Hello All

[SallyKeto]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and just about to embark on keto. I'm not diabetic, but appear to have insulin resistance, and have an underactive thyroid. My metabolism is in my boots, and I'm fed up of feeling bloated, obese and exhausted all the time. I've eaten lower carb a couple of times previously, and found I felt better, was noticeably less bloated and had more energy. I got back into the carb-eating/craving cycle this summer, for various reasons, and am struggling to get back to eating well.

This time I want to do keto properly, and get myself prepared with meal plans and the right food in the house. I love vegetables, eggs, cheese, butter, cream and eating fresh, healthy food, but not spending hours preparing it, especially as I currently suffer from chronic fatigue. I'm hoping this will improve with keto, as well as shedding some pounds, and getting back into regular exercise. I've been vegetarian for many years, which I think has tended towards a carb-heavy way of eating, but I'm not completely opposed to eating meat and fish, if I can work out how (yes, I really don't know how to cook these things or whether I'll actually eat them)!

So any tips on getting started, especially getting past the 'fear' I seem to be experiencing at the prospect of doing 'proper keto' (goodbye carbs) would be very welcome. I already rarely eat bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals or drink alcohol, so at least that shouldn't be too tricky. I think the fear stems from trying to get my carbs right, and knowing that some days I just feel too tired to 'eat properly', and will either eat nothing (and feel famished next day) or go for the quick fix carbs,

Looking forward to reading more here and feeling healthier.

 

[Goonergal]

Hi @SallyKeto and welcome

A few quick thoughts. Firstly for your lazy days, make sure you always have bacon and eggs in the fridge - 5 minutes meal, or canned fish/corned beef. A quick fix with no carbs!

For me two pieces of kitchen equipment have been game changers - a slow cooker and an airfryer. The former for sticking lovely joints of meat in in the morning so I come home to a delicious meal and the air fryer for quick meals such as chicken wings (great crispy skin), salmon, lamb ribs or halloumi fries.

Don’t be scared. This is such a liberating way to eat.

Tagging a couple of others for further encouragement @bulkbiker @shelley262 @Brunneria @ziggy_w

Editing to say didn’t read properly - saw reference to meat and fish but not the veggie but. Sorry. Have you looked at dietdoctor.com for meal plans. Pretty sure they have vegetarian keto meal plans.

 

[Resurgam]

Throughout the summer one of my meals each day is a salad - I get a large bowl, and drop in radishes, coleslaw, beetroot cucumber a bag of ready made salad, celery, tomato red or yellow sweet pepper - just raid the fridge, basically, and add a slosh of oil and vinegar dressing possibly with some herb or other in it - often I have grated cheese, or a mozzarella 'blob' with boiled eggs, though any leftovers from the previous days dinner also feature - or a tin of tuna.
Apart from boiling the eggs there is little preparation time. I have a coffee which I drink with cream/
I have a Tefal Actifry to cook chicken thighs - it can do other things but the crunchy skin and juicy meat of chicken thighs cooked to perfection is worth it for them alone. Transfer the chicken to a warm dish and then drop button mushrooms into the juice and cook those - delicious. You can add chopped green sweet peppers - and other things - but the chicken is waiting......
Low carb is very simple to cook - no fancy recipes or sauces required.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hello and welcome to the forum, @SallyKeto (what a cool name).

Thanks for tagging me, @Goonergal.

I have been low carb/keto for a little more than four years now. It's a good way to live (especially considering how much healthier I am now and how much better I feel). The cravings for carby foods tend to go, the longer you're on the diet.

What is it that particularly scares you about going keto?

Is it the carb cravings? Or is it having to prepare most foods?

There are many easy go to items that don't require any prep. This includes olives, nuts, cheese. I also often have chicken liver pate and chicken cracklings (I don't eat pork, but both of these are more common made from pork).

You might also consider having a look at "What have you eaten today?" thread for some ideas. Here's the direct link https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/page-1600#post-2153442

 

[bulkbiker]

but I'm not completely opposed to eating meat and fish, if I can work out how (yes, I really don't know how to cook these things or whether I'll actually eat them)!

I'd suggest finding out if you like such things by trying them a few times in restaurants but if you ant to try at home then fish baked in the over with a bit of butter on it is one of the easiest things to start with.
I'd suggest something like a meaty fillet wrapped in foil in a 180 degreeC oven for 20 minutes.

Not sure where in the world you are located...

 

[SallyKeto]

Thank you so much for the welcome. I'm just over a week in now, and 7lbs down. I went shopping on my first day and found it strangely liberating to walk through a store packed with carbs and not buy any of them. I haven't managed to work out any meal plans yet, so I've just been winging it. I'm waiting for the extra energy to kick in!

Thoughts from my first week have included - I like not being controlled by carbs - do I have to eat, I'm not really hungry - I wish I'd eaten earlier, I'm starving now - how do I get carbs below 20g and still eat veggies - man, I really want some veggies, I've had enough fat - okay, I'll have a little bit of that leftover cake... hmm, didn't really enjoy that - only 7g of fibre today despite the salad, how do I increase my fibre intake - I never knew broccoli has so many carbs - what can I eat when I go to that restaurant - I don't feel like I'm missing carbs but I'm missing variety - when will those Ketostix arrive - does my breath smell - why am I still so thirsty - that coffee with cream is so good I almost don't miss tea - tea, with a dash of LactoFree, is a real treat - how do some people do OMAD - maybe I should try OMAD as I'm not feeling hungry at breakfast time - wish I'd eaten something before going to work - how can my calorie count be so low when I'm eating all this fat and not feeling hungry - my watch is loose, my inflammation must have decreased - how long will it take to lose weight and feel fitter - what am I going to do about Christmas dinner this year - will Keto eventually resolve my ankle pain...

And so on. I'm worried about not consuming enough fibre, because of a gut issue. I definitely need to sort out some menu plans and get into a routine. I haven't managed to get my carbs below 20g on any day so far, and I'm wondering how anyone can and still eat vegetables? Or should I be thinking about net carbs (back to the fibre issue)? Some of the carbs are coming from a small amount of juice I'm using to take liquid iron (Spatone) with - is there a better option to get some Vit C and disguise the taste? I felt very thirsty and needed to pee a lot for the first couple of days, and still thirsty now. I do try to always drink enough water (again, for the gut issue) and I'm definitely drinking more now, but will this thirst subside eventually? Is it common when starting Keto?

It's been a long day at work and I'm shattered. Don't feel like cooking but do feel hungry so I'd better go and raid the fridge. Ooh, yum, I bought some more cavolo nero yesterday.

 

[Resurgam]

If you are in need of more fibre then adding a teaspoonful to a salad will help - I sprinkle it on the coleslaw as I found that trying to drink it just pebbledashed the inside of the glass.

 

[SallyKeto]

Started week 7 of keto today. Still haven't felt any more energy kick in, but I'm enjoying not feeling hungry. OMAD today as I was busy and just not hungry earlier. Still not getting enough fibre. Weight loss has slowed right down (1-2lbs a week, if I'm lucky), but scales now tell me my visceral fat has dropped by a point. No sign of any increase in muscle mass, despite exercising 5-6 times per week. I think years of insulin resistance were responsible for loss of muscle mass in the first place. Hoping I can reverse that with keto, and fix my metabolism.

 

[Goonergal]

Weight loss has slowed right down (1-2lbs a week, if I'm lucky),

That’s a great rate of weight loss. Sounds like you’re doing great.

 

[AloeSvea]

Started week 7 of keto today. Still haven't felt any more energy kick in, but I'm enjoying not feeling hungry. OMAD today as I was busy and just not hungry earlier. Still not getting enough fibre. Weight loss has slowed right down (1-2lbs a week, if I'm lucky), but scales now tell me my visceral fat has dropped by a point. No sign of any increase in muscle mass, despite exercising 5-6 times per week. I think years of insulin resistance were responsible for loss of muscle mass in the first place. Hoping I can reverse that with keto, and fix my metabolism.

Hi SallyKeto, I'm a bit of a muscley ol' gal, with HEAPS of insulin resistance off and on (alas) from way back, and I am trying to understand why IR would give you a loss of muscle mass? But maybe this is a metabolic/body type difference between folks. Any excess glucose you are eating or making goes into muscles that are being used and need it, and the glucose after that into body-fat storage, is my understanding of the process.