Am I doing something wrong?

(Justin) #1

WARNING: Long first post want to cover everything
TLDR: Having good days and bad days with no variation in what I am doing want to know if I am doing something wrong

Hello everyone this is my first time on keto and I am at 41 days. I started at 168 lbs and quickly(3 weeks) fell to 158. For about the past 3 days my ketone levels(testing with keto sticks) have dropped slightly and I am experiencing some bloat and I feel like I am holding a lot of water in my belly.
There are only slight variations in my diet where I rotate dinner everything else is pretty much the same every day. Daily diet:
1880 calories
Breakfast
3 large eggs
1.5 pieces thick cut bacon
18 grams mild cheddar
Lunch
2 cups garden salad blend
100 grams oven baked chicken
12 grams mild cheddar
2 tbsp Ranch
(Sometimes add 1.5 pieces thick cut bacon)
Dinner
80/20 ground beef burger
Chipotle solo mayo 1 tbsp
1 dill pickle
Snacks
4 dukes shorty sausages
2 frigo cheese sticks

I have had 0 cheat days and never go over my goal calories. I workout 5 times a week burning between 350-600 calories(tracked with Suunto spartan watch) Fir the last week I replaced 2 of the shorty sausages with a tbsp of coconut oil. I have gained 2 lbs and as stated earlier feeling bloated and just not great overall with my ketones dipping.

So my question for experienced keto practitioners is this normal to feel amazing one day(feel lean and cut) and then bloated and not good the next? Am I missing something in my diet that is slowing my progress? Any suggestions or experience is greatly appreciated.

(Ethan) #2

Whats your sodium intake like? Keto sticks are useless now that you are 40 days in. They won’t register your nutritional ketosis. How tall are you?

(Justin) #3

I am 5’9 all of my sodium comes from the food that I eat somewhere between 2,300-3,000

(Ethan) #4

Sodium seems on the low end for keto.

Your BMI is in the ideal range. You won’t lose weight fast on any diet.

#5

I would question the carb content of chicken, ranch and sausage.

I agree that at you BMI and excercise levels you might not see significant fat loss without a fast or restricting calories further.

For myself, i’ve been Keto for months and I do use the urine strips during fasting as validation that my body remains in ketosis as I have a few snacks - I don’t care what the reading is, just that i’m Not being kicked out of ketosis.

(Justin) #6

I’m not really trying to lose weight I’m more concerned with dropping body fat. I guess I need to look into my sodium intake

(Ethan) #7

So how do you know you didn’t drop fat and gain muscle? Are you working out?

(Justin) #8

I weigh everything and use MyFitnessPal barcode scanner to track calories and macros. I am assuming the info on the labels is correct. Am I wrong to assume that?

#9

I think salt is a bit low too and would add a teaspoon of good rock/mined salt. Just take it in two doses with some water maybe? If it is the salt (or lack of) then you should see an improvement pretty quickly.

I would go more on how you feel re food quantity than by the calorie amount. The workout calories burnt stats are really suss on these devices and I wouldn’t count on those either.

If you are feeling a bit crappy and bloated then that is an indication that your body doesn’t;t like something you are eating IMO, especially if it isn’t consistent. I would start with the salt because that could fix it plus it is better to try one thing at once. The next thing you could do is an elimination diet to work out what is impacting you. The best way is to strip right back down to a basic diet (Google elimination diet) for at least a month. You should start feeling better and the symptoms go. Then you start testing foods back in to see what impacts you - one at a time over a few days. The other thing you could try is taking suspects out of your existing diet one at a time and see what happens. This is easier but can get confounded more easily.

Whatever you do, journal it. Start writing everything down - food, mood, sleep, exercise, stress - and how you are feeling. That alone might highlight the culprit. The most likely is hidden carb creep (check shop-bought sauces etc.) or a sensitivity to one of the ingredients. Looking at your food diary example, the next likely is dairy which could be a lactose intolerance or milk protein intolerance. The former will leave you options, the latter almost none in the dairy world unless you specifically react to cow’s milk only.

Yes you are missing something IMO. There is something that is throwing a spanner in the works, you just need to work out what it is.

(Justin) #10

I don’t know for sure, I am working out but I am still in a caloric deficit so I would not imagine I would be gaining weight especially at moderate protein levels.

(Ethan) #11

Well, caloric deficit is very hard to determine.

(Justin) #12

Thanks for the feedback my initial thought was that the coconut oil was having a negative affect since I added it is when all this started. I’m going to try and up my sodium intake and eliminate the coconut oil firstto see what happens. Much appreciated.

(Ethan) #13

More likely the eggs or cheese would cause issue with inflammation or sensitivity than the coconut oil.

(Athena) #14

I looked up Dukes Shorty Sausages ingredients. It shows they contain cane sugar. You have to be careful with sausage. It happened to me, too.

(Ken) #15

What you’re experiencing is normal. There is nothing wrong. There is no need to change much of anything, except making sure to adjust your calories so that you are hungry when you eat. Fittracker type gadgets are only a guide, your body’s signals are better to go on. A one to two pound fat loss per week is normal, but it is easily hid by consuming salt or salty foods. Whenever you flux weight, it is due to water, not fat.

Ketostix still work for me, even after 17 years.

#16

Ah yes, quite possible. You can try adding the coconut oil back after a month or so and see what happens. You should get a fairly quick response after feeling better if it was the culprit. You might find it was just the salt though and the coconut is fine. Only one way to find out!

Hope you feel better soon and the bloat is a thing of the past.

(Justin) #17

You have been in keto for 17 years? Have you noticed any long term effects?

(Ken) #18

Only massive fat loss and excellent health. If you’re training, the keto sub forum on bodybuilding.com. is probably a better place for you.

(SleepyMotherOf3 🇬🇧) #19
(Justin) #20

Awesome! Thanks for your help I will check it out.