Checking in here so that, if nothing else, I can look back with shame if I don't follow through.
I'm 49, 5'8", and last month at my doctor visit I weighed the most I ever have, roughly 200 lbs. My cholesterol and A1c have been a matter of concern for the last few years now, and it was always easier to just take the pills (metformin, lipitor) and pretend that I'd eat better. Except I never did. My downfalls are many, but between being addicted to fast food and being a ridiculously lazy and shitty cook (sometimes my dinner is literally just Top Ramen, or mac & cheese), I haven't improved anything, and have even worsened a few. Oh, and I'm single, in case you were wondering how I get away with a Top Ramen dinner. Most chicks I've dated frown upon that.
So I started the keto diet on Monday. This first week was just to feel it out and see what kind of things worked for me and what didn't. I haven't specifically counted portions or calories, but next week I will start. I'm a big fan of eggs, meat, and cheese, so those are going to be my staples, along with veggies of course. I actually really love broccoli and green beans. I don't get up in the morning until I absolutely have to, so my prep is all done the night before. But one thing I've found that is a real godsend is a microwave omelet cooker. It works fucking great, and I just load up a container with the fixings and 2 eggs the night before, and then nuke it for a few minutes at work. Not quite as good as a Denny's omelet, but it works, and it gets me away from the hard-boiled egg boredom that inevitably kicks in every time I try to bring food. Oh, and of course lots of bacon.
One thing I've already discovered after only 4.5 days, even without counting calories precisely, is that I'm not getting enough fat vs. protein. Practically everything I eat has near equivalent fat and protein grams. Except for drowning my veggies in butter, I'm just not getting enough fat vs. protein to eventually enter ketosis, I assume anyway. I'll know better next week when I keep track. But from eye-balling it, I'm not close. Part of my problem is that I hate mayo, sour cream, and avocados...all the things people would add to food to up their fat content. I wish I could just make myself like avocados, because that would virtually solve my problem by itself, but I am having a hard time. I'm trying though.
Point being, any suggestions on other things that might help get the fat up? Outside of drinking coconut oil or butter straight. That sounds like a recipe for explosive diarrhea to me.
Anyway, like I said, this is mainly just a post to remind me that I need to stay on this shit and not let it slide like every other "cut back" time I've tried. I've never specifically done a diet before, and I have always been of the opinion that any diet that makes you cut out anything completely is dumb, but I clearly don't possess the willpower to just sorta diet. And, most importantly, keto will supposedly help my impending diabetes more than any other diet will, and I'm really getting concerned about that. My grandfather died of it back in the 70s, before people really knew how to deal with it, and my dad developed it (Type II of course) maybe 15 years ago. So, the tracks are running straight off a cliff if I don't do something to change my behavior. I don't intend to be on keto the rest of my life, but hopefully this will allow me to drop weight and remedy my issues, and teach me some better eating habits that will carry over into a more normal lifestyle in a year or two.
I don't know that I have specific goals besides cratering my A1c and cholesterol numbers, but anything below 160 lbs. would thrill me. I was the same height when I graduated high school, and I was about 140 lbs. of pretty decent muscle. I took second place in my weight class for the school power lifting event, including deadlifting 350 lbs. I used to squat 275 or so max, and leg press I could do massive weights for my size. The football players used to joke that I should be pressing volkswagens. Never was overpowering upper-body-wise, but I think I got close to 200 on bench. Not positive, but that's why I lost the power lifting competition, the guy that beat me did a lot less on deadlift, but crushed me on bench and military I think it was. Whatever the other lift was, it wasn't legs. Anyway, point being, I am in absolutely shitty shape now and don't expect to get anywhere near that physique or weight, but I know it is at least possible from a theoretical standpoint. My shoulders kill me now, my knees ache and pop, etc. Hopefully losing some weight will ease some of that and allow me to get back to doing things I used to love, like squats. I fucking loved squats, and it makes me sad to think about it. I still have "The Squat" poem printed out from when it was first published in Muscle & Fitness, except it's in a drawer now
Kind of rambled like I tend to do, but thanks for listening. I've read the last several years of posts in this thread and got a lot of great info, so thanks to everyone that has contributed over the years. Hopefully I stick with it and can report back periodically with some successes. And if anyone has a magical way to eat more fat without it being avocados, sour cream, etc. let me know!
