KETO HELP!
andreasoulcastle
Posts: 478 Member
Hello everyone. I have just come across this awesome diet, as a few long distance friends of mine have been doing it for 3 months and have lost significant weight! I am very new to this diet and am trying to read up as much as I can on it. It seems that a significant amount of organizational skills are required...sooo I am not starting it just yet, and am hoping to either next week or in 2 weeks ( I want to make sure that I am educated enough to start the process) Due to being a newbie, I was hoping I could reach out to this wonderful community to help me start this process! Please feel free to share tips, resources, recipes ANYTHING that you feel would help me.
A little background on me. My name is Andrea. I am married and recently moved to WA from MA about 5 months ago. I have been watching my calorie intake since Dec, but have not seen much of a loss. I am 5'7'' 277 pounds (per last months weigh in eeeeeek!). I want to make what ever changes necessary in order to help with weight loss, I notice that when I do well and thrive so does my husband...I am doing this for him as well. My ultimate goal is to get to or below 200 pounds. My short term goal is to lose 30 pounds by my birthday (June).
Thank you in advance for your support, I appreciate it. Add me as a friend if you would like.
A little background on me. My name is Andrea. I am married and recently moved to WA from MA about 5 months ago. I have been watching my calorie intake since Dec, but have not seen much of a loss. I am 5'7'' 277 pounds (per last months weigh in eeeeeek!). I want to make what ever changes necessary in order to help with weight loss, I notice that when I do well and thrive so does my husband...I am doing this for him as well. My ultimate goal is to get to or below 200 pounds. My short term goal is to lose 30 pounds by my birthday (June).
Thank you in advance for your support, I appreciate it. Add me as a friend if you would like.
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Replies
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Hey Andrea! Great reason for losing weight (you & DH).
So for the worst...First..
The first month is the worst, depending on how much your body detoxes & go into withdrawal. So to combat that, have lots of magnesium, potassium, & salt (sea salt or bullion). It will help with all the symptoms. We (DH & I) took potassium pills, two different kinds of magnesium, & lots of bullion. Also be prepared to just be gentle with your body while you adapt. If you like avocados, they are one of the best foods to eat. You could east an unlimited amount & not hurt yourself. I cannot overstress the importance of electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, salt). It is really important that you have a lot of electrolytes to avoid the keto flu. If you get to feeling like you have brain fog, take 1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt w/ water. It will help you feel better again. You will need 2-3 tsp of boulion a day initially. It has a lot of salt which you need! Potassium will be in avacados & spinach. If you can't get enough that way, don't be afraid to get a potassium suppliment to help. We use an electrolyte powder that is sugar free (made w/ stevia). It helps too..
I have been doing this since November & managed to slip during both holidays a small amount but set me back a week each time. I have been strict since a day or so after Christmas. What you will find is there are tons of ways to find recipes as alternatives for the foods you like. The other things you will find is there are a lot of different ways to count macros for your body, weight loss goals, & depending on what you read. Total carb is net 20 per day. It is helpful to use MFP to track your macros. You can customize this on your setting/goal page. Just adjust your fat to 70-80%, protein to 15-20%, & carbs to 5% or 20 grams per day.
Essentially, no grains, no fruit, no root vegetables. LOTS of fat. Use butter liberally! Buy some duck fat as it has amazing taste! We use MCT oil blended w/ butter as a way to add fat to teas. You can add it to your smoothies or coffee as well. I wouldn't be afraid to consume up to 200 grams of fat a day until you are adapted. It is a lot but it will tremendously help with the cravings & withdrawals. Also, be careful with eating too much protein. It can prevent you from going into full ketosis. I still struggle with this as I LOVE protein. However, I feel better when I have more fat, less protein, & less feeling of "prowling" the cupboards for goodies.
I would clean your cupboards out prior to going to this Way of Eating (WOE). Get rid of the junk & temptations...
Being a woman, it may affect your menstrual cycle for a bit. It may come early or late, have breakthrough bleeding as your body stores estrogen in your fat cells. When you start to flush fat out of your body, it will release estrogen (providing you are having plenty of BM). Estrogen that isn't released through bm will get re-stored in your fat cells. Make sure you are getting plenty of fiber through veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, etc..). You may find that your bm become really loose for a couple weeks+ then go to the opposite end of that spectrum for a while, then back to loose stools... As your body adapts. You will find that magnesium will help w/ constipation...
I would stay away from the alternative desserts & breads for a while. It think the fake sugars make you crave sweets. I did use fat bombs in the beginning but don't much now. What I do is take a square of 80+% dark chocolate w/ almond butter as a treat when I crave sweets. There are a bunch of fat bomb recipes (sweet & savory). Use what you need to get through to add fat as you need a lot of fat starting out! However, the better way to do it is add butter, mct oil, avacado oil, etc.. to your teas...
I am not a doctor. I am only sharing what I have learned along the way & what has helped me feel like a human being. My DH had about 6 weeks of feeling like junk. His heart raced, his bm were water, his body ached, his brain was foggy, woke up in the night w/ restlessness, etc.. I had all this too. It didn't last as long with me (4 weeks) but as I slipped during the holidays, I went through it moderately once & more mildly once. I wouldn't advise cheat days or cheat meals.
The good news is my DH lost about 20 pounds in a couple months & his symptoms all went away. Now he loves the energy & lack of cravings. I have not lost much weight but have lost inches without exercise. I have about 30 pounds to lose & honestly this irritates me to no end. But.... I don't crave chips, sweets, etc.. I need to quit dairy & see if that helps the scale move down for me. However, my menstrual cycle has improved a lot (less cramps, more signs of fertility-I'm 42 years old), etc.. So, I stick with it because it's so worth it to me not to be a slave to sweet/salty snack/junk food.
We have my type 2 diabetic mom, twins that are 6, & a 16 year old living in our house. All family meals are keto. I still buy stuff for the kids but they get very limited carbs (comparably speaking to most kids). Our grocery bill has gone down by a couple hundred dollars a month. My mom still eats some simple carbs but she has lost body fat since December & dropped a pant size without doing trying. She doesn't follow keto but she does eat our keto meals with us. An example of our family meal (burger & fries) bunless burgers w/ jicima fries, spinach salad, & fresh veggies. Or spaghetti- spaghetti squash w/ meatballs (homemade) or spaghetti sauce.. Tacos- taco meat w/ lettuce/spinach salad or lettuce wraps w/ living lettuce w/ all the toppings (veggies, sour cream, cheese)... We use cauliflower to make "potatoes & rice" substitutes. Stir fry w/ loads of veggies w/ cauliflower rice. My kids love this stuff...
You will find at some point you get full a lot faster & stay full longer. Fat is really satisfying. It tastes good & decadent. Your hunger will turn off. It just happens.
I drink a lot of tea & almost completely cut out coffee. Teas I recommend: lemon-ginger, detox tea, dandelion (helps w/ liver detox), hybiscus, bamboo, probiotic teas, tulsi, & roobios.. I would buy in bulk as it is lots cheaper, use a tea strainer, or buy bulk tea bags.. Really saves a lot of money. I drink all these types of teas during the week & more depending on the time of the month. I add essential oils to teas (lemon, tangerine, lime, clove), depending on my mood & time of the month. All these teas are very supportive to healing your body. I also use gelatin & collagin depending on what I feel like. It's a good support for healing your insides & really helps skin tone, nail & hair growth/strength. If you do use gelatin or collegin, make sure it's with plenty of fat as it can spike your blood sugar taken w/out fat.
I would not start fasting until your body is healed & you are fully fat adapted. This can take 3+ months up to a year depending on how damaged your body is.We are all damaged to some extent even from environmental toxins & stress.
Oh.. last but not least.. drink a lot of water & get plenty of sleep! It is super important to keep hydrated. If you do not get adequate rest (8 hours a night), it takes longer for you to adapt & for you to heal.
It is completely worth it! The initial negatives are offset by increased energy, mental clarity, overall improved health. Too many benefits to list here... It's your journey! You are in charge of your health & eating keto is a tool to help you control your health. If you have any questions, please contact me... I would be happy to help however I can. Let me know if I can support you in any way!
Kristi3 -
Organization=some but primarily with food prep for either taking your lunch or knowing what to eat when dining out or w/ non keto friends. I do a lot of cooking on the weekends due to family size, I work full time & am taking college classes. I did this pre-keto too though so not a change for me. I would say as far as organization goes, make sure you have individual bullion cubes with you at all times. Other than that, just plan your meals prior to grocery shopping. This gets easier too as you will only go down a few isles in the grocery store most weeks (meat, dairy, veggies, & frozen foods)...
When you get to that time of the month, don't be afraid to eat. It won't hurt you to have an increase in calories for a few days. In a day or two, your body goes back to normal & the hungrier person is gone... Just stay the steady keto course & your body will thank you..1 -
Hey Andrea! Great reason for losing weight (you & DH).
So for the worst...First..
The first month is the worst, depending on how much your body detoxes & go into withdrawal. So to combat that, have lots of magnesium, potassium, & salt (sea salt or bullion). It will help with all the symptoms. We (DH & I) took potassium pills, two different kinds of magnesium, & lots of bullion. Also be prepared to just be gentle with your body while you adapt. If you like avocados, they are one of the best foods to eat. You could east an unlimited amount & not hurt yourself. I cannot overstress the importance of electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, salt). It is really important that you have a lot of electrolytes to avoid the keto flu. If you get to feeling like you have brain fog, take 1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt w/ water. It will help you feel better again. You will need 2-3 tsp of boulion a day initially. It has a lot of salt which you need! Potassium will be in avacados & spinach. If you can't get enough that way, don't be afraid to get a potassium suppliment to help. We use an electrolyte powder that is sugar free (made w/ stevia). It helps too..
I have been doing this since November & managed to slip during both holidays a small amount but set me back a week each time. I have been strict since a day or so after Christmas. What you will find is there are tons of ways to find recipes as alternatives for the foods you like. The other things you will find is there are a lot of different ways to count macros for your body, weight loss goals, & depending on what you read. Total carb is net 20 per day. It is helpful to use MFP to track your macros. You can customize this on your setting/goal page. Just adjust your fat to 70-80%, protein to 15-20%, & carbs to 5% or 20 grams per day.
Essentially, no grains, no fruit, no root vegetables. LOTS of fat. Use butter liberally! Buy some duck fat as it has amazing taste! We use MCT oil blended w/ butter as a way to add fat to teas. You can add it to your smoothies or coffee as well. I wouldn't be afraid to consume up to 200 grams of fat a day until you are adapted. It is a lot but it will tremendously help with the cravings & withdrawals. Also, be careful with eating too much protein. It can prevent you from going into full ketosis. I still struggle with this as I LOVE protein. However, I feel better when I have more fat, less protein, & less feeling of "prowling" the cupboards for goodies.
I would clean your cupboards out prior to going to this Way of Eating (WOE). Get rid of the junk & temptations...
Being a woman, it may affect your menstrual cycle for a bit. It may come early or late, have breakthrough bleeding as your body stores estrogen in your fat cells. When you start to flush fat out of your body, it will release estrogen (providing you are having plenty of BM). Estrogen that isn't released through bm will get re-stored in your fat cells. Make sure you are getting plenty of fiber through veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, etc..). You may find that your bm become really loose for a couple weeks+ then go to the opposite end of that spectrum for a while, then back to loose stools... As your body adapts. You will find that magnesium will help w/ constipation...
I would stay away from the alternative desserts & breads for a while. It think the fake sugars make you crave sweets. I did use fat bombs in the beginning but don't much now. What I do is take a square of 80+% dark chocolate w/ almond butter as a treat when I crave sweets. There are a bunch of fat bomb recipes (sweet & savory). Use what you need to get through to add fat as you need a lot of fat starting out! However, the better way to do it is add butter, mct oil, avacado oil, etc.. to your teas...
I am not a doctor. I am only sharing what I have learned along the way & what has helped me feel like a human being. My DH had about 6 weeks of feeling like junk. His heart raced, his bm were water, his body ached, his brain was foggy, woke up in the night w/ restlessness, etc.. I had all this too. It didn't last as long with me (4 weeks) but as I slipped during the holidays, I went through it moderately once & more mildly once. I wouldn't advise cheat days or cheat meals.
The good news is my DH lost about 20 pounds in a couple months & his symptoms all went away. Now he loves the energy & lack of cravings. I have not lost much weight but have lost inches without exercise. I have about 30 pounds to lose & honestly this irritates me to no end. But.... I don't crave chips, sweets, etc.. I need to quit dairy & see if that helps the scale move down for me. However, my menstrual cycle has improved a lot (less cramps, more signs of fertility-I'm 42 years old), etc.. So, I stick with it because it's so worth it to me not to be a slave to sweet/salty snack/junk food.
We have my type 2 diabetic mom, twins that are 6, & a 16 year old living in our house. All family meals are keto. I still buy stuff for the kids but they get very limited carbs (comparably speaking to most kids). Our grocery bill has gone down by a couple hundred dollars a month. My mom still eats some simple carbs but she has lost body fat since December & dropped a pant size without doing trying. She doesn't follow keto but she does eat our keto meals with us. An example of our family meal (burger & fries) bunless burgers w/ jicima fries, spinach salad, & fresh veggies. Or spaghetti- spaghetti squash w/ meatballs (homemade) or spaghetti sauce.. Tacos- taco meat w/ lettuce/spinach salad or lettuce wraps w/ living lettuce w/ all the toppings (veggies, sour cream, cheese)... We use cauliflower to make "potatoes & rice" substitutes. Stir fry w/ loads of veggies w/ cauliflower rice. My kids love this stuff...
You will find at some point you get full a lot faster & stay full longer. Fat is really satisfying. It tastes good & decadent. Your hunger will turn off. It just happens.
I drink a lot of tea & almost completely cut out coffee. Teas I recommend: lemon-ginger, detox tea, dandelion (helps w/ liver detox), hybiscus, bamboo, probiotic teas, tulsi, & roobios.. I would buy in bulk as it is lots cheaper, use a tea strainer, or buy bulk tea bags.. Really saves a lot of money. I drink all these types of teas during the week & more depending on the time of the month. I add essential oils to teas (lemon, tangerine, lime, clove), depending on my mood & time of the month. All these teas are very supportive to healing your body. I also use gelatin & collagin depending on what I feel like. It's a good support for healing your insides & really helps skin tone, nail & hair growth/strength. If you do use gelatin or collegin, make sure it's with plenty of fat as it can spike your blood sugar taken w/out fat.
I would not start fasting until your body is healed & you are fully fat adapted. This can take 3+ months up to a year depending on how damaged your body is.We are all damaged to some extent even from environmental toxins & stress.
Oh.. last but not least.. drink a lot of water & get plenty of sleep! It is super important to keep hydrated. If you do not get adequate rest (8 hours a night), it takes longer for you to adapt & for you to heal.
It is completely worth it! The initial negatives are offset by increased energy, mental clarity, overall improved health. Too many benefits to list here... It's your journey! You are in charge of your health & eating keto is a tool to help you control your health. If you have any questions, please contact me... I would be happy to help however I can. Let me know if I can support you in any way!
Kristi
Thank you for all of this information! I started limiting to 20g carb today. I know it will be a challenge mainly because we have recently moved to WA from MA and have been staying with my in-laws....they are not very healthy, and are the type who make comments about health food for example calling a spinach smoothie "green slime" with disgust. It helps to know that my husband is on track with me, and I wont be navigating this alone. I just have to work through people judging and commenting on the change, and hopefully we will be able to move out within the next few months. I have a few questions.
1. Is taking a multivitamin enough to help with potassium and magnesium?
2. You mentioned "fasting", is this different from limiting to 20g of Net Carbs a day?
3. How long am I supposed to eat 20g of Net Carbs a day? (Is this supposed to be indefinitely or as an "induction" phase like atkins phase 1?)
4. If it is a phase for a certain period of time...what is the next phase??
5. How have you been limiting your protein intake?0 -
1. I think you will still need added potassium & magnessium. Reddit has good info on quantity needed in keto.
2. fasting would be eating small amounts (200 cal. or under) for 18 hours & eating what you want for the other 6.. There are a lot of varieties of intermittent fasting. I would research it but not try it until you are fully keto adapted.
3. Net 20 carbs is probably going to be lifelong. Some people have more than that (40-70) but most (from what I have seen) stay low carb (under 20) to stay in ketosis.
4. There's not really phases that I know of other than the initial. I think after that, it is just fine tuning for weight loss, muscle increase, maintenance.. Depending on your goals.0 -
good luck w/ the in-laws. My mom used to do that too but she has been pretty decent as this lines up better with her diabetic diet. If they are the picture of health & at ideal weights, have no medical problems, sleep apnea, diabetes, allergy problems, arthritis, inflammation, great memories, etc.. I still wouldn't pay attention to their opinions. At some point most peoples health suffers from lifestyle & SAD WOE. We don't have to have these problems.
When you have the keto flu the worst, just tell them you have the flu or that you are just not feeling well, maybe run down from the move & stress... They don't need to know that it's due to this WOE as it will add fuel to the fire.
Best case scenario, in 6 months, you will feel better & they will be asking you for advice. Until then, just roll with it the best you can!
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limiting protein, about two weeks. I have decrease my protein from what I ate prior to the WOE though. I have been keeping protein under 80 grams but have read that between 45-55 grams is best for women to get into ketosis (which I am) & lose significant weight (which I'm not).... It is a struggle for me as I really have to bump up fat when I do decrease protein or I am super hungry when I shouldn't be.0
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good luck w/ the in-laws. My mom used to do that too but she has been pretty decent as this lines up better with her diabetic diet. If they are the picture of health & at ideal weights, have no medical problems, sleep apnea, diabetes, allergy problems, arthritis, inflammation, great memories, etc.. I still wouldn't pay attention to their opinions. At some point most peoples health suffers from lifestyle & SAD WOE. We don't have to have these problems.
When you have the keto flu the worst, just tell them you have the flu or that you are just not feeling well, maybe run down from the move & stress... They don't need to know that it's due to this WOE as it will add fuel to the fire.
Best case scenario, in 6 months, you will feel better & they will be asking you for advice. Until then, just roll with it the best you can!
Great advice, thank you a lot. I am going to not even mention it to anyone, my husband is on board and that is all that matters to me. I will eventually have to though, because last night I was turning down all sorts of stuff left and right...I am hoping that eventually they will get the idea, but I might have to set a boundary. Great tip about the flu, will do that.1 -
limiting protein, about two weeks. I have decrease my protein from what I ate prior to the WOE though. I have been keeping protein under 80 grams but have read that between 45-55 grams is best for women to get into ketosis (which I am) & lose significant weight (which I'm not).... It is a struggle for me as I really have to bump up fat when I do decrease protein or I am super hungry when I shouldn't be.
OMG....45g...that seems like NOTHING0 -
I agree with almost everything @makinit10 has written, with a couple of exceptions:
(1) < 20 g net carbs for life seems overly restrictive to me. There are some who may prefer eating this way, but there are a few reasons you may not want to do this. First, it's going to severely limit your fruit and veg options to only those which are most fibrous, this isn't always a good thing and can negatively impact your digestion. Also there are valuable nutrients to be found in other plant matter (not that you can't get them from other sources, but most of us aren't eating fresh, organic organ meats on the regular or drinking blood). Second, you'll likely stay in ketosis at nearly double that value, and there have been several studies suggesting that "lighter" nutritional ketosis (being at the upper end of carbs depending on your sensitivity - it's something to play around with) - is better for body composition and improving metabolic health markers. Finally, if you start incorporating more exercise beyond the low-intensity type - be that lifting weights, higher intensity running, more explosive-type movements like plyometrics in a circuit, etc. it's beneficial to your muscles to give them some carbs to work with. That's not to say carb-loading like a body-builder or endurance athlete is optimal. I'm talking more like a targeted ketogenic diet (TKD) where you take in 30-50 g glucose prior to an intense exercise session, and otherwise keep carbs low. There is debate as to the benefits of carb-cycling. I personally find it crucial if I'm hitting a weight plateau, to take my carbs above 70-80 g for a day or two. Some hormones, like leptin, are linked to carbohydrate consumption. Also people tend to produce moderately higher cortisol while in ketosis (it's a mild stress on your system), and having a few higher-carb days can help keep cortisol levels in check. There are probably a few things I'm forgetting about here, but there's lots of research and reading on the topic - I highly recommend Phinney and Volek's work (Art and Science of Low-Carb Living/Performance), and AuthorityNutrition.com usually has good stuff and cites the studies.
(2) 50 g of protein seems FAR too low. People get overly concerned with gluconeogenesis, which does occur but it's a tiny amount from an inefficient process. Most of the glucose you need come from fatty acid breakdown into glycerol. Especially if you're exercising, keep your protein up between 80-110 g (ish, depending on your size and lean body mass), as this is not going to be broken down into glucose at the first signs of decreased carb consumption, but will help preserve lean mass and repair damaged tissues after exercise. Also muscles are greedy - they tend to fill up on glycogen when it's available, hogging it from your liver. Ketosis depends on your liver glycogen being depleted. Study after study have shown better weight loss results and more lean body mass retention with higher protein intakes. The rule of thumb for 0.8 g/lb of lean body mass seems to be good, so the calculation for my weight and approximate body fat percentage (25%) would go:
(145 lbs*0.75)*0.8 = 87 g/day
or, at 4 kcal/g and roughly 1500 kcal/day total consumption, I'd be shooting for 20-25% calories from protein. Totally reasonable to have carbs 10%, protein 20%, fats 70%.
Protein really helps with satiety too.
(3) There should really be no reason to get the "keto-flu." Up your salt intake, literally get 3-5 g (3000 - 5000 mg) of sodium per day, also consider potassium or magnesium. Drinking soup broth (or better bone broth) can really help here. This is not a myth. The "keto-flu" is not carb deprivation but electrolyte imbalances.
(Last) I second staying away from keto breads and sweets for a while - they can really increase cravings. This is as much about changing your metabolism as it is about teaching yourself to crave healthier foods. A keto brownie will just make you crave brownies. But, later on, nothing wrong with these things if you still treat them like sweets and use very sparingly (I struggle on that point still, haha).
Also I avoid talking about this diet if at all humanly possible, with anyone who I know might have some strong opinion on it. When offered food I just say "No thanks", "I don't like that," or in very extreme circumstances with very pushy people (I literally had someone try to shove a raspberry pie bar directly into my mouth at one point...) "I'm allergic to that." If someone's truly interested I'll talk about it, but otherwise I don't bother.
Good luck!
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Thanks a bunch very informative, helps out a lot0
This discussion has been closed.