Ok, I have posted in the forums a few times before now. I began keto on 12/1/17. I have been diligent, even through the holidays and other social events. I weighed 200.9 on 12/1/17. I weighed myself on 06/02/18 and I weighed 200.8. I drink at least 100oz of water daily. I lost 90 pounds over the course of 5 years using IIFYM and weight training with cardio. I broke my toe, couldn’t do all of the weight bearing and cardio and I slowly gained 30 pounds back over a year’s time. So I tried to get back into cardio with IIFYM and the weight wouldn’t come off. Here I am with keto. Getting married in September, so I figured 9 months was enough time to lose 30 pounds or so. Working out 3-4 days a week, cardio and weight training, which basically I haven’t actually ever stopped working out. When I broke my toe, I still did weight bearing upper body workouts and used resistance bands on my lower half 5 days a week. As you see above, no weight loss. I am 33 years old, female, 5’3. I have been using IF in 18/6 format since March. Only the past 2 weeks have I gone own to 4 days a week instead of 7 and eating normally for the other 3 days. The longest fast I have to date is 23 hrs. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. I made it and once I did eat, I have 4 chicken wings and I was done. I also went to zero carb two weeks ago. I feel really bloated all the time and of course I miss vegetables. A poster on the forums suggested that I incorporate ginger root capsules, so I take that along with collagen, biotin, vitamin E, zinc, calcium citrate, magnesium, acv, l-carnitine, l-glutamine, cla and my hbp pill. I know most advice is to keep calm and keto on, but at what point can you say, maybe I need to do something else? my macros on zero carb are 104g fat, 142g protein and 10g carbs which gives me about 1600 calories per day. I need to run something by you all. What if I need to take a diet break? What if what my body needs to move the scale and lose the inches is to get out of a calorie deficit? Like, controlled overeating…instead of trying to stay at weight loss macros I could eat at maintenance or above? Mind you, I really don’t want to gain weight because I’m down to the wire for my wedding but I’ve tried everything else so would this really hurt? How long do I try it though? 2 weeks? 4 weeks? And I’ll continue with my normal exercise routine. Another idea is to really increase my fat intake - I mean huge increase…maybe to like almost 200g or so and leave my other macros the same? Too much, too risky? I track my food and I haven’t had any cheat meals.
If I left out any information that can help you help me, please let me know, I’d really like to get some results soon. Thanks.
My engagement ring is looser, I will say that.
A Cry for HELP
Are you drinking that much because you’re that thirsty or because you think it’s beneficial to drink that much?
Without even diving into the rest of your questions/possible issues, this one really jumps out. With 100oz of water a day you would need some SERIOUS salt supplementation to make up for what’s being flushed out.
Are you actually in ketosis? 142 g of protein sounds like a lot for a 1600 calorie diet.
Good call. Either way you look at it, that seems high. By percentage that’s 35%, and by grams, that’s more than I need and I’m still over double her weight.
TBH though - I have tried lower and higher protein and still don’t lose. I’m your same height, I weigh around 150. I’m currently on 81% fat with 10g total carbs.
Glad you said that - ever since I went zero carb and increased my protein to that number, my ketostix have only showed trace amount of ketones whereas before I at least got a moderate reading. Yes, they aren’t the best but it’s something to help you stay motivated.
It’s a combination of both I suppose. I pee constantly, my high blood pressure med (hbp) has a diuretic in it plus I sweat my body weight in water when I work out, I drink because I feel dried out, plus my medicine gives me dry mouth. I also read that the more water you drink the less you hold on to.
I’ve read a lot of your posts and I follow you on Instagram. And yes 10g total carbs for me too, but the fat percentage is at like 70 something…
I would definitely try a higher fat percentage before throwing in the towel (not that you said you were going to). Crystal (Keto Savage’s fiance and co-creator of the program) was gaining lean mass on just 30g of protein a day. I’m seeing improvement in my bike performance with a higher fat percentage as well.
I actually am upping my fat to 85% for the next two weeks to see if I can finally get some weight loss. My macros will be like 142 fat and 46P. Yikes, I know.
Ok. I am following the macros that were calculated for me by a zero carb program I was following.
So, a higher fat percentage with the same calories? Or should I increase my calories as well?
I target 0 carbs - the only carbs I’ll get would be the lettuce wrap and tomato and onion slice on my 60/40 burger fortified with tallow, or spinach in my creamed spinach made with 1/2 # butter and a quart of HWC.
Protein- whatever I get from the bacon and fatty meats I eat. I don’t track but know it’s moderate at best
Fat - deep fry in lard / tallow, pan fry in generous amount of lard or bacon grease. My plate is dripping with fat. Never a paper towel under the bacon. Faaaaaat
Then I do EF with feasting. Working for me
Don’t count calories. Eat maximal fat to satiety. A touch of protein and minimize carbs
Your body is smarter than your brain
what carnivore program? People seem to tolerate higher protein on zero carb - but if you can err on the side of higher fat on zero carb, I would do that.
I don’t see people getting a lot of fat loss when they go zero carb - it comes, but not quickly. From what I’ve seen, you have to be zero carb for a few months before you start losing. (I did it for 30 days and gained a couple pounds, but I wasn’t following specific macros.) I know that Keto Counter Culture has a Carnivore Cut program for like $100.
As for calories, I imagine you’re not eating enough but you don’t want to jump up a couple hundred calories all at once. Google Reverse Dieting - the concept is that you increase your calories a little bit each week (5-10g of fat) and that it will rev up your metabolism without gaining weight. Once you build them up high enough, you can cut the calories down and you SHOULD lose.
I would follow along with the program and reach out to him for help. Let him know your goals and see what he thinks. They’ve built that specifically for weight loss, so you’ll want to stick through the whole thing.
It’s trial and error huh? I’ll try increasing fat 10g per week and I guess decrease my protein to around 80g or so? It’s so up in the air you know? You have to play with it but you also have to give it time, but then all the time you give it goes to waste when you realize it isn’t working…AAAAAAAH
No - reverse dieting is about increasing overall calories. Google it and read about how/why it works.
For now, I would stick with the program you signed up for and reach out to them for help.