Keto

[voyager]

.... What I don’t want to lose is this freedom from hunger. That has been the main revelation of the diet, for me. Knowing I need to eat for fuel rather than because I’m hungry. An experience not to be underestimated.

 

I know the feeling but rather than a loss of hunger, hunger was replaced by euphoria, a steel conviction that I just didn't eat "those things".    A form of anorexia, I've come to believe.    If I am correct, it is much more a mental and emotional state than a physical one, altho it feels like one.  

[Wilfrid]

 

 

I have been in ketosis, like except for one day, for 6 months. I’ve usually been small to moderate by the pee test. The moderate carbs in NOLA didn’t take me out.

 

How to come out without losing the benefits is the question for me now. What I don’t want to lose is this freedom from hunger. That has been the main revelation of the diet, for me. Knowing I need to eat for fuel rather than because I’m hungry. An experience not to be underestimated.

Have you told us or would you tell us how much weight you have lost in the last 6 months.

Sure. Thing is I didn’t dare weigh myself before I started, but I guess I was 205-209 lbs. Today I am 178. At 175 I will be at top of the normal weight range for my BMI. I’m now gradually switching to Keto cycling, which is a couple of days on moderate carbs, then back into ketosis.

 

I am very aware that maintaining weight loss is a big challenge.

[Wilfrid]

 

 

.... What I don’t want to lose is this freedom from hunger. That has been the main revelation of the diet, for me. Knowing I need to eat for fuel rather than because I’m hungry. An experience not to be underestimated.

I know the feeling but rather than a loss of hunger, hunger was replaced by euphoria, a steel conviction that I just didn't eat "those things". A form of anorexia, I've come to believe. If I am correct, it is much more a mental and emotional state than a physical one, altho it feels like one.

I am sure you’re right that it’s partly psychology/habituation, but I am also in no doubt that stepping away from the blood sugar yo-yo is important too.

[Wilfrid]

If anyone cares, the cravings I had in the first few months almost all vanished. I really don’t care about bread or potatoes now. Orange juice was the one craving that persisted, and which I am now allowing myself.

 

I never completely gave up beer, but had to keep it to once a week. The only time I came out of ketosis was three nights in a row on the beer.

 

But the crawfish pies in New Orleans this week were great.

[joethefoodie]

Orange juice was the one craving that persisted, and which I am now allowing myself.

Serious question:

 

Isn't eating a whole orange better for you than drinking a glass of orange juice?  You get some fiber that way (as opposed to all sugar), which I would think is somewhat important in moderating hunger...

 

One 8-oz. glass of orange juice has close to 2.5 times the sugar and just one-third the fiber of a typical piece of fruit. The stats from caloriecounter.com: the small juice contains 112 calories, 0.1 g dietary fiber, and 20.8 g sugar, while the fruit has 45 calories, 2.3 g dietary fiber, and 9 g sugar.

 

[Daniel]

One of my greatest eating pleasures is cutting an orange in half while leaving the rind on and eating it like a savage over the sink.

[Wilfrid]

Completely agree Joe. It’s just that OJ was my one enduring craving, to my absolute surprise.

 

But yes, I should be going for sources of fiber as I reintroduce carbs.

 

Having said that,I did eat my first (half) sandwich in 6 months today: the wild hare from Foxface. I so nearly cheated on the them with a po’boy last week.

[Wilfrid]

Was trying to reintroduce carbs slowly on some days. Like half a Foxface sandwich (yes I ate the other half next day).

 

Last Sunday my daughter invited me to a psychology conference at Fordham (I warned her I would ask questions, but I only eviscerated one stupid presentation). Because we’re incompetent, we both failed to eat before it.

 

She got a text from a friend working a shift in a well known downtown dumpling place: free dumplings.

 

I ate a few because at that point calories didn’t matter. But the high volume storm in my stomach? It was like I’d eaten a trough of baked beans. System not used to even a few carbs.

[Wilfrid]

I will be approaching corn soofle with extreme caution tomorrow. But I will be approaching it.

 

And there will be montaditos in Barcelona.

 

I could absolutely eat a paella with no concern for my weight, but it might just mess my digestion up at this point.

[voyager]

I ate a few because at that point calories didn’t matter. But the high volume storm in my stomach? It was like I’d eaten a trough of baked beans. System not used to even a few carbs.

 

So as i see it, you are now at a point of self-regulating, not a bad thing.    And, when you come to think of it, how "normal" people, those whose weight never fluctuates, always eat.   i.e., when your body automatically tells you "enough's enough".

[Sneakeater]

Wait some people’s bodies tell them “enough’s enough”?????

[Sneakeater]

Do they do that with alcohol, too?

[voyager]

 Yup.  Amazing, isn't it?    But you can try not to hang out with them.

[Wilfrid]

My body definitely tells me when enough’s enough with alcohol. But I don’t think it has very good judgment.

[AaronS]

mine waits till the next day.