Keto
As you can see from my bio, I’m stage IV, and for 12 months after my diagnosis I felt terrible; no energy, foggy brain, elevated sugar, putting on weight etc etc. At the beginning of January I decided to go Keto and have had some amazing results. My blood pressure and sugar is back in the normal range, I’ve lost 7K, my brain fog has disappeared, my cancer continues to shrink and my liver stats are in the normal range. I feel really good, am exercising more and my QOL is much better.
I wanted to start a blog for people to share their Keto experiences. I would really love to hear from others on this regime. Topics could include:
Good/bad experiences
Recipes
Fitness
Progress
Research
Anecdotes
Etc
Cheers,
Jackie
Comments
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Thought I’d share this (thanks Blainejenni from the liver Mets thread)
It is a good article on how Keto works
Jackie
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267662/
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Wow, you are on a roll, Jackiel! I am not on a keto diet, at least not knowingly. My impression from the many years since mets diagnosis and of trying to figure this out is that cancer can thrive on anything if it has to. You seem to be responding well to whatever you are not giving your cancer now. Great!
Thanks for the link (and thanks to blainejennifer, too). Figure 2 is interesting as it shows how all the different pieces might be working together. Mtor is the bottom line. You could say I approached my mtor inhibition through caloric restriction and intermittent fasting, ie, AMPK activation. I also cut sugar and refined carbs and exercised like hell, including weight training. I lost 6 kilos then which was a bit scary because I was cachectic before starting treatment (after which I gained weight) and was never sure if I was losing muscle mass or starving cancer. Hence, the weight training.
The bad news is….
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22014210
…"Chronic mTOR inhibition by rapamycin induces muscle insulin resistance despite weight loss in rats."
So it is important to retain muscle mass and insulin sensitivity whichever diet we go on.
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Thanks Heidi,
The intermittent fasting is something I haven’t tried yet, but I have heard it is good for repairing the body. I try not to eat anything after 7pm, and eat breakfast mid morning.
Keto isn’t the answer for all people, particularly type 1 diabetics. The sugar/insulin balance gets a bit tricky. The problem I had was that the Femara made my sugar go up and I was already on diabetic (type 2) medication. I am now in the normal range and feel so much better. I think the femara also has contributed to muscle loss, which I noticed before starting keto
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Kanga, the kisqali and femara will shrink and even cause some tumors to disappear. The diet will certainly benefit the general health of the body. In my case, Two of the five tumors in my lungs disappeared after 4 months of the targeted therapy and the others were reduced significantly and continue to become stable
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Hi Kangaroo! I have been on and off keto since January but not able to stay long enough to see real results. I’m Asian and I like rice, and breads, and pastries of all kinds. Just today on my fourth day again, i was thinking of quitting tomorrow. Hahaha! Such low self-control. I hope i will find the motivation and determination to keep it up
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if yu can make yourself do it for 30 days the cravings go way down. Early keto is the hardest because you have not yet switched into ketosis, so your body is crying for carbs. Plus yeasts cab die off and cause grumpy/foggy feelings.
for people doing keto as an anti cancer approach, you want a largely above ground vegetable, nut, seeds, healthy fats, & berries diet. Not a three cheeseburger per day (no bun) diet. The meats, eggs, and cheese (a la Atkins diet) can help tide you over when you are switching over to keto eating, but then it's better to lighten up on animal products so they are not mainstays of your diet. Lowest recurrence rates are basically vegan/pescatarian whole food eaters, which can definitely be adapted to also be keto.
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JoE, so good to hear the combo is working for you. I am having good results too - we are lucky, my onc has told me many of her patients have dropped off the treatment because of side fx.
Bcbarbie, I know how tempting that carb can be. I would suggest getting lots of high fat snacks ready for your next attempt. Google fat bombs, they are really yummy for those hunger pangs.
Santabarbara, totally agree, I love my walnuts and almonds, but you still need to watch those calories. I also find a boiled egg satiates the hunger.
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Santabarbarian, im not really big on burgers. Mostly i have salads with extra evoo, then whatever meat or fish dish we have. I also do whipping cream on my black coffee and butter, cheese and egg on my keto bread for breakfasts. My family likes to eat out so that’s where I fail keto.I will try to do 30 days straight but only to break it come May because we’re going on a fruit/foodtrip to Thailand
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Once you are 30 days in and in full ketosis, if you want, you will be able to have noodles or fruits here and there, without coming out of ketosis. Just stay reasonable w/ ~50-75 carb 'splurge' days, and intersperse those with fully keto days. Luckily a lot of Thai food is very keto!!
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Great information. I will be monitoring this topic/thread. I am currently low carb. But I would love to have low to no carb favorite recipes that are beloved by the keto folks.
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My experience is that Thai food can have a lot of sugar in it. Unless I cook them myself, I try to avoid Thai dishes.
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I've been trying to do the Keto diet for about a month now and had fairly good results with it. Down 10 pounds or 4.5k, if my calculations are right. I've always been overweight and tried different things over the years and they just didn't seem to work for me. After starting femara my blood pressure went up, cholesterol went up and so did my weight. I felt so bad on cholesterol meds, I just couldn't take it any longer. I chunked them in the garbage! I figure if I'm going to die I might as well die happy at least, and able to move around, not feel like i'm 90 years old, lol. it made me so stiff I could barely move! since starting the keto I have felt better that I have in at least 2 years. I don't get as hungry as I did before between meals, I'm not constantly thinking about when my next meal is. I'm sure I'm not doing it perfectly just yet, I'm still learning the ropes. but I plan to stay on it if I can! Good luck to everyone!
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tadover, thrilled to hear you are having some positive results on Keto!. I’ve just been to my doctor and he has taken me off one of my diabetic medications and one of my cholesterol meds! I have been on those medications for about 15 years so I feel as though something is working well!
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My favourite cookie recipe. I don’t bother with the gum, and I buy dark chocolate from Aldi, and crumble 3 squares up for the chocolate chips. Whatever I don’t eat from the bake, I put in the freezer for snacks, and eat them frozen - they taste amazing!
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I lost 20# on keto right before DX and stayed on it through surgery and chemo and am still on it. Tamoxifen is causing me to gain a little so I've had to be more strict about it...I had got a little lax. I love that I can eat the right amount of calories to maintain my desired weight without being hungry. I do the healthy version of keto. No processed meat and lots of veggies. I eat 10 net carbs a day and am completely satiated. I do occasionally miss a pastry and give myself Thanksgiving day and Christmas day to eat anything I want.
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That’s an impressive weight loss Rachel! I don’t eat much processed meat either, but I do like the Costco American style streaky bacon. I read somewhere, that having some extra carbs every few months eg having a day where you include some carb treats, can give your metabolism a boost. I’m going to plan these days for birthdays and special occasions.
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For those of you getting started, here are some tips. I personally have never used MCT oil. I’m sure there are many more tips people can add to this list. So keep them coming! Also, I wouldn’t bother with intermittent fasting till you feel confident you have got your diet under control... this could take months.
https://perfectketo.com/keto-diet-tips/
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I started keto in January last year when I started Ibrance/letrozole. It was hard for the first few days but got easier. Having food ready to eat helps make better choices. I like berries but found it difficult to not have other fruit in season. I follow more of a low carb diet now. I don’t like counting macros so I don’t say I’m doing keto. I don’t eat grains or most root vegetables (I put carrots and potatoes in my stew) and eliminated most sugar. I am not as strict as in the beginning and occasionally will have a small treat, usually chocolate (within keto guidelines!) but I eat more dairy/protein and nuts than I probably should. Being on chemo I find a piece of cheese helps when I don’t feel like eating. The diet was easier on Ibrance - my appetite was different. Pork rinds make a good crunchy snack - I found some interesting flavors. I make almond butter cookies for treats. Fat bombs are great, too and I have a spoonful of MCT oil in the morning. It has no flavor so it’s not difficult. I’ve lost about 70 pounds since January last year - some to diet, some to poor appetite. I feel better and my knees don’t hurt
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Wanderinne, 70lb! That’s amazing! And so good to hear you are feeling better. I’m finding as I lose weight the stress is off my knees a bit, and walking is a lot more enjoyable. Would love you to post your favourite fat bomb recipe.
Cheers,
Jackie
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@ kanga .. can you share what a typical day menu os for you? I am curious to try but dont know where/how to start.
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Hi Bevin,
Breakfast is usually eggs... boiled eggs are great for on the go!
I love coffee, and have morning and afternoon with 3 desert spoons of cream
Lunch is protein with some salad eg yesterday I had tinned pink salmon with a green salad, mixed through with a tablespoon of egg mayonnaise
Dinner is similar.. I look in the freezer, pick some meat and then look for a recipe on line with Keto friendly ingredients, example; rump steak with mushrooms, green beans and mashed cauliflower(i use sour cream in the mash) and gravox gravy.
I usually have a desert after dinner which always consists of a tablespoon of plain yoghurt mixed through with a heaped teaspoon of psyllium (for fibre) and something sweet eg jelly, fruit etc.
Snacks through the day vary, but any of the following;
Keto choc chip cookies (see recipe above)
Heaped teaspoon of peanut paste (I buy the big jar of crunchy from Costco)
Walnuts (i measure them out into 30g snack packs and try to only eat 1 per day)
Strawberries
Boiled eggs
Fat bombs
There are other supplements I use, and will list in my next post,
Cheers,
Jackie
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No matter what diet you follow, this is a helpful free app to check how you are going. I use it to track my macros - it does it automatically
Based on what I ate in the above post, this is what my macros look like on the app “MyFitnessPal”
If you like inputting data, you can record your exercise and it takes it off your calorie count etc
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Wanderingneedle, I think I am similar to you,ie, low carbs. Mainly stopped breads, pasta, rice, refined sugars. I do not monitor macros.
I don't need to lose weight, I just wanted to see if this diet would help my achy joints and mental clarity. So far, I am unusually tired, so I am thinking maybe I have restricted too many carbs and maybe put myself unintentially into ketosis.
So I guess I am a keto pretender. Ha.
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Sandibeach, if you are in ketosis you may need to eat more fat as that’s what you’re body is using for energy. It can be hard to get enough! Maybe try adding some and see if you notice a difference. Some extra evoo, butter, cream cheese, avocado. I add the mct oil and fat bombs to add fat. I also eat full fat plain yogurt for breakfast. It goes against all the diet advice you’ve ever heard! Also ketosis is like a diuretic and you need more water and salt than usual. It could also be the Ibrance/letrozole helping to make you tired. I know I didn’t like how poor my sleep was on that combo - I think more the letrozole than Ibrance.
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Some people suffer from “Keto flu” when they begin. This is usually caused by some inbalance as your body adjusts. When I started, I found this guys videos really helpful at explaining why we need extra salt etc..
My initial side FX included cramps, rapid heart rate and insomnia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JFR0tt3FiU
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Admiring most of you on this thread. I started eating carbs again last Saturday. A lot! Thinking I would just go back to keto by Monday like nothing happened. It is soooo hard! Have been eating some carbs since then, though still no breads, pasta, rice, grains, or potatoes. Have stopped weighing myself too although have been trying to exercise more.
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bcbarbie, My main aim is QOL, so I think you will find your own comfort zone. You are doing well cutting a few carbs out of your diet.
You can cut extra carbs out without changing what you eat too much my reading food panels and comparing carb content. Examples include sausages, hamburgers, sauces, breakfast cereals,breads etc. In Australia you can even buy a low carb pizza base!
Just as an aside, I have dropped 7K since starting Keto. I hadn’t planned to lose weight, although I was overweight. I think I feel much better as a result, and my clothes fit much better which is really nice too! I’m almost looking forward to clothes shopping again!😁
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Yes, Kangaroo, it is teally the QOL that matters. I think I will take it from there, with precautions!
Still so much admiration for all in this thread. Moving on from where we were
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Hi all, I started low carb eating 6 weeks ago, not necessarily Keto, and im down 25 lbs. I gained that during the last two years from chemo, rads, Tamoxifen, 8 surgeries and I'm now back to my pre cancer weight and feel much more like myself. Besides the weight loss I'm also feeling some releif of side effects of Tamoxifen, joint pain has reduced a lot and have not been having hot flashes. I couldn't believe how quickly the cravings subsided, I'm trying to build better eating habits and portion control so I will have long term success. Pinterest has been an amazing tool to find recipes and ideas so I don’t get bored with food options.
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TWills, that is an amazing result! I’m so pleased to hear some of your side FX have reduced. I’m on Femara, and still get hot flashes so you give me hope they may become less severe in the future.
Pinterest is a great resource.... I pinched a few fat bomb recipes from there😊 My challenge atm is to find a recipe for a decent Keto hot cross bun - if anyone has one, please post it
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