Am I eating too little or too much?

(Mie ) #1

Hi keto fellows:-)

I cant really find any info on How many calories i should be eating… and since i plateaued allready in the first weeks of A pretty strict keto life change, I realise that i do something wrong.

I eat 75-80 % fat A Day and keep under 5% carbs, i have been fasting 16-8 from Day one, building up to 20-4(2 meals) A day.
I have been strength training 5 times A week…
Yetmy weight does not really move: my musscle Kgs are the same,fat percent the same, water: the same, Laen body weight : the same.

I am A 44 yo woman. I like food, and feel hungry When i fast 20 h A Day, so i eat app 1800-2000 kcal in my 4 h eating window… is that too much Then???

I Think I cant eat less calories(Im just super hungry) If i am to fast for more than 16 hours.

So you experts out there… What do you Think? Longer eating window and less calories…?

Or??

Just ordered the blod-meter, so I Can detect If that is whats off?

All my Best, Mie

#2

Have you lost any weight at all?

(Mie ) #3

3,2 kgs Yes… In the first weeks, nothing the last 2 weeks … its something.
Yet, every Day after 20 h fasting i get so dissapointed on the scale!

(Running from stupidity) #4

If you’re hungry, eat more. Also, why are restricting your eating window so severely?

Generally speaking, this is a HORMONE control diet rather than a CALORIE control diet. (“Diet” being used to mean “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats” rather than society’s current usage of “short-term fad eating pattern.”)

#5

Weight loss occurs in stops & starts - the fact that you’ve lost some would suggest you’re on the right track :slight_smile: You are trying to do an awful lot at once - fat adapting/fasting/exercise - so you may be overstressing your body. Try not to overdo it or stress about it & see how you go over the next month or so.

(Mie ) #6

Im restricting the window because I plateaued and wanted to circle in What i could do different to succeed… Im following DR. Sudano, Eric Berg, and DR. Boz, All recommending bigger fasting window for Results.

I am basically trying to figure out What I do Wrong, since not loosing weight, though I am following A strict keto-lifestyle.

(Sheri Knauer) #7

I agree that you are trying to do too much too soon. That is a lot of different stressors you are putting on your body. You should start out by eating strict keto, 2-3 meals a day, carbs 20g or below. Your calories look good at 1800-2000 (not that you need to count them but you want to make sure you are not restricting yourself either). Cut back on the exercise, or if you like to exercise, do something like walking everyday, nothing over strenuous. After about 6-8 weeks, you should be fat adapted, meaning your body can now utilize fat as an energy source (before it was very inefficient at using fat for energy), then would be the time to start incorporating intermittent fasting, which is something that should come naturally and not be forced.

(Mie ) #8

Thank you so much:-)

I Will try to just do the keto meals for the next week… waiting for my body to Adapt. I have been in Ketosis, for many weeks, but thats not the same as being fat-adapted?

Its just that I feel everybody Else has such good experience starting out, and it IS quite A Big transformation changing everything.
For not seeing any results.

Ill let you guys know When I figure it out;-)

(Sheri Knauer) #9

Being in ketosis is different from being fat adapted. In the first few days of restricting carbs, once your glycogen stores are depleted, your body will start producing ketones and you will be in ketosis. However, at this point, although your body is producing ketones, it does not yet have the ability to efficiently use those ketones for fuel. Over the next 6-8 weeks, as long as you follow a strict keto diet (meaning you keep carbs below 20g, moderate protein, high fat), your mitochondria will go through changes and adaptations that will result in them being efficient at using fat as fuel. During that adaptation phase, you should eat when you are hungry because when you don’t feed it carbs anymore, its like you have cut off its major source of energy so you need to feed it fat so it can get fuel from that , which again it doesn’t do very efficiently yet.
Once fat adapted, most people find that intermittent fasting comes naturally. Your body now has the ability to use fat (stored body fat and the fat you eat) efficiently as an energy source.

(Mie ) #10

Dear Sheri

Thank you very much, this is very helpful - and lifted off my frustration🙏🏼
Im gonna give it time!

I Got my keto-mojo blood meter today. And ran two tests.
One in Between my two meals (2 pm) it was
104/2,8mmol/L

And one after dinner - being Maybe A bit overeaten -
Its 87/3,5 mol/L

I Think the Numbers Seem very good? … which makes my confusion about not loosing weight bigger - do you have any thoughts about that?

Thankfully,
Mie

#11

Higher ketones don’t equal higher weight loss. They simply indicate that your body is making ketones :slightly_smiling_face:

(Lauren brennan) #12

Hi Dr.juice! Can you please elaborate a little more about this being more of a hormone related diet? I understand how it works for the most part, but I always get kind of confused when I comes to counting macros?? I’m scared I’m using too much heavy cream for example… do I have to worry about that? Bc it’s not causing much of an insulin response, right? Or am I wrong?
Thanks!!!

#13

Losing very quickly in the first couple of weeks is expected, a slowing down next couple of weeks is very typical (that’s what happened to me).

Feeling dissapointed at the scales is also expected. Yes that’s exactly what I’d expect. Numbers go down, numbers to up, numbers go around and round. “A watched scale never goes down”.

Make sure you nail the 20g carbs, make them good carbs like mostly green veggies, eat until you feel full. Do not starve yourself.

Avoid sugar, bread, rice, pasta like they are poison! Get tons of water. And tons of salt. Make sure about the water and salt.

Hang in there. Think in terms of weeks or an entire month. Not days. Or yes you will feel disappointed.

#14

Hmmm, ok, same issue as scales, the numbers will go up and down, up and down …

And with ketones higher does not mean better. Just make sure you are above ZERO (which is actually 0.2 or 0.3 mM).

As I said in my other post, the main number to watch is the 20g carbs and don’t hover over the scales (or keto meter) or you will just disappoint yourself.

(I measure my weight and ketones but look at the numbers overall - weekly and monthly averages not moment by moment, meal by meal).