Hi , I'm Mark


I am 70 . I just received my blood work tests back . In regards to the diet there was only 1 negative change and it wasn't drastic . It involves a Hematocrit value . From what I gather it has something to do with minerals in the blood level . I will be seeing my doctor next week and I am not concerned as my cholesterol and glucose levels have reduced and all my other stats have remained the same . 

As of today I have lost 20 lbs. since January 4th. While overweight , I was not obese . My goal is 150 when I will go to maintenance . I remain fairly active playing pickleball and gym 2-3 times a week . I can't say I am strict with the keto . The three major differences since starting Keto have been the elimination of most fruits (sniff) , all starches and mostly all alcohol . I have two Ultra lights and one 5 oz. glass of wine a week . Not on the same night though . I have religiously followed my wheel on Carb manager , balancing the ratios . I am almost always under total calories (1565) , averaging 1200-1300. I plan my net carbs (21) to coincide with the foods I eat and log my dinner first thing in the morning . This has helped me immensely with knowing what to have for breakfast and lunch . Bottom line is this Keto works for me and I will continue it once I reach my goal weight .

I really want to ease back into having more fruit . Never met a fruit I didn't like , lol. I will just have to moderate the amounts . A potato once in awhile would be nice too . Good luck to all and remember....one size does not fit all . Do what works for you . I'll let ya'all know what the doc says .

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    • Jwerking
    • Jwerking
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Wow, Mark, great news on the 20 lb weight loss in 2 months - truly awesome and your glucose and Cholesterol are down - which is what I would love to achieve.  Were they down significantly or only a minor amount - really curious??

    I just started the diet 2 days ago - 68 yr old female at 165 lbs and 5'5" - so overweight, but not obese.   Started to go to the gym to participate in Silver Sneakers exercise classes - so burning some calories.   But I love large portions of meat - so had probably a 8 oz strip steak for lunch today - our main meal - with some stir fried cabbage.  Per the App, it is within my Macro for the day esp the calorie count which is imp for weight loss.  Not a breakfast eater, so just skip it and have a light dinner like a salad with some protein.  Love avocados and they are allowed on Keto, but they do pack some extra calories  to add to a salad.

    Luckily, I do not drink - so that is not an issue.   But until 2 yrs ago, I was addicted to diet sodas and did quit after my doc told me my glucose was high and was likely caused by the diet sweeteners.  Just drink water now with some lemon and glucose levels dropped to a normal range ( but still on high end).  I have not been using lemon due to the carbs. 

    My cholesterol is high and Doc wanted me to start taking Lipitor - but thought I would wait and see how the Keto diet affects my readings.  Given the amount of fat allowed on the diet, it will be interesting to see if it drops - because the typical recommendation is to cut fats.

    Hope I lose 20 lbs like yourself, but  back down to 155 lb would be acceptable.  Keep losing and gaining the same 10 lbs for years.  I too love fruit and don't know if Keto can be a life style for me - esp with all the summer fruits coming around soon.  Just had a delicious Mango right before I started the diet - sorry, did not mean to rub it in!

    I wanted a snack last night and settled for some walnuts.  Didn't satisfy my craving - so wonder what I can try in the future.  Maybe a small piece of cheese or meat??  Any suggestions?

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    • Mark
    • Mark.37
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Jwerking Thanks for the atta boy . As to your queries . I am on a low dose statin because my doc determined my cholesterol was heredity . It was never sky high but no matter what I did with food and exercise didn't make a difference . My total high used to be around 249 . With  the statin I dropped to 210 . He said my triglycerides (90) and good cholesterol (63) were good enough to offset the 210 .  My LDL , bad cholesterol  , was 110 .

    Forward to March 2020 . New total was 187. Triglycerides 71 and good cholesterol , HDL , 76 . LDL dropped to 97 . So bottom line is the good got better and the bad went down . He was as pleased as I was . He said we would discuss taking me  off the statin in 6 months . 

    My glucose dropped from 104 to 95 . Every other stat either stayed the same or improved slightly . The cholesterol and glucose were my major concerns . 

    I too am a carnivore , all kinds . One word of caution . Be careful of too much protein .  It is very easy to overdo for us meat eaters and the goal in Keto is to burn fat , not carbs or protein . It took me a few days to adjust . The good news is my appetite has gone down and I can't eat 10 oz. steaks and 8 oz. pork chops anymore .  A salad , 4 oz. of asparagus and 4oz. of a protein satiates me . 

    The best thing you could have done for yourself is to get off the diet sodas . They are nasty . 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in 12 oz. of water is my staple . 3cal and 1 carb . I do 3 of those then switch to plain water .

    As to snacking . I incorporated 1 oz. of apple into my  nightly snack choices  . The other choices are  5-6 blackberries or raspberries (1 oz.) , 1/2 oz. pork rinds , 1/4 cup walnuts , a large radish and if I've been a good boy 1/2 cup of Rebel ice cream ,  which is Keto friendly . I generally chose two at different times . Works for me .

    Because you don't eat breakfast you would benefit from the 16/8 intermittent fasting . I do it on Saturday and Sunday because we go out to eat after our pickleball games . I usually drop some ounces that way . 

    Lastly , as I stated before , planning my last meal first has helped immensely with keeping me on track . I hope this helps . Good luck .  

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    • Jwerking
    • Jwerking
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hey Mark,

    Nice drop in your cholesterol and glucose levels - kudos to you.

    I finished Day 4 and losing about 1 lb daily - water weight.  But the daily lost gives me the needed encouragement.  Based in your comments, I ate 1 oz pork rinds, 6 blackberries and 2 strawberries today - and they were very satisfying.  It was dinner along with 2 ounces of cheese.  Sort of a junky dinner.  

    But last night, I had a salad with 4 oz salmon and 1/2 avocado and felt overstuffed for some odd reason.  That chicken thigh and cauliflower apparently really filled me up at lunch.

    I am way under on my fats.  Is it correct that I have to meet the fats macro to be in Ketosis?   It is a lot of fat!  Guess I can use whipping cream in my coffee and do some fat bombs - but adds mucho calories - which will be a challenge to stay under 1250 calories daily.  I now understand why fatty sauces are recommended for meats and veggies.

    How do you get your fats?  Any tips?

    Thanks

    Joyce

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    • Mark
    • Mark.37
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Jwerking Great !  Water is usually the first weight loss . I lost 6 lbs. the first week and that was stumbling around and learning Keto . Of course the more that a person needs to lose the more the drop at first . I'm at the point where I lose 1-1 /2  lbs. a week but I don't feel wanting so I am fine with that .

    Salmon is very filling and loaded with both 3&6 omegas . It has the perfect ratio . Avocado is excellent also and if you added a tablespoon of olive oil on your salad you would have hit the fat trifecta . From what you said you had you should have had more fat than protein .

    Now with that said , I am assuming you are going by the 5% carb , 20% protein and  75% macro ratios . That is what they recommend for weight loss and getting into ketosis . When I first started to follow my macros on their allowances I found I was trying to fill the bar (or wheel ) rather than go by the percentages . I wasn't hungry but I thought I needed to complete the macros . At the end of my third week I started to work strictly with percentages .  I didn't need to get all my daily allowance of 1499 calories as long as my percentages were in line with the macros . Keto is getting the body accustomed to burning fat , not carbs and protein . I think Atkins focus is on protein and I've seen a couple of posts that say they go for more protein than fat . Of course they are younger and more active . 

    1250 Calories may be challenge . I have  had days where I only had 1199 for the day and still hit my marks . I should have paper logged what I had because it still takes a lot of daily tracking and that is where putting in my dinner first really helps . If I know I will be protein heavy for dinner I will focus on fats for breakfast and lunch . Usually a bullet coffee is a great fat breakfast starter for me .

    My go to fats (not necessarily by importance )

    Avocado , walnuts , olive oil , ranch dressing , black olives , ground flaxseed , hard cheeses , chia and sunflower seeds .

    I'm sure there are more but those are my fav's for fat vs protein . Like you said though , you have to watch those pesky calories .  Hope that helps .

    BTW , 157 this am . 22lbs. since start with 7 to go . So hang in there and make it fun !

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    • Mark
    • Mark.37
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I mentioned wishing to remember what I had on previous days then had a moment of clarity and thought of screen shots . I have attached 3 screen shots that show my actual food intake and macro numbers . May give you some ideas . 

    • Jwerking
    • Jwerking
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hey Mark,

    Once again, thank you for your reply and congrats on your continued weight loss on the program - lots of hard work on the diet.  Three months is along time to be dieting- I hate to admit that I usually only last about a month.  

    Based on some of your suggestions, I added a few strawberries and blackberries at night - oh my gosh, they taste so heavenly and sweet and fulfill my cravings.   I do like pork rinds and a serving does satisfy the potato chip crunch - LOL!

    However, am rather discouraged after my second week - remaining about the same weight after a 7 lb loss the first week- going up and down by 1 to 2 lbs.   Hopefully, this week will be better - I have my fingers crossed. 

    I read where other ladies are limiting themselves to 20 grams of total carbs daily.  I was using net carbs of 20 per day.  Difficult to stay under 20 total carbs daily esp if I want a few berries at day's end - which I do. 

    Just out of curiosity, I see that your coffee has 0 carbs.  I think my 12 oz serving has 2 carbs??  I have to go check that.   Same thing with salad greens,  your diet shows less carbs for 2 cups - hmm, maybe I am mixing up net vs total carbs for these two items. 

    I am not a big exerciser but have been doing about 20 mins of Zumba daily using Utube - I like it and nice and cool on our lower level. 

    Hope you are doing well with the COVID 19 social distancing.  Doing fine and do my grocery once per week with my rubber gloves.  Grocery stores here in VA Beach are fairly well stocked.  Glad we retired here a few yrs ago from the Wash DC Metro area - would not want to be up there now.   Also, very lucky to live directly on the beach - so don't feel quite so isolated and can easily get some fresh air on the beach.

     

    Joyce

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    • Mark
    • Mark.37
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Jwerking Glad to hear you are well . We are well and keeping busy with chores and honey-doos that have been put aside because we had better things to do . We live in a small town , 30k , that has a large winter visitor population . I cannot fathom the run on toilet paper we've had here . People panic shopping . Our county just had it's first confirmed case yesterday . I am sure many  more have had it or the flu as there haven't been many tests available and any swabs done have been sent to labs so there are 2-3 days delay . Not one person we know has had it so we are fortunate . 

    Don't be discouraged about stalling out on weight loss . I go days now without any significant loss then lose a pound and it stays gone . It has been 11 days now and I am at 156 . I am good with that because I don't feel like I am missing anything and the clothes I wear are really showing the loss . It may be only a pound but it is coming off in the right places . I have to buy a new belt now because I used a paper punch to make new holes and it is getting quite ugly. My shirts are starting to look baggy too so that keeps me motivated . I would rather lose slowly  and keep it off than yo-yo , so hang in there .

    I research my foods and the coffee was verified as having .05 carbs for 16 0z. by a national consumer data base and some  nutritional sites . It also has some fiber so you may be using total instead of net . I've learned not to trust user edit submissions and go by the product labels where I can .

    Anyway , stay safe and hang in there . The pounds will fall off but it will be in ounces . Just like we gained them .

    Mark

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