Exactly the same weight since starting

#1

Hi (Female, 5’4, 210 pnds) I started for the second time about late-August, right before my period. After my period I lost 2.5 pounds but then have been stuck at exactly 210.5 pounds every day since then.

The first time I did keto (about a year and a half ago, I didn’t see this type of lag).

I am using urine strips to test (I know blood monitor is better) and am deep in ketosis. I have gone a little above carbs (25ish some days but it hasn’t affected urine strips) but for the majority of days I am at 18-20. I am eating on avg 1200 calories per day but some days less because I am just not hungry enough, but am eating very nutrient-dense foods (Salads with protein, keto-friendly veggies, etc).

I used a macro calculator and am staying roughly within those limits.

I am drinking tons of water. I am staying away from fake sugars but those never affected my keto in the past (originally lost about 50 pounds in first journey - gained some back) so I am not sure its the culprit.

Any advice?

(Allie) #2

What was your eating like before keto as I’m concerned you may have slowed your metabolism somehow if you’re happily surviving on such low calories now?

#3

Pretty normal I think, I moved to a new country and have been happily gobbling up all the pastries and local cuisine (what contributed to me gaining so much weight back after a nice loss, I am so mad at myself). In July I briefly tried OMAD but only for about a week because I simply could not eat my full meal to get enough calories and was concerned I was at too low of a deficit and that was right before a vacation so I went back to relatively normal eating after that but being mindful of nutrition, then after vacation started keto.

#4

Somethings definitely not right, we’d need a sample days diet or to though. You’re doing something wrong and not realizing it. Are you physically active or working out? 1200cals is pretty low, even if you’re pretty sedentary. Eating that little AND not being hungry isn’t a good sign.

#5

Thanks, I was pretty active up until this week. My job is a sedentary desk job but I try to avg about 10k to 12k steps a day and will usually get about a 3-4 mile walk in. I pinched a nerve in my back over the weekend so have been really sedentary this week.

Example diet:

Yesterday
Breakfast: bacon (3 slices) and 2 scrambled eggs with half an avocado and a few slices of tomato
Snack: a handful of mixed nuts (brazil nuts, cashews, pistachios)
Dinner:
Half a steak (about 3oz) with a homemade bernaise sauce, on top of mixed lettuce greens, half a tomato, about 5 stalks of asparagus, and some green onion on top of steak for garnish
nutritional info based on carb manager app:

  • 19carbs (net)
  • 81g fat
  • 57g protein
  • 1043 calories

Monday:
Breakfast: Poached egg
Snack: some deli meats (salami and prosciutto) with slices of cheese
Dinner: Bowl with roasted chicken over lettuce with a soft boiled egg, brocolli with those long stems, some grilled green zucchini, and a few slivers of purple onion.
nutrition info from carb manager app
12g net carbs
71g fat
78g protein
1044 calories

Light desert each night: about 4 - 5 medium sized strawberries in a small amount of unsweetened whip cream.

#6

You barely started, I wouldn’t find it strange that no visible loss happened. Sometimes it takes more time.

But you eat very low calorie, it may cause problems. Eating doesn’t require hunger but maybe you aren’t familiar with that. 1000 kcal is super low, it can’t be right… 1200 sounds low too but maybe you can get away with it, it’s very individual. But no, I wouldn’t go that low with any exercise. Especially that you don’t even lose. Eat more, maybe that helps, there are such cases. Just add some more fat, it’s tiny (and more protein when you see you ate only 57g. maybe it’s good for the basic functions but I doubt it’s ideal. I am 5’4" too, I consider 80-100g adequate. less may be enough or may be not. more is never a problem for me but it’s individual).

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

The first thing to do is to set your app to Maintenance, not Loss mode. That will give you a more reasonable food intake. Even on a low carbohydrate intake, the body will still resist shedding excess fat if caloric intake is too low. This is a response to famine. In order to persuade your body to shed excess fat, you need to be giving it enough food to feel safe shedding it.

Your protein should be somewhere between 70 and 105 grams a day. Your carbohydrate should be 20 g or less. Ideally, your fat intake should be set by your appetite, but for the time being, try eating the amount recommended by your app. Once your insulin level drops, your appetite may return and be a better guide to how much to eat.

The standard advice for the past sixty years—to avoid fat, eat lots of carbohydrate, and starve ourselves—is responsible for giving us a lot of unhealthy eating habits. I’ve found that if I take all that official advice and do exactly the opposite, I am a lot better off.

#8

Only tweaks I’d personally make based on my experience is you’re not getting in enough protein, and your fat may be too high for you to loose. I’m a 220lb dude, in the gym 2x day for now and beat the crap out of myself and real anal about my diet. If my fat intake is too much more than around 80g or so I won’t loose fat, doesn’t matter what else I do, how many calories I eat or don’t. I can play with my carbs anywhere from 0 to 20 to around 100g and still loose, but not if my fat is over that! Also, nuts and dairy are very known to stall people out. May be worth considering. I minimized dairy and dumped nuts all together. I wouldn’t give a lot of credit to the macro calculating ability of carb manager, those apps are notoriously bad at it. It’s true they’re all guessing in the end, but some guess better than others. here’s two worth taking a look at.

This one has keto in mind which is cool, if you use it take all the measurements, it’ll only make it more accurate. This one actually comes out pretty close to what I need and most calcs are WAY off when it comes to me.

This one isn’t keto specific, but what’s cool is once it comes up with macros for you, you can drag individual ones around to your specifics and it’ll adjust the others to keep you within your overall framework which makes life easy.

(Laurie) #9

Hi Alcyone, and welcome.

From what you’ve posted, I suspect that you’re eating too many vegetables and don’t have “room” for the fat and protein foods. Can you cut back on the salads, etc., and increase the meat or egg portions?

For example, rather than eating a salad with a bit of chicken, you could skip the salad and eat a larger portion of chicken. Rather than a half a steak with lettuce, tomato, asparagus, and green onion, try eating a larger steak with just one of those vegetables.

Good luck!

#10

Hi all, thank you all so much for your advice. Very helpful!! I will look into all of this and start playing around with it to see what works