Something like that, I guess, but if you’re not adding fat, then whatever you get normally from a typical, trimmed steak or cooked ground beef probably is enough. It’s not easy to estimate that kind of thing, so don’t get too hung up on it. It will kind of work itself out with just meat. I think of women like Kelly Hogan who are considered shining examples of ZC success, but she didn’t feel like it was working in the beginning either.
Check this out if you haven’t already:
Wow you are so resistant to burning fat it’s crazy. Have you cranked it to 11 and done an extended fast? Maybe time to break out the big guns here.
Yeah I saw that too, I don’t want to go through a gain before a loss. I can’t. I’m not an emotional person per se…but emotionally, I can’t handle that right now.
2 years ago I was 132 lbs, under eating probably, working out but not seeing results. I wanted to lean out a bit and build muscle, and that started me down this path - I’m 18 lbs more than that today - and on a 5’ 2" frame, that’s a LOT. At that time, I knew I might gain first and then lose, but that gain has never come off - so I’m not down with that theory at this point in time. Honestly, I canNOT get any higher than I am now. I refuse. Plus, I’m metabolically healthy according to my labs, so I can’t see why I’d have to go through a gain to get to a loss.
I’m not a religious person…but pray for me!!! 
I’ve done several…but not on ZC. I’ll try that this week. I don’t feel great when I fast - and it definitely affects my performance on the bike. Everyone talks about how great you feel, but I feel lethargic when I fast, don’t want to work out, etc. I don’t feel AWFUL, but I’m definitely not feeling what others talk about. Like, I can ride…but I hold everyone up.
If you decide to ride and need to perform, it’s probably not a good time to water fast. I feel “great” when I fast in that I feel buzzy and focused, but I definitely do not feel more physical strength. You could try variations of a fast, though, like fat fasts or the protein based version, the PSMF, or a combo of the two based on your performance requirements for that day.
Anyway, try to KCKO. It hasn’t even been two weeks yet on ZC, right? Give it 30 days at least. Remember gaining “weight” is not the same as gaining fat (necessarily).
Interesting, I feel cardio is much more stressful than strength training. Cardio takes up a lot of time, strength training a few mins. and you are done.
Andrea, it sounds like you are constantly upping your cortisol levels, you seem so stressed with all this. Maybe dial back all the exercise except maybe some simple yoga stretching for a week and see how you go then.
When I first started out right after my retirement, I was doing at least one hour long class of exercise /fitness M-F and riding my bike (at very low level, mind you) on the weekends. I finally realized I was not taking any time off from activities and the weight was stalled out. I gave myself a week long break, then went to only 3 classes a week and doing walking and some yoga stretching about 5x a week, I had two full days without anything but maybe a short stroll if the weather was good. I started to drop the weight and I felt SO much better. I was still doing 40/30/30 at that time.
With LCHF, I go to a strength training circuit class, so some videos 2x a week, mostly jessicasmithtv whole body strength training and my 28 day rolling average of steps is between 10-12K now. I take a short bike ride when I feel like it maybe every two weeks, I am not an avid cyclist obviously, but I do enjoy it when I ride.
I get what you mean - that’s why I stopped doing HiiT training for a bit. (I used to do Crossfit as well, and moved away from that.) I don’t want to stop cycling because a.) I like it and b.) it’s the thing that my b/f and I do together on the weekends. I have been doing yoga though and that’s been going well. I believe that yoga can also build muscles, so I’m using that as “strength training” for now.
@Chris_W Right. I’m definitely giving it 30 days, just felt a little annoyed this morning to see that the scale is doing the same thing as it did on traditional keto. I’ll KCKO, promise. 
In your ZC experiment, do you include dairy ? Because dairy can affect weight loss negatively.
I’m avoiding dairy. I do eat eggs, but no cheese. (I did have cheese twice - once when eating out at a baby shower and the only thing I could eat was the meat/cheese tray and once when I went to another party and it was the same situation. I had a couple of the snack size pieces.)
Time of month for a gal can really play nasty in the weight gain department.
It’s been recommended before but definitely give fasting a try. I was having the same issue as you - a bunch of NSV’s but nothing moving on the scale or tape measure. I tried playing around with protein and fat numbers (always stayed at 25 net carbs), did IF daily by skipping breakfast, tracked BG and ketones, but none of that made the scale budge. I finally said fine, try the darn fasting and see how long you can go. I participated in the June Zorn fast for 3 days and lost 4 pounds that haven’t come back. I missed July as I was on vacation but plan to do it again in August, hoping for more of the same results. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but by hour 30 I was counting down to lunch time, lol! Hope that’s helpful.
I find that a hot cup of homemade bone broth with some bacon grease and extra pink salt make it possible for me to fast, IF and/or EF… My ketones rise, my blood glucose comes down (T2D), and blood pressure comes down. Clothes fitting better. All good things.
Another thing I learned in the last two weeks of keto:
I have no “off” button when eating pressure cooked meat. If I cook a steak rare or medium rare, satiety seems to kick in (or at least I get sick of chewing). When I make a roast in the pressure cook and the meat is falling apart, I can easily eat 10-12oz. I stop myself at that point, but I could definitely eat more. Ruh-roh!
@justme I’ll try that.
If you read to the top, this thread started with me doing Alternate Day Fasting. I’ve done several fasts (between 24 and 80 hours) and while I lost weight, it came right back. Now that I’ve done ZC for a few weeks, I’ll be experimenting with fasting again. When I’ve done it in the past, I felt lethargic and my workouts were not awesome. I’m hoping it’s better now with ZC.
Honestly, you don’t have to chew steak that intensely. I usually do a double/triple chomp and swallow. Our intestines do a great job it seems of breaking it down (think of the way a dog eats meat). Chewing’s for herbivores!
I was being facetious…I’m just saying it’s easy to overeat with delicious falling apart pressure cooked meat. 
Andrea, I just wanted to say how much I enjoy all your posts and following your journey. I totally understand you wanting to get rid of that last ten pounds even though I bet you look just great right now. I also bike a lot and I often think of you when I’m out, imagining you going up your hills (hope you don’t think that’s too weird lol). Anyhoo - really hope this way of eating works for you and you get the results you are after.
More like 20 lbs, but I appreciate the sentiment.
@PGG…YOU are the reason I got up and rode this morning! I set my alarm this morning and was SO tired. As I laid in bed, I thought to myself, “I can just go to yoga or barre class this afternoon,”
…THEN I saw your post above and I was like…okay!! I can do this! I jumped on this morning (albeit later than I had intended) and did a 15 mile ride. If I’d gotten up earlier, I was going to do a longer ride, but your comment got me up and on my bike, so thank you!!