I need to follow a ketogenic diet for multiple medical conditions. I really cannot go off plan, but wherever I look for support, people talk about their carb stints, and it isn't a good influence on me. I really can't do that anymore.

So, I am starting a daily thread for this purpose. Perhaps people that need to do the diet for medical reasons will find their way here.

I've been a member of the old century club from the old low carb friends site on the daily weigh in thread on and off for many years. I need this type of accountability, and certainly weight is important, but more important at this stage is maintaining ketosis, since I've dropped a lot of weight since last July (I was as high as 277 pounds mid-year last year when I had a medical melt down, essentially. Today I'm at 212 pounds.

I have had diabetes (resolved but can easily move into pre-diabetic range), morbid obesity (high weight of 312), a suspected autoimmune issue (fatigue/body aches/nephropathy/high c-reactive protein/severe GI issues), migraines, and unfortunately, mood/anxiety problems to boot.

I feel pretty alone with all of my issues. Is anyone else using a ketogenic diet to control a medical condition, where you cannot go off plan at all? I use a ketogenic diet (high protein version by Dr. Ted Naiman), intensive exercises, and intermittent fasting (Fung fasting).

I'm starting a log to keep track of the key metrics for my health. I might post here or move it elsewhere. I unfortunately see I have no ketones this morning, so I will start an IF to get myself back there quickly.

2/24 212 ketones none; sleep 4 1/2 hours; bp 117/63

Good thread. I am trying also to maintain a keto diet for various health conditions I have. I've tried in the past but it has always seemed half-assed and I end up falling off the wagon. This time I really want to make it stick so a thread to help keep me accountable is a great idea.

I started out in 2006 at close to 400 pounds! By 2009 I'd made it down to the 270-280 range and resolved many of my health issues. However at that weight I stalled and have been stalled for 11 years now despite trying just about everything in the LC book over the years, and slowly all the health issues that had resolved seem to be coming back despite my weight staying basically stable all this time.

I only began to decide I had to be super serious about this just within the last week (Feb. 20 to be precise) and one way of trying to keep on track is to log all my food intake here at MYPLAN. I've done Fung-style fasting in years past when trying to break my setpoint weight (unsuccessfully) but only in conjunction with LCHF, not strict keto. I hope to get into it again but right now I just want to get into the keto groove before I start up with IF again.

I do use a KetoMojo monitor to monitor BG and Ketones. I don't measure ketones every day since the sticks are so expensive, but as of yesterday my ketones measured 1.8 so I'm definitely in ketosis. You should start a journal here where you can log your metrics. I have an "everything" sort of journal here but think I'll start logging my stuff there too to try to help keep me accountable. It would be great having a "buddy" to help keep me on track!

My issues include Diabetes T2 (numbers still high but getting a bit better), Hashimoto's thyroiditis, high blood pressure. Some depression but that started when my son died 18 months ago, but I do find that if I eat well and avoid, especially, sugar and wheat it's definitely better.

Now if keto could help resolve my insomnia I'd feel I was really making some progress.

Hi Debbie!

Glad you joined in!

I am so sorry about your son.

I, too, feel that things have gotten worse for me over time. My problems with depression and anxiety triggered when my husband passed away 8 years ago. I spent 3 volatile years after that—I was laid off from my long time job as the company went out of business, and my daughter went off to college. One day, no one I knew was around anymore! I managed, but man my health really went downhill.

I haven’t purchased the strips for blood testing. I use Nurse Hattie strips (urine) off of Amazon. I think I saw a post from Dr. Boz about using these. They are pretty cheap, and they do ride pretty tight to my morning glucose readings, so I feel that they are accurate.

I’ve read that taking more salt, like a good sea salt or Himalayan pink salt helps with sleep. I don’t know if it works, but I use a lot of chicken bullion to help with my Fung fasting, and I don’t have the sleep issues I used to have on low carb. I read about it on keto gains.

The bullion really helps me get salt in and to not eat around the clock like I used to. I never knew that the snacking, although low carb, was problematic for my diabetes and interfering with weight loss.

I also have a sleeping pill if I need it. It is a pretty heavy hammer though—it is a knock out pill for sure. If I don’t sleep, I get into big trouble mood-wise and I eat non-stop!

Hmmm, so sorry about your loss of your husband, and your job loss too! I was also laid off from my job of many years when the decision was made that the work could be done much more cheaply by a kid just out of college in India! That actually didn’t work out for them but I was gone by then. I understand how you felt about your daughter too. When my son went off to college I realized it was the first time in my entire life that I had ever lived ALONE and it was terrifying to me at first.

But of course we can adjust to many things over time. I have three grandkids nearby and I dearly love them (I had the two younger ones spend the entire weekend with me this past weekend while my DiL and the older grandson, age 10, went to Orlando for the YMCA state swim championships) but I definitely relish my “alone” time too when they go home.

I had not heard anything about salt and sleep but I do have some pink Himalayan salt in the house and I’m willing to try anything. I’ve read so much that poor sleep can affect weight loss, health, autoimmune issues. But it’s just not been a goal I’ve ever been able to accomplish.

Well I’ve started logging things on my journal here which is another thing that helps keep me accountable.

Well, I follow a ketogenic (carnivore) diet for my health. I began doing low carb years ago for weight loss, but I've stuck with it for health reasons. I haven't weighed myself in months, but I know I'm down. I'm fine with the size I am now and I'll be happy wherever my weight settles.

Joint pain and foot pain have been my historical reasons for keeping with low carb, but now that I'm in my 50's if I go off plan I get wicked menopausal hot flashes. For me, eating off plan is low carb Rebel ice cream or other fake food like it. Still ketogenic, and if it's a small enough amount there's no guaranteed joint pain, but the hot flashes! The hot flashes keep me from indulging in anything but pure carnivore these days.

Hi Tess! I find my joint pain went away when I added IF to low carb!

Debbie - it was scary to live by myself for a while and couldn't see how I was going to get used to it, but I did. Well, she is back home now. Kids can't afford to live in this area unless they live at home or with someone else. I read that food cost here is as high as any of the highest-cost cities cities in the country (New York City/Manhattan for example, I just remember that because I know someone that lives there). Rent is insane too. The tech workers here have driven all of this.

2/24 212 ketones none; sleep 4 1/2 hours; bp 117/63
2/25 212 ketones none; sleep 7 1/2 hours; bp 109/55

I wanted to fast yesterday but did not pull it off. I ate only eggs, bacon, and chicken wings to try to get back into ketosis, but ate some LC chocolate with sugar alcohol and had sugar-free gum at bedtime. I suppose that messed it up.

I tend to only check ketones when I am sure I have them, that makes no sense, LOL. I am checking them everyday now.

I should look at the journals.

Sleep not too bad last night though, as often happens, my elderly dog (turned 13 on Feb. 15) woke me up a couple times to go out, but I managed to get back to sleep relatively quickly each time. I didn't check ketones, no reason to believe I'm not in ketosis. I had thought I might fast through much of today but it didn't happen! Already ate a little something for breakfat.

Just for fun, I bought some ketone test strips. Negative. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. I know I'm in ketosis because I don't get the crazed hunger. Plus I'm eating zero carbs. Somedays I guess there might be trace carbs from eggs and cheese. But that's it. I wonder if I bought a bad batch, but then I figure it doesn't really matter for me at this point. I'm not going to change how I eat, because how I'm eating is working for me.

I've heard good things about Carnivore but, sadly, I'm not super crazy about meat. I've been LCHF and now Keto (this go-round) for 14 years now but still, from a taste and pleasure standpoint, would prefer a big bowl of macaroni and cheese to a steak! No I don't HAVE it, but I think about it. From a preference standpoint I could easily be an ovo-lacto-vegetarian but I know that's not best for my health.

I do like the versatility of ground beef. Also enjoy chicken livers, chicken thighs, shellfish, ribs, corned beef, BACON, sausage, canned tuna with plenty of mayo, canned oysters. But don't really like them on their own for the most part.

My "go-to" meal is a stir-fry - mixture of LC veggies chopped up and tossed in a pan with a healthy fat and sauteed, and a toss in of some chopped up meat and maybe a spoonful or two of chopped nuts for some crunch. A little salt and garlic powder.

I recently bought Maria Emmerich's "Carnivore" cookbook to see if it gave me any new ideas for how to like meat. I've tried a couple recipes that I was not crazy about because the result just tasted like *meat* LOL.

But one recipe I found that I loved was scrambled eggs with diced up smoked salmon and mascarpone cheese. Wow! I'd had some smoked wild Alaskan salmon I'd bought on sale in my fridge so tried that recipe and it really rocked. So much so that I even bought some more smoked wild Alaskan salmon, and that was what I had for lunch yesterday.

Tess - I tried ketone strips many years ago when I was super strict on low carb (I had taken a travel job and needed to fit into an airline seat, LOL). I swear, I NEVER, EVER saw ketosis. I also was not losing weight most of the time (it was like trying to remove concrete with a nail file back then). I wonder now if it was sugar alcohols that caused it. I know I was eating things like Atkins bars and LC chocolate bars and such.

I decided that they did not work, but when I went on an extended fast, good grief, I saw moderate ketones! Then I accidentally dehydrated myself and it scared me when they doubled overnight to deep ketosis, so I broke my fast. I have to be careful with magnesium when I am not eating (Natural Calm). Holy moly.

Debbie - my daughter cannot STAND eating meat every day. She likes meat but not just eating meat. I think that is how it works, essentially. You just don't find it that appetizing.

I tried it last May and June and did not lose any weight at all. I was eating steak mostly, though. Now that I follow Dr. Ted Naiman (he is my personal doctor of about 15 years, but now he is a celebrity doctor with something like 50 thousand followers on Twitter) closely and read his book, I know that to lose weight on carnivore you have to cut some fat out, like eat lean roasts, seafood, and such in the mix. People think he means PSMF, but he doesn't. It is just mixing lean meat in. I like to make a side of shrimp, LOL.

Anyway, I am not carnivore, but high protein. Surprisingly, after believing all the stuff people said, I thought eating high protein would knock me out of ketosis, but it doesn't. One day, I went to a Japanese buffet and had lots of crab legs (just boiled) and peel shrimp and shell fish, some greens (I cannot eat a ton because I have a failed gastric sleeve, but I can sit there for an hour and then eat again). Later I had ham/cheese roll ups. Next morning, ketosis, I kid you not.

Dr. Naiman says he is regularly in ketosis, and he probably eats double the protein most low carb men eat. He does exercise quite a bit - that is important.

Oh, anyway, hamburger is actually pretty awesome. All that stuff they grind up into it is actually very good for you. You get some tougher bits that give you a broader range of nutrients, and it is cheaper too!

I eat plenty of eggs - the egg yolks are so good for you. They are nutrient bombs, and good for your eyes. I am especially worried about my daughter getting enough nutrients - her grandmother on her father's side had macular degeneration.

Do you guys have an instant pot and air fryer? I like to make beef short ribs (tenderize in the instant pot then brown them in the air fryer). I know these aren't necessary, but it keeps me from having to stand over the stove.

I like two sleever recipes - she has a viral butter chicken recipe that is really amazing. She specializes in low carb recipes.

I don't have an air fryer or plans to get one but I do have an Instant Pot which I enjoy using on occasion, though not using it as much as I thought I might. I guess I need new recipes that sound interesting. I've made corned beef in it a few times and that was super, the corned beef came out fork tender. I've made yogurt in it using cream and that was excellent too though I haven't made it lastly.

I'd love to know your beef ribs recipe. I do like ribs. The butter chicken one sounds like one I might like too!

Ah, I need to figure out what to do about recipes. I can't get them anymore since my iphone won't load the app I was using for this.

I do remember the butter chicken recipe I was using was called the Now and Later Butter Chicken by Two Sleevers, if you google that it will come up.

There are now airfryer lids that you can get for instant pot. One is instant pot brand, and the other one is Mealthy brand. I am thinking about getting Mealthy, but, I don't need it since I already have an airfryer. Except sometimes it would be nice to have extra capacity.

2/24 212 ketones none; sleep 4 1/2 hours; bp 117/63
2/25 212 ketones none; sleep 7 1/2 hours; bp 109/55
2/26 211 ketones trace; sleep 5 hours

I ended up listening to Dr. Ted Naiman on another diet doctor interview. He is my personal doctor of many years. I always learn something because he doesn't just give the same talk over and over. Really awesome.

I read the interview with Dr. Naiman just yesterday on the DietDoctor website(don't do podcasts if I can help it!). I try to keep up with the Keto/LCHF/paleo world but until this thread had never heard of Dr. Naiman.

His two big go-tos in the interview were getting exercise, and getting enough protein. Protein is such a lightning rod even in the small nutrition world I inhabit, with respected doctors saying we need MORE nutrition and others saying we need LESS.

When I track my food macros I find I fall about on the 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carb spectrum just about "naturally" when eating as I choose in the proportions I choose. This seems to work out around 70-90g of protein on average.

Yet apparently Naiman feels this is too low, and more protein helps increase muscle mass which helps with weight loss, he feels it helps with blood sugar control, etc. He said that ideally he'd like to see people getting about 30% of their caloric intake from protein.

Thoughts on this? I'm trying to think of ways I might try to increase my protein to see what happens. After 11 years stalled I can't even keep track of all the tweaks I've tried to break it. I know more protein was one of the tweaks and of course it was useless for breaking the stall, just like everything else, but I can't recall now what other things I was doing at the same time.

Hi,

I consider my WOE Therapeutic Keto.

Gnarled fingers which are pain-free as long as I'm in deep ketosis. Knees are better, too. I'm attending a college course and found deeper ketosis helps with my concentration.

I use the meter once a day and am usually at around 2mmol/L.