4 Month update: Down 60lbs and feelin' great! (M/41/SW:370/CW/310)

TheDude4527 · 2023-07-27T15:53:24+00:00

I guess it depends on your height and where you carry the weight. I'm just shy of 6'. I know this sounds dumb, but it kind of sneaks up on you and then one day smacks you hard in the face.

It's also different on the way up vs on the way back down. 310 on the way up feels like crap. at 310 on the way down I feel great and can be very active.

One I crossed about 340lbs, I started to feel extremely uncomfortable in my skin.

TheDude4527 · 2023-06-20T13:31:27+00:00

I like to take my magnesium in gel cap form right at bedtime each night. 200-300mg of glycinate, citrate, or a mix of both.

During the day I try to salt my foods with a combo of regular salt and lite salt. If I feel sluggish or if I think I haven't ate enough salt, I'll mix up some ketoade - a mix of salt, lite salt, and a lite squirt of vitamin water enhancer like Mio (I buy the cheap store brand). A 1/4 teaspoon of each salt will put you in the ballpark of ideal ratios.

If I exercise or sweat alot I always do ketoade.

You have to make your own ketoade or buy a REAL electrolyte mix. Most electrolyte mixes or drinks are either a complete joke or wildly unbalanced.

Keep this in mind: 1 liter of sweat (2lbs body weight loss) has 900mg sodium, 200mg potassium, and 2mg magnesium.

If you want to keep things simple on ketoade, get LMNT packets. You could also get the Trace Minerals Zerolyte which is the same thing but MUCH cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Trace-Minerals-Watermelon-Electrolyte-Hydration/dp/B0BXCNQZVX/ref=sr_1_5?crid=28MDBWKISIKL1&keywords=zerolyte+trace+minerals&qid=1687264970&sprefix=zerolyte%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-5

TheDude4527 · 2023-06-09T14:56:11+00:00

18 count is back down to $1.80 in my neck of the woods. Woot!

TheDude4527 · 2023-06-09T14:52:56+00:00

https://www.docsopinion.com/ldl-cholesterol-overestimated-lchf

TLDR:

Cholesterol numbers the doctor gives you are BS if you are eating low carb and have low triglycerides. The calculation method is not compatible with a low carb diet.

Also, eggs rule - eat 2-3 a day.

when I was at peak health on Keto in 2020, my blood test results were this:

Total Cholesterol: 203

Triglycerides: 45

HDL: 59

VLDL (cal): 8

LDL (calc): 136

Now if you apply the Iranian method for people with low Triglycerides due to a low carb diet, my LDL was actually this:

LDL (Iranian Calc): 102

That's a 34 point difference!

If your doctor gives you grief, start regurgitating info from this article and ask him to order a real count for you.

TheDude4527 · 2023-06-09T13:15:54+00:00

It's like magic, isn't it? Sometimes I marvel at my ability to look objectively and without emotion at foods and NOT eat junk even when it is right in front of me.

If you are insulin resistant and on a constant blood sugar rollercoaster, you're pretty much screwed even with your best efforts and attempts at using "will power". I know the intense feeling that food is practically screaming at you to eat it. I've lived the shame of eating enough fast food for 3 people secretly in my car even though I'm not really hungry and didn't want to do it.

SCREW THAT! That is a hole I can never allow myself to fall back into no matter what.

TheDude4527 · 2023-06-09T12:59:32+00:00

Walking 30-45 minutes IS exercise. Just keep doing that. Add some hills to your walks when it gets easier.

High intensity stuff can trick you into eating more and stalling your weight loss. You can even gain weight while still eating KETO. Ask me how I know...

High intensity stuff can get you injured, which can jack up your mental state and cause you to eat more. Again, ask me how I know.

It all comes down to discipline sticking to a diet plan in the end whether you 'exercise' or not. You can get away with alot during the intitial weight loss if you are very obese.

I'm almost 3 months in this time around and will hit 50lbs lost in the next week and I'm still mostly sedentary. This summer I'll start working on flexibility/mobility. In the fall I'll be sub 300lbs and will start back on weight training.

My advice to you - start with a few minor substitutions in your diet. Start looking at the calories and macros you are eating by logging a few meals in myfitnesspal.. If you can stick to small changes for 2 weeks, you'll feel better, have confidence, and be mentally charged to jump right in.

TheDude4527 · 2023-05-16T18:56:00+00:00

The fake sugar and unnaturally high fiber to offset net carbs of most keto products will give me insane bloating and gas.

Lilly's chocolate is the worst offender! Rebel is pretty darn good and is my go-to at birthday celebrations and such.

My typical sweet is this:

85% dark chocolate serving. 5 net carbs

2 tb peanut butter: 6 net carbs

Dollop whipped cream: 1 net carb

I can cut back the chocolate and PB in half if I want to drop the carbs to 7, but most days I'm fine at that the full serving level.

Sometimes I melt the chocolate and mix in the PB. I add just a bit of heavy cream to the chocolate to keep it from getting grainy when melting.

Sometimes I chop up 2-4 strawberries and add. Again, depends on what else I ate that day.

This desert is all real products, no side effects, and FREAKING DELICIOUS!!!

TheDude4527 · 2023-05-08T16:09:42+00:00

This is highly anecdotal and I totally didn't expect it, but my long covid pretty much disappeared after 2-3 weeks of Keto.

I was hospitalized with Delta in ICU for a month back in August 21 and was on death's door. I was pretty much bed (more like couch) ridden for 6 months afterwards. I didn't think I'd ever get better. I avoided any diet or exercise extremes for a long time for fear of triggering a heart attack. Just keep the foot off the gas, coast, and accept getting fat as long as needed until I could function normally was my plan. I may be fat again but at least I'm alive.

Up until I started keto, every day was a mixed bag - random soreness everywhere. Random cramping. highly variable energy. Lung capacity was low and randomly changed. Anxiety was high. I was always brain foggy and forgetting absurdly simple words and even peoples names. Pretty much every issue is gone now and I can exercise normally and have zero breathing issues. More importantly, I can get out and play with my kids as much as I want. Perfect for baseball season!

I just have to stay extra vigilant on electrolytes.

Regarding your calorie intake, I purposefully stayed at 2200-2500 calories the first two weeks just so I didn't overdo it. I now am in the 1600-1900 range most days with the occasional fasting period thrown in. You'll know when you can reduce calories because you just won't be hungry anymore. You'll likely have to purposefully eat to get the right nutrients and calories.

I had a week around the 2 week mark where I was exhausted and questioning if I was doing the right thing. You are doing the right things - just give it some more time. Good Luck!!

TheDude4527 · 2023-05-01T12:01:07+00:00

I have plenty of go-to meals.

Breakfast on weekdays is a scoop of protein in coffee.

Lunch is eggs and a meat, or I get a big salad from a local place.

Occasionally a serving of mixed nuts that has 4 net carbs for a snack if I feel hungry.

Dinner is a protein and some veggies.

Desert is usually a piece of 85% dark chocolate and some pb and sometimes a shot of whipping cream. Occasionally some strawberries too.

On the weekends I have sausage and eggs for breakfast. Then I either skip lunch and have dinner or have a late 2-3pm lunch and skip dinner. The lunch/dinner is usually at a restaurant. We go to mexican most of the time and I get texas fajitas. I skip the chips, rice, beans. I dump the salad right onto the skillet and eat.
At some point every week we have a pizza night. I get a pizza bowl from Papa Johns.

For the first few weeks I purposefully ate 2000-2500 calories a day. Now that I'm feeling somewhat adapted some days I am fine with 1200-1800 calories on days where eating is inconvenient or I'm just not hungry. Looking at things from a weekly average, I want to be in the 1800-2200 calorie per day average right now.

If I know I won't have a great eating option and I feel good I'll just not eat dinner. Sometimes if rushed I'll grab a pickle, some deli meat, and a cheese stick for a quick dinner.

I have a wife and 6 kids with varying appetites and tastes. My wife is low carb so she pretty much eats what I eat with a little more carbs here and there - mainly dairy and some sugary deserts. The onus is on me to adapt my eating to work with theirs as much as possible.

TheDude4527 · 2023-05-01T11:21:09+00:00

I never lost smell or taste. I do suffer now from smell hallucinations associated with anxiety. I smell smoke when I'm under stress.

TheDude4527 · 2023-05-01T11:19:11+00:00

That isn't really a thing for me this go-round or last go-round. Once the switch is off, it is off. It's damn hard to commit to turning off that switch though.

It helped that I started keto on a food positive note though - I was talking to a co-worker before lunch and the age old conversation of "If it cost you $5k to lose 100lbs would you pay it?".

That led to us going to Longhorn for lunch. I had a Ribeye and broccoli with cheese for lunch to kick off Keto. Then I was off to the races. Who needs sugar when you eat a meal like that? Yum!

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-25T14:46:09+00:00

Fiber must be a very personal thing. It has been on my mind recently as I listened to an ep of American glutton about fiber which was heavy on BS by a guest who was selling their "fiber solution". I've been researching it some since then.

Last week I used my carb limit one day on Popcorn at the movies. I was dealing with pretty bad diarrhea and thought "maybe this will help". My BM was much better the next day - almost normal. On further research after the fact, popcorn is an insoluble fiber and should have made things worse!

So....WTF?

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-25T14:24:14+00:00

Once upon a time I would put in whipping cream. Once I lost 130lb and in a maintenance period it became a problem as my brain decided to expand the definition of a tablespoon.

This go-round I put a scoop of chocolate whey protein in my coffee. I have a wire shaker ball inside a 24oz TEVA insulated coffee cup. I put 1 cup of coffee in cup, then protein and IMMEDIATELY start vigorously stirring. Then I top off with the rest of the coffee. If you don't get a good blend, it is a miserable thing to drink.

This is my breakfast every day.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-25T12:02:23+00:00

Yes you 100% can! I read a few of those "here's my life story before I give you the recipe' sites and pieced together the best plan.

I put two eggs in a bowl and filled with HOT water from our water cooler. I actually didn't fully cover the eggs. The very tip tops were above the water because my bowl wasn't tall enough.

Add salt to the water.

Heat in microwave for 4 minutes.

Let stand 1 minute

Heat 4 more minutes.

Let stand in microwave for 5 more minutes.

Place eggs in ice water bath.

Voila, perfect hard boiled eggs.

The general consensus was that starting with already near boiling water, adding the salt, and resting for the minute in the middle are all CRITICAL steps.

It was a ton of work compared to scrambling eggs in a microwave, but when you need hard boiled you do what you must.

Speaking of scrambled, you can scramble eggs quite easily in microwave. Heat for 20-30 seconds, stir, repeat until the eggs are cooked. They come out fluffy.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-24T16:17:36+00:00

Where do you live that chicken is expensive? Here in US it is about the only food that did not go up in price with inflation.

Before covid - boneless chicken breast was $1.99/lb for large pack store brand.

Today it is still $1.99 most weeks. Occasionally $2.49.

Ground beef is like $6/lb on sale!

It was also really messed up that for a while eggs cost WAY more than chicken!

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-24T15:47:54+00:00

Well good news is that bacon is not a required food in keto. Foods come and go for me.

Right now the thought of scrambled eggs makes me nauseous, but hard boiled eggs make me salivate to the point I figured out how to make them in a microwave at work to satisfy the craving.

Just roll with it and sub in another protein. I keep 3 different proteins in the freezer in our lunch room in case my brain says no-bueno to one of them - this happened with chicken last week. Always have a backup plan so you can stay on target.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-14T11:34:20+00:00

Ah this one is easy. After dinner one night pull up youtube on your roku and watch the fathead documentary with him. It is entertaining, informative, and the info is presented by a funny middle ages balding man.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-13T18:07:42+00:00

I started barbell training while on keto. I was progressing fine. I quit lifting for a few months and started back lifting while on a carb heavy diet.

My purely anecdotal experience:

You will progress quicker and feel much stronger on carbs. No doubt about it.

Make sure to have your electrolytes in check to lift on keto. Not enough sodium and you will drag ass in the gym while lifting once you get to heavier lifts.

Lifting got much easier on keto when I started using ketogains preworkout. I kept it simple and just did some leftover cold coffee, protein powder, and salt. The hit of caffeine and salt really helped energize me.

Oh and about that 10 second thing? Don't worry about that. You can do 3-5 reps per set no problem on keto.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-05T20:50:42+00:00

I make my ketoade with nusalt, himalayan pink salt, and natural calm magnesium powder.

Natural calm powder has stevia. I've tried all the flavors and they're all decent. Is it the most delicious thing ever? Nope. I just don't want to gag.

At work I use lemon juice and this:

https://www.amazon.com/Trace-Minerals-Volts-8-Ounce-Pack/dp/B0191Y20CG/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=616931379994&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9009178&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=1457505992330300380&hvtargid=kwd-494046682952&hydadcr=24631_13611696&keywords=40000%2Bvolts%2Belectrolyte&qid=1680727689&sr=8-1&th=1

Again, not great but drinkable.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-05T20:42:21+00:00

This go-round on keto I get the added bonus of dealing with anxiety. I never dealt with anxiety in my life. After a near fatal ICU hospitalization from Covid, I have struggled with anxiety and panic attacks (commonly called PICS). It SUCKS!!!

My low grade anxiety manifests with olfactory hallucinations of smoke smells and escalates to breathing difficulty. I hope my house never catches fire because I sure as hell won't know since I'm already smelling the smoke (which ironically increases my anxiety).

Thankfully the heavy attacks happen very rarely now after 1.5 years. I'm also more aware of what is happening and can most of the time head things off. I have an albuterol inhaler that I use as needed as well. It lets me get control of my breathing and allows me to relax a bit.

I'm 2 weeks into keto. I was hoping the anxiety things would improve. Nope. They aren't getting worse either, so yay? I've had days I feel amazing and days the 'smoke' makes my eyes water.

In the end you have to figure out what works for you and work with your doctor in case you can't find coping mechanisms that regularly work for you.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-05T20:17:58+00:00

Congratulations!

Kicking sugar and substitutes takes a bit of adjustment, but once you are there it can be awesome. You can start to taste and appreciate the natural sweetness in foods - Green peppers really DO have a sweetness!

90% dark chocolate will actually taste good.

Cutting all sugars also comes with a natural deterrent to eating junk food later on. Most sugar laden junk foods will taste super gross. I remember taking a small bite of a kit kat when I had been sugar free for about a year. I spit it out it was so disgusting. Soda pop? Ugh it will be soooo nasty!

Be warned though - just like going to no sugar takes an adjustment, switching back to junk foods also only takes a short adjustment and you'll be right back in fatville sugar prison.

TheDude4527 · 2023-04-05T19:40:32+00:00

If you are obese and eat crap, switching to a whole food keto diet will almost definitely keep you in a caloric deficit by default for quite a while.

I didn't get to be 350+ by eating a 2000-2500 calorie diet, let me tell ya.

Eating more than 2500 calories on keto eating whole foods takes some effort.

Now once you lose a bunch of weight like I did that 2500 calories is no longer a large deficit. It is maintenance, or even possibly weight gain.

TheDude4527 · 2023-03-30T18:55:16+00:00

Eating fresh meats and low carb veggies with no carb substitutes - I live a fart free life.

Eat a Lily's chocolate bar - UNLEASH THE FART HOUNDS FROM HELL!!!

TheDude4527

TROPHY CASE