Advice needed - no weight loss, am I doing this right?

#8

Thanks for the replies.

I have a non fasting blood glucose level of around 5mmol and a ketone level of between 0.5 - 1.1 . No metabolic conditions that I know of. I do have raised blood pressure and an under active thyroid for which I am taking medication for both).

My reasons for wanting to eat this way are to lose body fat which is about 45% the last time I checked but also to be more healthy overall. I believe in this way of eating but the main driver for me is to lose the fat.

The nuts are because I like to have something to nibble on in the evening when watching tv and not because of hunger. I will cut them out and see if this makes a difference.

(Robert C) #9

I think this might be a case of mixed messages here (but please, anyone jump in if I’m wrong on this).

Generally:

  • Keto MAINTENANCE is about less than 20 g carbs, your chosen formula for protein and then fat to satiety. This will keep you approximately at your current weight but the benefit is that you will have nicer blood numbers over time.

  • Keto for WEIGHT LOSS changes the “fat to satiety” part. You essentially need to do the maintenance type eating but throw your body and unexpected fat deficit (IF/EF/meal skipping or simply a temporary drop in fat calories) so that your body will go for its own fat stores.

As long as you keep your fat burning metabolism up in that maintenance range by avoiding a continuously lower colorie intake (for which IF/EF seem to do well), you carve off fat at will.

#10

Thanks.

If I IF do I eat what I normally would do in a day but in a compressed time frame?

(LeeAnn Brooks) #11

The easiest way to IF is to skip breakfast and go to two meals a day in an 8 hour window, so you are fasting 16 hours. I eat at 1pm and 7ish, so I’m closer to 18:6 than 16:8, but the idea is the same. You want to eat bigger meals with lots of fat to carry you through the fasting period and so you aren’t snacking. Eat till your are full each time. For some people that may be the same amount as it would for 3 meals more spread out, for others it may be a little less, but it shouldn’t be like cutting calories by skipping a meal.

(Tricia Roth) #12

This has been super helpful for me. I’ve regained two pounds and seem to be steadily regaining, and I’m only 4 weeks in. I’m thinking about hiding my scale.

I have been eating nuts and snacking, too. I’m going to work on cutting both out. My snacking is reduced, and I mostly only snack when I feel hungry. I should be able to work on these things this week.

(Candy Lind) #13

@Debstar & @Tricia_Roth, we’ve been taught (along with the SAD diet & “fats are bad” & CICO) that grazing is good; that it “keeps our metabolism up.” It does the opposite. If you love nuts, include them with a meal. They are good keto food (many of them, anyway), but every time you eat, you generate an insulin hit. You have weight to lose, and if you were eating SAD before, you likely have at least some IR even if your blood tests are “fine.” So, the less insulin hits, the better.

ALSO -nuts are great for adding fat, but easy to overdo. I would weigh them for a while until you are comfortable with what constitutes a serving.

(Tricia Roth) #14

I guess what I meant is that I’ll work on cutting out nuts as snacks. I’ve got a lot of nuts in the house, and I don’t want them to go to waste. I’ve really been struggling to get my total carbs under 50 and nuts as snacks might be part of that struggle.

(Lisa F) #15

Grind them up to use as crusts for quiche, add them to salads or have them as a side…just include in your meals! This way you won’t waste them and you can eventually get them out of the house!

I’ve also brought them to parties as a hostess gift because people live to grab a handful when they are drinking :slight_smile:

(Robert C) #16

If you have family members, friends or coworkers that eat nuts - you won’t waste them.

But, what I was really going to suggest is that you think about throwing away ALL non-keto helpful foods (whether not good on macros or just too tempting).

I did this at the beginning - basically emptied my refrigerator and cupboards (I live alone so didn’t have to worry about someone else maybe needing something).

Several hundred dollars worth of food went in the bin - oatmeal, pasta, rice, nearly full bottle of ketchup, tofu, flour, nuts (I thought of nuts only as snacks - out they went), frozen dinners, milk etc.

Then, out to the store to buy only fresh keto type foods. I had thrown away everything that was even borderline keto - I wanted to try for 85-15-5 keto to get moving with this lifestyle ASAP.

A very liberating experience that was followed by (so far) a good keto journey!

(Tricia Roth) #17

I had macadamias as my lunch side. :grin:

(Lonnie Hedley) #18

I donated my carb foods to a single mother on a limited budget.

(Robert C) #19

Wish I had thought of that!

(Lonnie Hedley) #20

We were dating at the time, so it was a no brainer. If you weren’t with a financially strapped single parent when you made the switch, nobody can blame you for not thinking about it. I know I threw some items away before realizing they could benefit someone else.

(Ariddle4u) #21

I think that sounds like too much protein. Maybe decrease it and see how that works…?

(LeeAnn Brooks) #22

My granddaughter just came over for a can drive. She had this little box wanting to know if I could help her fill it.
“oh honey, you’re going to need a bigger box.”

Thankfully she also brought her wagon up. :joy:

(mags) #23

I chucked some pecan nuts in while frying bacon and eggs. They were heaven and gave a nice crunch with the meal. You have to watch because they burn quite easily. I also mixed some fried pecans with mayo and bacon to have with a salad. Very tasty :yum:

(Candy Lind) #24

They freeze well, so you could “stretch them out” that way and keep them from getting rancid.

(Candy Lind) #25

I love nuts in salads. Need to do that more often.

(GINA ) #26

Maybe your thyroid isn’t being medicated properly. Do you still have symptoms? Difficulty losing weight is a big one, but do you have others like dry skin, losing hair, excessive tiredness?

#27

Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible if you have a family. I find it so frustrating that I can’t detox my house because my husband keeps buying all the high carb sugary salty snacks. My environment is garbage in my house, so I have to rely on my own self control to just not eat it even though it’s all around me. Since I’ve been on keto for almost 4 weeks and I cut out all sugar and white flour 2 months ago, I’m not even tempted by that box of krispy kreme donuts anymore. I don’t want it because I want my WOE more.