✩‧30lbs down via keto✩‧ worried about keeping weight off after reaching goal

Hotlongs

Hotlongs

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I'm a 30-something woman.

30 lbs have come off in 3 months, and I've managed to steer clear of any new food allergies. The thought of stopping keto worries me, since the majority of vegetables and high-carb foods set off severe digestive problems that have shown up for me. My pancreas and bowels also react badly to fat, so raising my fat macro to make up the difference doesn't seem like a good idea.

Honestly, fasting is when I feel my best.

I've previously tried a FODMAP and elimination diet, but nothing about them feels like something I can maintain without losing weight.

Any suggestions for what I could attempt?

I've begun low dose tirz for its anti-inflammatory effects, which definitely help. 250mcg/wk

The things that trigger me are mostly

1. Fructans​#-1-fructans
  • Found in: wheat, garlic, onions
  • Extremely common trigger (especially garlic/onion)

2. Lactose​#-2-lactose
  • Found in: milk, soft cheeses, ice cream
  • Issues often tied to Lactose Intolerance

3. Fructose​#-3-fructose
  • Found in: apples, honey, high-fructose corn syrup
  • Problem when fructose > glucose

4. Polyols ​#-4-polyols
  • Found in: sugar-free gum, stone fruits (like peaches, plums)
  • Includes sorbitol and mannitol

5. GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides)​#-5-gos-galacto-oligosaccharides
  • Found in: beans, lentils, chickpeas

Even sourdough bread gives me issues if I eat too much.
 
I'm still grappling with issues that are fairly close to this.

Ulcerative colitis for years, with problems continuing even though I'm supposedly in "remission", and some ibs-d on top of that.

Sadly, figuring out safe foods is a slog, and it generally requires tightly controlled trials stretched out over a long period.

If you can reach a way of eating with few or no symptoms — basically a fodmap elimination approach — then reintroducing tiny quantities of single foods across several days is likely the most effective method. As soon as you introduce more than 1 item at a time, pinpointing the cause becomes nearly unworkable.

When it's the d form of ibs, psyllum husk fiber may actually lessen it instead of aggravating it, which isn't intuitive, and it gave me some relief. P.E.A. may be worth looking into if pain is a big problem.

For me, both the fat amount and the total calories in a meal mattered, so less fat and smaller portions were better. I also noticed it depended on my state — how bad things were on 1 day changed how bad they were the next — which makes tracing food triggers even harder.

Lactose is the simplest thing to sidestep, either through lactose free dairy or lactase enzyme tablets, which don't cost much.

Sadly medicine has researched this area poorly, with a handful of drugs that may sometimes help and are sometimes worth a try, which isn't ideal.

Finding a doctor or gastro who takes an interest could be really valuable, but among every gastro I've seen, not 1 showed interest in addressing symptoms unrelated to ulcerative colitis inflammation.

Not long ago I came across enzymes being sold that break down the relevant fodmaps. I don't know how well they work, and they're probably pricey at $1 per pill, with possibly 6 - 10 or more needed daily.

fodzyme, Intoleran Quatrase, FODMATE, sound promising, but I haven't properly dug into the research since the cost rules them out for me anyway.

I've found chatgpt in research/scholar mode quite helpful for working through treatment and diet choices, and for analyzing fodmap and fiber content in foods. I'm not sure I'd rely on the ordinary AI versions.

After dropping close to 80 kilos and overhauling my diet completely, I got symptoms down to roughly 3/10 from around 6/10. Not ideal, but far more manageable.
 
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