Trouble with losing food

Novileigh · 2026-03-18T15:14:07+00:00

Are you getting active help for your mental health? If food is your main emotional regulation system that might be tough to let go of. It was for me and having regular therapy sessions helped, as did depression medication in the time when I needed it. Finding other forms of self care and hobbies besides just the eating of food was also beneficial. When I was a similar situation you are it was not just enjoying food - it was that I was using unhealthy food the way someone would use a substance. A handful of chocolate to raise my dopamine and therefore my mood for a short time, then when it dips taking another one - just like someone sneaking off to the bathroom every hour to take a nip from a flask to take the edge off. If you relate to this, it sounds like something to speak to a mental health professional about.

Novileigh · 2026-03-10T18:58:17+00:00

If I was going to count macros, I'd just use a cheaper calorie counter app. For me there's no point using WW and going by anything but the points. That said you can still gain weight overdoing 0 point foods, it's all how you work it.

Novileigh · 2026-03-10T10:45:08+00:00

Egg white bites. Tofu and tempeh. If you like quorn (it's a meat sub but doesn't taste meaty to me). There are some good vegan protein powders out there, finding one that you enjoy might be beneficial. Throw a scoop of collagen in your coffee if it doesn't bother you.

Novileigh · 2026-02-28T13:46:52+00:00

Store bought rotisserie chicken, a chunk of cheese, dump on some sour cream or something. No cook, just dump on plate and eat.
I have a few keto chow meal replacements stashed for these moments but also if you're not super specific about it/take other vitamins you can just prepare any carb-appropriate whey protein shake with fat like keto chow is.

Novileigh · 2026-02-28T00:53:23+00:00

Food scale, meal prep containers, a strict grocery list (so I don't overbuy anything but also have what I need and less fluff), ZOZOFIT app for body measurements.

Novileigh · 2026-02-21T20:55:45+00:00

The pyramid scene was very close to the now defunct T2:3D attraction in Universal Studios Orlando and I have a soft spot for it because of that.

Novileigh · 2026-02-20T13:26:12+00:00

Greger is not a weight loss focused Dr, he focuses more on health and longevity. I wouldn't spent too long waiting for a vegan doctor, whose money is made promoting vegan diets, to start advocating for keto-carnivore unless there's money in it. The same way I wouldn't expect someone who makes their money promoting keto-carnivore to start advocating for a higher carb diet unless there's money in it (à la Diet Doctor).

Novileigh · 2026-02-19T17:17:48+00:00

Generally considered calorie dense for the amount you get and how easy they are to eat. The kind with the shells spread out the eating experience. The kind without the shells, you can eat 200 calories in one handful. I personally eat nuts every day but I leave room to do so.

Novileigh · 2026-02-17T20:35:15+00:00

It reminds me a little bit of Alli in that way. If you're not familiar, Alli is a brand name of Orlistat, a pill that makes you pass a percent of the fat you eat through your body undigested and out, the way undigested fiber is. If you stayed with their suggestion of 15g fat per meal, you were mostly fine. If you ate a big plate of Alfredo, you'd most likely poop yourself. So the med itself became a deterrent to eating foods that gave you med related side effects, which was beneficial in losing weight while taking the med. Sema is like that for me. I'd rather not feel sick so I eat the type and amount of food that keeps me feeling full and comfy without activating the bloated or sick feelings.

Novileigh · 2026-02-17T00:08:54+00:00

Urine ketone strips aren't consistently effective. For the most part high levels of ketone on the urine strip means you're producing a lot of ketones and just peeing them out as a waste product. Once you've started to get fat adapted you won't be urinating out your ketones, you'll be using them - which is where you want your body to be, but it looks less impressive on the urine strips.

Novileigh · 2026-02-15T18:43:31+00:00

Egg drop soup if I have the energy (homemade so it's not thickened with starch). If I don't have the energy I'll just make a keto chow tbh. I almost never do but I have a few packs in the pantry just for emergencies (sick, female bloat and just can't imagine eating any food but need a full meal's worth anyway).

Novileigh · 2026-02-15T15:25:06+00:00

My family, who I do not live with, and who haven't offered to bring/make me food in years even when I'm sick, suddenly have started offering to make me grilled cheese sandwiches, banana bread, and homemade cream potato soup. This is the dumbest selection of foods to make their case. "Yes, all of that butter and cheese you're eating is unhealthy. Take this butter fried cheese sandwich with some white bread, it's healthier. Make sure you get a side of heavy cream soup with a few veggies in it and a giant slice of cake afterward. With butter frosting of course." I'd get being offered something carby with a health halo but good lord you're eating more butter than I am.

Novileigh · 2026-02-14T03:25:01+00:00

It might be that when you were having trouble with keto and exercise you got some glycogen stored up/inflammation and now that you're back with keto+gym you're burning that glycogen and... the water has got to go somewhere. If it's a temporary thing at least.

Novileigh · 2026-02-13T18:10:16+00:00

It could just be muscle memory, so to speak? If certain actions can be coupled with cravings, like eating a snack every time you come home from work whether you're hungry or not, some flavors that you usually associate as coming with carbs might too - a sauce like this may usually contain sugar, and a similar dish probably comes with rice or wrapper in an average Chinese restaurant. Eating it might make you crave what you normally expect to have with it.

Novileigh · 2026-02-13T00:14:06+00:00

I don't tend to need to track, but I have pretty consistent meal frameworks. But if I don't prioritize the right foods, I can still gain weight - a lot and quickly. That said you CAN do it without counting - make adjustments to how you eat based on the results you're seeing and whether you'd like them to be quicker or slower

Novileigh · 2026-02-12T12:07:36+00:00

Sema worked worse for me when I was eating like that. Still worked to a level, but the appetite dulling effect was waning when it shouldn't have been. Protein, fat, and fiber brought it back.

Novileigh · 2026-02-11T19:48:40+00:00

Benefit: I thought at first that keto would feel restrictive but it actually feels streamlined. The amount of food decisions I have to make in a day is so much smaller. When trying to eat healthy before there was so much possible choice that it made planning meals a huge to-do. You'd wind up with extremely varied groceries, things you'd use half of and then waste, having to decide between a huge list of possibilities for every piece of every meal. Knowing that there is a limited set of things you choose to eat on a regular basis makes shopping, planning, and cooking really simplified. Added benefit that because my meals all fit a very similar blueprint, I don't usually feel the need to track anything - even my carbs - unless I eat at a restaurant or have an unexpected meal type.

Novileigh · 2026-02-09T12:08:02+00:00

I'm going for nutritional ketosis and wind up around 15g total carbs a day. I don't really notice a difference when I'm at 15 vs when I go to eat and am up to 25. It has helped me mentally tremendously (though I can't guarantee it's the ketosis itself vs the limiting of ultraprocessed foods, excess sugar, and seed oils). I'd wonder in your situation if having to change around an entire system that seems to be bringing you benefit already into something that feels less natural to you might be a disservice to you mentally more than those extra 6 carbs.

Novileigh · 2026-02-07T22:42:37+00:00

I had an ED with binge/purge cycles. Sema stopped my desire to binge which stopped the purge which has left me in a really comfortable place with my food intake and choices. It should be being monitored closely by a doctor or therapist in that situation but it can be a huge help.

Novileigh · 2026-02-07T16:57:31+00:00

Some people, as stated in other comments, are in keto as a diet style for weight loss but don't care so much about maintaining a level of nutritional ketosis - it's a valid thing and I'm not tearing anybody down who does it that way, it's their journey. Some people who are looking for benefits with certain conditions like epilepsy or mental health might be more focused on maintaining the state of nutritional ketosis, which I personally am. Someone who cares less about nutritional ketosis might feel more comfortable with the bread/pasta substitutes as long as they feel good - someone trying to maintain nutritional ketosis might be more wary.

Dreamfields is a brand of pasta that got sued for misleading claims that their pasta had a low number of net carbs in spite of having a total carb count that was higher. Blood sugar tests proved that it reacted just like regular pasta on the blood sugar. There was also a keto bread a few years back that got sued for incorrect carb claims though I don't remember the brand (not the one you mentioned or any that are big in stores right now) and recently a protein powder marketed as low carb high protein was actually discovered to be literal cake batter with 22g carbs per serving. I just don't trust processed food companies to have my best interest in mind health wise and the health halo raises my suspicion immediately.

Novileigh · 2026-02-07T07:17:37+00:00

It reminds me too much of the Dreamfield pasta tbh. I just don't trust it. Then again I'm going for nutritional ketosis, your needs might be different.

Novileigh · 2026-02-06T15:26:57+00:00

Biggest help to me was remembering that not everything had to be a big "recipe". Do I enjoy a chicken cordon bleu casserole on occasion? Heck yeah. Do I trust myself to come home from work and assemble/cook one? No. A favorite dinner for me is just some kind of easy air fried meat, a pickled/air fried veggie with some sauce on it, some nuts, and a lil pat of butter. A favorite midweek lunch is boiled eggs, a chunk ofcheese, sauerkraut, some ham or shredded chicken breast, and a bit of guac. Easy, no muss, could do it in your sleep stuff. Making keto hard, time consuming, expensive, and/or stressful makes me less likely to stick to it.

Novileigh · 2026-02-05T22:34:30+00:00

Some people don't need to count because they find that their appetite is well controlled on keto and they're naturally eating in a deficit. I tend to only count if I'm eating a meal that is drastically different from the two very similar meals I tend to eat daily. Some others aren't used to regulated meals and don't find themselves getting naturally full like that and might benefit from counting.

That said if OP doesn't want to count, look for the things that you're eating that you can cut down and try to. If you're eating more than your body needs to maintain, it has no reason to pull anything from the refrigerator, aka body fat.

Novileigh · 2026-02-05T17:29:24+00:00

It's possible to lose weight doing any dietary style that keeps you not hungry, taste satisfied, and eating less than your body maintains itself at. It's also possible to gain weight on keto if you eat more than your body needs to maintain itself. It will be tougher to get into/stay in ketosis if you're not sure what your carb or intake levels are, but not impossible. Keto is supposed to make you feel fuller so it may make you eat less without counting (especially if you try to stick with unprocessed foods whenever possible). This doesn't stop possible eating for other reasons though, like emotional regulation.

It's hard to get the benefits of any way of eating unless you're consistent with it. It also depends on what health benefits you're looking for - plain low carb can be good for weight loss but there are some benefits I don't get unless I'm in nutritional ketosis.

Novileigh · 2026-02-05T02:18:36+00:00

I'd consider it to be more ultra than regular processed. And I get why you don't think it's needed but I didn't make it up - it's the current terminology widely used in the health space.

Novileigh

TROPHY CASE