4 lbs of weight loss in 2 months only

#1

I lost 16 lbs of water weight my first two weeks! Then I continued my keto of under 20 carbs (not net, regular carbs) and only two meals a day with all my macros balanced.

In two months I have only lost 4 lbs! I fast like its my job 16-18 hours a day!

I am sedentary though because I have a bad ankle at the moment. Could my metabolism just be slow as molasses?

I eat about 1000 cals a day. I’m trying to do 1200. It’s hard though when you fast this often.

I don’t cheat or do any dirty keto and i don’t even snack any more! Why is my weight loss so slow?

I feel like a freak of nature. Most people would be down 40 lbs by now. I know everyone is different but I’m beginning to feel freakish.

I’m getting frustrated by my slow metabolism. I don’t have any artificial sugars in my diet but I’m wondering by if not working out at all, my metabolism is in slow mo?

I have been on extreme diets on and off my whole life. It used to be so much easier to lose weight. I really need to lose another 20-40 lbs but it seems like all this extreme hard work is only resulting at 1-2 lbs a month! I have cut my calories in half since the start and done everything right and I tracking everything. I don’t know what to do at this point? Just eliminate all dairy and eat only meat and veggies?

I read dairy can spike insulin. Maybe I have an intolerance, which is making it difficult for me to lose. Or I have bad gut bacteria despite all my efforts to correct it and need to do more? I also get constipated so plan on adding magnesium daily. Could this be my biggest issue? Constipation?

I’m in my late thirties. Any suggestions?

#2

Your metabolism is slow due to yo-yo extreme dieting and because your calories are so drastically low. Your body will fight to give up fat because of that. Try eating more for a while, don’t stick to strict fasting and instead eat when you’re hungry. You’re going to have to heal your metabolism before it will give up more of your fat.

(Cindy) #3

So are you saying that you lost 20 lbs in 2 months (16 and then 4)? Or 20 lbs in 2 weeks (16 lbs) and 2 months (4 lbs)? Either way, that’s a LOT of weight loss.

I know that people say the first drop on the scale is water weight only, but that’s not necessarily true. You could have lost several pounds of fat during that time, too. Ultimately, though, you’re simply expecting too much. The AVERAGE is 1-2 lbs/week, and that’s just looking at the number on the scale…as in, whether it’s water, a good poop, fat loss, muscle loss, etc…it’s all in that same number.

Also, I’m wondering why you feel that you’re working so hard. If you don’t want to IF, then don’t! Quit looking at this as another extreme diet where you’re trying to lose as much weight as possible. Otherwise, once you’ve lost the weight, you’ll go back to your former eating habits and just gain it right back.

It needs to be a way of life, so that way, you enjoy what you’re doing and eating, the weight comes off slowing, but you STAY at that weight and are healthier.

Despite the hype you see, keto is NOT a “lose weight quick” diet.

#4

Thanks for these suggestions! I do starve myself often. The fasting periods I’m cool with. But sometimes I am too strict with myself. I love the keto lifestyle but I’m a bit of an extremist!

So I guess I should just eat when I’m hungry like you say and see if that helps! It’s odd tho why it has slowed so much perhaps my body is in starvation mode?!

(Charlotte) #5

IMO get more calories in. 1000 is low even for sedentary. How much are you trying to lose? Less weight to lose = slower progress. For breakfast i eat 2 scrambled eggs with cheese, pico, sausage or bacon, and guac, and a BPC and that gets me up to between 700-800 cals them I’m full until dinner. Then I’ll have about 4-5ozs of steak with butter and goat cheese on top with a side of 4-5 ozs of steamed broccoli or spaghetti squash with butter and salt. That usually finishes off my day at about 1400-1500 cals and about <15g carbs. I naturally settled into a 16/8 IF. I’m considered sedentary (sahm). I have lost almost 35lbs in just over 3 months. I’m 5’7, 37, sw 247. Its so against impuses to eat more when you want to lose weight, but once I upped my cals it started to speed things up. I had a really slow metabolism but it will speed up once it knows it won’t starve. Don’t IF if you have to really work for it. Just eat when youre hungry and in time it will get very easy and feel much more natural.

#6

I got used to the fasting but I feel like my calories are too low and it could be putting me in starvation mode! If that really exists I don’t know?

I feel I need more fiber, water and food. I am at 195. But I don’t have a lot of fat. I wear a size 10 and I’m pretty solid but would like to lose two more sizes. Just want to feel and look good and be healthy.

I think maybe being too strict might be the culprit but when I even eat steak I can bloat up 4 lbs the next day. I think maybe just more water, fiber, magnesium and listening to my body when it’s hungry.

I’ll let you know what happens…

#7

The fasting is easy. Just not hungry during those times. Just thinking maybe I don’t have enough calories or nutrients. Need more water, fiber and magnesium. And possibly just to eat more when I am hungry instead of being so militant.

No carb cravings or anything and used to fasting just a little deterred by how slow my results have been despite being so strict with myself but maybe the answer is I am too strict and need to loosen up.

(Cindy) #8

Yes. Again, think of how you want to live the REST of your life. Do you want to live with that level of restriction? If not, and you’re just doing it now to force the scales or clothing size to change, you set yourself up for frustration because you can’t force that. At least, not in a healthy, sustainable way. Sure, you could go on an extended fast and drop weight…but you can’t LIVE in a perpetual fast.

So eat. Focus on being healthier, NOT the scale or the size of your clothes. Trust that if you begin to feed your body the way it’s meant to be fed, the weight will eventually come off. Maybe not as fast as you’d like, but in a year, if you’re ENJOYING that year, it won’t matter.

(Liz Ellen) #9

These are great results. Congratulations! I’m beginning my third month. I’ve been expecting things to slow down, but it seems like it’s speeding up. I’m with you – I’m trying to eat plenty every day. I don’t want to back myself into a corner where I have to eat so little to continue to lose or maintain.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #10

Unless you are already fat-adapted, fasting is going to be a struggle. Even if you decide to keep fasting, you need to feast on your eating days. Dr. Jason Fung explains it thus: if we short ourselves on calories, we trigger bodily processes that compensate for the “famine” by lowering the basal metabolic rate, slowing hair and nail growth, putting reproductive matters on hold, and so on. By contrast, when we fast, the metabolism remains the same, but the source changes from part diet and part stored energy to all stored energy.

But notice the hidden assumptions: first, we must be eating a ketogenic diet that keeps our insulin low by limiting carbohydrate intake. Otherwise, the fat cells are forced to keep their stores intact. Second, we need to give our body enough energy to ensure that it feels safe expending energy. Even when carbohydrate is low, “famine” conditions keep the body hanging on to our excess fat, just in case. The key is to give the body enough food to convince it that we are in a time of abundance, and the way to do that is to eat to satisfy our hunger.

So keep your carbohydrate low, keep on eating the amount of protein you are used to (perhaps even increase it a tad), and fill in with fat to satisfy your hunger (fat essentially does not stimulate insulin secretion). In low-insulin conditions, there are hormonal mechanisms that report to the brain how much energy we have stored, and the brain will regulate our appetite to the level at which we can best make use of both the food we eat and the food we have stored in our fat cells. This means that it is important to pay attention to those hormonal signals by eating when we are hungry, stopping eating when we stop being hungry, and not eating until we are hungry again.

We may end up eating at a caloric deficit, but only at as much of a deficit as our body is willing to tolerate. The difference is between dictating to the body and allowing the body to tell us what it needs. In the presence of an abundance of calories, the body speeds up the basal metabolic rate and starts finding other ways to use, and even waste, energy. Once we are fat-adapted and our appetite signaling has been restored, fasting will happen naturally, even accidentally.

#11

I lost the 16 lbs right off the bat in the first two weeks! Convinced it was water weight! The other 4 have been lost in 2 months! So I’m only losing 1-2 lbs a month now.

I’m hoping this speeds up. Because I know this is a lifestyle and blah blah but I feel like everyone around me is losing weight just walking 30 extra mins a day or giving up soda or whatever and I do extreme lifestyle changes and take my health so seriously and this has been really slow.

Can I ask what you might eat in a given day and if you do IF daily? And how much you’ve lost in 3 mo? :slight_smile:

#12

Yes I’m not sure if I’m fat adapted. I’ve been doing 16-18 hour fast for over two months now daily. This is just a routine to me now. Something I’m used to.

I just worry that I may be in starvation mode. There’s so much debate though if this really exists or not. Some say it is only for those with very low body fat that it can happen to.

I’m beginning to think it’s real! It really is the only explanation unless I have a bad dairy allergy that I need to quit to see progress.

I feel like I should increase my fats and listen to my body more when it’s hungry. I keep watching those videos with doctor berg where he says only eat one time or day or twice if you have a higher metabolism.

I’m hungry at 11am for breakfast. 3pm for a small snack and 5pm for dinner. Maybe I just just eat when I’m hungry and see what happens.

Also I’m worried my gut health may be causing me not to lose at a normal pace or if my fiber intake and constipate are what are causing issues for me with weight loss. Thanks for the helpful advice :slight_smile:

(Liz Ellen) #13

I think I’ve lost about 25 total when you compare oranges to oranges weight, and I’m two months in. SW: 227 (in doctor’s office). CW (no clothes, first thing in morning): 196. I reckon I’d weigh 200 or a little more if I weighed in at the doctor’s again, so that’s why I say about 25.

I tracked my macros and calories with the Carb Manager app (free version) for about three weeks. Now, I just do it by feel. If I stall, I’ll return to it.

I skip breakfast. Yesterday I had keto chili for lunch and a package of peanuts from the vending machine. Dinner was shrimp with peppers, asparagus and coconut milk with curry paste. I often have a salad with a protein for lunch (with an egg or bacon and ranch); dinner is often something grilled and some low-carb veggies and half an avocado for dinner. If I’m still hungry after dinner, I have a smoothie with heavy whipping cream (a few tablespoons), some Premier Protein shake, coco powder and chia seeds. On weekends, I have a late breakfast with eggs and bacon or sausage and then eat again at dinner time. I find I can fill up on about a cup of food at most meals.

I exercise a few times a week, usually elliptical or swimming for an hour. When I exercise, I usually want the protein shake at the end of the day.

For what it’s worth, I remember losing very slowly around week 6.

(Liz Ellen) #14

I do have snacks occasionally, too, if I’m really hungry in the afternoon. Usually nuts or a beef stick. Sadly, I’ve found I can’t tolerate most cheeses since I’ve gone keto. :frowning_face:

#15

Maybe I should eliminate cheese for a week and see if the scale budges. Thanks for the advice!

Do you take magnesium and how many cups of veggies do you eat daily? :slight_smile:

(Charlotte) #16

Dr. Berg is a Chiropractor by trade and sells his own line of keto supplements. His bottom line undermines his reputability to me. I would be more inclined to pay more attention to Fung and other doctors who have a background in endochonology.

(Liz Ellen) #17

Ha! I sound like a broken record here, but I also can’t tolerate magnesium. I have almost no dietary issues, but can’t do cheese (new keto development) or magnesium (found this out pre-keto). So, no, I don’t. I take a b vitamin complex with biotin. It supposedly is good for metabolism. I don’t know if it’s helping, but I’m taking it.

I aim for two cups of salad green and 1/2 cup low-carb veggies a day. I don’t always hit this.

I’m also super skeptical of Dr. Berg, for what it’s worth. I’m reading The Obesity Code right now by Dr. Fung and highly recommend it. I learned how to keto from watching Dr. Eric Westman videos online. I now also listen to the Two Keto Dudes podcast when I have time.

I bought a bunch of cookbooks in the beginning because I love to cook, and I love cookbooks. They were rubbish. All of them.

(Cindy) #18

Yes

Not really. :wink: Try reading the Obesity Code as @LizEllen is doing. It explains the role of insulin in weight management. Essentially, the more times you eat, the more times you raise your insulin levels. Ideally, you do NOT want to raise insulin levels.

So the goal would be to eat 1-3 meals to satiety. Certainly not just any time you feel hungry. Eat at 11 am, but eat a full meal, try to skip the snack, and then eat a full meal at 5pm. Eventually, you try to increase the amount of time you’re NOT eating, but there are many successful people here who eat 3 meals a day, so it’s not mandatory that you skip meals…just don’t snack all day long either.

(Cindy) #19

Welcome to reality. :wink: My husband can cut out his nightly bowl of cereal and drop 15 lbs. Unfortunately, if you don’t have those genetics, it just doesn’t happen that easily. I honestly feel that when we flail around, trying this and that, restricting this and that, it creates MORE metabolic disorder than it helps…maybe just because it messes with our stress levels.

(Charlotte) #20

My husband bought me Keto Comfort Foods by Maria Emmerich. It’s my favorite. Every recipe I’ve tried so far have been really good. I tweak a lot to perfect them to my taste, but I haven’t been disappointed.