn me into a whale. I was terrified I would gain weight by eating high fat until I was full. I didn’t
- People are judgemental know it alls! Ok some people! Many people believe that because something works for them, and they have lost weight then if only everyone did the same and listened to them, then they would too. Everyone is different. A menopausal woman who needs to lose a couple of stone is not going to have a remotely similar journey to a young man with 100lbs to lose. Lots of people have formed opinions based on their experience which have no basis in science…correlation does not equal causation.
- I miss fruit and veg. I made the most of veg in my carb allowance and I didn’t crave sweets or bread, but hated limiting all the colours on my plate. It feels wrong and I could not do this long term (see point 1!)
- I lost nothing. That’s right. Not one single pound. Wait for all the comments on what I must have done wrong…see point 6!
So what now? I am going to keep going but with calories controlled. I will aim for 1200 and see what that feels like. I estimate I have been eating around 1600 a day. I do believe that even with keto, a deficit in calories is needed and probably easily and unconsciously achieved for most people due to the appetite suppressant effect of a high fat low carb diet. But not for me. If people are interested I will update in a month.