This is a generic question that doesn’t seem to explicitly fit into any other category on here. It might seem odd, but why did YOU start the ketogenic diet? Is there anyone on here that was actually satisfied with his/her health prior to beginning the diet? My guess is that all of us began with some sort of issue, right? Or am I wrong?
It’s a strange question, I know, but one that I have reasons for asking. Tell us your story.
I did not have any particular health issues when I decided to go keto beginning of January, 2017. Two incidental things that did play roles were: I had got an inguinal hernia in November, but had to wait until March for repair procedure (this is Canada); I had several blood tests scheduled for the 3rd and 4th of January that required preparatory fasting.
I started the preparatory fast late Monday afternoon, Jan 2nd. Since I had to fast again for the Wednesday test I decided just to continue fasting after the Tuesday morning tests. After the Wednesday test I decided just to continue fasting for a couple more days to get into ketosis.
My proximate motivation was the upcoming hernia procedure in March. I had read that this procedure is much more likely to be successful when the patient has little abdominal fat to deal with. Although I was not overweight by any significant amount, I decided to get rid of as much abdominal fat as I could before the operation. I guessed that was probably about 15 pounds and I knew that keto was the fastest and most successful way to do it in time for March.
Went to the doc a year ago for being tired and having daily headaches. Was prediabetic and told to get my A1c down. I was vegetarian and at my highest weight. I had done Atkins in my 20’s with great success. Getting sober, taking steroids for cancer treatment and being stuck in bed after a bone marrow transplant packed on the lbs. Now, I’m working on correcting the damage.
Two reasons for me – T2 diabetes and morbid obesity.
When I was in the hospital in late 2016, at my heaviest, there was little to watch on TV, so I ended up watching a lot of My 600-lb Life. The surgeon on the show requires patients to lose weight before surgery, usually 30 or 60 pounds per month for one or two months. Both to show they can stick to a diet, and to make surgery easier. His take was that if they couldn’t stick to a diet, the surgery wasn’t going to help them much anyway .
I had my stomach stapled in 2000, when I was my heaviest up to that point (520#). The only weight I lost was because of recovery from the surgery, and I had bad side effects that lasted over 15 years. So I’m not anxious to try surgery again. Even though there have been significant improvements in the past 19 years.
As far as weight loss for the My 600-lb Life show, a recent patient, Justin, started out at 710 pounds. The surgeon gave him the diet and told him he should be able to lose 120 pounds in 2 months. He actually lost 141 pounds in that 2 months. He ended up losing over 250 pounds before he had the surgery.
But I figured if people can lose that much weight before surgery, why would they even need the surgery? So I went on restricted calorie keto in the hospital, rehab, and since. I now weigh less than when I had my stomach stapled 19 years ago.
I felt sluggish, tired, depressed, I was suffering from alopecia, trigger finger and just felt like a stuffed sausage even though my clothes size was the same, my body composition was different
I was morbidly obese and had breast cancer (that’s completely gone at my last mammography) and now I’m in excellent shape, I actually feel sexy again and my eye sight improved 5 fold I also do a palming technique that helps train the eyes not to go into nervous strain along with keto of course almost ready to chuck the prescription glasses in the trash and fat soluble vitamins and MSM helped my eyes (vision) too…lol
Great question!
I came to keto when I finally realised that the ‘you must eat carbohydrate because you take insulin for your type 1 diabetes’ diktat was absolutely bonkers, and while going about reducing my carbohydrate intake I discovered this forum.
You see, for 30 years I had been chasing carbs with insulin and chasing insulin with carbs. Why? Because that’s what doctors had been telling me to do since I was 11.
How on earth had it taken me three decades to realise I could approach things differently? I do still take insulin because I’d be dead without it, but I take less of it - and I am no longer having frequent and dramatic hypos as a side-effect of ‘treating’ large amounts of carbohydrate with large doses of insulin.
I can keep a pretty straight line on my Libre graph most days, my blood glucose and weight are stable and where I want them to be (although my weight isn’t any different to what it was pre-keto), and I love what I eat!
I started because of a Stage IV breast cancer diagnosis, and learning that my cancer feeds on glucose. My full story is on my blog.
One parent with Alzheimer’s other parent with diabetes. I don’t want either future, if I can help it.
I like the q, not strange at all.
I had gotten fat for the first time in my LIFE after menopause in 2012. It was gradual; very gradual. By 2017 I started having symptoms -had never had a single health problem, I don’t even get colds- that were concerning. They were:
shortness of breath
throbbing head
rapid irregular HR when AT REST
rapid irregular HR and chest pain UPON EXERTION esp stairs
weakish all the time
severe restless leg; had never had this, ever before
insomnia
fluid retention
hypertension; I’d always been HYPOtensive, always.
Having never before had health issues I was NOT DOWN with suddenly feeling like crap. NOT down.
Weight loss for me was rapid and steady. Within DAYS I began to diurese. Within I’d say (this was 2yr ago)…3mos? when a lot but not all weight had come off, I was again asymptomatic and have continued to be so.
I have no doubt Id’ve been diagnosed with hypertension had I stayed fat and possibly diabetes, given how I was feeling.
I’d been between 115-125 from ages 14-49, was only fat from 2012-2017 and really fat only from 2014-2017. Am now 115 again.
I weighed 320, I have a family history of diabetes, though I was not (yet) diagnosed with it.
I went on a business trip to a conference that required a LOT of walking, 5 days worth. That was a triple-whammy.
The joys of airline travel when you are big, those full-length whole-wall mirrors in hotel room bathrooms that you can’t mentally edit yourself out of when you step out of the shower, and being so tired and in pain from all of the walking required that I barely got half the benefit out of that conference.
However, by the 5th day I was actually improving, so I realized that it was still possible for me to do something to get back in shape. I made a commitment to do SOMETHING when I got back home, and a week later due to sheer luck I stumbled across a link to one of Ivor Cummins videos and down the rabbit hole I went.
“Wow,” thought I, “there is solid science behind this. Let me give it a try for at least 6 weeks”.
Here I am, a little over a year later. Down over 100 pounds. I can walk 4 miles no problem. I can do 70 sit-ups in one set. I can do multiple sets of genuine, strict-form, on the floor push-ups. I am down from a 52" waist to about 37". I think it’s working.
Started when I was almost 61. Now almost 62.
I started because my brother had a heart attack at the end of February beginning of March 2018. He survived but I told myself I needed to be healthier. I was 255-260 lbs and within four months was 200lbs. Been stuck at this weight ever since but hoping to break through it as I have been on and off the wagon many times! Mostly health. I luckily wasn’t pre diabetic but I didn’t want to be either. Also decided I was turning 30 this year so I wanted 29 (2018) to be getting in better health.
Interesting. As I’ve been asking many others, what kind mood and cognitive experiences have you had? Did you notice any substantial difference?
No, but I noted physical changes. I lost about 35 pounds during the course of the next 4 months or so, although that was not my primary intention. I wanted to lose a little in prep for the hernia operation but kept losing until I upped my daily calories sufficiently. I also started to experience far fewer digestion problems, especially with gas and reflux.
In January I was really ill one night and went to the hospital, and my blood pressure was 240/140 – I had been dizzy, had severe vertigo, and chest pains, and my hubby was concerned that I was about to have a heart attack or a stroke. They told me to see my doctor as soon as I could, I went a few days later and he told me to buy a blood pressure machine, and to write it all down (taking readings in the morning and in the evening before bed) so I did this, but started Keto soon after, and my blood pressure started going down to pretty normal levels pretty soon.
I started feeling a lot better, and losing weight, and I was feeling really good. This also made me happier, so helped my mood too! I was less grouchy and less irritable. It helped me in many ways, and it is still doing that! I have lost 49 pounds so far since February, I still have about 120 or more pounds to go but I am feeling much better then I did in February. Lately I have been incorporating a bit of exercise, such as some walking, and going up and down the stairs and some low impact aerobics from videos on youtube.
I just wish that I had of discovered Keto a few years ago!
I started Keto to lose weight, but I’ve continued because of the many other benefits that I didn’t know Keto would resolve. I’ve reached my goal weight but I’ve just upped my calories and kept my carbs under 20g net. I used to have digestive issues (IBS), what I thought was lactose intolerance (which turned out to be an issue with carbs because I eat dairy all the time now with no issues), I suffered from extreme anxiety and depression (Keto hasn’t totally cured those 2 things but I’ve definitely seen a vast improvement). Not to mention the mental clarity, loads of energy, etc. I used to be ready for bed at 7 pm; now I wake up at 4:15 am and go to bed around 10 still full of energy. I love the Keto WOE and I’m glad I decided to stick with it.
Hear! Hear!
I actually did Atkins back in 1973. And it worked for me. But the only thing I remember about that time is getting so sick of hard boiled eggs and hamburger patties. I needed the knowledge I have today as well.
I had not weighed myself in years. Don’t own a scale. In fact, had not seen my body (no mirror either) in just about that same amount of time. But, I knew I was getting too big. Thatnis the thing about being out alone for weeks at a time in the desert…no one cares what you look like.
So…I spent this past summer in S&B. I realized that I could not squeeze into my size 16 pants any more. That, and combined with actually weighing myself (194!!!). That popped it for me. That had to stop.
I started with Atkins, but it was not working for me. So, I started to learn what was not working and found keto. Then I found this forum. That was 50lbs ago. I will never stopmthisnlifestyle…just soneasy for me and it fits my way of living.
Well my reason was very different from most. My marriage was not doing good and I had discovered some very disturbing things. My self esteem and self worth became non existant and in a desperate attempt to save my marriage I started keto in hope’s of losing weight.
1 yr and 5 months later i am down 70 lbs and I have done a lot of soul searching and have learned to love myself again. I now can say that I choose this woe for ME and ONLY me.
Simple. I got fat!
I heard a doctor in tv say to stay away from white foods. So I tried that. A week later or so, my brother says “we’re doing keto” so I say “sounds good, let’s roll”
I dove in head first. Found out the horrors of carbohydrates and am on my way to a healthier version of myself.
4 months later I’m 45 pounds lighter.
