Keto Questions

I'm sure there are/will be a million keto threads, but I'm throwing this out there anyway. For those of you who have had success with keto, how long before you saw results. Not just weight loss", but just not feeling like you're moving underwater? I am 4 1/4 weeks in and feel exhausted. My sleep is horrible, but it hasn't been great in years. I'm generally not very hungry, which is nice, but I'd like to be functioning a bit better. Haven't lost any weight, but at this point, I'm not too worried. I'm just hoping to lose 10 lbs and just tighten up a bit. I want to make sure to give it a good run,before I decide if it's going to work for me.

I have not tried being Keto using the new MDA approach, but had a similar experience to what you describe many years back doing Atkins. I had zero available energy after a couple of weeks and it never improved, to the point where I could not finish a round of golf (walking) on a fairly flat course. I'd suggest you take a simple look at what you are eating, if it is very heavy on meat, you could entertain adding fats, and possibly a few carbs. It is my opinion that keto isn't necessarily "the ticket" for everyone.

Thanks, Rig. I'm actually a bit light on the meats. Plenty of fats. Just really dragging. And bloated. Just not sure how long to give. I was planning on 6 weeks. I'd hate to stop and find out that another week or two would've made all the difference.

It could be that you're low on electrolytes.  At least that's a popular thing to see in relation to poor energy on keto.  Do you use salt?  Supplement magnesium or potassium?  I happen to love salt, so I know I get plenty of that in my food, but many people need to add more salt to their diets.  I also take magnesium daily, which helps with my sleep.  I haven't supplemented potassium at all, but I know many people do.

I've been following keto since January 1st and I have lost less than 2 pounds. According to my scale my body fat has gone down about 1%, but really? That's nothing. My energy levels have been pretty good though, so that's something. With the magnesium, keto and/or less stress my sleep has improved a lot.

I do use salt. I drink mineral water almost exclusively (San Peilegrino) and do occasionally use magnesium oil before bed. I did start potassium last night. Thanks for the suggestions. Will make it a priority for the next week or so and see if it makes a difference.

Hopefully Keto Julia will chime in, she’s been doing it for over a year. Look for her post. My thought too would be electrolytes.
Also look up Leanne Vogel, Healthful Pursuits, she does keto with a bit more carbs and it may be your carbs are just a tad too low for you.

I know doing W30, was showing ketones, but my carbs were prop between 50 and 75. Everyone is different

Thanks! I'll check out Leanne Vogel.

I started checking the scale about 10 into the keto experiment. Yesterday I was at my highest. This morning I'm at the lowest. Down 3 pounds. Could well be up 4 tomorrow, but it's interesting.

JCat wrote:I started checking the scale about 10 into the keto experiment. Yesterday I was at my highest. This morning I'm at the lowest. Down 3 pounds. Could well be up 4 tomorrow, but it's interesting.

It's definitely interesting. I've weighed myself every day this month since I started keto. My highest was January 1st, which after weeks of eating sugar and drinking was no surprise. The week before 1.1.18 my average weight was 194.5. Now I'm 191.2. I'm not exactly impressed with that loss. Not impressed at all. Since the first week I just bounce between 189.8 and 192.5. I keep waiting for that woosh people talk about, but I've never experienced that. I would consider it a real loss if I got under 189 and stayed there for more than a few days. That's never happened though, it's just up and down, up and down and up and down some more. Ugh.

I hear you. I don't have a lot to lose. Really a few vanity pounds. Three pounds would be significant, IF it lasts. I guess we will see what the trend looks like over the next week or two. I don't weigh everyday. Maybe two or three times a week, just to see. Yesterday was a high-energy day. I felt better than I have in a couple weeks. I also had a really good night's sleep the night before, after days of horrible sleep.

The electrolyte struggle is real... a daily one... I had to be on top of my salt, potassium and magnesium for the first 6 months digilently and ON PURPOSE.

Also, sounds counterintuitive, but drink lots of water too. I try to drink two 40oz bottles a day, even now.

Are you guys both working out? If you are, that could be one reason you’re not seeing a big change on the scale. I purposely did not lift weights during the weight loss phase because from past experience I learned muscle gain and muscle water bloat from tearing down the muscles to build them up with f*ck with my loss results.

I knew I’d be flabby after losing the weight, but not seeing any change on the scale was vexing.

I know the scale is not the end all be all, but for ocd me, I woulda hacked off an arm to see SOMETHING, damnit.

Everything is firmed up now tho... and did the scale go up? Yes it did. Does it bother me? Hell yes, but I know it’s muscle and water...

Sorry for any typos.. I’m on my stupid phone cuz this website is restricted at work so this font is microscopic!!!!! LOL!!!!

Julia

KetoJulia wrote:The electrolyte struggle is real... a daily one... I had to be on top of my salt, potassium and magnesium for the first 6 months digilently and ON PURPOSE.

Also, sounds counterintuitive, but drink lots of water too. I try to drink two 40oz bottles a day, even now.

Are you guys both working out? If you are, that could be one reason you’re not seeing a big change on the scale. I purposely did not lift weights during the weight loss phase because from past experience I learned muscle gain and muscle water bloat from tearing down the muscles to build them up with f*ck with my loss results.

I knew I’d be flabby after losing the weight, but not seeing any change on the scale was vexing.

I know the scale is not the end all be all, but for ocd me, I woulda hacked off an arm to see SOMETHING, damnit.

Everything is firmed up now tho... and did the scale go up? Yes it did. Does it bother me? Hell yes, but I know it’s muscle and water...

Sorry for any typos.. I’m on my stupid phone cuz this website is restricted at work so this font is microscopic!!!!! LOL!!!!

Julia

Could the lack of electrolytes prevent weight loss? I haven't taken anything except a multi vitamin (the days I remember) and magnesium most nights. There isn't a ton of potassium in the multi vitamin. I use salt on my food, but nothing extreme in that sense. I'm just trying to find an explanation. I'm very annoyed that I'm not seeing any change on the scale. Honestly, I can maintain this weight while eating absolute garbage, so this sucks! I have been feeling much more tired the past few days, so either I'm getting sick or I need to supplement something.

All I'm doing for exercise is walking and random stuff around my house. We're finishing our basement so I'm moving doors around (to paint them) and things like that, but nothing extreme. I'm never sore or anything. I hate structured exercise, so if my 12,000 steps a day aren't enough, I'm out.

It's very frustrating to not lose weight when I'm as big as I am. I'm in size 14 clothes. There's plenty of fat that can go. I'm still considering trying that Alt Shift diet, but I don't know... eating low fat sounds awful.

Your walking is just fine! Honestly, losing weight is all about calories. Are you counting yours? I don’t think the electrolytes being off would inhibit weight loss...

Did you take your measurements? If not, do it now. There were WEEKS I didn’t lose anything, but like I told Nikki, I chalked it up to losing fat around my organs first. Lame as it is (helpful, but not visible!).

Anyway, if you’re not counting calories, start today. And never eat when you’re not hungry... that starvation mode is bullocks.

Don’t give up!!!

Alt/Shift always sounded too structured for me and I’d get all OCD about it, but I know it has worked for others! But yeah, the low fat thing... no. Not for me.

Also, do you do any intermittent fasting?

I don't count calories. I'm much too lazy for that; it would require more effort than I'm willing to give. I'd like to lose the extra weight, but let's not get crazy here.

I couldn't do low fat, either. What's the point in having rice if you can't drown it in butter? Who needs crackers without cheese?

A completely unrelated FYI: don't ever, EVER attempt to refill a beanbag chair with those little styrofoam pellets. Just. Don't. Do. It.

I'm up 2 lbs today.

JCat wrote:I don't count calories. I'm much too lazy for that; it would require more effort than I'm willing to give. I'd like to lose the extra weight, but let's not get crazy here.
A completely unrelated FYI: don't ever, EVER attempt to refill a beanbag chair with those little styrofoam pellets. Just. Don't. Do. It.

I hear you. It's a total pain to track calories. It's the only thing that finally worked for me this time around. When I was younger, it didn't matter, now at 49, it sure as shit does!

Booooooooooo!

OMG, those beanbag styrofoam balls. NO. JUST SAY NO.

My sister had one when she was a kid, and a RAT (gross) gnawed its way into it and died. Imagine rotting rat and those balls everywhere OOZING out of the beanbag.

SO GROSS.

Julia

At least the 5 gazillion bean bag balls all over my house aren't covered in rat juice. Guess I should be grateful.

So my question for you today: how long before you felt like keto was actually doing something for you? I feel like the arthritis in my fingers MIGHT be a little better. That's about it so far. Sleep has been pretty bad for a long time, weight is up and down within 4 pounds, energy is pretty much nonexistent. Also, are you strict keto all of the time? Do you ever have higher carb days? If so, at what point did you start doing that? My original plan to be strict for 6 weeks, then my cycle in and out, depending on how things are going. Maybe six weeks isn't long enough.

I always feel good things from Keto about three days in. Lots of energy and a good mood. Especially this time when I kept up with my electrolytes.

Before when I would try just keto and not low carb and I didn't know shit about electrolytes, I'd feel good for awhile but then I would just feel like DEATH. No energy, headache, shaky, nauseated. Horrible.

I started getting pain in my left hip a little over a year ago. After being on Keto for 2 months it was intermittent and then gone after three. SO NICE.

Sleep for me on Keto super sucked the first three months, but now I sleep pretty decently.. . though not perfect.. but I've never been a good sleeper to begin with. Ask my parents. LOL.

Yes, when I started Keto back in November of 2016, I had my game face on. The final straw was sitting at my desk at work with three sets of boobs instead of just one set. I was done. Couldn't f*cking stand it one more minute and knew the only way for ME to get it off was keto.

Meat, fat and didn't go over 1200 calories from the end of November of 2016 to July of 2017. And like I said in my post  over in Primal Success Stories (I think I said it there), there were days I even only ate 500 calories or 300 calories. If I wasn't hungry, I wasn't going to eat.

There was a time during the 7-9 months where I felt run down and blah, so I upped the calories to about 1700 for 7 days and when I felt great again, brought it back down to 1200.

These days, now that I took off all the weight I wanted and have been maintaining 110/112 for the last 7 months, yes, I have had higher carb days. Sometimes I might sit down with an entire clamshell of Costco Gourmet chocolate chip cookies at 250 cals a pop and an inordinate amount of carbs. Couldn't give one shit about it because I know I'll be back on the wagon the next day and won't want those cookies again for another month.

Anyway, long story short - you gotta want it. I wanted it BAD. I was freaking DETERMINED this time around and made myself give it the old college try for a year without blowing it, and it worked!

I also do intermittent fasting of sorts.. not a true fast, but I have a 16oz cup of coffee at work at 7:30AM with 80grams of half and half and 14grams of butter. Then I don't eat again until dinner at 5. Though, if I'm STARVING before that for whatever reason, I'll go pick up a chicken or salmon cesar salad or whatever from this cool place across the street from work. It happens once in awhile.

All righty, blithering on as usual.

Julia

You are hardcore! . I think I could eat this way for a long time, but every now and then, I want an apple. Or a banana. I'm just afraid it would mean starting over. I'm being silly, I think. I really need to start working out. Just have to find the time and the energy.

Thanks for your response. It's nice to have someone who's been there/done that to ask questions.

Julia, just curious, while you were totally hard core, did you ever make any of the “Keto treats” as in brownies or the like? In most cases I would think just staying away from all of that would be the best way to go, but how about for someone hesitant to try with about 150 to lose? I have a friend in that boat.

JCat wrote:You are hardcore! . I think I could eat this way for a long time, but every now and then, I want an apple. Or a banana. I'm just afraid it would mean starting over. I'm being silly, I think. I really need to start working out. Just have to find the time and the energy.
Thanks for your response. It's nice to have someone who's been there/done that to ask questions.

I really don't think that one apple or banana would be a big deal, as long it was limited to one here and there, or maybe before bed so the carbs
could help you sleep.

Don't worry about working out during the adaptation phase.. or like, ever. I mean sure, it's good for you and all that, and you shouldn't be sloth like and not move
at all, but I didn't seriously start working out until August. And even that wasn't very serious. Full body weight routine ONCE a week to start for many weeks.. now I'm finally up to three days
a week, and it's purely for vanity reasons and not being flabby at 50.. this year.. ugh.

If I would have gotten it through my head that losing weight was just about 100% calories, I wouldn't have killed myself in the gym every.single.day in the gym AND dieted along with it
when I started all of this nonsense at 25. Haha.

Exercise when you get the itch... when you get the "god, I have so much energy right now, I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING THIS MINUTE!"

Narrowminded wrote:Julia, just curious, while you were totally hard core, did you ever make any of the “Keto treats” as in brownies or the like?  In most cases I would think just staying away from all of that would be the best way to go, but how about for someone hesitant to try with about 150 to lose?  I have a friend in that boat.

No, I never made any treats. I kept my food boring as hell for the low food reward aspect of it all and not wanting to overeat stuff because it tasted good instead of
"being hungry". I have a hard time discerning between the two when food is too delicious.

I made fathead pizza once and only once. It was SO FREAKING TASTY I knew it'd get me into trouble so I never made it again.

So no, no treats.

I do eat 90% Lindt dark chocolate though.. but maybe just two squares maximum of that stuff, cuz, well, 90%.. Cures the chocolate craving but I've never
wanted to binge on that shit. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!

Hershey's Special Dark? Hell yes, BRING ON 500 BAGS OF THOSE SUCKERS. Haha.

I spent last evening watching Leanne Vogel. I'm getting that you are totally right about the electrolytes. Correcting that huge mistake today. I wish I had seen her stuff before I started. I think it would have saved me some misery. At least I should be adapted after all this time, just not feeling the upside, because of some unfortunate mistakes. Well, now I know and knowing is half the battle. Right?

Right!!

POWER THRU, GURRRRL!!!

So made some keto lemondade. Had the lemon juice and a little stevia in the jar. Instead of using a spoon for the salt, I figured I could just pour a little in. Yeah. Not so much. Filled jar with water and more lemon and poured half into another jar and added more water. Still trying to get the right dilution. Like drinking the ocean. With a squeeze of lemon.

Julia, i tried fathead pizza once too and like you will never do that again OMG. Maybe if I had been recently eating pizza I would. It have thought so, but I headed y had pizza in well over a year when I tried. That stuff is down right dangerous.

JCat, so sorry about your lemon ocean. At least you won’t have to make it again for a while. Had me cracking up, sorry