My experiment with Nutritional Ketosis

[adillenal]

My foray into NK has really messed me up. I am back to retaining water. My legs and feet are swollen and I dropped .5 of a pound from my yesterday's DD. I should have known better since I was never a good loser on high fat plans. But I was bored and quick weight loss was so tempting. Now I have extra pounds to get rid of
I am trying to drink adequate water yesterday which I have been lax about lately which doesn't help in the water retention problem either. May take me another month to get back to where I was.
I agree with PJ that eating veggies helps with the minerals and I am not a very efficient fat burner when it is very high in my diet. I do much better on about 50% fat or lower. Right now I have a higher fat day on my DD's and lower fat on UD's which has worked well for me. Just need time for the old bod to adjust back to wweightloss mode.

[piratejenny]

Hi Adi...just another thought...do you take digestive enzymes? And/or probiotics?

I think they can help when transitioning to different macro percentages--we digest proteins/fats/carbs differently.

Sorry your "foray" was unsuccessful.

[reddarin]

It is always so excellent when someone takes the time to post their experience with tweaks to what they are doing. I know I get a lot out of it and it helps me personally when I am looking at different pieces to the big picture puzzle.

[Kissa]

Sorry you are retaining water again Adi, I remember that being an issue for you way back.

Hope you soon get rid of it.

[vilanteira]

Adi, this is so strange, as I'm retaining water like crazy as well. My ankles and even my face have been puffy for the past several days. The only carbs I've added back in are small quantities of non-starchy veggies, and I've upped protein and decreased fat. I'm thinking this is just temporary, and we will eventually drop that water weight, but it sure is frustrating because that weight isn't budging even lowering my cals both days and didn't go down after DDs either.

[adillenal]

Originally Posted by vilanteira

Adi, this is so strange, as I'm retaining water like crazy as well. My ankles and even my face have been puffy for the past several days. The only carbs I've added back in are small quantities of non-starchy veggies, and I've upped protein and decreased fat. I'm thinking this is just temporary, and we will eventually drop that water weight, but it sure is frustrating because that weight isn't budging even lowering my cals both days and didn't go down after DDs either.

Wonder why we are so different in that I know this water is not from carbs. I am trying to stay lower fat and lower protein today and it was sure hard to stop in at the grocery store to buy frozen veggies for lunch when all I could smell was their DELICIOUS fried chicken. But I made it out with just veggies.
My fingers are really swollen too but I am hoping it will all go away soon. I had reached the point where I had absolutely no problems with water retention. Boo Hiss.
And I was so disappointed in my scale weight this monring too. A .4 loss following a DD is unheard of for me. Was expecting to get rid of a couple of piundfs of water anyway.

[adillenal]

Originally Posted by piratejenny

Hi Adi...just another thought...do you take digestive enzymes? And/or probiotics?

I think they can help when transitioning to different macro percentages--we digest proteins/fats/carbs differently.

Sorry your "foray" was unsuccessful.

I am just taking krill oil, a multi vitamin and my pterostilbene. Vitamin D when I remember it.

I am going to start back up with the DE since maybe that was what solved my water retention problems. Can't hurt. Will have to put a sticky on the kitchen cabinet so I remember.

[sunday]

I am baffled. Have not had any issues with water retention after raising my fat? Most of my fats have been from veggies (avocado, olives, walnuts, salmon, mac nuts, evco, & olive oil). I am not big on dairy or cheese. Hopefully, Dottie will see this and may know something? I would ask over on the NK thread and see if anyone has this issue.

[SoHappy]

Originally Posted by adillenal

I tried 7 days of nutritinal ketosis just to see if it can be done. YES, it can be done BUT I am starting to feel cornered in because once again I have a restricted menu. Plus I was awake several hours last night suffering with leg cramps where I had to get up and walk, take potassium pills (6), and walk until the cramps subsided. I have been able to get my nutrients through my food on JUDDD and I hate waking up with leg cramps. Reminds me of my Atkins days when I would forget to take my handfull of supplements morning and evening.

So it is back to just JUDDD and whatever I want to eat as long as the calories are right. I will give NK credit for getting my UD's under control and I will incorporate more fat into my regular UD's than I had been. DD's were never a problem for me and I will watch my protein to be sure I do not get too much.

It was a fun experiment until last night and I am leaving for the State Fair tomorrow and had no intentions of doing NK while I was gone so I ended NK a day early.

Just thought I would share my feelings. And results.

This is exactly how I feel about eating!!! I am not in ketosis. I have no intention of ever being in ketosis again.

I absolutely LOVE being able to eat any and all foods in the world. My kitchen can often pass for the produce section of a grocery store. I counted all the fruits and vegetables I had on hand one day, and I had over 30 different fresh produce foods. I could have upped that number if I counted the dried stuff like raisins and dates and coconut, etc.

I baked a coconut cake for DH today. I had a piece. I might have another piece before he eats it all. Or not. But the point is, I could if I wanted to!

The bulk of my diet is made up of low carb foods, since they form the basis of most any eating plan, but I get to add on from there if I want to, anything I want to. I don't have to fight cramps because my diet is deficient in something, worry about constipation and fiber supplements because I can't 'go' very well when I've cut out so much fruit and vegetable.
So I am with you in getting nutrition from whole foods rather than pills.

Have a wonderful time at the State Fair tomorrow. Eat some State Fair FOOD for us and enjoy how deliciously crappy it is, even when it's a rare trashy indulgence.

[adillenal]

Originally Posted by sunday

I am baffled. Have not had any issues with water retention after raising my fat? Most of my fats have been from veggies (avocado, olives, walnuts, salmon, mac nuts, evco, & olive oil). I am not big on dairy or cheese. Hopefully, Dottie will see this and may know something? I would ask over on the NK thread and see if anyone has this issue.

Thanks for the suggestion. Until about four months ago I had bad water retention issues and it seemed to just go away with JUDDD. I started it back up with the high fat apparently so I don't really care why as much as wanting to get back to my old way of eating and get rid of all of this fluid.
When I tried Atkins years ago I also had the same problem. I lost my original weight years ago with LC and lowfat so I need to stick to what works for me instead of getting off track with the lure of quicker weightloss.

I drank a lot of water today and only made a couple of bathroom visits so it doesn't look good for dumping water today. Tomorrow is another day though. I can do this.