3 weeks in - questions

__Roxy__

Hey there! I am 3 weeks into this awesome lifestyle and very much enjoying it.
I have more energy, less body soreness, better mental clarity, less hunger, and overall just feeling great. I've lost 15 lbs effortlessly

I have a couple of questions:

- ketosis: is it true that if sticking to under 20g carbs, one is most definitely in ketosis? I don't have sticks or meters to tell if I'm in ketosis. I just have to go by the signs my body is giving me. On average I eat under 20g total carbs, but on a higher day might do 30-something total...

- net carbs: should I be calculating net carbs instead? Is it simply carb - fiber= net carb? And if so, would an appropriate goal still be 20g?

- hunger: For the first 2 1/2 weeks I had almost no hunger. Yesterday and today I have been feeling peckish all day, wanting more food. There is a combo of factors that could be involved:

a) it's coming close to my cycle time, so hunger might be up; b) I've been expending more energy, as I pack and clean my house for moving; and c) I've been drinking Zevia and wonder if the sweet flavour is stimulating my appetite?

I'm not getting any less fat in my diet than other days over the past three weeks. So I'm not sure that's it. (I am actually attempting low-carb moderate-fat, with the idea that my body has plenty enough fat to draw from.) Perhaps I shall just persevere, re-training myself that feeling a bit hungry once in a while isn't such a bad thing/big deal? It's not like I'm hangry, tired, or weak, like I would have been before on a carb-heavy diet... just feeling tummy-rumbles and peckish.

Thanks for your thoughts!

__Roxy__

Woah - just solved the hunger thing myself! I went and drank some pickle juice, and that totally solved it. I needed sodium!

Still interested in thoughts about the first two questions though

nokanjaijo

I don't think there is a one size fits all solution, even with how to do keto.

You should absolutely try cutting out the Zevia to see if that helps. Make sure you do it during next month's shark week so you know if that was the issue.

Play around with what you are doing.

I've heard that 40 carbs guarantees ketosis. But you may see all the benefits you want without going into ketosis.

Just try stuff til you find what works for you. Then do that.

RAC56

I like to stay around 20 net carbs a day. There are others who do more and we also have zero-carbers. It's really just learning to listen to your own body and figuring out what works for you.

Sunny_Bunny_

It's nothing more than a personal decision if you count total or net. But I think knowing the inventor of it and why he set it up as net counting can help you decide.
Dr Michael Eads wrote Protein Power in the 70's. He found that his patients using his diet understood low carbs were a good thing so well that they figured if low was good, then even lower must be even better so they ate as little vegetables as possible for the sole purpose of lowering the total carbs. Dr Eads seems to believe in green vegetables for health and he didn't want his patients to stop eating them so he advised them that they didn't have to count the fiber in green vegetables and they could still report having very low carbs.
It was a mental game.
This is how he explained it on some podcast I heard a long time ago.
At some point in time later, the Atkins "food" product company decided they would also not count the carbs in zero calorie sweeteners or their un-naturally occurring added fiber to their candy bars so they could advertise them as much lower carb total by the net counting method.

All in all, only making progress toward your goal in a healthy way really matters.

KarlaYP

It's scary to feel hungry again after feeling the satisfaction of LCHF (and ketosis)! I always made sure to have plenty of LCHF (pork skins, beef jerky, boiled eggs...)foods around for those times. The hunger will decrease again after the hormones do their thing.

Ketosis is usually 50gm of carbs, or less, so you can be assured that you're burning fat for energy.

Net carbs are a personal choice. That goes to what works for you. This is the N=1 where we each are different.

melluc2

I agree with what others say. Do what works for you. But, anything under 50 net carbs should be fine (again, individual). I measure in net carbs, if that helps.

Btw, I always get hungrier around that time of the month. I'm always wanting to stuff My face. So in those cases...I make sure to have tea to drink and gum to chew....to try to trick my body into thinking it's eating. Haha

I drink zevia too. I love it but I only drink it as a treat here and there.