1st month in, a little frustrated

#82

Oh okay, I just checked my strips, pink good, beige not. I tested myself, still pretty dark maroon.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #83

You won’t get any color at all if you’re not producing ketones. So if it’s pink, you’re in ketosis.
There is an optimal range for fat burning, but the stocks aren’t reliable enough to determine that, and they only measure what’s wasted, not what’s produced. Your body may be burning some.
And even if you’re not in the optimal range, you’re still in ketosis and can burn fat, you just may not be quite as efficient as if you were in optimal range.

Personally I don’t worry about it. The only thing I need to know is if I’m in ketosis.

#84

Question, If not in ketosis what do you do about it. Not like eating something is going to change it. Or do you use this to know you did not eat right?

#85

Actually not even worried about being in ketosis right now, just curious how to tell when I’m not actually in fat storing mode. How long before my body starts to trust me. It’s stubborn and holds grudges.

(Lisa D) #86

Jojok - i’m 51, 5’7" weigh 137 and my initial goal of keto way of eating was to get to 127. Like you, I restricted calories forever and whatever calories came in, I tried to exercise out. I was always tired, injured and hungry/hangry. After being keto for a tad over a month - I’ve gained a couple pounds, have lost a couple pounds but feel energetic, much better menopausal moods (which is HUGE for me) and am rarely hungry. I eat about 1600-1800 calories a day - which they tell me is still low, so working on eating more too. I used to try to stay below 1200. My most recent weigh in (I do it once a week) I was down 3 lbs (now at 132) from previous weigh in … could be from a multitude of things, could be from my keto WOE - I thought it would be higher b/c I “porked out” - literally on chichirrones the night before!! it was down! ha. Anyway, my point is … trust that it works, eat more, get your metabolism going again - you will probably gain weight at first but eventually you will lose. Eventually you will get your head around eating so much fat too. Hope to hear back from you.

(Emma Cohn) #87

800 calories a day and fasting is probably not enough energy for your body to live on. Especially since you are only in the first month of keto, your body needs more time to adapt to burning fats. When you restrict calories that much your basal metabolic rate slows down to conserve energy. You may already have a very slow metabolism since you have tried calorie restricted diets before. There are many stories here of people losing weight while not eating at a deficit. There are some stories even if losing while eating at a surplus. 6lbs lost in a month is 1.5 lbs per week average. That’s not slow or insignificant weight loss. Stick with it and eat enough protein, less than 20g net carbs and fat to satiety and you will be fine. Best of luck.

#88

Update, over the weekend, Fri-Sun, I was able to keep my calories up for the first time over 1,000. 1,100-1,300+. Carbs kept under 25, fat between 80-100. I am finding ways to get my fat up so it will get better. Now that I’m eating I’ve downloaded some kindle recipe books. Still haven’t been on the scale. My clothes still fit, so I haven’t ballooned up too much! Visited my sis over the weekend, and she is also on low carb diet. She is doing low cal/carb, no fats(she said progress was slow). It is weird us both dieting and me eating the whole time, especially during the meals she was skipping, she just looked at me like I was stupid. :wink:

(KevinDV8) #89

Losing 6 lbs in a month is terrific. Multiply that times a year. I have been in ketosis for 32 days and have gained 2 lbs. I have listened to every 2ketodudes podcast to keep inspired. I have type 2 diabetes and take no meds. Since being keto for 32 days, my blood sugar has dropped to about 150. That may seem terrible, but it was 300-400 every day. So I have learned that I have to not eat carbs even though I have no weight loss. I am hoping that eventually this will work.

(Ron) #90

I am T2d as well and it took 10 weeks for the scale to start moving. The body was busy healing other thing that were more important. My blood sugar is under 90 now and I’m down 50 lbs so it does happen.:slightly_smiling_face:
Stay strong!

(Ken) #91

There is a clear distinction between how the body reacts to either Fasting, or Starvation. They are different, Starvation, and it’s resulting metabolic effects, take much longer to manifest. It can occur with chronic under eating, the reduction of calories to below maintenance over time. Fasting and then refeeding is clearly different.

#92

The weight loss actually worked out being 5lbs in 5 weeks, I gained a lb the 5th week.
That is what is so scary, I can gain 1-2 lbs in just a few days. Gaining a pound while keeping your calories under 800, is just so depressing. Also, I feared a total stop in the weight loss and having to eat less and less to stay on top of it. I’ve had days in the past when I’d skip breakfast, eat a light lunch like a tuna packet and not eat dinner. I just don’t want my life to be like that and I was at the point where I thought it was my only option. I read where a woman said it took her 3 1/2 months to start seeing a loss after being low cal like me, so I’m going to stick it out and be patient for awhile.

(Beth) #93

Hi Jojok,

I can relate to feeling this way but I agree with all the other posters here who are telling you to up your calories. For me personally, I have been freed from the cycle of deprivation that comes along with calorie restriction. I’m, 55 years young, 5’ 1" and weigh 127 and have been keto for 1 1/2 years. I eat WAY more calories now and am so much more satisfied than any other time in my life.

Maybe just try a month of eating a lot more calories! Enjoy every minute of it while you become fat adapted. You may (god forbid) want to just stop counting or tracking anything and just eat lots of delicious, high fat foods. Eat the high fat things you never allowed yourself . . . like bacon and eggs, smoked chicken wings, butter and ribeye steak! You may be pleasantly surprised when you finally do get on the scale!

Then maybe try a short fast, maybe 16 hours or 24, but don’t forget to feast afterwards. I find this to be highly effective for me personally.

Anyhow, I’m cheering for you in hopes that you find the right spot with this WOE.

Oh . . . the bonus is that your feet may stop hurting after a while. KETO is anti-inflammatory too!

(Alec) #94

Thank you for demonstrating beautifully why we have site restrictions.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #95

First of all, weight loss on a ketogenic diet is never linear. A few ups and downs—more of the latter than the former, we hope—are inevitable. The ketogenic way of eating is not a weight-loss diet, it is a weight-normalization diet. If you have excess fatty acids stored in your adipose tissue, that excess will eventually be metabolized if you stay with this way of eating.

Secondly, if you don’t give your body enough energy, it will defend its store of fatty acids almost to the death, and I mean that literally. (How else do you think the prisoners who survived Auschwitz lasted so long?) Paradoxically, the way to convince your body to metabolize all those excess fatty acids in your adipose tissue is to give it an abundance of calories. And you do that by keeping carbohydrate intake to the absolute minimum (so as to keep insulin secretion to the absolute minimum, which allows the fatty acids to leave the adipose tissue), and then at the same time, replacing all those calories from carbohydrate with calories from fat.

The reason you have to keep eating less and less to continue losing weight when you restrict calories is that your body keeps lowering its basal metabolic rate to compensate for the reduced caloric intake. It also shuts down non-essential processes to save energy. In other words, we are talking about Biggest Loser syndrome. By contrast, if you give your body an abundance of energy, by eating fat to satiety, it will stop hanging on to its fat store and will allow the excess to be metabolized.

The way it worked for me was that for the first few weeks I overate, as had been doing with my high-carb diet. Then, one day, halfway through a plate of salmon steaks, I suddenly lost interest in eating any more food—but, weirdly, my plate was still half-full! My belly was nowhere near full, but I was done eating. That was my satiety signal kicking in. I had to put the half-eaten salmon in the fridge for later, and it was hours before I got hungry again. My calorie intake has been much more reasonable ever since.

So if you can somehow trust that your body knows what it’s doing and stop trying to out-think it, you might just be surprised by the results.

#96

Thanks for the explanation. It’s scary and nice all at the same time getting to eat so much.

(KevinDV8) #97

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I really need it. My blood sugar was in the 300 to 400 range and now it’s about 150 so I’m still worried and hoping it’ll go down more because I don’t wanna start taking the meds. I am going to cut my carbs even lower maybe down to around <10 g A-day. My ketosticks are purple every day, but I fear insulin so I’m switching my lunch to grilled thighs instead of lunch meat and cheese and maybe poached eggs in butter for dinner. That is as close to zero carbs as I think I can do.
Thanks again!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #98

@kevindv8 Give yourself time, you are doing fine, and your proposed changes sound good, too. A ketogenic diet is not so much a diet in the reducing sense as it is a way of eating and living.

And according to our current understanding of the science, for many people it is the healthiest way to eat and live. It is certainly proving to be so for me! :bacon:

#99

Still plugging away. Been able to keep my calories between 1,100-1,400 per day. Lady behind me, while I was checking out at the grocery store, said, “I see you’re doing Keto.”:smile:
Still haven’t been on the scale, not noticing any change weight wise. I did do a keto stick last week and it was 2 shades lighter, did another today and it was neg. Might not mean anything but I hope the going from dark to light means I am getting out of starvation mode.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #100

How long have you been doing Keto now?

The sticks are not the most reliable, but the dip could mean you’re becoming fat adapted, as your body is using more of the ketones as energy. Thus you’re peeing less of them out.

#101

Nearly 7, but the first 5, I was eating under 800 calories. Last 2, I’ve been eating a lot more.