hello and welcome. my daughter needs breakfast, so i need to run, but i just wanted you to know that i am going to respond when i have a few moments. hang in there!

:flowerforyou:

**ETA

i applaud you for wanting to try something new. i think when things aren't working, we must keep trying new things until we find something that does. i am very new to keto, but have been watching my husband flourish on it. he has lost weight but he also has more energy and overall feels better. i am losing, too.

i don't have much advice since i'm new, too, but just wanted to say, keep at it for a while. give yourself at least 2 months. things take time, and our bodies need to adjust, so make sure you are giving it enough time to actually work. also, don't cheat. i know it will be tempting, but the diet works by your body being off carbs, and if you introduce carbs in excess, you will throw-off your body and mess up all the work you've done. (don't beat yourself up if you do, just get back to it!) drink alot of water.

HTH

You came to the right place! This is a great group. I started keto lifestyle about two month ago, and I have never felt better. I can't believe that I did not discover this before. It has changed my life, and it will change yours. It will be hard at first, but once you get it, you will be feeling great. I will send FR to you. Welcome!

Hi everyone! :flowerforyou:

I have a BMI of 60 and after my latest tests my doctor suggested I have gastric surgery, take cholesterol lowering drugs and diabetic medication. I was shocked into looking for alternatives and have spent the last two weeks with a dozen tabs open in Google at the same time, in a daze of contradictory information. I have concluded that, as counter intuitive as it seems, LCHF is my last chance of turning my life in a better direction. I hope I'm right because if I'm wrong I'll probably die.

Started yesterday by clearing the house of all carbs. The homeless shelter now has the previous content of my pantry, fridge and freezer and those foods have been replaced by fish, meat and low carb veggies.

To have an idea of how much of a revolution this is for me, I have never cooked a steak in my life. I have been mostly a vegetarian since my teenage years; either pasta, rice or bread have been present in almost all of my meals. But my grandmother died of diabetic complications, after having lost one foot and then that leg. I do not want that to happen to me.


I came here looking for a place to talk with people who understand what I'm going through. I don't know how MFP works or what I should do to get the most from it. Any suggestions would be most welcome!


:flowerforyou:

Welcome! I am so happy that you found Keto LCHF. I have read many stories of people that almost did the Gastric Bypass, but instead looked to LCHF or a Paleo diet and they were able to get their life back without surgery.

I would love to recommend a few things to read that really made sense to me and pointed me in the direction of this diet:
Why we Get Fat - by Gary Taubes
Anything by Maria Emmerich, but I think one of her most recent books is the Keto Adapted

Also, beware of the "Keto Flu" that may happen and just prepare for that, but stick with it!

I look forward to adding you as a MFP friend and giving you support through this journey!

aeb09--Love your Blog!

i have no idea how to do a friend request! LOL if you figure it out, add me!

Have you done your research on keto to get the basics down ?

I second the suggestion of using http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com

I like to encourage new Keto folks to at least start with basic simple whole foods.

It simplifies shopping, logging and keeps it easy to keep carbs inline.

Most of all.... set your goal, set your mind to it, and lets do this !!!

Great keto info: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq

This is the best introductory guide to getting your head wrapped around LCHF that I'm aware of, I would definitely read through this, a couple times. It has a good introduction to keto flu as well.


Since it sounds like you're diving in head first and still doing some research at the same time (which is great, by the way!), I'll go ahead and list out some basic "beginner" tips to highlight what I think are the most important things early on:

1. Read that FAQ on reddit.
2. Calculate your macros: http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ -- Don't expect to be perfect as far as your eating right away, its ok. But this gives you the best guideline for what you're aiming for overall. Staying below your carb goal (25g or whatever) is by far the most important thing when. If you screw up though, don't sweat it. There are pitfalls everywhere when you first start learning.
3. In that Reddit FAQ, give extra attention to the keto flu part. Drinking more water than you normally would helps, and keto has a way of dumping sodium/potassium/magnesium. Keto flu is mostly just a deficiency in those electrolytes for most people. Look at the ways to supplement those things (salt everything/find some foods you like with potassium/take magnesium pills). There is some general fatigue in the first week as your body switches from carbs to fat but a lot of the problems people experience early on can be fixed by minding your electrolytes.

4. EAT. This is a personal recommendation, not everyone does this, but I find it to be extremely important. The first week or two can be very very hard. Your body is used to a lifetime of carbs. Your appetite may go absolutely crazy. Simply getting through this first week is the most important thing. If your calorie goal is 2000 calories, but on day 3 you eat 2000 calories by 3pm and you are still starving, keep eating. Just make 1000% sure to eat keto friendly foods and avoid the carbs. After a week or so your appetite will settle down and you will feel normal. Starting keto can be hard, unless you have the willpower of a god, I do NOT think you should worry at all about your calories in the first week. You will lose weight anyway, most people on keto lose a lot of water weight early on even if they're eating too much. It WILL settle down and you will find a normal routine soon, but in the first week, just eat when you are hungry, no matter how much food that requires. If you are full you will be less tempted by carbs, and you will just feel better in general.


I'm sending you a friend request as well, though I don't always log all my food every day so I may not be the perfect influence

Oh and lastly, you mentioned having mostly been a vegetarian,but with a lot of rice and pasta. If you want to ease yourself into getting more protein from meat, there is http://www.reddit.com/r/vegetarianketo, its not impossible. I'm a bit closer to full carnivore so I can't offer any help there, but the resource does exist

good luck!

Welcome!! I will admit that weight has not been an issue for me, so I won't say I can understand your situation. I've been lead to keto, paleo/primal, grain free as a way to improve my overall health. It has worked very well for me.

That said, I want you to know that everyone of us, dealing with weight issues or not, will support and encourage you in building a healthy lifestyle. The other posters have provided lots of resources - my favorite books were Grain Brain, Wheat Belly and Keto Adapted. The Cholesterol Myth is on my list, but I haven't gotten there yet. If mainstream doctors were made to study this stuff we'd all be a lot healthier and the pharmaceutical companies would lose a lot of money.

I applaud you for taking the first steps toward healing yourself. It will get tough (someone mentioned carb flu), but please stick it out and give yourself a good shot at success.

aeb09--Love your Blog!

Thank you so much!