When do you start feeling great on Keto?
Options
Replies
-
Well, things seem to be improving. My body is still not letting go of any weight, which is hugely frustrating, but im feeling good and that's a start. Most notable change is my appetite reducing dramatically. I heard so many other people declaring this amazing lack of hunger on keto and i just wasnt getting it - i felt constantly hungry and i made myself sick with too much fat for the 1st month. And now all of a sudden im finding myself satisfied on 800 cals some days (like today). Seeing as i wasnt losing on 1000 cals a day im reluctant to force food in my mouth for the sake of it just to raise up my calories. So i think im going to listen to my hunger signals and if im not hungry im not going to eat. Ive never had a day in my life where i dont feel like eating - im the type of girl that will be groaning from a too-stuffed, stretched stomach and still posting more food in her mouth. So this is a revelation. Im not sure if regularly eating below 1000 calories will kickstart some weightloss (finally) or if it will work against me and slow down my sluggish metabolism further. I guess all i can do is listen to my body and try not eating if im not hungry.
Is anyone else experiencing a huge reduction in calories consumed due to lack of hunger? What are the lowest cals you would allow yourself for the day? Do you have a minimum calorie allowance that you force yourself to eat up to, regardless of hunger? Or do you go some days with very low calorie intakes?0 -
I have had a couple of days down around 1,000 where I have made myself eat something more to get to 1,200. 1,200 is way low for me. But typically if I have a couple of 1,200-1,300 days I do get really hungry again and eat more the following days.0
-
I sometimes will go a day eating very little if I don't feel hungry and I'm busy. I've done that for much of my life. It's not harmful to you unless your metabolism is messed up. (Which yours may be.) I, personally, would say that you need not eat if you don't feel hungry. After what you've been thru your body might just need a little rest. However, if you aren't eating don't overexert yourself and hydrate well.
Your body has huge stores of energy available to it, that you are trying to get rid of anyway. A lean person will have over 50,000 calories of stored fat. Most of us have much more...0 -
I have had a couple of days down around 1,000 where I have made myself eat something more to get to 1,200. 1,200 is way low for me. But typically if I have a couple of 1,200-1,300 days I do get really hungry again and eat more the following days.
What are your standard daily calories?
0 -
I sometimes will go a day eating very little if I don't feel hungry and I'm busy. I've done that for much of my life. It's not harmful to you unless your metabolism is messed up. (Which yours may be.) I, personally, would say that you need not eat if you don't feel hungry. After what you've been thru your body might just need a little rest. However, if you aren't eating don't overexert yourself and hydrate well.
Your body has huge stores of energy available to it, that you are trying to get rid of anyway. A lean person will have over 50,000 calories of stored fat. Most of us have much more...
Wowza! That really puts things in perspective doesnt it? - more than 50,000 calories of available stored fat. That suggests to me that you could survive on really low calories for a good while whilst tapping those reserves.
The only thing that concerns me is the broken metabolism issue. I definitely have a slow metabolism at best, so i dont want to be doing anything to impede my metabolic process further.
I think i'll play it by ear. I'll try not eating if im not hungry and see how this affects my weightloss.0 -
CoconuttyMummy wrote: »I have had a couple of days down around 1,000 where I have made myself eat something more to get to 1,200. 1,200 is way low for me. But typically if I have a couple of 1,200-1,300 days I do get really hungry again and eat more the following days.
What are your standard daily calories?
Maintenance when I'm fairly sedentary is about 1900-2000. So I lose in the 1500-1700 range. I'm 5'6" and 154 pounds currently.
0 -
I just got my new digital scale with bodyfat monitor and im weighing in at 5 pounds heavier than my old scale. Great! I had a feeling that was going to happen. *sulks*
However, its nice to have an accurate baseline to work with, and knowing my bodyfat, bmi, total body water & lean muscle percentages now is enlightening.. disappointing, but enlightening all the same
My bf% is 28.8%. *cries*. Im hoping i will see this number go down even if the numbers on the scale remain the same. My muscle% was 30.4%. BMI was 27. This will be interesting to track - gives me something else to obsess over! :P
0 -
It's all perspective..... my body fat low a couple of years ago was about 28% and I was happy with it.... lol..... striving for 25%, but still pretty happy at 28. But then I have a few years on you. I do have quite a bit of muscle though because strength training.0
-
Yeah, thats the thing you see, ive lost all the muscle i once had, so at nearly 29% fat im looking really squishy and wobbly and loose. Ive just got no body tone or condition anymore. My plan is to cut the fat down to hopefully well below 25% and then work on buulding some muscle back up, and then cutting again. This is all dependent on the fat sodding off though - so far my plans have been scuppered by clingy fat cells.0
-
Remember to be patient with yourself. It's taken years for you to get where you are. any progress in the right direction beats going in the wrong direction. Glad that you are feeling good now. Don't be surprised if you hit a bad day or two again. I think you are on the right track.0
-
@Fvaisey . That's a good point to be mindful of. Im impatient and want results, like, yesterday, but it does take a long time to wreck your body so it's sensible to presume it will take a while to undo all that damage. Sooner the better in my book, but you're right that any progress is still progress.0
-
If you are feeling well enough, I would encourage you to start strength training before then. Even if just body weight exercises at home. It should help you reduce the fat.0
-
Ive been avoiding the time to start training again because ive become allergic to exercise but deepdown i know that i cannot achieve the slim, tight, toned, wobble-free body id like without it. Ive been putting it off for long enough, i think you're right. To be fair, for the past month since going keto i obviously wasnt well enough to think about adding extra exertion, but now im feeling better i really dont have any excuses left to delay starting a bit of strength training.
Thanks deksgrl for giving me a gentle shove in the right direction. I'll ease in gently and hopefully get over this fear of exercise ive developed.0 -
Little cheery update. I re-weighed myself this morning on my new scales, with an empty stomach etc, and im showing a few pounds lighter and a wee bit lower bodyfat. Yay!
So my new stats are:
Height: 5ft 1"
Weight: 128.8 pounds
BMI: 24.3
BodyFat %: 27.7%
Muscle %: 31.3%
Im not sure what a healthy BF% for me would be. Is 20% a good figure to aim for, do you think? I wonder what a healthy muscle % is? Hmmm.
Its nice to have these measurements to judge success by, rather than just scale weight. There's nowhere to hide now
0 -
Im sooooo mad at myself. I've just messed up my whole days carbs by having one large cappuccino at lunch. I happily sat through my partner and son stuffing their faces on sandwiches & cakes at a nice cafe for lunch. I was strong and decided i would just have a cappuccino. BIG mistake! I knew cows milk was carby but, oh my days, 14g of carbs for one stinking large cappuccino! Grrrrrrrrrrr! I just checked my ketostix and yup, its kicked me right out of keto. Was it worth it? NOOOOO! What idiot thought up drinking cows udder juice anyway? Pfft.
OK, stress over. What's done is done. On the plus side this little carb scare has forced me to get off my butt and start doing some strength training tonight, for the 1st time in 3 years. I figure i might be able to minimize any damage if i push a few weights to try and make up for those crappy extra carbs. Im hoping thats how it works!?0 -
CoconuttyMummy wrote: »
Im not sure what a healthy BF% for me would be. Is 20% a good figure to aim for, do you think? I wonder what a healthy muscle % is? Hmmm.
Its nice to have these measurements to judge success by, rather than just scale weight. There's nowhere to hide now
Well, ideal body fat % is a range based on age. You are nearing the age where 22% is the low end of the ideal range. Depending on what motivates you, you might want to make an initial goal for a higher % like 22 and see how you look and then adjust lower if necessary? I wouldn't want to have you aim for 20% and then get discouraged and give up. Up to you how you approach that. The good thing is, if you go too low it is usually quite easy to put fat back on!
0 -
Haha, damn right! Wouldnt that be a nice problem to have? - too little bodyfat! Ha, it wouldnt be too low for very long.. nom nom nom!
I really like your advice, thanks so much Deksgrl. 22% sou nds like a solid BF goal to aim for. And so shall it be! I'll keep chipping away til i get there.. hopefully
After the cappuccino fiasco yesterday, i started easing into some strength training last night to try and make up for the carbs. I went over on carbs and my calories were approaching TDEE, but by some miracle i had lost almost a pound this morning! Very very weird. So maybe my calories HAVE been too low and my body was in starvation mode? Id love to know, but i guess the only way im going to know for sure is to keep trying things and see what happens.0 -
Well, a lot of people stay starvation mode is a myth, or rather, the term is misused. Metabolic adaptation might be a better term, your body wants to maintain and adapts to the level of energy you give it.0
-
Oh and that 300ml of cows milk in the large cappuccino has kept me out of ketosis for 28 hrs so far. Still nothing showing on the sticks. Crazy, huh?
Now i see the blessing of using butter, coconut oil or HWC for coffees. I thought the calories were high with these additions but actually a really milky large coffee works out pretty close in calories to just under 2 tbsp cream, but with a huge portion of carbs on top.
Makes me shudder to think how many calories and carbs i ploughed down my neck with all my huge milky coffees in a day before going keto. No wonder i never lost weight.
0 -
Yep, I know exactly what you mean. And unless you made it yourself, you don't know exactly how much milk they used. Even if a restaurant publishes the nutrition data and has a procedure for how it is supposed to be made, doesn't mean the employee actually made it that way.0
