A month on keto and you haven't lost 30kg? Chill out, it's cool

(Running from stupidity) #1

So, I just wrote this on my blog to keep my head together, and give a one-month update. If I’ve got stuff wrong in here, please let me know. (I’m a journalist, I like to know when I got things wrong :slight_smile:

So, we’re a month into this new way of eating. And it’s been good. Both lost a few kg, sticking to it really isn’t too hard, despite the occasional temptation that hits out of the blue.

But we haven’t had massive weight loss, or dropped five clothes sizes, etc. We don’t have the benefits of fat adaptation yet, so every so often we get energy depleted, and so on.

And you know what? That’s perfectly OK.

We are only four weeks in. It’s extremely unlikely that we’re fat-adapted yet, so our bodies are still learning to use fat as a fuel. As a result, we’re feeding it plenty of fat exogenously (i.e. eating it) rather than having it burn off our fat stores.

And I’ve been bad - my wife went away for nearly a week, and I simply wasn’t hungry (and was depressed, although not to the usual level) and so I basically IF every day and only ate dinner. Not a great way to retrain a body. (She, OTOH, did great despite being around 20-somethings who were eating anything they wanted.)

But - there have still been some decent positives.

  • I can bend over to pull on socks more easily (less diaphragm compression)
  • the weird mark on my shaved head that would glow a very angry dark red after a hot shower no longer does (which weirds me out, because I expect to see it doing its thing)
  • memory improvement (i.e. walking into a supermarket and remembering the three things you need to get without looking at the list 20 times as per the last 50 years #thanksADHD)
  • only two days of really bad depression since starting rather than it being a constant
  • walking further - Fitbit say the best five weeks of the last 13 are the last five
  • Fitbit band is now taken in a notch
  • Had to tighten the drawstring on the tracksuit pants (twice)

Anecdotal evidence, for sure. But believe me, I’ll take it. And because everyone is different, that’s the kind of evidence you’re going to see around the place.

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT

YES, EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. Remember this when you see the “I lost 30kg in the first month!” and similar posts on reddit, forums, Facebook, etc… That’s great for them, but their journey is not your journey. Take from it the fact that it’s a process that works for most, don’t take it as some sort of marker that you haven’t achieved and therefore you’re failing.

It’s OK. You’re going OK.

If you’re doing things right (weighing/recording food rather than guessing, etc.) then it’ll come. It just takes time. (If it doesn’t happen over a decent length of time, then you should be looking into why/changes.)

And I don’t WANT to lose a huge amount of weight in a hurry anyway. Slow and steady will do me (and my doctor).

Slow and steady is difficult for me, bigly - I’ve got depression and ADHD (just diagnosed at 55, seriously). I’ve also got significant constant headaches from a somewhat-buggered neck (motorbike accident) and CFS (undiagnosed glandular fever at uni that I “worked through” i.e. exacerbated greatly). The ADHD makes me want to both do this thing NOW! and also lose interest and wander off, basically simultaneously, while the depression means I don’t much care if I’m a fat bastard who dies early. Such is life, right?

Here’s my weight chart from Cronometer (which I highly recommend for food tracking) since I started keto.

weight-first-month

This is awesome for me. I have lost weight before, but it’s always come back and I felt like crap while losing it. Then in 2015 I put on a heap of weight while we tried SSRI and SNRI anti-depressants. Now, I’ve changed how I eat, and I don’t feel like crap, and that line is trending down nicely.

I’ve written this (over a week!) to give myself some clarity about my first month.

Minimal weight loss
Week two weight gain
Gained 2 lbs and in Week 4
#2

Every newbie should read this!

I see so many people complain that they only lost x lbs in x amount of time and #1 - Usually it’s quite an acceptable amount and #2 - well it’s cliche but "you didn’t get fat in a day, why do you expect your body to lose it in a day?

Do you really want a body that will lose all its fat all at once? (Don’t answer it’s a rhetorical question). Seems like that would be a really stupid way for your body to react.

Anyway, love the post and good luck with your depression. I am going through a bout myself and although keto isn’t helping it, its keeping my usual self sabotage of eating loads and loads of sugar and starchy carbs (donuts, fast food etc.) to a minimum.

(Running from stupidity) #3

That sounds to me as if it IS helping quite a lot, really. Sounds like you’re doing well with it. Hang in there, you never know when something is going to improve. I’m about to go and see an ADHD specialist psychiatrist and I presume we’ll being doing meds (even if it’s just seretonin top-ups to combat the ADHD) and then we’ll look at the depression if that doesn’t help.

(Running from stupidity) #4

Cha reports:

  • no toe cramps (well, two kinda almost very baby ones) as opposed to multiples times a night (this is pretty huge)
  • Leggings loose
  • boots now zip up more easily
(Samantha) #5

I lost 30 pound!

Over a period 6 months on keto … but I’ve dropped two dress sizes, which is great as I was only 35 pounds overweight. Only 5 pounds to go!

I usually pick up weight so easily after dieting, easily 1 to 2 pounds in one week, if I just let go. After just returning from a month long travel vacation, the last week being spent on a cruise ship, I am delighted that I only picked up half a pound. I ate keto about a third of the time, but had two to three cupaccinos daily, had pizza four times during the trip, pasta twice, ice cream a few times, fruit for breakfast occassionally and I had about 10 deserts over the time. To me it is amazing that I did not pick up more weight!! My body does not respond this way after conventional dieting.

I’ve been home for less than a week and got down to ketoing on arrival and have shed the weight I picked up. Now my aim is to lose the last 5 pounds within 2 months and then do a slightly more relaxed keto … eg more coffee with cream!

I love the keto way of life!

(I must mention that, during our vacation, my IBS symptoms returned, as well as foggy brain, tiredness, joint pain and a stabbing pain in my skull, just above my right ear, I often suffered from. All these symptoms have already disappeared since getting back to keto.)

#6

Thanks. Good luck with the psychiatrist, I found that even though the meds were questionable the process of trying to deal with my depression was a positive one. I’m not on any meds at the moment, they do okay for preventing depressive episodes, but do nothing for my everyday mood (I have persistent depressive disorder - so I’m mildly perma-depressed). If I can just ride this one through I should be okay for a while.

ANYWAY back to keto lol. Good job on the progress. I found it has changed my relationship to food. It was hard at first when my two biggest coping mechanisms were basically removed (eating carbage foods and sleeping - I couldn’t sleep the first couple weeks of keto. I think my body was giving me energy so I could go hunting … for donuts and icecream). So maybe your right that in the long run it will help, just not the way I was thinking.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

I have been finding that some of the most significant changes occurred after I had already been eating a ketogenic diet for a year. My satiety signaling is much more pronounced (which is actually saying quite a bit), and I am a lot better, these days, at listening to it than to the sugar cravings and to the desires to change my mood.

After a period of seeing if I couldn’t do without my anti-depressant, I am back on it, but at half the dose I was taking before going keto. I never found that the anti-depressant helped my daily moods, but what it has consistently done is to provide a floor to my emotions, so that bad news or hard times don’t send me into suicidal despair. I also don’t go off the charts when good stuff happens. Furthermore, when I take an anti-depressant, my changes in mood are appropriately related to what is happening in my life, instead of completly random. I like that, quite a lot.

Although my weight has been stable for the past twelve months, my body composition is still changing. I still have my belly, and would still like to lose another forty to sixty pounds (18-27 kg), but the fat has left my legs and face, and my torso is gaining definition (on a good day I can even see indentations in the fat where some ribs might be!). My daily life is no longer being hindered by being so fat, so all in all, I am okay, even if I never lose the excess fat.

Lastly, my energy level is back to normal, which is great, even though it’s not the amazing, high level that a lot of people report. The reason is that before keto, I was dealing with chronic exhaustion, the result of a bout of some virus back in 2006 that permanently robbed me of my stamina. Today I can routinely mow the lawn without having to rest up for two or three days afterward. That combined with the improvement in my arthritis means I can do chores around the house without having to worry about adverse consequences. Even though I sometimes get envious at some of the posts I read, I’ll take what I’ve got, thank you!

(Running from stupidity) #9

This is more good news, indeed.

Also, you sound like me, from that description :slight_smile:

(Running from stupidity) #10

#11

Harry Potter!! :wink:

I’d also add that, at least for me, having just crossed into fat adaptation territory a couple of weeks ago, it’s not like, bam, you’re there and all the riches are yours. There are still many quests and challenges to complete, and I must keep leveling up gradually (PS4 reference).

I could tell when my body was like, “alright, we’ve got it, we’re switching to the other fuel tank.” But it also said,“some of these parts in this fuel line are out of use and out of date. We’ve got them under repair. It will take a while to get to full capacity.” That’s to say that some days I’m full of energy and clarity, and some I run out of fuel. And, yes, at those times, I am hungrier. And it’s ok I know it’s a process, and a fascinating one at that.

(Running from stupidity) #12

Hated the first 50 pages of the first book, never revisited it in any from :slight_smile:

I’d also add that, at least for me, having just crossed into fat adaptation territory a couple of weeks ago, it’s not like, bam, you’re there and all the riches are yours. There are still many quests and challenges to complete, and I must keep leveling up gradually (PS4 reference).

Yep, much more of a gradual realisation, for sure. “Hey, I’m not eating like I was before!”

I could tell when my body was like, “alright, we’ve got it, we’re switching to the other fuel tank.” But it also said,“some of these parts in this fuel line are out of use and out of date. We’ve got them under repair. It will take a while to get to full capacity.”

Heh, I’m just about to post a parable about the old broken-down Prius and how it relates to fat adaptation :slight_smile:

#13

Unauthorized biographies [spoiler]suck[/spoiler]. :grin:

I read the first and maybe second. And saw the first and most of the second movies. So, I know enough to make offhand pop culture references.

Interesting. I had a second generation 2002 Prius until I got rid of it in 2015. It had about 230,000 miles on the original hybrid battery. Then I stopped driving it much when I closed my business (driving 2000+ miles per month) and started working from home. It did not like sitting still. I was told it probably needed a new hybrid battery or some other thing that cost just as much, and more than the car was worth. I did love that car though.

(Running from stupidity) #14

I don’t even know that much :slight_smile:

I was told it probably needed a new hybrid battery or some other thing that cost just as much, and more than the car was worth.

I’m invoking a little magic in order to get those batteries working again :slight_smile:

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #15

I know this is an older post, but it was a wonderful one to come across. I have Major Depressive Disorder (in addition to other fun mental illness issues). It is so good to read about other people’s experiences, as I’m not so good at summing things up for myself. Like for instance, having a “floor” to my depression. And sadly, a ceiling. Wanting to not take meds. Struggling to feeling energetic the way others do, instead of accepting the more slight increases I have.
I know this is OT, but I really wanted to say this.