Hi Christie,
I have been eating a ketogenic diet since February 2014. I have lost 83 pounds and am currently maintaining my loss eating 1900 calories a day. I am 5 ft 2 inches tall and weigh 117 pounds. I am 39 years old, have pcos, am a very insulin resistant type 2 diabetic, and am in perimenopause. I will never stop eating a ketogenic diet. I have never felt better or had more energy. When I first started I was on insulin and had elevated liver enzymes. I am currently on zero medications prescribed by a dr. I do take a Magnesium supplement but that's it. Within one month of eating keto, my liver enzymes returned to normal. I really cant describe how great I feel to people. I wish you the best of luck and will try to keep up with your progress. im mostly a lurker. i enjoy reading but don't do much posting. Maybe Ill try to start posting more.

4031isaiah wrote: »

Again... I totally get the concept of Keto ie. mostly fat, some protein and as few carbs as possible. Where I stumble, is in my inability to get to the point where I measure, weigh and track every gram of food I eat. The science of it all throws me off... I really want to get to where I can trust my hunger and fullness but I feel like if I don't get a hold of the science-y stuff, I'll never get to where It becomes a lifestyle and way of eating I can trust...

It's tricky, because it's how I genuinely feel but I've been hesitant to put it out there for fear of being attacked by those with the "just do it" mentality. I do have that mentality in every other area of my life but for whatever reason, when it comes to food, it's like I have some sort of mental block.

I don't know about "sciency stuff".

Just record everything.

Get a food scale (15 bucks online).

Much food we eat has a scanable bar code that MFP recognizes. The other is searchable.

Mfp then calculates your macros for you when you hit 'nutrition' in the app.

I am a firm believer in the fact we can't make intelligent decisions about our diet until we know what we're eating. Kind of like you can't make good financial decisions until you know what you're spending your money on.

Just record, and let mfp do the "sciency" stuff.

4031isaiah wrote: »

Again... I totally get the concept of Keto ie. mostly fat, some protein and as few carbs as possible. Where I stumble, is in my inability to get to the point where I measure, weigh and track every gram of food I eat. The science of it all throws me off... I really want to get to where I can trust my hunger and fullness but I feel like if I don't get a hold of the science-y stuff, I'll never get to where It becomes a lifestyle and way of eating I can trust...

It's tricky, because it's how I genuinely feel but I've been hesitant to put it out there for fear of being attacked by those with the "just do it" mentality. I do have that mentality in every other area of my life but for whatever reason, when it comes to food, it's like I have some sort of mental block.

Key for me was to find stuff that fit the bill, even if it was convenience stuff, and not the best for me. Transition foods. For a long while, I pretty much lived on pepperoni. Now it is a rare treat.

Sometimes I weigh and measure, sometimes I don't. For the most part, if you weigh and measure when it comes to carbs, personally, I usually say calories are such a flawed thing anyway, so screw the rest... i know it is not the best attitude, but if you're having problems somewhere, you need to find a work around.

And here, in this group, and the LCD group, you will have some folks who say suck up and do it. Personally, I think that's total BS. For whatever reason, some of us are just not WIRED that way. I know I'm not. Clearly outline your stumbles, and we'll all brainstorm together. If you think none of us have ever struggled, had to find alternatives, or just worked to "get" something, think again. If we ever got fat in the first place, we had to fight to get healthy, too...

4031isaiah wrote: »

I appreciate your input but recording and measuring are not really the issue. I have two scales and recorded faithfully for quite awhile. I ate within my goals and every day when I completed my food diary for the day, that little message from MFP would pop up and say things like "if you eat like this everyday, you will be 10lbs lighter in 5 weeks!" 5 weeks later, MFP was about 9.75lbs off on its prediction... there in lies my frustration. It's a real challenge to stay motivated to do something that is time consuming and does not produce the desired result.

The "sciency" stuff to which I am referring is understanding why my body isn't responding to what logic says should be working and figuring out which amounts of what and in what combinations will get me the results I'm looking for. As much as I wish it would, I'm pretty sure MFP can't do that for me.

I believe Keto can work for me and I could see myself making it a life long habit if I could just find my sweet spot. I've been "trying" for just over a month and I'm afraid my lack of progress is going to cause me to give up soon.

That's pretty much why I started this thread. I'm hoping to find others who are experiencing or have experienced similar frustrations who can help pull me back from the ledge and keep me from throwing in the towel too soon.

Okay, I laugh at that crap. It is supposed to be like a little cheerleader, "You did a good job, so yay!" or "You didn't to do great, let's work on that, yay!" LOL. It is HILARIOUS!!! I don't think I have ever met anyONE ever it was right on for... LOL

That being said, with Keto, the key is compliance, consistency, and patience. You have to comply consistently for a minimum of 4 weeks, preferred 12 weeks, before giving up or tweaking anything... Seriously, if you do not have the patience for this, I don't any dietary changes will ever work properly for you...

I have a quote I stole from someone and modified. "While we are doing basic arithmetic (calorie and carb counting, MFP, etc.), our bodies are doing chemistry, physics, and calculus, at the very least!"

In other words, we do what we can, and we have to have faith in the system for the rest - but NOTHING is instant. Flat out. So compliance, consistency, and patience.

I have not lost a pound that stay off since April. Period. But I have dropped a full pants size, and I have shrunk out of my undergarments. In addition to the pre-April progress. Do I still feel great? Yes. Obviously my body needed time to heal or maintain something... Faith in the process, my friend...

gsrader wrote: »

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

I have a quote I stole from someone and modified. "While we are doing basic arithmetic (calorie and carb counting, MFP, etc.), our bodies are doing chemistry, physics, and calculus, at the very least!"

Perfect!

Love it and so true!!!

I ate low carb before doing keto but was not in ketosis. I had to really lower carbs and up fats to get into ketosis. Also too much protein could have been an issue before. If I ate too much protein at one sitting, I would get a blood sugar spike. I try not to eat too much at a time.

Also most sugar alcohols and all the powdered artificial sweeteners in the packets. Most of them have nutritive dextrose as the first ingredient. Are you eating products that contain these things? Also I apologies if you mentioned it, but are you diabetic or IR?

4031isaiah wrote: »

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

You can actually strain the scoby out, as well as the filaments of yeast, and it won't hurt anything. Start slowly. No more than 2 oz a day... And you might have to hold your breath the first several times so your nose won't "taste" it... If there is an actual SCOBY in there, keep it with a little of the booch in a glass or something, because that thing is worth it's weight in GOLD...

The girl in the store referred to it as the "mother". Is that the same thing? I googled it and from what I can tell, a scoby seems more like a solid blob or something. What's in the bottle I bought looks more like a slimy, shapeless mass.

I'd be afraid to keep it and try to grow my own just yet, in case I mess it up. I read that you can get sick if it gets contaminated.

I still haven't worked up the nerve to taste it,m yet, though. Maybe tonight when I get home.

What kind do you buy?

The mother just means that there is an active yeast culture. Many folks can't stomach it at first, but it's likely as beneficial if not more so, than the drink. Think of it like a yogurt that is "in process." But you'll still get great benefits from the "brew," so it if is offputting, just strain what you're going to drink into a cup... No worries. The mother would eventually cause a SCOBY to grow in the right conditions, but that means you're getting legit stuff...

My scoby looks kind of like what I would imagine a tofu hamburger would look like - off-white, waxy, but shaped like a patty... LOL

The only brand I can get locally is the GT brand. It's very well known. It's a higher sugar content than some. Be prepared to be revolted or in love, or maybe even both at the same time.

I could literally feel something happening/working after the first few sips. No more than 2-4 oz a day for the first several days or it can make you feel really icky (getting good stuff to work, bad stuff dying off)...

To me, I despise beer, and wine has too many tannins for me, but the kombucha tastes like i would imagine a dry fruity champagne-beer crossover that is barely sweetened... My fiance swears it tastes nothing like beer and describes it in less than pleasant terms, but he still drinks sodas and such regularly.

4031isaiah wrote: »

123_lac wrote: »

Also most sugar alcohols and all the powdered artificial sweeteners in the packets. Most of them have nutritive dextrose as the first ingredient. Are you eating products that contain these things? Also I apologies if you mentioned it, but are you diabetic or IR?

The only sweetener I've tried is pure powdered stevia concentrate. I don't care for the after taste.

To my knowledge, I am not diabetic or IR, but I have struggled for a very long time with weight, sugar cravings and that foggy/cloudy feeling. When I read about Keto, I thought it could help. I did notice that I was starting to feel better and less foggy but I got hung up on the weight part and lack of progress on the scale and let it get the better of me.

How about you?

If you have sugar cravings and have struggled to lose weight, you have some form of metabolic dysfunction, even if it hasn't been diagnosed.

Huge signs of insulin resistance:
Feel like a meal isn't done until something sweet is eaten to "finish it"
Feel like a bottomless pit - you just ate and feel like you could eat an entire meal again!
Tiredness (mental fog/cloudiness, too) after eating (feeling like Thanksgiving after most meals!)
Feeling mostly full, having something sweet, then feeling starving shortly thereafter
Feeling like you have zero willpower over trigger foods/never being able to eat just one (this is partly how foods are made, too, that make them addictive like this)
High triglycerides
Poor sleep
and many others...

Sweetleaf brand Stevia is the only one I've found that has no dextrose or maltodextrin or anything, and it is the only one that doesn't trigger an insulin response from me! It has to be added super slowly in small amounts. If you get to much, it will taste like metallic coated chemicals. If you get that taste, you need to add more of whatever you were sweetening. I also notice it has less weird side effects of tasting when you add it to something creamy. So try a splash of cream or coconut milk, etc. next time you try it.

I'm personally not worried about losing weight. I'm worried about gaining health. Plus, I know that if I continue to gain health, the weight will follow when it's good and ready.

How you feel is a great marker. Track symptoms and side effects (and when they go away). Track energy levels. Take measurements. Take pictures even if you never want to look at them or share them. Sure, get on the scale. But honestly, I would rather lose sizes of clothing than pounds on the scale. For me, when one stalled the other moved and vice versa... Figure out what you can track to remind you of your progress.

One of the big ones for me - improved sleep. Add to that that I"m so not a morning person, but I work at 7 am, and being able to fully function early in the morning now is AMAZING...

So start tracking all the random, tiniest things!!! Trust me, you'll be happy you did.