I am into my 3rd week of ketosis. I have been sugar, simple carb, grain free for over two weeks. I know kotos test strips are not super accurate but I have been in the purple the whole time showing high ketones. My doctor who started me on this Keto diet suggested I take Ketologic BHB to replenish magnesium, potassium etc and Ive been using that once a day. My macros for carb intake have been less than 20g a day. Protein has been around 50-70g and fat has been the higher ratio. I am confused because I have been doing light exercising walking, and hiking but I still weigh the same 230lb from when I started. I also check my body fat percentage and it has gone from 26% to 27.5%. Apart from doing this diet to help mood stabilization and the other health benefits the main reason was to loose weight. I can’t figure out why I am gaining weight. A few years ago I just did a paleo diet where I cut out the simple carbs and sugars, ate way more protein and lost weight a lot faster than this. Right now I feel like all this fat I am eating is not helping. Is this normal to gain weight before you loose it? The whole drop 5 lb of water weight in the beginning never happened to me. My build is on the larger side not fat but I have a lot of muscle mass/ stocky male, I am wondering if I need more protein?
3rd week and confused
How are you checking your bodyfat? Body composition scales and the like are not at all accurate. Don’t stress at this early stage, allow yourself time to get used to keto.
Do you mind sharing what your meals look like on average, how frequently you eat, and a ballpark idea of how many calories you consume each day? That might help troubleshoot.
I have 2 eggs with coconut oil in my coffee for breakfast some times 4 tips of bacon
lunch an avocado or Brazil nuts
dinner has been a protein dish with cauliflower and low carb pesto sauce
5 tbs of olive oil or flaxseed oil I was using cream cheese but dairy seems to mess up my stomach
@zealflux they’re not accurate as they measure the same way as the scales. A simple tape measure will be more helpful to you. Go easy on yourself as you get used to this new way of doing things.
@zealflux it could be you’re not eating enough fat. When first starting out you have to train your body to learn to use fat as fuel so feed it fat then more fat, then a bit more. Once it knows what to do with all the fat you’re feeding it, it’ll naturally move onto burning the fat on your body.
Thanks for the help, I am a bit confused about that. Since I can’t have dairy I have been trying to figure out how to get enough fat without having to drink olive oil etc, could you give me an example of say a breakfast that has a lot of fat without dairy?
Off topic here - but feel you are getting good forum responses.
What caught my eye was the fact that your doctor recommended keto diet! That doctor is bit of rare creature right now - so great to see that maybe the tide is starting to turn. Sounds like a keeper to me.
Re: confused - totally normal. Try not to take on too much at one time. The information will come and you will find your own rhythm. Just be patient and secure in the knowledge that this works. It may take time, but there are huge benefits. Keep checking to the forum - tons of great stuff to be had.
We’re here for you.
So, just running basic ballpark calcs, you are consuming between 1600-1700 cals per day, about 130 g of fat (should be more than plenty, and honestly, I’d suggest ditching a TB or two of oil), but not a ton of protein. If it were me, I would add a protein pulse at lunch of around 30-40g (grams of protein not the weight of the meat) and get some additional fiber in your day in the form of green vegetables. Marty has a great set of list of lists for optimal foods at this link: https://optimisingnutrition.com/2015/03/22/cheat-sheets/
That looks a lot light on calories. Are you eating till you are full? If you eat too little then your brain will stop burning so many calories. Carbs look fine, you’ll never put on weight with that insulin load (besides water moving around).
Unless you are 5’ tall, you aren’t going to drop 20 lbs your first month since you just aren’t all that fat to start with. Tough problem.
Get tallow/lard to cook with. I’d be stumped if I didn’t eat dairy. There are plenty of dairy free people around who will pipe up.
I’d eat more and keep it up another 2 months. Fat doesn’t fall of me either until I fast. Look there if you are super impatient.
Awesome thanks for the tips all, I’m going to add some more greens and a bit more protein, and ask around for some more dairy free fat sources. Cheers for the help!
Leanne Vogel has a book with dairy free keto recipes. There’s loads of info on her website too -
Try this macro calculator 
“May the Force (fat adaption) be with you”
IF/EF Keto WOE is Self-Discovery 
Good luck and much success in your journey in IF/EF Keto WOE 