Hello all, this is my second time around doing keto. First trial was great I was able to lose a lot of weight in a short period of. This was almost 10 years ago I was at 320lbs and went down to 200 in 6 months. Well got married got to comfortable and was unable to stick to this style of eating as my wife did not like it. So I said alotnof weight back 70lbs to be exact within that 10 year. I restarted keto at the beginning of April with a 2 day fast. My meals consists of 1chicken breast, and 1 cup of broccoli I add butter and a little cheese , It has been the same thing for nearly a month. I have lost a few lbs here and there but nothing major. This is a huge calorie deficit as well as being mixed with a 20 hour intermittent fasting routine. Really starting to lose hope and I was really banking on seeing results like I did when I first did it years ago. Some Guidance or suggesting always welcome thank you.
Difficulties with weight loss
Iās usually not advisable at all to have a huge calorie deficit - well, it isnāt huge if you lose slowly, actually (but itās hard to say how you lose fat in mere 3 weeks, scales can show something quite different from true fat-loss then). Your metabolism might have slowed down, it happens. Some people with lots of excess body fat can get away with a huge deficit for several months, it seems, others not so much, there are personal factors as usual.
Your meal sounds like some not totally insane but still too low-calorie diet from a womenās magazine: chicken breast, broccoliā¦ Some fat too but not muchā¦ Of course, I canāt know that itās low calorie without amounts but you wrote about a huge deficit so it must be that for you.
Wait. If you lost few pounds here and there in your first 3 weeks then you loses fat nicely (maybe not well for an allegedly huge deficit, I donāt know your numbers)ā¦ But a huge deficit easily have disadvantages and itās not always a good idea to speed fat-loss up. Why donāt you eat closer to your needs, at least in the beginning, to see if your fat-loss progresses nicely? Why to start with this, risking significantly slowing your metabolism?
People often find that the second time around is harder. But in any case, be sure to eat enough food that you are not putting your body into what I call āfamine mode.ā Even on a ketogenic diet, the body will hang on to its fat store until quite late in the process of starvation, so the key to losing fat is actually to eat enough food to satisfy your hunger. The idea of eating less and moving more fails to take into account the bodyās hormonal response to food, and a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet works with the body by lowering chronic insulin levels to allow fat to leave the adipose tissue to be metabolised. But insulin is not the only factor, so be sure to eat to satiety. Once your insulin level has dropped sufficiently, you will be able to trust your appetite as a guide to how much to eat.
@MFxStrange Welcome to the forum Joel. This is my 2nd time doing Keto as well. So you started in early this month? Well good on you, your in the right direction and made the big first step. Iām not usually one to say much, because I only started the 1st of Jan this year but it seems to me your simply just not eating enough. I get it, I had anorexia last time I was keto and what you say you are eating sounds a little like what I was eating, well it got worse but in the beginning . I had 100 grams of chicken a day and a cup of veggies and a little cream cheese. I actually found that I would stall unless I ate even less. My body was in starvation mode and itās no picnic. I think it wise that you probably eat a bit more. Bacon is good, eggs are great, cheese, ect. All that stuff. Donāt lose hope, you will get it. @Shinita and @PaulL have great advice. Iām just another newbie. Make sure you drink plenty of water too. 
Welcome to the forum, Joel =).
I agree with all of the above advice; eat enough so that you are not hungry, just make sure you limit your time frame you take in calories, so that your body has a minimum of time with no calories in it. The time limit for eating and keeping your carbs at 20 grams or less are the two most important things.
I started Keto with three meals a day and no food from supper at 5pm until breakfast the next day at 7am (so just there you have 14 hours of no calories a day). I increased the āFastingā time per day over time, so for ages now I have been doing TMAD (two meals a day) 20:4 (20 hours āfastingā a day) and 4 hours where I eat the two meals --I have lunch at 1pm and supper at 4:30 and no food from 5pm-1pm -and no calories --I still drink water and plain herbal tea during those times --this is called IF (Intermittent Fasting).
Many people that are on weight loss plans (even non Keto) use IF as an effective way to lose weight. Making sure that you keep the carbs to 20 grams or less, eating plenty of saturated good fats and protein, so that you are not feeling hungry or deprived, and keeping your Electrolytes up, you will feel great, lose weight, and be a much healthier, and happier you =).
You can do this, and we will all be here to cheer you on =).