Advice needed ?!


(Jo) #1

Newbie hi all
I have started Keto day number 9. I lost 9lb in first week really pleased over last 2 days my scales are showing no change or i know it’s early days but wondering if there is any good advice out there. Mainly eating eggs, bacon, mushrooms and chicken and lots of water! Is there any advice or suggestions I can’t have hit a plateau already! My scales say no loss last 2 days but using Keto sticks and says I am in Ketosis I am trying not to get discouraged already! My clothes feel a little looser though? Any body know if this is normal? Any advice appreciated- this is my first post! Thanks:)


(Susan) #2

Hi Jo, welcome to the forum. The first weight you lost is probably water weight. My suggestion is to carry on but measure yourself so you can see the difference. Sometimes the scale doesn’t move but the inches (or cm) do.


#3

2 days - or weeks - is a very short time. Think about what to change if you didn’t lose anything in a month or something.
Our bodyweight fluctuates, easily hides fat-loss.


#4

First big loss is mostly water, don’t expect to loose every day, thrown the ketostix in the trash. Take some time to learn keto, learn about everything you can eat because it doesn’t have to be restrictive and enjoy feeling better and loosing. Also, always keep in mind it’s about FAT loss, not “weight” loss! Especially at first your body is very likely to recomposition so the scale may not show loss but you could still be getting smaller. Scales are good to watch trends, but you need to have the whole picture and not just the lbs it shows.


(Jo) #5

Thanks I guess I am being impatient will keep at it thought how much have you guys lost etc?


#6

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”


(Jo) #7

Thanks for that! Makes me feel better I am finding it a little restrictive at the moment I have ordered a recipe book so hopefully that will help I am seeing results though so I am not complaining- how long have you Been doing it ? what’s your story if you
don’t mind sharing? Thankyou so much :)!


#8

My keto was unusual, not this “below 20g net carbs for long” normal style :smiley: I lost nothing but I couldn’t do it any more strict and I was fine with my result (fat adaptation. that was life-changing!).
Now I try to stay very close to carnivore on most days, it’s another world and I am sure I will reach my goals now.

It’s very individual. And if I went keto when I was still borderline obese, my fat-loss probably would have been mildly impressive. Short woman without much exercise and with a healthy appetite, of course not someone like me would set records… But with less fat to lose and still not particularly active, it will be slow, no matter what. And it’s perfectly fine.
But some people loses 4 pounds per week for several months. They have the big amount of extra fat and big energy need to pull off the huge calorie deficit needed for that… (No, I don’t believe our body gleefully drop precious reserves. Mine surely never did it. There must be a need)
1-2 pounds per week is a great pace but some of us need to be way more patient.

Eggs, bacon, mushrooms and chicken sounds a tad restrictive indeed… If you are not happy with it, add more items, there are so many options… But new recipes help too. I usually use the same few ingredients but differently now, in the very beginning I ate almost anything I ate before keto (on low-carb so very carby things were mostly out already) but that wasn’t so good for me. But works for others. But if you don’t need vegetables, that’s lucky. They are so carby, at least in substantial amounts… But there are so many other kinds of meat, I don’t know if you are fine with dairy (like harder cheese without lactose)… I for one wouldn’t add the fancy popular keto stuff, it’s good you started simple, don’t ruin it, just add some more normal items if needed.


#9

Did standard keto for 3.5yrs, then decided to see how high I could get my carbs before I caught fire, now I’m doing a weird hybrid of carb cycling and PSMFs (protein sparing modified fasts) in multi week cycles. I only changed it up for strength performance. My biggest chunk of weight was lost doing standard keto, as well as reversing my insulin resistance. My big driver was almost weighing 300lbs and having a kid, didn’t want to not be able to keep up with him and didn’t want to be embarrassing to him as he got older. Dumped 100lbs and now working mostly to slapping on muscle (which is working great now) and got into a whole lot of bio-hacker type stuff, anti-aging etc. This is all of course while simultaneously being accused by my wife of having a midlife crisis (I’m 39)! Oh well, It’s worth it :grinning:


(Rebecca ) #10

Hello and welcome!
I began a Ketogenic Lifestyle last June 15, 2019. I have experienced multiple health benefits along the way. I think it is very important to not embark on this for scale results only, because there will be times when the number convinces you that you are failing, when in reality you aren’t.
If your pants are loose, that is a great sign that your headed in the right direction!
There are so many great recipes and options available to keep your taste buds happy and your body nourished…take advantage of them!
I wish you well and continued success.


(Jo) #11

Thankyou Rebecca, do you find it an easy diet to do? Any tips for killing me sweet tooth, it’s the snack thing I find hard, I am trying not to snack but if needed I am just eating cheese and ham At the moment but would love something sweet that’s within Keto.


(Stuart Young) #12

I enjoy a bowl of berries and double cream a couple of times a week. That will sooth the sweet tooth nicely :wink:

As for weight loss in your initial post, I find it comes in waves. I can’t fathom why that is the case, but I can be the same weight for 7-10 days, then bam, 5lbs dropped the next day.

Eventually you do stop the trip to the scales :wink:


#13

Hey there! First of all, that’s a lot of scale weight to lose in a week or so. That’s not going to continue to happen, so get it out of your head RIGHT. NOW. On average, you an expect to lose between 1/2 to 2 pound PER WEEK. Losing at a rate faster than that is not good and it will go right back on, the moment you stop doing whatever you’re doing. You want to lose fat S-L-O-W-L-Y. Think of it this way: How long did it take you get to the weight you’re at? Did you gain 20 pounds in 2 week? No. Of course not. Most people put on around 20 pound per year or so, which is about 1 clothing size per year. If it took you a year to put the weight on, why do you think it wouldn’t take a year to get it off? Our body doesn’t do changes fast. Slow and steady is best.

OK, now that that’s out of the way, take a look at your app store for “Carb Manager”. It’s a free app that will take all of the guesswork out of what your supposed to eat and if you’ve “hit your macros”. Make sure that, for a while at least, you track all of your food. This app makes it super easy because you just put in whatever you’re eating and it tracks it for you. Same with exercise.

There’s a ton of different foods to eat, and Carb Manager will help you sort through them. That being said, you really have to focus in on the fats. Think of fat as your main food, protein as the side dish and carbs as the seasoning/ garnish. If you get enough fat in, TRUST ME, you won’t have sugar cravings. If I feel I want some sugar, I take 4 oz of whole milk greek yogurt, and add a few drops of liquid stevia. Maybe 1 oz of blueberries. You could add some mint or coco powder or whatever, but that should help and it has fat and protein. I only do this about 3x per week though because I try to keep my carbs very low and that can throw me off.

Good luck!


(Jane Srygley) #14

9 lbs in one week is a LOT!!! I wouldn’t be surprised if your weight stabilizes for another week or 2, so don’t get discouraged. That speedy loss is probably mostly water, like another comment said. Good luck!


(Jane Srygley) #15

There are sweet options out there but honestly, you’re better off not doing any of that stuff initially. It can definitely slow weight loss because the sweet taste can be enough to trigger insulin… plus it can increase your appetite. So for now, my suggestion is get used to eating the low carb real food and maybe after you get used to all of this, you can experiment with keto sweets. They are fattening and dangerous though so be warned!


#16

There are lots of sweet things on keto, it’s not sure they are advisable… I say if you can get away without them, good, do it. Be full enough with keto food, maybe? Eat good, tasty food, too? They help a lot.
But if it’s keto sweets or sugary sweets, keto wins.
It matters what you desire. Fruit is nice for me but it’s fruit, not “sweets”, it’s two different category for me :slight_smile: Oh my, I almost forget what was wanting sweets like… Carnivore killed it instantly.
Sometimes we doesn’t even want it sweet, just a dessert type thing. Coffee with cream is kind of sweets to me. Or unsweetened chocolate. Whipped cream with flavors but without extra sweetening (cream is sweet :slight_smile: not very much but it is). Some berries improve the sweets feeling even if you don’t feel them really sweet… Even back then while I perceived sweetness differently, I mixed ground walnut with butter and I felt it a nice dessert, especially with raspberries and I didn’t feel the raspberries sweet, just barely sweetish. I always worked on using as little sweetener as possible (preferably none)… And I ate lots of sweets on keto, for reasons. Usually extremely protein rich ones with no added fat, I still couldn’t lose fat, I couldn’t afford unsatiating fat bombs or cream :smiley: If cream is satiating for you (or not but you can still afford it), that’s lucky. Well if you eat dairy with lactose and like cream…
Without dairy, eggs. Egg yolks are my alpha and omega is it’s about my keto sweets (yeah, the walnut/butter thing is an exception but I rarely used that, not satiating but good travel food when one has little space) :slight_smile: Cakes, ice cream (my original ice cream has no cream, a bit tricky as needs flavors to be really good. I had lactose free years, much lactose isn’t good for me), it makes raw fruit puddings richer and creamier - not for my keto as I like big amounts if I eat sweets…
There are nutty options too and probably zillion others. If you really need sweets. Chocolate is super important in my household. It’s very very not satiating to me but it’s not for consuming excessively, a tiny bit should be enough. A very dark chocolate is effective for many people, a little goes a long way.


(Rebecca ) #17

You’re welcome!
For the most part I find this Lifestyle fairly easy. I remember the first time I had read about it I was saying “What??? How could I possibly eat so much fat??? How can that be healthy? Forget that!” I just wasn’t ready. I had been brainwashed from years of Weight Watchers attempts and low fat diets.
It was something deep in my soul that convinced me to try it finally. I educated myself as much as I could before I began. I remember telling my husband and myself “I will give it 30 days.” Well, that was a year and 2 months ago.
At the beginning I ate 3 Keto Friendly meals a day. I also made Keto Approved “dessert type things” for a time. They really helped. As time went on, I began to not feel hungry (mind blowing :upside_down_face:)! I naturally began to skip meals. Sometimes I eat 1 meal, sometimes 2 per day…but my body decides. When I do eat…I EAT!! I make sure it is delicious and satisfying…that’s very important! We make everything and don’t use prepackaged foods. My treat now is 88% Dark Chocolate with some cream cheese on it.
I don’t weigh myself but judge by my clothes and body composition. I went from a size 12/14 to an 6/8 jeans. I know from past “dieting experiences” that the scale number can send me into a spiral.
I’m sorry to ramble…but I want you to know that this isn’t as hard as it may seem. There is a lot of helpful guidance on here. Just be patient and let your body learn to function the way it was created to…and enjoy each day as it comes!!


(Jo) #18

Thanks again! You did nt ramble- you have helped me as I seem to be relying on the scales and although I initially lost 9 lb I. The first week the scales don’t seem to be moving and I dont understand it as I have been so good I have it too loose so seems odd
it’s not moving downwards but saying that I am only a week and a half in ,but my appetite as definitely shrunk will eat 2 meals a day if that as just not very hungry most of the time, it normally drops off me when I diet but not done this one before so although
I am finding certain Things ok I am finding it hard at times too. but sticking with it, as you mentioned I can definitely feel something is happening even though the scales don’t show it my clothes r starting to show it in certain areas, I keep looking at
photos of peoples before and after keeps me motivated and stories and experiences on here are helping lots too so thankyou so much for coming back to me ,good to speak to someone doing the journey a lot longer and well by the sounds of it I would love love
love to get to the size you are now :slight_smile:


#19

That is what I was gonna say: Comparison is the thief of joy.

And I put great value in that.

Plus to the OP…we read how others are advancing and we forget they put in the time, effort, adaption and more into it and yet we wanna be right there :slight_smile: We have to work our own personal life and we get what others have achieved thru our own experiences and commitment!

think long term is what it is all about. long term gives us what we desire if we hold on and go all in. It is not lose the lbs. and the ‘diet is off’ cause a goal was achieved…it is now how do you stay there and eat healthy for life and best thing is don’t think diet off the lbs fast…think I am eating healthy and what great results I get will come in their own good time, cause they will, with a life long commitment.

You are ok. Let the new eating plan do its thing :wink: