Sigh.

Day 28. After the initial loss of 12 pounds (same scale, same clothes, same time of day, etc.) I have now gained 10 pounds back. So I have lost 2 over the last month.

Not one single cheat bite. Not one drop of soda or beer. I keep my carbs as close to zero as possible and eat nothing but meat, cheese, butter, green vegetables, eggs and drink only water. I am constantly hungry and have had a low-grade headache for a damn month.

WTF am I doing wrong here?

Total calories at a guess, and type of meat?  Getting enough fat?

It actually might be as simple as that. I'm trying to go from 300+ carbs to ~20. I kept jumping in every day because I've done keto before and read enough that I at least have the basics down.

Going to try to plan a taper down period and see if that works before getting into full ketosis. Thanks.

Probably too many. But I thought one of the advantages of keto was not having to count calories? Lazy keto, I guess. I just try to eat zero carbs.

I eat the fattiest cuts I can lay my hands on. Chuck roast to ribeye to brisket. Anything lean (game meats) get pan fried in bacon grease and then smothered in butter. My scrambled eggs in the morning almost float on the plate in melted butter.

Don’t sweat it and keep going. I lost 24 lbs my first month month and about 8 the next. Just keep at it and it’ll happen. Re adjust your cal and macro goals for your new weight.

Also, cut back on cheese. Cheese stops me in my tracks. Doesn’t for every one, but it does for a lot of people.

Don’t eat fat corn the sake of eating fat.

Lazy keto works to a degree, and will likely keep working, but there will be a point where you have to watch your intake no mater what your doing.

As they say, keep calm and keto on.

ETA: Are you getting your electrolytes? Sodium, magnesium, and potassium?

Yeah, cheese seems to be quite the weakness for me.  

Really kicked myself and the woman in the ass by proposing.

After the initial celebration weekend, we have hit keto and the gym hard.

When I first started, I went WAY leaner on the fat than was recommended. I needed to get my body burning fat. Then, I added more fats as I lost weight.

You don’t need to feed your body fat. You’ve got it to burn. Yes, that’s not sustainable but you’re not going to sustain this phase.

Steak and veggies, chicken breast, prosciutto, salami, turkey lunch meat...

Try it. Drink lots of water and lay off the beer and wine.

Good luck and hang in there!

TC

I found that it was helpful to get plenty of fat early. Cream, MCT, extra butter, bacon drippings. Made it a really tasty way to get fat adapted.

Once I was certain I was fat adapted I could lean out the diet and found myself burning on-board fat much more efficiently.

I don’t hesitate to eat lan meats now, but I prefer the taste of the fattier stuff.

I’ve gone direct from SAD to 100g limits a few times without consequence. I find moving from 100g to 20g to be a bit more difficult, but that has more to do with the limitations in what you can eat.

It helps to smooth out the insulin roller coaster before trying to get off of it completely.

A couple pages back you said you were at 5 carbs, 150 g protein.  You want 100 g protein, the other 50 gets metabolized... into carbs...  you're having 55 g of carbs a day.

At least that's my guess.

ETA - not an MD.

So, dinner tonight.  There was a "how to make sloppy joes" thread that got me jonesing, so we tried a couple things:

First, my wife's family uses Open Pit to make them, my family uses Heinz ketchup.  I like hers better.

So, look at keto clones, and I come up with (from a couple random sites)

15 oz can Muir Glen tomato sauce (worth it, don't get the cheap stuff)
2 T dried onion flakes
1/2 t garlic powder
2 T chilli powder
4 T Worchestershire sauce
4 T mustard
1/2 t liquid stevia
4 T apple cider vinegar
salt to taste.

Simmer, then I added a bit (1/2 t each?)  Hoisin sauce and black bean chilli oil from the Asian sauces, it seems pretty good.  Some ancho chilli powder to round it out.

It's enough sauce for 2 lb of ground beef.

Brown the beef, draining it so it browns and doesn't steam, then stir in the sauce and let it cook.

Now the buns:  from the cookbook by https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/

Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, Hamburger Buns

4 oz cream cheese
1 large egg
2 T melted butter
1 T water
1/2 C unflavored whey protein

(I used vital wheat gluten, cheaper, holds things together, and actually tastes of wheat!)

It's got the same carb count as almond flour... less fat and more protein though.
1 t baking powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t salt

Make into (4) 4" rounds, I put them into some silicone rings I have, press sesame seeds into the top.

Bake 350 25 minutes.

It's the best "bread" I've had.  Next time, another egg and another T water, and twice the baking powder so it should rise more.

It hit the spot.

ETA:  made another batch for breakfast, doubled it and increased some stuff, and butter+water=heavy cream.

1 stick cream cheese
3 large eggs
1 C heavy cream
1 C vital wheat gluten
3 t baking powder
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt

Mix in stand mixer a couple minutes, put in (6) ring molds (it's getting a bit runny, if you don't have them do 3/4 C cream), let sit 5 minutes for the gluten to hydrate, bake.  I actually had a crumb structure in these things.  Looks like each is 6.3 net carbs, 23.5 g fat, 21.2 g protein.  ETA:  if you do half almond flour, half gluten each roll gains 3.2 g fat, and loses 5.3 g protein.

Breakfast was that, with a pound of sausage, 1C chicken broth, and 1 stick cream cheese for sausage and "gravy."  Next time 1/2 C broth, but the bread was awesome!

Crap, I just crossed post # 250.

My post count is now more than my weight!

Made it through the day with just slight weakness around 3pm. 105gr carbs, 88gr net. I'll give that a couple more days and then drop it further.

Sorry for the holy wall or text....

Sounds like my last attempt at keto about 6 or 8 years ago.  Let me back up my history a little.  I've always been a big guy. I was the fat kid that had to buy clothes in the "Husky" department at Sears. Genetics and upbringing.  If there was no rice and gravy with the meal, it was because mashed potatoes and gravy. Fried chicken or fried pork chops.  Cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Cokes whenever we wanted them.  My Mom was big, her Mom and Dad were big. Very big. Typical deep south lardasses.  I was 275 when I graduated high school.

About the time I met my future wife I had tipped the scales around 300 lbs at 27 years old.  I went on the fad "Rotation Diet" that was a heavy calorie counting diet where you varied week by week. Also started jogging.  I dropped down to about 185, but it didn't last long.  I think by the time I got married I was around 245.

Fast forward about 5 or 6 years and I was at 355.  Discovered the Adkins Diet and went on it.  Damn it was easy!  I was shedding lbs like taking off clothes.  I dropped down to 225 lbs and people did not recognize me.  130 lbs makes a difference.  I did not realize this was a life style change and went back to eating whatever I wanted.  Shot back up to 325 over time.

Few years later I went back on Adkins.  Didn't work as well.  I was still drinking diet sodas and using SweetNLow on everything thinking this shit was magic powder. When I got down to 300, I bought a mountain bike.  Day 3 I ruined my back riding it up a steep hill.  I was in excruciating pain. I was burning hundreds of calories just sitting still from the pain. By the time I had surgery, I was down to 280-285.  When the pain went away, I instantly quit losing weight.  This was 1999.

About 4 years ago I went on low calorie again, still guzzling diet cokes and using the magic powder.  Lost about 25 lbs, but it stopped there. Switched over to keto/Adkins and it made no difference.  I had given up on low carb.  It seemed like my body would no longer respond to low carb diets.

This time last year I vowed to give up the artificial shit.  Started drinking regular coke or sweet tea.  That lasted about 2 weeks because it just tasted like shit with all the sugar.  At that time I gave up all sugar and sodas.  Aches and pains in my legs went away.  Started feeling much better about life.

New years day this year I said fuck it.  I was back up to 355 lbs.  I was going to give this keto thing one more shot, and it was an honest shot since I was off the artificial sweeteners.  I always read that they mind fuck your system with insulin and burning stored fat.

Jan 2 I went back on low to no carb. It's working again. I also gave up alcohol since it shuts down burning body fat while it is in your system.  Down 25 lbs as of yesterday.  Last night I did have one Scotch and water with the wife since it was Valentines Day.  She has to drink alone now.

I now realize that this is a life change. I will no longer stuff myself on pizzas and bread sticks.  Baked potatoes and french fries are a thing of the past.  If I do start adding carbs in the future, it will be very selective and counted like some count calories.  It will be is stews or mixed in meals, not a carb bomb like a potato or dinner rolls.

Congrats Scotts, stick with it man!

This post serves no purpose but to show those who struggle with the scale bouncing up and down.

This is what weight loss looks like over time.

This is form about may to now.
You note hat I weigh myself less frequently now and I just doenworry about it and know that over time, if I do my part it will keep coming off.


This was may-aug. note the brutal up and down game.


I had a few little cheats last week and hey added up. I gained 8 lbs by Monday. It seems it was all just water weight as it’s been coming off a couple lbs a day since. 248 mon 246 tue 244.8 wed 242 this am.

If you're comfortable there, make that your new upper limit.

If you struggle at a lower threshold, don't go back above 105.

Question for the Keto gurus.  I am required to get a urinalysis every 6 mos for work, they check for the beetus, protein in urine, etc.  Will keto cause this to appear bad?  Teh FAA isn't known for being very forgiving when something tests off.

I had a slowdown a couple of weeks back. I cut the beef way back, apart from 85/15 burger and New York or ribeye steaks. I replaced the beef with chicken thighs or pork, and tried to further limit my intake of animal protein. More avocados, avocado and coconut oil, leafy green salads. I also upped my intake of magnesium, potassium and salt. I was already accustomed to drinking about a gallon of water a day, so that helped.

Ketones will likely show in your pee. I’m not sure how they would look at that. You could just quit keto for a week before if you know when the test will come. Then, get back in after.

do you get the keto flu every time you go back in?  I am trying to learn as much as possible and not screw my career in the process.

A little bit of ketones isn't that abnormal, especially if everything else is ok.

You shouldn't have to fall off the wagon, just drink extra water. At most have a small helping of potatoes or something along with extra water.

A week is totally unnecessary. People over think this. I work in the lab, ketones in urine aren't really that big of a deal. People on regular diets can have that, people with colds that aren't eating well . . .

I've tracked my ketones throughout the day just as an experiment and it varies. Right after a meal they frequently don't show up. They show up the most during intermittent fasting and in the morning. I imagine there is some individual variance but if you slam a few glasses of water it's irrelevant.

The over thinking is why I don't understand why people go on a 3 month binge just because there is a holiday or a birthday. Likewise if you've been sticking to your diet for a month but you are at a business lunch and the only option is a samwich, just eat the fucking samwich and move on with life.

Now if it's several times a week it's "normal" and no longer the exception. Also, you don't have to eat everything in sight just because you had a sammich.

I guess the fact that I didn't start out on a special diet makes that notion easier for me. I didn't even know I was following a ketogenic diet until I was following one for months. I never felt bad. I never had keto flu. I just eliminated and substituted over time.

I also haven't lost an enormous amount of weight at one time. One factor is probably because I'm over 60 so that's not happening. Another is probably because I don't have as much to lose as some, although I definitely still have some to lose. I lose 3 to 5 lbs a month.

The biggest incentive to me is how much better I feel. I can't help but wonder if I had avoided carbs 10 years ago I might have avoided knee replacement surgery.

What is the fascination or obsession with the keto flu? I'm not sure it even actually exists. I have been on keto since July of last year.  Undoubtedly been in and out of ketosis at least 25 times and never once felt the "flu". I think it's a mind fuck or something folks use as an excuse for staying off the wagon. YMMV.

Preach.

I mean it's not impossible that the body crashes hard when you are used to a certain amount of sugar every day, combined with not getting enough water and electrolytes. I can imagine that would cause you to have a bad day or 3. I suspect the majority of cases are largely electrolyte and hydration issues, but also possibly sugar withdrawl thrown in. Maybe. I don't know. I do know i had to wean my self off regular soda. I got pretty sick the first time I tried to go cold turkey off the HFCS stuff.

I'm sorry I didn't read the entire 200 pages but could someone recommend a keto blood meter that they have personal experience with?

I tried the urine sticks last night but further reading suggests urine sticks are not that accurate. For the record the color of each test ranged from moderate to large.

I'd suggest not bothering. Strips are expensive and the information you get isn't really something you can act on. Just keep your carbs low, below 30 or so, and you'll be in ketosis.

All this. I have some strips I can send you if you really want a few but they stop being reliable after a couple months on keto. I've been fasting for 3 days and the strip shows trace ketones when I know I'm dick deep in ketosis by now.

I think you're right.

People have been doing LCHF for decades.   The earliest mention of "keto flu" I can ever remember was about 8 years ago.  The mind is a powerful thing.  I've gone in and out of ketosis more times than I can count, and I've never experienced a keto flu.   Not once.  I think a big part of that is because "keto flu" didn't exist when I first started doing Atkins.  Or, at least I don't remember any discussion of it.   So, I never put the idea in my mind.

Oh and I was a sugar eating lard ass.   I got my hydration from Coke and sweat tea.  

I was largely fueled by carbs and sugar.   Shit, if I had known about keto flu I might have been tempted to use it as an excuse to eat more sugar.  I so loved the stuff.

If someone could provide a reasonable metabolic explanation I might believe it.  But getting sick from a normal metabolic process, that we've done all our lives, makes absolutely no sense to me.

So, I posted a wall-o-text set of recipes earlier.  Turns out gluten absorbs moisture pretty well, so going from pure gluten to 50:50 gluten:almond flour results in a much more watery mix.  Instead of "biscuits" or "buns" that rose and cooked, I got an overly liquid batter that overflowed and burned.

Even so, it made a decent bun for a burger.  I still have to make a decent keto ketchup, but today I had a keto-friendly bacon cheeseburger.  ON A FREAKIN' BUN!!!!

When I nail down the bun recipe, I'll post it.  Right now a 1/3 lb burger at 74% is 26 g protein; the pure gluten bun is 21 g protein.  A 50:50 gluten:almond flour bun will be ~ 15 g protein.  Frankly I'm a bit creeped out by my buns having that much protein compared to the damned burger!!!  But I want the bun!!!

But I had a freaking burger.  With cheese and bacon, on a freaking bun.

These rolls also seem to sop up egg yolk pretty well, which was my long-standing complaint about keto... I can have bacon and eggs for breakfast, but I can't have a damned piece of toast to sop up the yolk?  This problem appears to be solved...  I've also started using these "buns" in my Hamilton-Beach Sandwich Maker to make an egg sandwich.  Less dishes in the morning, less time, prep the bacon or sausage in advance, and I'm backing down excess calories from 4 strips of bacon and 3 eggs, to 1 strip of bacon and 1 egg, with cheese, on a bun.

I broke 250 2 weeks ago, I've been hovering there.  I'm expecting a "WHOOSH!!!" event where I lose 5+ lbs in a couple days, I don't think this will be why but it sure won't hurt...

17 more lbs and I'm not obese...

Can you share the ketchup recipe?

Well, I've "fasted" for the last three days, mostly because I've come down with some kind of flu, headaches, nausea, chills, fever, achy.

I couldn't force myself eat bacon or eggs, and I ordered a large chocolate milkshake.

Good grief, I finally know what a sugar high feels like.

161 grams carbs, 142 grams sugar.

Anyhow, what are good (easy) Keto foods for when you're miserable?

Haven't made it yet.  I'm looking at either

https://www.ruled.me/homemade-lc-ketchup/

or

https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2014/08/23/Healthy-Home-made-Ketchup

Probably the second, as I have all the ingredients in the house.

Bone broth

Not much help for you right now, but we make the meatballs for this in bulk and freeze in vac bags:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/01/escarole-parmesan-soup-chicken-meatball-recipe.html

It's easy after that and we usually have spinach in the house so we use that for the greens.  Really it's just chicken soup with a bit of an attitude.

Really feeling down?  We've been doing chicken broth, with a tablespoon of this:

http://www.bulkfoods.com/soup-base/4340-chicken-base.html

it's a zero sodium chicken broth powder, it fills out the gaps in storebought broth.  I'll add lite salt to taste, or maybe just throw a packet of Cup-o-Soup into 2C of broth.  If you eat all the noodles, it's 8 carbs, we usually end up with most of them left in the mug, so probably 2 carbs?  But there's something about having _some_ noodles that's comforting.

BTW, Bulkfoods also has a french onion soup base, stir 1 T into 1 C sour cream for a great onion dip.

Made the second, and I've packaged it up.  I'll probably follow their suggestion and BWB can the extra so it will last; I'm frankly not using that much ketchup, and I expect this current infatuation with A FREAKIN' BURGER ON A FREAKIN' BUN to fade in a couple days... but it's awesome while it lasts.

Some people seem to forget that if your trying to lose weight, you need to eat limited fat.  Every bit of fat your eating is that much fat not coming off the body.  Your fat body has TONS of stored fat ready to be plucked.  But your body will gladly take from dietary fat before it chews into the body reserves. That is the entire point of keto for weight loss.

Your not going to lose weight eating a keto MAINTENANCE diet.

I HIGHLY recommend you track your carbs,cals,fat for at least 2 weeks so you train yourself on what to eat within the parameters of the macros numbers for your diet.

Lots of very knowledgeable Keto folk disagree with you on that one.

And they’d be wrong. Calories matter for fat loss.

Name one?

Every one I’ve ever listened to says you must be eating a deficit.

All of them.

Another one who says otherwise, don't know what they are talking about.

First day in the books for me.

Came in at 1,969 calories (target was 2,500)
67% Fat
24% Protein
9% Carbs (total not net)

Weight this morning is 294 pounds at 5’10”with a goal of 250. Hoping to drop 20-30 in the next twelve weeks before a work trip to Aruba in May.

Active person. Go to CrossFit 4 days a week and hunt every weekend from Oct to Feb. Last day of chukar season logged 3,500 vertical ft and 7 miles. Hike, backpack, bike often when not hunting.

My problem is my diet and beer but mostly beer.

Looking to make a lifestyle change.

You’ll hit 250 by Aruba if you stick with it.

Keto up date

Started Day after Christmas, going full Keto Jan 2.

Started at 262

Now 245

Cardio is getting better and better weekly. I started at 4 two minute heavy bag rounds and I am up to 5 three minute heavy bag rounds.  Mile run time down to low 8's.

Is there a good weight and macro tracker. Free.

Yes I'm cheap. At least I bought a membership here.

Most use the free version of My Fitness Pal. You can adjust the macros in the settings and it works great.

I used the macro calculator at ruled.me to give me my targets to input into the app.

I’ve been doing it long enough now that I really don’t need to track macros. It’s a huge plus when you start though.

I know we are to cut sugar. I just did myfitnesspal. It said I did 14g today. I know it's probably impossible to cut 100% percent out. What is an acceptable number.

Also this is my first time using that app. And there could be a good chance I endured something in wrong.

Attached File

I made the cauliflower pizzacrust tonight. I failed at making pizza, but it was till tasty.

I think I need to bake the crust a lot longer before putting toppings on it.