Exploring Low Carb, Healthy Fat, Moderate Protein Diet - Not Keto Quite Yet

[chef k-dude]

Great job! Since we started eating more carbs we have swollen a bit. Fat weighs less than muscle, but with that in mind, I was avoiding the scale because I just knew it was going to be bad news and didn't want to face it. My pants are fitting snug and I look fatter around the belly.

Finally I stepped on the scale...186.6 lbs. 185 was my crater weight when I started allowing myself more carbs. I lost from 225 lbs to 185 lbs low carbing (I'm about 5-10 1/2")...40 lbs. Here I feel all fat and whatnot but haven't actually gained weight. It's all carb bloat.

 

[noboundaries]

It's all carb bloat

Yep. Carb bloat. Great description. I'm going to mentally catalog that one

I've recently noticed an interesting body reaction from eating Keto / Ketovore / Carnivore. If I eat anything with carbs in the afternoon or evening, even accepted veggies, my body starts craving carbs, and I usually give in with nuts (okay) or heavily buttered popcorn (not good, but higher fiber and high fat that stops the cravings). The same cravings hit me after 6-8 days of <50g net carbs.

But, if I only eat meat and fat in the afternoon or evenings, I have no hunger or cravings until time to eat the next morning. Still learning lessons in my 13th month of this journey.

Ray

 

[indaswamp]

I started suffering from crippling anxiety. It got so bad I often couldn't leave the house.

Supplement vitamin B-1... it will help tremendously with this!!!!!

When you eat carbs, the mitochondria in your cells burn through B-1 FAST converting glucose to ATP. This will deplete the B-1 available for the rest of your body to use. B-1 is NECESSARY to produce the neurotransmitter used by the vagus nervous system, and also the hypothalamus which is the flight or flight modulator in the brain....which is where anxiety originates from. You're probably not chronically low in B-1, just sub-clinical. Taking it won't hurt you, and will probably help...a lot.... it did for me!!

 

[noboundaries]

Update. 245 lbs. Averaging 15.5 hours per day intermittent fasting. I feel INCREDIBLE! 2 meals / day. 70% fat / 20-25% protein / 5-10% carbs from veggies. Able to lift weights and do High Intensity Interval Training on the stationary bike. I've been shopping in my closet and found jackets and sweaters I haven't worn in YEARS! (screw it if they are out of fashion..don't care).

One of the biggest single additions to my diet was the addition of homemade L. Reuteri fermented dairy product. Look up Dr. William Davis, MD on YouTube and the benefits of L
Reuteri. I'm 19 days into making and eating it. Wow. I'm lactose intolerant but have zero problem eating 4-6 ounces a day of it in the evening.

Onward and downward (weight wise).

Ray

 

[Inscrutable]

Am I giving medical advice. Nope. I'm saying pay attention to your body. If you are taking meds and suffering side-effects, discuss them with your doctor and find something else that works. Educate yourself from credible sources. Getting old sucks, but feeling out of control of one's own body makes it worse.

Stay healthy and happy.

Ray

As an aside, today my cardiologist asked me who is my best doctor? I of course said him. Nope, he said I am. Then asked second best? Nope, pointed to my wife.
This guy gets it … that if we listen, we know our bodies better than anyone.

 

[indaswamp]

Update. 245 lbs. Averaging 15.5 hours per day intermittent fasting. I feel INCREDIBLE! 2 meals / day. 70% fat / 20-25% protein / 5-10% carbs from veggies. Able to lift weights and do High Intensity Interval Training on the stationary bike. I've been shopping in my closet and found jackets and sweaters I haven't worn in YEARS! (screw it if they are out of fashion..don't care).

One of the biggest single additions to my diet was the addition of homemade L. Reuteri fermented dairy product. Look up Dr. William Davis, MD on YouTube and the benefits of L
Reuteri. I'm 19 days into making and eating it. Wow. I'm lactose intolerant but have zero problem eating 4-6 ounces a day of it in the evening.

Onward and downward (weight wise).

Ray

That is awesome noboundaries! So.....

I jumped on the Keto bandwagon 3rd week of August 2024. Been at it for 3 months now. Started @ 201#, I'm down to 173# as of this morning. I'm doing 18/6 most days with OMAD some days. Funny you posted about the L.Reuteri.....I literally just ordered some yesterday...but will be 3 weeks out before it arrives I think. Look up some of Dr. Gundry's videos...polyphenols, polyamines, short chain fatty acids....all are signaling molecules for your mitochondria....as well as ketones.

And yes, I agree....I have not felt this good in a long while. I had no idea ketones were this good for the brain.....when the brain is running on ketones you can get 13% more energy to the brain.....

Also look up Dr. Ben Bikman. He is a very well respected metabolic fat scientist at BYU.....I have learned a ton from him. Everything he says is backed up by the research papers...he has the receipts and can back it up.

One other tidbit....pemmican, the old Indian preserved ration was roughly 80% buffalo fat, 20% pulverized dried buffalo meat, and 5% wild berries. The perfect keto ration. The berries had vitamin C.....they could live for a long time on nothing but pemmican.

 

[noboundaries]

Thanks, Keith! I'll look up all those doctors. Great recommendation on the pemmican.

Oh, and for making the Reuteri yogurt, the cheapest place I've found for organic, pasture-raised cow half/half is Costco. $5.69/half gallon in my neck of the woods, which is the price of a quart at WinCo.

I LOVE the Reuteri yogurt, but you gotta use the correct starter the first time. I tried two different L Reuteris than the one recommended. Results were kinda cheesy. My wife thought they were inedible.

Gastrus BioGaia (for optimal gut health) chewables (10 pills crushed) gives a creamy yogurt-tasting result. A squirt of liquid stevia, a splash of coconut milk, and some chia seeds is what I prefer. My wife skips the chia seeds and sweetener, but adds a teaspoon or two of fruit preserves. I start a batch every 4 days.

Happy Nutritional Ketosis!

Ray

 

[slavikborisov]

I don't really have a sweet tooth, but loved carbs like bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, beans, etc. More than a decade ago, my 6.7 A1C labeled me as pre-diabetic. Doc prescribed Metformin. Nothing really changed, but at some time afterwards, I started suffering from crippling anxiety. It got so bad I often couldn't leave the house. After 10+ years on Met, I went on a short trip and forgot the meds. The anxiety disappeared in two frigging days!

Doc checked my A1C at 6.1 and put me on Glipizide. Soon afterwards, I was eating Ibuprofen like candy due to the joint pain in my shoulders. After 11 months on the glip, mild depression started due to the constant, often agonizing shoulder pain. My glucose readings were the highest (170s to 190s) after meals and lowest (80's to 100) after a stationary bike ride on the glip.

I stopped the glip and the shoulder pain only happened after eating, and only lasted about an hour. It definitely increased after eating anything with the items I first mentioned above, even whole grains, which I transitioned to years ago.

My blood pressure is normal: so is organ function. That's when I told my doc I'm done with the meds and am taking control. Berberine, non-starchy vegetables, EVOO, nuts, and unfiltered apple cider vinegar have become my natural meds. 20% carbs, 20% protein, and 60% healthy fats are what I monitor in the MyFitnessPal app, something I've used daily since 2016. Glucose readings are 100 to low 130s. Still not perfect, but getting there.

I've given up bread and potatoes (which wasn't easy). Cut WAY back on grains and legumes. My weight has dropped 13 lbs in two months. I can work out without suffering agonizing pain for days afterwards. Skin issues disappeared.

Shoulder pain and skin issues reappear if I eat something I know I shouldn't. Late night carb cravings were my nemesis. I'd wake up for 2-3 hours and couldn't fall back asleep unless I ate bread, pretzels, or crackers, often to excess. I'd be asleep within minutes when I did so. Now, when I wakeup and get the cravings, I have a few baby carrots with a splash of EVOO, vinegar, and seasoning. Cravings gone, no excess eating, and asleep in minutes.

Am I giving medical advice. Nope. I'm saying pay attention to your body. If you are taking meds and suffering side-effects, discuss them with your doctor and find something else that works. Educate yourself from credible sources. Getting old sucks, but feeling out of control of one's own body makes it worse.

Stay healthy and happy.

Ray

Unfortunately the general
Public has been Lied to for decades, doctors have been pushed my big pharma, they’re paid for “studies”, lies and misleading conclusions all in the name of selling for pills to the public it’s one of America greatest problems.

If you look into the majority of the health problem most people face it’s related to metabolic heath aka the stuff we eat… the podcast generation and the younger generation is waking up and more and more lies are exposed to the corrupt system and people are doing what you have done … ditching a pill that you have to stay on your whole
Life to find out it alleviates your symptoms not fix the problem ….. but pharma created a lot of good and life saving life altering medications for the greater good but it’s also got greedy and dishonest it’s just a dam shame!


Glad you are better!!

 

[noboundaries]

Unfortunately the general
Public has been Lied to for decades, doctors have been pushed my big pharma, they’re paid for “studies”, lies and misleading conclusions all in the name of selling for pills to the public it’s one of America greatest problems.

I agree 100%. The whole low fat, high carb, seed oil, margarine instead of butter, low cholesterol recommendations were based on fabricated science to maximize big food corporate profits. The food pyramid is total BS. All our metabolic health issues have exploded in the last 70 years, giving big pharma a key to the family wallet. Now the veggie folks have jumped on the same bandwagon to counter the keto-carnivore diet.

Food is medicine if the right food is eaten. I've outlined my choices and the results. Keith (Indaswamp) has done the same. Not only have I been able to get off EVERY medication the doctors recommended, my use of NSAIDS has dropped to about one dose per week, when I used to maximize the daily recommended dose for years due to inflammation (joint pain).

Food for thought.

Ray

 

[chef k-dude]

ditching a pill that you have to stay on your whole Life to find out it alleviates your symptoms not fix the problem ….. but pharma created a lot of good and life saving life altering medications for the greater good but it’s also got greedy and dishonest it’s just a dam shame!

I feel this way about Cholesterol. I think it's a number used to sell pills. Of course they have "studies"...by whom? I may have said this here before but when I told my doc I was stopping the statins he totally supported me. All of them cause me some kind of debilitating pain. Most doctors are so brainwashed and act like a high cholesterol number is a death sentence. We all have a death sentence...from birth. I've seen what it looks like to barely hold on to life and live in to your 80's and 90's. Your mileage may vary, but I dont want to live life as an immobile vegetable. Some people do quite well into old age, others, not so well.

Doc said at my age my chance of a coronary event over the next ten years was 12%. Without the statin it was 15%.

No doubt the medical industry has provided some amazing stuff. The colonoscopy alone has extended many people's lives. After my recent one, where they removed a few non-cancerous polyps, I was reminded of a cousin, a couple years younger than me telling me to seriously go and get all of the preventative stuff like that. He had been through a bowel obstruction and surgery. Spent a few months on a colostomy bag until he was well enough for the re-connection surgery. He was in his hospital recovery bed and was supposed to be released the next day, feeling great. He died of what we think was a pulmonary embolism (he was the last of his family living so the medical facts were not clear to the rest of the family) before he got released. Died in his hospital bed suddenly.

 

[sandyut]

You gotta use your head and how you feel, do your own research, and find what works. My docs have led me astray before as well. My A1C is 5.7 - has been for 20 years. every year I get the "prediabetic talk" and I tell them the same thing, it not going up or changing.

Cholesterol is a mixed bag, about 18 months ago a provider put me on a statin, hard muscle pain that increased to unbearable. after a bike rid I could barely walk. googled it and yup, statin was the cause, stopped it and pain is gone.

I wouldnt blindly follow a dr advise anymore. but I will listen and read on my own and see where I want to go.

I like you diet plan/change. I think I am almost there myself. I had to cut back on red meat...not ready for the full next level, but close.

hang in there!

 

[noboundaries]

It's surprising when you hear others have had the same issues as oneself. As long as I can remember, my total cholesterol has basically been between 240-265. When I was ready to leave the Navy decades ago, I weighed 150 lbs, ran daily, lifted weights 3-5 times a week, and had a 32 inch waist. Exit physical revealed my total cholesterol was 263. They said I couldn't leave the Navy because it was too high. BS! I signed a waiver and departed on schedule.

Flash forward 30 years. Doc puts me on statins. Soon, I couldn't lift a frigging grocery bag without massive lactic acid pain a few hours later. Walking around the block was pure agony. I quit the statins. Doc said I'd die of a heart attack. Signed another waiver. Still here.

Then came pre-diabetes due to trying a vegetarian diet and following the food pyramid. I gained 100 lbs! Metformin, and later glipizide were prescribed. I had MASSIVE anxiety and had to eat constantly. Doc said I'd become full type 2 diabetic when I stopped the meds. My A1C is now no worse to better than it was on the meds after 15 months of lifestyle and diet changes. I've still got lots of room to improve, but meds aren't the answer...food, fat, protein, low carb, and intermittent fasting is what's working for me. My wife is happier and skinnier, too!

Ray

 

[chef k-dude]

My wife is happier and skinnier, too!

That's the great thing about doing losing weight together. My wife went another route diet-wise but was very similar to low carb but mostly paying attention to added sugars and reducing or eliminating grain carbs. She still ate an apple every day like she does every single day of her life.

I started trying to do South Beach and that quickly became a big "hell no" because that is low carb PLUS low fat. I shifted to the Atkins style and life got better. We both lost 40lbs before we allowed some grain carbs back in.

We dont have other medical issues, generally, that made us diet, it was purely to lose weight. I looked in the mirror one day and said, "oh no, I look like THAT guy". You know how guys in big beards kinda look the same..."fat men" kinda have that too.

 

[noboundaries]

For anyone who still believes fat is bad for you, the history documentary above (available for free on YouTube) is an eye opener. Even though my wife was losing weight and welcomed the changes in me, she was so programmed that eating fat was bad that she still insisted on bread, oatmeal, and low fat dairy. She watched the movie and said, "Okay, buy the full fat dairy." She ate less bread and oatmeal, switched to full fat dairy, and lost 2 lbs in a week.

Happy food for thought.

Ray

 

[noboundaries]

I jumped on the Keto bandwagon 3rd week of August 2024. Been at it for 3 months now. Started @ 201#, I'm down to 173# as of this morning. I'm doing 18/6 most days with OMAD some days.

And yes, I agree....I have not felt this good in a long while. I had no idea ketones were this good for the brain.....when the brain is running on ketones you can get 13% more energy to the brain.....

Keith, forgive me for not offering congrats on your progress, too! Great big KUDO!

I'm on my 4th day of OMAD (20-21 hr fasting window) following Thanksgiving bloat. Ballooned up to 247. Down to 244 after 3 days of OMAD. And I'm amazed how easy it is to wet fast that long and not get hungry. Water, coffee, and green tea with full-fat coconut milk are my fasting drinks.

And ketones! The Big Pharma folks know that ketones are the body's natural defenses and medicine against practically EVERY ailment currently inflicted by the western carb-rich diet.

I started trying to do South Beach and that quickly became a big "hell no" because that is low carb PLUS low fat. I shifted to the Atkins style and life got better. We both lost 40lbs before we allowed some grain carbs back in.

Ken, thanks for sharing! The Keto/Carnivore/Atkins diet is absolutely better for the body and one's health. Eggs, beef, pork, poultry, and fish are my main proteins. The only dairy I consume daily is homemade L. Reuteri yogurt, which is also high in fiber due to the inulin fiber used to make it. In fact, I've got to go start a batch now. I make one every 4 days.

Ray

 

[indaswamp]

I'm now down to 169# as of this morning. I ran across my High School driver's license looking for some stuff while packing for an upcoming hunting trip...I weighed 165# in high school, so almost down to what I weighed in HS.

Lost 32# so far, and 3 belt loops.

Keto is amazing! I never in a million years thought I'd ever weigh less than 180# ever again. And crazy thing about it is, I am NOT HUNGRY! Dietary Saturated Fat is where it is at!!!

 

[indaswamp]

Oh the things I have learned!!! I can share for those interested...

 

[indaswamp]

Research on why large bouyant LDL, HDL spikes and TG drops in lean, low BMI people on Keto Low Carb....

 

[Brokenhandle]

Oh the things I have learned!!! I can share for those interested...

Go ahead and share! I lost 27 lbs in the last few months and two jean sizes... basically just cutting out bread, taters, and alot of sugars. Definitely not strict about it by any means.
Interesting to learn other things than all the Dr. recommended stuff which all comes from big pharma.

Ryan

 

[sandyut]

Oh the things I have learned!!! I can share for those interested...

Please share. I have high triglycerides and ok total cholesterol. meds help but not enough. I can't take statins - they give me horrible muscle pain! Im gonna watch the vids you posted.