Hello all,
My wife got me to start Keto about a month ago. We started together. She had our son going on 6 months ago, so her goal was weight loss from pregnancy etc. When I began, I was about 180. Over the first two weeks or so, I lost about 12 pounds. My wife lost a substantial amount as well.
Over the past couple of weeks, we both seemed to have plateaued. My goal is to get down or under 160 and then maintain that. 155 would bring me back to my college days of being an athlete.
To be clear, I understand just the basics of Keto. My wife shops for us both and I stick to the general guidelines. Low to no carbs, no sugars and high fats (using heavy cream, fattier ground beef etc.). I donāt count Macros, or even know what that means. Iām not sure about my glucose levels. I used to drink beer regularly, now I sip on the Trulys at the beach. I will have a redull āzeroā at work every day. So there are a few liberties that I take that I could improve on, but I am comfortable with where I am.
Are there any tricks or the trade, or simple advice anyone has for a Keto newbie, who just knows the basics. I know everything takes time, but I just feel like I need to kick my metabolism into gear. Thanks Iām advance for reading and or helping.
A little advice please
My husband and I started keto 72 days ago. Iāve plateaued for the last month, but the inches keep melting away. My muscle tone has improved (muscle weighs more than fat) so Iām thinking this is just a normal part of the keto woe.
A practice that pairs REALLY well with keto is IF (intermittent fasting). You basically reduce the time you eat during the day to a set amount of hours so you are āfastingā longer in between meals. The usual is 8:16, so 8 hours ON 16 hours OFF. Preferably you also reduce your food intake to 3, 2 or 1 meal(s) a day with no snacks. So that you are even āfastingā between meals during the day.
For example, your window could be from 12pm to 8 pm, with lunch being at 1 and dinner being at 7. just anywhere between those two limits. Anyway, I think I went on too long explaining it but it can help HEAPS while doing keto and reducing hunger. Give it a try!
Hello Zach,
I hope this helps.
First, what is a redull āzeroā? Is it sugar free? If it is sugar free, what kind of fake sugar is it? Some types of fake sugar may spike insulin, slowing weight loss (for me, itās ACE-K).
Second, how many Trulys are you having? Beer is my weakness as well but Iāve been keto for a long time and do a lot of fasting so I can have been on a Sunday and be in ketosis on Monday afternoon, but thatās only because Iāve been at this a while. If you keep drinking beer, just accept that itās going to impact/slow down your results.
Third, keto macros are easy, they are based on your estimated caloric needs (itās all relative and not as specific as some personal trainers would have you believe, they want you eating 2000 calories and NO more, they donāt account for the MANY variables involved, lotās of slop in these calculationsā¦). If you ever want to go down that rabbit hole, let me know, itās as easy as running a few calculators, coming up with estimated daily caloric range (range, not an exact number!) and then basing your intake on those ranges, getting about 80% of your intake from fat etc. etc. etc.
In my experience, most of us start keto consuming extra calories but thatās ok, the body simply ups the temperature and allows for increased activity (you get the overwhelming urge to move!). But, over time, you reach a new level of homeostasis and have to adjust to keep moving towards your goals, whatever those goals may be.
Lastly, to make a continued impact, one of the simplest (not easy, this stuff isnāt easy) ways to make change may be to implement intermittent fasting (IF) into your way of eating (WOE).
I hope that helps!
About me:
5ā11", 170ish pounds, I keep body fat between 12 and 20%
Started intermittent fasting in 2016, went from 180 to 160. Started doing longer fasts and added keto to the routine mid 2016, full keto in Dec of 2016. Have done lots of fasting experiments, currently on day 15 of a 20 day fast.
Itās called PISS. Post Induction Stall Syndrome.
And itās very common, thus the term bestowed upon it.
What happens is in the first week or so, your body depletes most of its glycogen stores. This is 75% water, so you see a big initial drop. But once those stores are depleted, weight loss slows down or stops for a while as your body adapts.
This doesnāt mean you canāt be losing fat while this is happening. Be sure to take measurements. You may be pleasantly surprised.
But either way, stick to the course and you will see the weight start to come back off again once you are fat adapted.
Wowā¦ thanks for all the the info everyone. There was. Lot of useful feedback there.
I have noticed More lean muscle, so that probably did contribute to slowing down some.
Tim, Aspartame is the name listed on the sugar free red bullās Sweetener. Not sure if that is Keto friendly or not.
I am definitely going to keep at it. I surf once or twice per week and Iām on my feet all day at work, but I need to find time to get a good run in a few times per week to help kick my metabolism into gear.
Thanks again
Aspertame is the stuff in Diet Coke.
This is highly individualized. Technically itās okay as there are no carbs, but all artificial sweetners have been shown to cause insulin spikes in some people.
And one can develop a sensitivity to it, so it may be okay for some time and then start causing spikes, especially with excess consumption.
If you are fine with it and itās not causing any stalls, donāt worry about it. Unless youāre bothered by excess chemicals in your diet that is.
But if you start to experience stalls, Iād try eliminating it for a while and see what happens.