So I’ve been a huge Keto/Atkins dieter for years now, on and off, and I’ve never had a problem. This last round, however, I’ve hit a wall that I simply cannot overcome. I’ve been doing a ketogenic diet for 1 year now, no cheats or anything, and I’ve had amazing results until about 3 months ago. Here’s what I’ve been doing:
Breakfast: I’ve changed this around a bit to keep things interesting, since breakfast is the hardest meal for me to eat for some reason (I never have an appetite early in the morning) EDIT: I’d like to clarify that, as soon as I wake up, I am hungry, HOWEVER… I do not have an appetite within the first 30 to 60 minutes of waking. This means that I need food, and I can feel the need for sustenance, but my mouth is dry and nothing seems appetizing. I’ve been like this for years, diet or no diet, and if I skip any meals first thing in the morning, I will feel it until I eat something, right up until lunch. I theorize that this effect is due to the fact that I’ve used up all of my glycogen stores from my liver from being in ketosis for long periods of time. The hunger I experience isn’t always ravenous, I may have misspoke there… but it is definitely distracting. There are no cravings or anything, just the basic drive for sustenance.
2-3 eggs, prepared various ways with butter or coconut oil and turkey bacon, occasionally some cheese - about 4g net carbs.
An Atkins meal replacement bar, also between 3g to 4g net carbs.
And lately, unbreaded deep fried haddock with homemade tartar sauce (mayo, black pepper, dill relish and a squirt of lemon juice) - less than 1g net carbs.
Lunch has been the same everyday for the whole year: 1 can of sardines in olive oil (not drained for extra fat intake), around 1oz of mixed nuts, 1 travel-sized sugar free jell-o, and a diet caffeinated beverage (tea with stevia, diet coke, or a new drink I discovered that makes me feel wonderful, Celsius) - 3g of net carbs.
I started working out, so I began to supplement my lunches with a protein shake, custom made online and reconstituted with unsweetened coconut milk and some peanut butter - about 7g of fat, 17g of protein and 8g of net carbs (I know that’s a little high, and I’ve experimented with my ketones both on and off of the shake, results below) - keep in mind that this is something that I’ve only recently added in the last month.
For dinner, I usually eat one of the following:
broccoli, cauliflower and chicken or steak, slathered in coconut oil and various spices - 4g net carbs
Unbreaded deep fried chicken wings, between 6 and 10 depending on my hunger, with home made buffalo-ranch sauce (ranch, buffalo sauce and a base of either butter or coconut oil) - less than 1g net carb (there’s a tiny amount of sugar in the ranch sauce, 2g per 2 tbsp, but it’s heavily diluted in a giant bowl of fat and buffalo sauce)
Finally, when I’m tired or lazy, I’ll go to the nearest Wendy’s and get a double cheeseburger with no bun, tomato or ketchup, about 2g net carbs.
I drink a can or two of diet soda or sugar free power raid, I drink between 2 and 4 liters of water (almost a gallon) everyday, and I make my own ice cream with Swerve (its amazing stuff, there’s only about 10g of net carbs in an entire gallon of ice cream, and it tastes amazing!), eating about 1/2 pint of it a night for a delicious treat that is all fatty-goodness.
I’ve adhered to this diet for one entire year with amazing results, 50lbs lost, bringing me to 230lbs down from 280lbs… Until around March 2018. My diet didn’t change, my lifestyle was the same, everything is the same. I tried fewer carbs, eating less, eating more, exercising (which is when I added the protein shake) (exercise consisted of 30 minutes of rigorous weight training/martial arts 3 days per week), and finally, I just started eating coconut fat right out of the container. I got a ketone blood testing meter, and I was shocked to find that my ketones are very low! I often find that my ketones are between 0.3 and 1.7, with an average of 0.8! Eating the coconut fat helped for about a week, getting me a few readings in the 2.0 areas, but now its dropped back down to less than 1.0! Additionally, I have since started gaining the weight back over the past 2 months, creeping back up to about 245lbs!!!
I’ve never had this problem with keto before. I’ve read countless forums, to no avail. I’m not diabetic. My only health conditions are that I have IBS and that I have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. My only medication is Miralax, taken nightly for over 10 years now. I’m happy, I have a good job, things in my life are wonderful… I’m just still FAT!
Why can’t I get my ketones back up? Why aren’t I losing weight? Why is it coming back? Has anyone else had a similar issue? All input would be greatly appreciated.