My Long, Whiny Introduction

The Whiny Brat's Ketogenic Diet

My Long, Whiny Introduction

I am a newbie to the keto approach to eating. I generally don't jump into any type of fad or extreme type of dieting - I feel that overall, for most people, eating the proper amounts of the right foods should do it. But for many of us, whether because of a lifelong weight problem, age-related weight gain, or medication-related weight gain, a regular, balanced diet does not get the desired results.

My history is one of someone who was very thin up until my twenties. Because of this, I ate massive amounts of food simply to maintain about a 105 lb. adult weight. I am very sensitive to medications that can cause increased appetite, however, and this has definitely plagued me in my adult life.  Eventually, at the age of 56, I had reached 320 lbs.  I kicked in and started water exercise (not a swimmer) and working with a dietician, losing 70 lbs. overall.  But I realized I had hit a definite plateau, and with increasing health problems including high blood pressure, arthritic problems in my knees and ankles, and plantar fasciitis which made it impossible to for me to stand for more than a few minutes at a time (I had to sing sitting down in my church choir) I decided I had to do more. The last straw was when I fell in my garage, and pushed the button on my medic alert necklace, and got to say, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!"  Worse yet, the operator said, “Why don't you just pull yourself up?" "Would that I could, sweetie."

So, I had a roux-en-y gastric by-pass surgery in 2013. Unfortunately, I should have researched my particular surgeon beforehand, as well as getting a second opinion, something I regret to this day.  Had I known that almost no one does this type - these days lap bands and gastric sleeves (which would have suited me better) are the main types done.  I had numerous complications, in part due to a genetic connective disorder called Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, as the entire GI tract is has a layer of connective tissue (the lamina propria, a layer of connective tissue that supports the epithelial cells for the curious).  Another issue is that another doctor who performed an endoscopy said the sac that was left after stapling off the rest of my stomach was too small. This resulted in significant nausea and dry heaves. 

Because my surgeon refused to prescribe medication that would actually reduce the nausea, I lost a large amount of weight much too quickly, resulting in liver damage.  This in turn made me feel even more sick, so that I ate even less, and was unable to resume regular activity for about two years. My weight dropped to 120 lbs., and while I was certainly more mobile, and thought I looked good, friends and family said that I was too thin, and looking back at pictures I see they were right. (I should note that I am disabled with fatigue and pain under normal circumstances, so my normal isn't everyone's normal.) It wasn't until my neurologist prescribed a medication for nausea accompanying my migraines was I able to start eating enough, and my dietician suggested adding some sugar to foods to make them more palatable that I began to eat adequately.  Eventually I decided to reduce the sugar to help my liver, and it fortunately it did recover.

Unfortunately I never have learned proper eating habits - I ate huge amounts of food as a child, and now have an excessive appetite due to a medication I must take.  So I find myself weighing in at 186, and desperate. Other health issues and surgeries have also impacted my progress.  My current plan is to start back exercising in the pool - deep water aerobics, warm water therapy for pain control, and walking for cardio.  I actually love all of these, it is just scheduling the time & not getting distracted - hear me Facebook???

My other plan is meeting every other week with a wonderful dietician, Colleen, who is only 20 minutes away and I can see for no fee at the clinic where she works.  Way better than a free lunch.  And she is helping me start with a ketogenic plan. Well, maybe a partially keto plan.  I want to avoid the "keto flu", and I don't want to try to jump into something so extreme that I don't stay with it.  It is requiring a lot of research (which I do well), organizing, scheduling and following through (not my strong suits).

What I would like to offer here are any lessons that can be gleaned from my experiences.  I hope to be sharing ideas, tweaks, and recipes (I love to cook) with pics (I'm an amateur photographer).  What might be different from more conventional blogs is that I am not strict, and willing to see if I can get by with bending some rules.  I am not totally sold on eating less than 10 carbs per day. I have seen various guidelines on this.  Currently, I am trying out low-carb recipes, but not worrying to much about my daily carb level.

My biggest goal now is write down a weekly meal plan, stick to it, and document it. *groan* I hope I can give share some ideas with others who are not as gung-ho or ideologically pristine in their approach to eating.  This blog is for babies and whiners like me.  Hopefully my future posts will be shorter than this and be more interesting! I have a few new recipes I like already and will share those next time, after I make them again and can take photos.

Please contribute any ideas, opinions, or grousing.