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FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

So I can’t answer your question exactly, but, as many here know at this point, I have been suffering through an illness where I have not eaten any solid food since last August (please no medical advice). Before I got, with the help of doctors, settled on a liquid diet of 6 Ensures and 4 V8s a day, I lost 80 pounds- 260 to 180, I was dizzy and lightheaded all the time from the lack of electrolytes, and while I still don’t have much energy and have to rest for a while after walking the dogs for half an hour, I couldn’t even walk a couple of blocks.

That said, my blood panels show everything is normal, so I’m clearly not dying. It’s not exactly a great quality of life, especially since our entire society is based around food in every conceivable way, but it is survivable. In fact, one good thing came out of it- I no longer have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, so I don’t have to take pills to counteract those anymore.

hellofriend OP ,

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through that. I can sort of imagine what you’re going through, and it’s certainly not fun, but it’s probably not a 1:1 situation. I really hope you get better though.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Thanks. Definitely not 1:1 but maybe sort of put you down the path?

hellofriend OP ,

Not entirely sure what you mean. Could you rephrase?

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Sorry, I mean that I agree, it’s not a 1:1 comparison, but it might lead you down the road to finding the right sort of comparison by putting my experience with the experiences of others.

hellofriend OP ,

Oh yeah, true. I’ve already decided based on feedback that this isn’t a good way to meet my dietary needs without breaking the bank. I’m just proud to say that the extreme measures I’m considering aren’t due to an ED this time around. Just poverty this time.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Poverty sucks ass, I’ve been there. That said, you can get by for a long time with beans, rice and some veggies. Not a fun diet, but better than starving.

hellofriend OP ,

Well, that’s kinda the chief problem. Last time I did that I suffered brain fog the entire time. Same thing happened when I tried vegetarianism. And on top of that, I lost a surprising amount of muscle mass on beans and rice. I think I need more protein than that diet can offer. It’s just a shame that it’s so bloody expensive…

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I thought beans had a lot of protein in them? I don’t remember doing badly on a lot of that and ramen back when I was a student.

Since you do eat meat, I would also suggest checking to see if your local supermarkets (if you’re not in a food desert) has discounted meat that is near its expiration date. You have to use it faster, obviously, but you can usually save a chunk of money on it.

hellofriend OP ,

There’s more nuance to it than that. Beans do have a lot of protein, but the specific proteins they’re high in are less digestible than animal protein, and still not as plentiful as in animal protein. And that’s fine provided that you eat multiple sources of plant protein and are able to eat a lot of it. But then the issue becomes an excess of fibre and, in the case of legumes, oligosaccharides.

Disclaimer: I’m saying this as a well-muscled individual. For the average person, deriving all protein from plant-based sources is probably fine.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Ah, ok. Yeah, I’m anything but well-muscled, so that makes more sense.

i_dont_want_to ,

Hopefully this isn’t unwanted advice, but I have also cut out a lot of meat from my diet and I started getting weird side effects. (Lost feeling in my hands and feet, got dizzy a lot, felt extra stupid.)

After seeing a doctor, I take vitamin B and D supplements and it helped a lot. If you can’t see a doctor, you might consider trying some vitamin B and seeing if that helps. Apparently lots of vegetarians and vegans take it too.

hellofriend OP ,

I don’t mind the advice! I already take a B complex, though. I try to take vitamin D but I always forget that one. Probably because I don’t take it with a meal.

tetelestia ,

Why not just drink Soylent?

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Because, as I said, this was settled with the help of doctors.

And, again, please no medical advice.

cactusupyourbutt ,

wait, you dont get liquid food from the hospital?

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

No, why would I?

dejected_warp_core , (edited )

That’s basically the Atkins diet (Keto) without enough nutrition. It’ll function like a very short, very uncomfortable, malnourished crash diet.

You’ll spend the first two weeks craving carbs and sugars like your life depends on it. It’s awful. After that “break in” period, the cravings mostly go away.

But that’s not all. So much as lick a piece of candy or chew on some bread, and you’ll get a large dopamine rush followed by carb-craving mode again. If sheer willpower and deferred rewards are at all a problem for you, this might feel like one of the hardest things you’ve ever tried to do.

Edit: now that I remember, my grandma tried a “cottage cheese and grapefruit” fad/crash diet back in the 80’s. Turns out that one has been doing the rounds for almost a century. IIRC, it doesn’t work since it’s easy to underestimate how insanely difficult this is to do.

OneWomanCreamTeam ,

For real, back when I did keto, cottage cheese with hot sauce was half of my diet.

dejected_warp_core ,

I feel you. Hard cheese, bacon, and pickled eggs were my go-to. Anything with strong flavors. I did that for about a year and then stopped once I hit my weight goal.

In the middle of all that, I noticed that vegetables started to taste sweet as they do contain small amounts of sugar. Especially cabbage. I kind of miss that.

A workaround I employed was to eat lots of kimchi. Fermented foods like that contain sugar alcohols which taste sweet(ish), but are not digestible as such.

Skkorm ,

Did keto for a while preparing for some on-camera work. I’ve never looked more cut and never been so miserable. 9/10 doctors do not recommend. The 10th one has an eating disorder.

YurkshireLad ,

I lost 40lbs on keto and after the first week of keto flu, I felt great. No sugar crashes, no energy level drops and overall, more energy than usual. I stopped after six weeks as I couldn’t deal with the lack of flavour and texture in the food I was eating. I reached a good weight that I’ve maintained, 7 years later.

One thing it taught me, was to reduce the amount I eat and to balance things out if I eat more carbs than usual.

dejected_warp_core ,

I agree on those stats. Don’t forget: Atkins himself died from heart disease. But hey, at least you have the pics to prove it.

Were it me, the potential for humor would be impossible to ignore:

Me: “This diet is miserable, don’t do this.”

Also me: shows pics looking more shredded that a bowl of mini-wheats

KuroiKaze ,

Been on keto for a decade with breaks here and there. Currently two pounds below goal weight. Feel great and blood numbers are excellent. Changed my life.

dejected_warp_core ,

That’s awesome. Glad that’s working for you! If you have any tips on building willpower for the rest of us, please share, and thank you.

KuroiKaze ,

I thought I posted a reply but apparently I did not. Generally, my advice is that you need to treat everything like a really long journey and let yourself take breaks for birthdays or trips as appropriate, but get right back on track Monday morning.

hellofriend OP ,

I actually tried keto some years ago on a lark. I quickly learned to avoid supermarkets since I could smell all the sugar in the baking aisle halfway across the store. Before posting this, I didn’t think such a high-protein, low-fat dirt could result in ketosis but I was educated by another user on how the process actually works.

dejected_warp_core ,

I forgot about the smells. My sense of smell shifted to be way more sensitive to sugars and starches too - it was tough.

I didn’t bother trying to track fat intake and wound up losing 2+ lbs a month that way; not bragging, but my goal wasn’t all that big. I probably could have done things faster by cutting more fat, but it was already hard enough.

I was educated by another user on how the process actually works.

Fascinating, isn’t it? It’s like each of us is just full of survival mechanisms.

moon ,

It’s a scientific fact that you are what you eat. So following that logic, you would become a cottage cheese slime.

hellofriend OP ,

New idea for a Stardew Valley mod :))))

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