I eat vlchf/p since May 2017. Ask me anything!

amother

Magenta

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 12:41 pm

Hi Andrea, I just wanted to thank you for sharing. I've been feeling a little desperate lately, I had had some weight loss success with just portion control and reasonable eating, cutting out bad habits and the like.

But then I just lost the reigns so to speak, gained about 15 back and I am so wanting to continue the good feelings of successful weight loss in the sense of feeling healthier, lighter, and in control. Appearance is a nice side issue, but as I get older, it has become much less of the central focus it once was with regard to weight loss. Which feels good in the sense of truly wanting to lose in order to FEEL good physically.

In any case. I began the NSNC (did I get that in the correct order?) diet this morning. I'm really rooting for myself, and for the rest of us.

Thanks again..... I hope it's OK if I check in here and maybe post a little occasionally.... Or is there a better forum or support group for that?

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 3:29 pm

amother wrote:

There’s a group on fb. If you are on there, I’ll add you. Just pm me. And I’m happy to help support you!

amother

Denim

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 5:43 pm

Just a few technical questions - how strict are you on things like sugar in commercial mayo etc. a lot of things are made with sugar
I tried doing whole 30 I just felt wayyy too obsessive checking labels over and over.

smss

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 5:46 pm

Andrea, maybe you can answer this, or maybe you know of a forum where I can ask this?

These are the nutrition facts on Schmerling's 85% dark chocolate. Should be zero net carbs, right? Is that possible? Can I eat as much of it as I feel like? Seems too high in sugar for that to be true...?

OutATowner

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 6:13 pm

That has added sugar in the ingredients, definitely not 0 net carbs.
First thing is to look at the ingredients. If there is no added sugar, then check the carb count.

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 7:09 pm

OutATowner wrote:

That has added sugar in the ingredients, definitely not 0 net carbs.
First thing is to look at the ingredients. If there is no added sugar, then check the carb count.

I have seen this and think that it can't really be right, unless someone added fibre to counteract the sugar. However, given a choice between this chocolate and others at 85% ive tried, this is much less sweet.

I don't think eating unlimited amounts of anything is a good idea.

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 7:28 pm

amother wrote:

personally, im not that obsessive. I'd eat hellmans which is a gram or less of carb per serving but not miracle whip which actually tastes sweet.

in general, if it triggers me, I don't eat it no matter how 'allowed' it is. I don't eat sugar in any significant quantity and keep my carbs to 20 g or way less per day. I don't eat sweetener and I don't eat grains. Practically, I don't eat potatoes because I have 100+ pounds to lose and I don't think its helpful plus, I need to watch my blood sugar because retinopathy and its possible return at any time.

smss

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 7:30 pm

andrea levy wrote:

But how many carbs do you think I should count it as?

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 7:39 pm

smss wrote:

But how many carbs do you think I should count it as?

I don't know, but I don't eat more than one square. And it was once in 11 months, so I didn't worry about it.

Chana Miriam S

Mon, Apr 23 2018, 12:43 pm

I'm going to post a few of my facebook notes, in case anyone finds it helpful:

November 2017

I am 50 years old and live in Hamilton, Canada. I am a caterer and restauranteur (I owned a Seasonal Kosher Pizza restaurant) and my top weight was around 315. I am 5 ft 2 in. I had given up hope for controlling my food after trying every diet under the sun including weight watchers, optifast, diet centre and even a trip to the dietician was enough to send me into an eating frenzy in the last few years. Hopeless. It was horrible to think that I would probably just drop dead young and could do nothing about it. Oh well, I was sorry that my loved ones would suffer but figured I wouldn't be. Somehow it never occurred to me that I could be partially maimed or permanently disabled!

Last May, despite not being a diabetic or having high blood pressure, I was diagnosed with atypical retinopathy. Atypical because though my A1C was 6.4, that is not the usual level that retinopathy comes out at. Usually you need to be full blown diabetic with high blood sugar swings or have really high blood pressure.

Mine seems to be a genetic anomaly. My Mom has also been diagnosed and her blood sugar is really super normal. Apparently the fear of going blind was much stronger than my fear of dropping dead.

Shocked into action and praying it would not trigger me into eating like a maniac, I've been following Atkins induction for over six months. I lost about 60 pounds in three months and then hit a plateau and have maintained the loss by continuing to follow the food plan. My cravings are near zero and those I get tend to be for things I can actually eat, or at least manageable if not.

I was smart enough to realize when I quit smoking 23 years ago after smoking a pack a day for 12 years that if I ever had another drag, I could easily go back to a pack a day. So in 23 years, I've never had a drag. I was desperate to find a way to do that with food but had been unsuccessful at finding that untl then. So, since last May, Ive been following Atkins induction and recently, have started working on my personal macros to try to get weight loss started again and further hone my blood sugar levels.

After much research, I realize that Keto is the best food plan for me because I am very serious about my blood sugar and it provides the most opportunity for stability with overall lowering of the blood sugar levels which are so necessary in case I develop another incidence of retinopathy (Its not like I can go to the Ophthalmologist every day to see when ii have one or not and of course, since I can develop one at any time, I need to maintain my blood sugar low and stable 100% of the time.

Complicating all of this is my years of compulsive overeating and food addiction. This is the first time I've ever felt like the tiger was in the cage. I can see that it will only stay in the cage if I do not stray from my food plan, so I am very strict. To the point of bringing my own food to places in case there is nothing I can eat.

I am doing 16/8 intermittent fasting as well, because hey, I'm not really a morning person for food anyways and it further helps with blood sugar levels.

I just wanted to say its great to be here. I look forward to hearing from all of you and seeing what your experiences are!

I'd also love to speak to any other observant jews out there about shabbos, yom tov and pesach. Currently, I don't eat challah or drink kiddush, just hear it. Someone set a bee in my bonnet about halachic problems with that, so while I have a number of a specialist Rav to speak to, I'd kind of like to remain in no mans land before asking him and seeing what the experience of other people might be.

agreer

Mon, Apr 23 2018, 1:10 pm

There's something wrong with that Schmerling label.

Total Carbs = Dietary Fiber + Sugars + Sugar Alcohols + Other, if applicable

If Fiber is 8 and Sugar is 5, Total Carbs should be AT LEAST 13 grams. Net carbs per serving are at minimum 5 grams.

This looks like an egregious mistake to me, a carb counter. I would not eat this chocolate or trust them re: the fiber content.

Chana Miriam S

Mon, Apr 23 2018, 3:52 pm

agreer wrote:

I agree that it looks as though it is a mistake but I also think that there is no way that it is as sweet as the same 85% in the Elite version. The Elite one tastes way better in terms of sweetness. It is believable to me that there are not much in the way of carbs in this bar, but I am sure it is more than zero.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 5:43 am

Thanks for your reply. Yes I know most lose after cutting dairy and/or nuts. Simply I wasn't as satisfied nor had a good routine to long term substitute other food for times when I would eat those items.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:13 am

Dark chocolate is supposed to be okay. The deciding factor tends to be if you can stick to one or two squares or if its a trigger.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:14 am

Dark chocolate meaning 70% or higher 85% is better.

tovasara

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 11:38 am

Thank you for your inspiration.

amother

Blush

Sun, Apr 29 2018, 9:04 am

There's a Keto Summit coming up shortly. I thought some of you might be interested.
https://ketoedgesummit.com/?id.....23088

PinkandYellow

Thu, May 10 2018, 3:46 pm

Thank you for sharing your story, Andrea. It's very inspiring.

Question: Did you find that switching to ketogenic was enough to overcome whatever issues with food that you had or did you do it in conjunction with a support group or something like OA?

Also, how important is it that the diet be high in fat with moderate protein as opposed to high in protein? We find it hard to get the fat up especially if trying to keep protein moderate.

Do you use myfitness pal or the like to track your macros?

(FWIW: my husband said it's no halachic problem not to wash on Shabbos and makes Kiddush on dry red wine)

cbg

Thu, May 10 2018, 4:40 pm

andrea levy wrote:

How do you keep to 20g, and still be able to eat veggies, even low carb
OR
Do you limit you veggies?