New to Keto

nlwright4

I was considering surgery but before my doctor would consider it He needs me to get down to safe weight to operate. I was placed on a very low calorie meal plan to help shrink the liver and send my body into ketosis. I have three protein shakes per day, I am allowed two snack like a sugar free jello cup or a sugar free popsicle. And my one meal consists of about 4 oz of lean meat and either 2 cup of salad greens or 1 cup of cook veggies (no beans, peas or corn) Its been 3 week now and I can say I feel great but my taste buds are bored as hell. lmao

I joined to get some tips and support. Just wanted know if anyone has any alternatives that can add to my success or prevent me from even getting surgery. I will admit I am morbidly obese weighing in at about 803 when I started now down to 782. I also workout with a trainer 3 days per week. I three kids that I want and need to stick around for. I'm 36 and highly motivate.

Please feel free to add me my diary is open and so is my mind.

Sunny_Bunny_

I don't want to advise anything that your doctor would tell you not to eat, but the way most of us eating keto do it is eating fatty meats and using fat and cheese and such for flavor.
I would avoid whey protein powders since they are insulinogenic (stimulate insulin release).
If he wants you to eat higher protein, can it be from meat instead? You may enjoy that more and possibly even be more productive.

Also, congrats on making this important change. It's going to be great!

ccrdragon

Welcome aboard! I would suggest starting with the threads pinned to the top of the group and then wandering thru the active threads to gets tips and ideas. We are a friendly group and always willing to help a fellow keto-ite.

I also would say congrats on making the decision to drop the weight and making progress in the correct direction!

Question for you - will the doctor allow you to eat fats like cream, cheese, coconut or anything along these lines?

One other thing that I would add to my post is to get your hands on some spices - not spice mixes because they often have sugar and other additives that you don't want - real spices like sage, rosemary, thyme, cumin, ground chili peppers (if you like heat in your food), heck even fresh ground black pepper can add a lot to food. Experiment with the different spices by using them alone and in combinations and find ones that you like and can use to add variety to the food (these also work with the vegetables and the salads!).

XavierNusum

I responded over in the keto group, but I'll give a bit here too.

If you're committed to surgery stick to the pre-op diet as prescribed. The shrinking of the live helps with the success of the surgery. I'm familiar since my wife and sister-in-law both had bypass.

If you're wanting to delay the surgery and go off on your own for a while, there are definitely lots of nutritional variety to be had around here.

kpk54

I'm curious as to the calorie count and amount of carbohydrates, protein and fats in each shake. It's just a curiosity question as I'm guessing the shakes are a medically prescribed shake versus one that can be purchased at a local store? How long will you be drinking these? Is it for a prescribed amount of time or to a certain weight? Is there a 2nd phase?

I'll bet your taste buds *are* bored as hell and that may very well be an integral part of your medically prescribed diet. I've never seen anyone here over eat broccoli, cauliflower, etc on a regular basis until they started topping it with a bunch of other stuff. I have to be really careful to this day with this. If I find something "too good" I'm not too good at moderation.

Welcome to our forum. I wish you the best and I have have a feeling you'll do well.

nlwright4

Thanks @Sunny_Bunny_ for the tips, I appreciate the encouragement.

nlwright4

@kpk54 The shake the nutritionalist recommend was the Pure Protein shake powder. They are 25g of protein 8g carb and 3g fat My Macros each day have been about 106g protein, 44g carb, and 30g fat

Gallowmere1984

nlwright4 wrote: »

@kpk54 The shake the nutritionalist recommend was the Pure Protein shake powder. They are 25g of protein 8g carb and 3g fat My Macros each day have been about 106g protein, 44g carb, and 30g fat

That stuff is actually not a horrible powder (their bars are garbage though). I'd personally opt for something lower carb, BUT there may be a specific reason you were put on that macro ratio, so it's none of my business. With your bodyfat being so high, the lower protein than normal won't do too much harm anyway. You're putting in enough to prevent organ catabolism, and that's all that matters for now.

Also, it seems like the VLCD is doing it's job, and given how heavy you are, I'd hazard a guess that you are actually going to be shedding fat at a tremendous rate, and not just the typical "water woosh" that many see at the beginning of carb restriction.

Congratulations on making this commitment. Given your starting point though, you've already snapped through the worst, and you said you're feeling good. I wouldn't be shocked if you come out in a few months once "healthy enough for surgery" wanting to keep doing things the normal way.

This stuff becomes habit forming if you stick with it long enough, and besides, nothing feels better than being able to walk back into a doctor's office and say "you know what? Nah. I got this. Thanks though."

kpk54

@nlwright4, thank you for replying. The macros are of interest since a goal for you is ketosis as is for me for a neurological movement disorder. I'm currently eating very high fat ketogenic but considering trying 2 other protocols. 1 is higher in carbs, the other is higher in protein so it's interesting to see another persons prescribed macros with ketosis in mind. Thanks!

MyriiStorm

I can't add anything to the great suggestions already given, but wanted to say "welcome" to the group, and to the keto lifestyle!

nlwright4

@Gallowmere1984 truly appreciate the words of encouragement. As I said I am highly motivated and by me being off work on medical leave I have the time to truly focus on becoming a healthier me.

Gallowmere1984

nlwright4 wrote: »

@Gallowmere1984 truly appreciate the words of encouragement. As I said I am highly motivated and by me being off work on medical leave I have the time to truly focus on becoming a healthier me.

That's something that I can fully appreciate. I am always able to take care if myself better in the winter, when my workload is almost nonexistent. It's part of why I do my bulking phases in the winter. I can devote more time to recovery and sleep, and pay closer attention to how my body reacts to certain foods. I save my cuts for the spring and summer when all I have to care about is "chicken breast+protein shakes+multivitamin-all other foods=abs".

We devote so much of our time to our jobs, families, friends, etc. that it's easy to forget to take care of the most important person in each of our lives: ourselves.

ut26a22

Congrats on sticking with it and losing weight so quickly. My husband just had gastric sleeve surgery in November and had 6 weeks of a pre-op diet very similar to yours. He was only 2 weeks in before he started to get bored and we needed to get creative. What we did was change up the veggies portion of his day. I went through the list of allowable foods and found ways to cook things he would enjoy with foods he was allowed. We made a stir fry using only veggies he was allowed, a very small amount of an allowed meat (usually chicken breast) and sauteed in stock instead of fried with oil. It was yummy alone or over steamed riced cauliflower. I also made him a chicken curry with carrot (those were ok on his diet), cauliflower and a little bit of chicken. Spooned over riced cauliflower it was super yummy and he could have quite a bit of it in his allowed daily intake.
I would suggest trying to be creative within the limits the doctor set, but rigidly sticking to those limits. Each doctor is a little bit different and has set up a plan that they are experienced with and know will work with the way they operate. My husband did not have as far to go as you do, he was at 470 when he first started, but he was able to lose 40 pounds in that pre-op phase. He is currently down a total of 84 pounds (just under 3 months from the first day of his pre-op diet) and trying to cook foods for him that we all could eat inspired my son and I to join him and start eating LCHF. You will be surprised at how fast the weight comes off if you stick with it.

kimberwolf71

Welcome!!!