4.5 Months Keto - Stall or?

(Tessa) #1

So I’ve been eating keto for about 4.5 months now. Started 200 and now I’m anywhere from 184-181. Last week I saw 179.8 for a day but back up to 182 the next day.
I’ve been doing this yo-yo of gaining and losing the same few pounds for the last month and a half. Not sure what to do to get past it and keep losing weight. My goal is to get to at least 165, however for my height of 5.8 I’m supposed to be between 125-145 lbs.

I average around 1600 - 1800 cal a day and lately net carbs have been under 20, some days in the single digits too. My work keeps me active and on my feet most all day doing physical work.

I’ve tried increasing my cal to around 2000 a few days here and there but wasn’t sure if it needed to be every day for ?? amount of time to see any change?

Thinking I may need to get a blood monitor to see what does and doesn’t affect me but not sure it’s really necessary. Thoughts?

My typical day of eating is coffee in the morning with 2 tbsp heavy cream, 1.5 packets of sweetener. Then some kind of eggs and bacon or sausage. Most days this keeps me full till early dinner. If not I will have something mid day like chicken, hot dog, or pork rinds. Dinner is always meat and small amount of veggies.

I don’t know if if can IF or EF. I get hungry and to the point I feel like I REALLY need to eat. Is my keto broken? Could I not be fat adapted yet?

Wondering if I need to lower calories but I tried that a couple months ago and gained 5 pounds that week.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!!

(PSackmann) #2

You may be one of the people who are affected by artificial sweeteners. Try doing without for a few weeks and see if that helps. I know when I removed sweeteners from my morning coffee, I was less hungry during the day and IF became much easier.

(BuckRimfire) #3

Could you try 20 g total carbs for a week or ten days? I know Eric Westman always says “total, not net, carbs” in his talks. It might be worth a shot, in combination with cutting the sweetener.

I don’t eat that strictly, but I’m probably more insulin-sensitive than the average person, let alone the average keto-er looking for weight loss.

(Allie) #4

I would advise losing the sweetener as that will mess many people up.

(Tessa) #5

I was wondering that, about the sweeteners. I was just hoping because I was only having maybe 1-3 little packets a day that it wouldn’t affect me.
I will cut back the next couple days then cut out completely and see what happens.
Will it really be 3 weeks before I see any changes or know if this elimination helps?

(Tessa) #6

I just went back through My fitness Pal logs and right now I’m about 50/50 over the past few weeks. Half my days are 20 or less Net Carbs and the other part of the week I’m 20 or less Total Carbs.
So I will adjust to be closer to 20 Total carbs consistently and see what happens. Thank you!

(Tessa) #7

Thank you! I’m going to work on that and see what happens. I was using Sweet-n-low (pink packet) and this week switched to Splenda (yellow packets). I will cut back over the next day or so and then just cut out completely and see what happens.

(Robert C) #8

I would recommend using a blood monitor to anyone having weight loss issues and is at the same time using “net carbs” as advertised by a company (i.e. “Only 2 net carbs per serving” on the front of a box).

Companies can print “2 net carbs” on the front and 20 carbs on the back and say “18 of those carbs don’t count because of some study that shows those 18 carbs from a particular chemical don’t affect blood sugar levels”. Maybe the study’s participants were all college aged athletes - maybe those carbs will affect you if you are insulin resistant - they don’t care, they can legally say just about anything on the front of a “Keto friendly” food box / bag (and they are financially motivated to do so). On the back - there is a legal requirement to state the real numbers.

Little need for a blood monitor if your “net carbs” are always whole foods (like broccoli, Brussels sprouts etc.) where the fiber is subtracted out and you can look up the details on the internet.

(BuckRimfire) #9

I got a Keto Mojo a couple-three months ago, based on the review here:

I am suspicious that the hematocrit reading fluctuate a lot from day to day. That seems unlikely to be correct! I guess I should do back-to-back tests at least once to see if it’s at all consistent.

(Mary Folse) #10

I have restarted keto for the last time!
I feel so good, I’m trying hard to let go of the 30 lbs. first in my head…
I don’t want to be tied to food, or the scale.

Recording what I ate backfired on me this summer.
I felt almost like I was always going to fail, because of the scale and menu plans.

It just doesn’t have to be so hard.

Now I’m eating full keto, and I’m correcting my thinking…
I want it to always be effortless, that starts with how I think about food, and my self image.

Reference: Jon Gabriel, Jessica Ortner, Danna Demetre

(Full Metal KETO AF) #11

It sounds to me like your diet is pretty clean with the artificial sweeteners being the only suspect item. Eating enough could be the issue. It also sounds like you are very close to doing IF. I think you could pull it off with a little adjustment to what you’re doing now. I also eat breakfast, usually between 9-10am. Supper at 2-3pm. Sometimes I drink some espresso at 4-6pm without anything added to it. If you eat enough at your meals and you should be fat adapted by now you should be able to do it. When you get hungry during the non eating window try some salt and a big glass of water, I use those little pink rocks and wash down about 3grams. Often salt will kill the hunger feeling. And if that doesn’t work try nibbling on a tablespoon of butter or a BPC instead of protein to keep the fasting window cleaner. Fasting should feel natural and comfortable, not forced. Give this a watch, might give you something to try to break the stall.

:cowboy_hat_face:

(Brandy) #12

The first six months of my transition to Keto was a quick, linear weight loss. The last year has been just as you describe above. I sit in a five pound limbo for a month or two, but eventually it sticks at the lower number and I move to the next lowest five pound window. It can be frustrating, particularly after such a rapid initial weight loss, but I’ve come to realize that I’m not doing anything wrong. Over the long term, the weight loss continues.

#13

Only eating 1600-1800 the last thing you want to do is lower them further. That’s the trap that demolishes our metabolisms. How physically active are you? Do you typically get hungry during the day? Do you ever force your dinner down after not eating from breakfast time?

(Tessa) #14

This makes perfect sense and I agree. I would say 90% of my foods are Whole Foods so the fiber I’m subtracting is real. Not sugar alcohols from keto wannabe products.
The only thing I eat that is labeled Keto is the perfect keto bars. I got 4 boxes when I first started (4.5 months ago). I have one maybe twice a week as my lunch when I’m on the road and working, sometimes only 1 a week because I forget I even have them.

(Tessa) #15

I would consider myself pretty active. My husband and I have a carpet cleaning and water mitigation company. Our typical day of cleaning is in and out of 3-5 peoples homes, hauling hoses and equipment and cleaning several rooms/areas in each home. My Fitbit tells my my heart rate is up most of the time I’m on a job and I’m sweating on & off all day too.
I do get hungry. I normally have coffee with HWC around 530am and breakfast shortly after. Which is 2 eggs and maybe 4 pieces of bacon. When I’m done eating I’m full. Then we go to work, do a couple jobs and by 11am-1pm I’m hungry again. Dinner is around 5-6pm and I’m hungry then too.
So this is where I’ve wondered in I’m fat adapted, because I still get hungry 6 out of 7 days.

(Charlotte) #16

I never use my mojo for anything other than ketones and glucose…
If you look on the Keto Mojo FAQ page it states:

“The test for hematocrit (HCT) as part of the system, is intended for use in the in vitro quantification of packed red blood cell volume fraction in capillary whole blood as an aid in monitoring the status of the total volume of red blood cells. The test reading of hematocrit (HCT) is used only to determine whether the blood test sample is within the acceptable range of β-ketone & blood glucose monitoring system monitoring system. It should not be used for the diagnosis of anemia or erythrocytosis.”

https://help.keto-mojo.com/l/en/article/3sZLp26Jlf-hct-and-hb-what-do-they-mean

(PSackmann) #17

I was using 2 packs of sweet-n-low a day, and noticed a difference in how I felt almost immediately when I stopped, but that’s an n=1. I’ve always tried to only do one tweak at a time for several weeks, so I know what works and what doesn’t.

(BuckRimfire) #18

Thanks. I never read the manual, of course, except the minimum needed to figure out how to set the ketone stick code!

(Tessa) #19

I think this will be important too. I won’t make any other changes, just cut out my sweeteners and see what happens. Thanks!

(Tessa) #20

I just ordered some of the pink rock salts so I can start doing this exact thing. Hoping it will help. I’m also inspired by your BPE fast and will be trying one of those soon too, less the sweeteners of course!