Dedicated, but failing (Weight Loss)

#1

I’m a male and 2 years ago at the age of 24 I weighed 180lbs (I’m 6’5"). I largely ate what I wanted and exercised 3 days a week. Slowly I started gaining weight and it continued to snowball, after the first 40lb gain I started watching my calories and eating mostly chicken and rice. All while bumping up my exercise levels.

Fast forward to today and I weigh 321 lbs. I started eating keto about two months ago. I check my ketone level everyday and I am typically indicating at around the moderate mark (40) on the bottles legend. For the last year I typically eat around 1800 calories, but never more than 2000, yet everyday I am gaining weight.

A while back my wife and I thought we found the source of the issue when my testosterone levels tested low, but that has been addressed and I am still gaining weight. My clothes fit tighter, my body fat percentage is continually going up.

At this point I don’t know what to do I feel as if my health is a ticking time bomb with how obese I now am, yet I can do nothing about it. I eat <2000 calories a day, am in ketosis full time, exercise regularly, and yet even though my BMR should be 2866, somehow I am still gaining large amounts of fat.

I really could use some help.

(Ethan) #2

Have you had your thyroid level checked?

#3

Yeah we did a series of tests which is when we found out about the testosterone, but my t3 and t4 were in range.

(Ethan) #4

And what method are you using to check ketones?

#5

Urine Test Strips, just purchased off of Amazon.

(Ethan) #6

I believe they are showing you in ketosis, but they are highly inaccurate and not really trustworthy. What foods are you typically eating?

(Adam Kirby) #7

What’s your fasting insulin? Fasting insulin and thyroid are two metrics that need to be checked to determine if your fat burning is derailed.

#8

Eggs, Cheese, Chicken Thighs, Olive Oil(Cooking), MCT Oil, Flax Oil, Sausage, and ground beef mostly.

#9

I’m actually not sure what my fasting insulin level is, but my father in law thought that might be the issue. He is the one that turned me onto the ketogenic diet, because he was under the impression that would help with my fasting insulin levels. Is that accurate? If not what other ways is it possible to address that potential issue?

#10

I’m so sorry.
Something very similar happened to me in my late teens and early 20s (although in my case there was a pattern of feasting on carbs then fasting to starve it off).

It took a very long time (20 years) until i found a doc willing to listen and believe that I wasn’t just a lazy greedy slob. But she ran some proper tests and i discovered that i have a benign tumour in my pituitary gland, which causes hormone mayhem.

The reason I am telling you this is to strongly urge you to push for further testing. Not just a full thyroid panel and a testosterone test. More than that. Adrenals, pituitary, all the sex hormones, insulin resistance, and so on.

Really hope you get to the bottom of it. Constant uncontrollable weight gain is no way to live,

(Adam Kirby) #11

Well, low carb certainly lowers your postprandial insulin spikes, but your basal insulin could be high independently of your meals. Why this would be and how you can solve it would require further exploration.

#12

Yeah that is what I am dealing with. I keep getting the “you have to stick with it” speech. The “it” of course being diet and exercise. I’m going to have to keep pushing to find someone that is willing to look further into it rather than resorting to the “stop being lazy” ideal.

#13

I will get that tested. I know that the body isn’t just a simple calories in calories out mechanic, but I feel like I am in enough of a caloric deficit to at least halt the weight gain, but they keep packing on.

(Ethan) #14

Any sweeteners?

#15

Another vote for a really full blood work up by someone who’s really experienced in hormones and knows what questions to ask (=not most doctors). I don’t know much about thyroid levels but do know that the usual markers are not enough to get a full picture.

We often hear stories of a slow start (or, more typically for men, a plateau after a quick drop in weight early on), but continuous weight gain on keto is very unusual, especially in men.

(Adam Kirby) #16

That’s exactly why you aren’t failing at calories or exercise! There are clearly deeper issues going on here. Sadly this will probably require getting tests.

#17

Not that I am aware of. I season with pepper only and avoid drinks other than water.

#18

Yeah I’m ok getting labs done. The difficulty is in finding a Dr that is not only capable of identifying the issue, but also willing to spend the time talking to you about it.

(Adam Kirby) #19

Something else to consider is that exercising a lot in a state of energy derangement like yours might be making your metabolism worse. Maybe dial it back for a while.

(Adam Kirby) #20

You can just pay out of pocket to a testing company if you have the money. IMO might be less hassle then trying to convince your doc you get the test, and sometimes you just need the numbers, not the doctor’s interpretation of them. Sad to have to say but I think most of us on this site know way more about metabolism than an average doc.