Fat loss on keto. Help

#1

Hi everyone,

I started my keto journey on 9/29/2023 and also incorporated intermittent fasting from 7p - 11a. So far so good. Managed to lose 15lbs (mostly water weight). I changed my diet completely and eating only moderate protien, a lot of power greens and water. I eat about twice a day and sometimes have a snack in between. Im well under 20g of carbs daily and urine test for keto frequently - results are usually darker purple. Im practicing clean keto so I dont use any added fats from cheese or condiments. I only consume the fat from foods I eat. I work out for 30mins a day which is always some form of HIIT.

I cant seem to lose any more fat! Im not sure if I need to eat more or change something else. I have been stale at 210 for this past week and getting a little frustrated. Any tips or recommendations on what I can try?

(Geoffrey) #2

We all stall out and hit plateaus. It’s just your body adjusting to your new way of eating. I’ve had stalls that lasted several weeks but I just keep doing the same thing every day and eventually it breaks. Sometimes my weight will actually go up a few pounds but I ignore it. I eat this way for the healing it does to my body. Loosing weight is just a side benefit.
Even when I hit plateaus the inches still come off so weight alone is not a good indicator that you are getting smaller or healthier.
Just keep calm and keto on brother.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

A week is not a stall. Now, a month, on the other hand . . . Fat loss is not a linear process; it is irregular, and you might even see the occasional increase.

Two thoughts: first, as you suspect, skimping on calories hampers fat loss, because the body tries to hang on to its resources during the famine. Many members here have found that their fat loss began only when they started to eat more, not less. As long as you are keeping your insulin low, you will be able to move fat in and out of your fat cells. The sign of low insulin is ketone production. So keep your carbs low, eat a reasonable amount of protein (the amount that feels right), and enough fat to satisfy your hunger. Animal fats are actually better for the body than seed oils, for a number of reasons.

Second, if you are eating enough food, your body may choose to add more muscle and increase your bone density, even while it sheds fat. So use the fit of your clothing as an additional guide to progress, not just the number on the scale.

#4

I am stalling since many years despite efforts (and about 40lbs extra fat), I am a bit frustrated occasionally… Okay, it doesn’t matter to you at all.
But when I was heavier and lost fat just fine, once I had 13 days with zero change on the scale (I didn’t have some tight pants to check that. I tracked, knew I am at a deficit so I was losing, I was pretty pleased. not everyone can tell things like that but my fat-loss works simply enough. and this is with one’s inability to track CI, we can only guess it vaguely, usually but it may be enough). After 13 days I got my drop as I knew I would.
But if other factors come into play… @PaulL wrote about possibilities.
KCKO and be patient! You got -15lbs (even if it’s mostly water) in a month, it’s NOT stalling at all. (I got -4 in 7 weeks, ALL water :smiley: If that makes you feel better. No? I thought so. But I got fat adaptation in the end and that was neat, it even helped me eating less in the honeymoon phase. Not on keto but on low-carb but keto would have been even better except I missed my usual amount of vegs too much at that point.)

You have changes in your body. You easily may lose fat just slowly enough that your natural bodyweight fluctuations mask it. But if not at all in this week, your body still may go into the right direction. But fat-loss happens a tad later.

If your food is a good amount for you, it seems you do everything right, exercise, keto, don’t seem to have problems with keto… Keep at it! Good luck!

(Robin) #5

Welcome, and Whoa! You’ve had a great month with good results. Also “Whoa” for slow down with the expectations.
Are you planning on keto being your new way of life or a quick weight loss plan before going back to normal (and eventually back to your precious weight)?

Slow is a good thing. Slow means maintainable. Slow means your body trusts your intentions and will act accordingly.
You got this!

(Edith) #6

I would also add that you shouldn’t expect the weight loss to continue like it did the first month unless you have a large amount of weight to lose. It will eventually drop down to a pound or two per week.

#7

Thanks for all of your insight and replies!

In late November this year I went in for a routine check up and found I was prediabetic. After learning that, I incorporated an extremely low carb diet for the first week without knowing I was practicing a few components of keto. It was only until after the first 1.5 weeks that read up and educated myself on the beginnings of the keto diet and decided to go all in. So a lot of my motivation was getting healthier and getting out of the danger zone - which I think (based on blood glucose monitoring) I have done.

I somehow derailed from the “healthier” focus and shifted my purpose to fat loss and you’re all correct - I should focus on overall health and the other benefits will come. Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction with realistic expectations.

I don’t count calories, fats, or carbs. I just consume what is right and ditch the bad stuff. Should I be keeping record of macros? What are you all doing to maintain?

(Bob M) #8

Some people take stock of what they are eating and have macros. I’ve never done that. The things I do:

  • if I eat more of something when I have it (nuts, bacon by itself, anything sweet, berries), I avoid eating that
  • I don’t snack much at all, unless I’m really hungry, which only happens if I do a lot of physical labor
  • I play around with more fat at times, more protein at times
  • I toss in a one meal a day or no meals a day when I can
#9

I do nothing to maintain, it happens anyway (but I am still fat. I hope it will be the same later too). Losing fat is the nearly impossible thing to me, it took a lot of time just to get the method for it and following it is another matter… I tracked to figure out how to get satiated while not eating a ton, which items to minimize or avoid (except on OMAD where the goal is eating as much as I can for my meals, it’s not trivial for me on carnivore. only on higher-carb), which items gives me the highest satiation… But I learned about good timing and other things as well. So I got info from tracking, it surely never helped me directly with fat-loss…
Planning can be useful too (even if I don’t stick to the plan, just partially).

Tracking for a little while in the beginning may be especially useful but not everyone needs that. If you don’t, that’s great, I would drop it if I could, tracking is a chore… But gives me fun numbers sometimes :smiley: And it helps with my decision making but that’s individual too. I can avoid late eating if I eat right during the day. My body has some quite fixed rules where tracking can help.

If one eats various carby items on keto, the carb limit may be too easily breached without tracking. I had to track my carbs on my original keto. If one barely eat carbs, have a big carb limit or don’t care so much about being in ketosis as much as possible, tracking may be never necessary. My vegetarian keto was impossible to do without tracking. I don’t need to track carbs on carnivore or even just somewhere close to it, I track for other reasons.

Tracking is most important when I experiment and try to figure out something and it’s related to my macros.
But I am always curious about how much meat and eggs I eat, how low I keep my dairy consumption… I had a time when I had a spreadsheet with many rows and I had average, minimum, maximum numbers… I liked to get numbers but not the work so I dropped it. I do it again for November but I will eat simpler. But this month I will track how much I eat from different animals, it will be interesting! (Even though I know it probably will be 90% pork…)
So it’s kind of a hobby driven by curiosity… Even if it’s a chore, I love cooking too and still can find it tiresome sometimes.

So… You should do what you need or want to do. If you don’t know if you need tracking, don’t do it yet. Give it a chance that you get success without bothering with it.
Maybe tracking a typical day occasionally give you some insight though… But maybe it’s not important for you.

#10

“A” week? That’s not a stall. That’s “A” week. When you don’t move for a couple, that’s a stall. Are you over eating after your fasting period as many do?

(Robin) #11

I tracked my carbs at first. I always rounded up to be on the safe side. And I kept them at 20g or below. After a short while, I gained a sense of my carb intake and haven’t tracked in years.

But each of us needs to find what works for us. A lot of folks track absolutely everything and follow the science of it all. That keeps them interested and actively in the game. I just keep it as simple as possible and carry on.

#12

“A” week, lol. Yeah that sounds absurd. I deserve it :slight_smile:

I dont think I overeat after fasting. So my routine after fasting is to workout (HIIT). Then clean up and prepare a meal - normally 2 eggs (sometimes just 1) a handful of “power greens” and half of an avocado. Sometimes i will throw in 2 slices of sugar free bacon OR organic chicken breakfast sausages. And drink plenty of water. Only recently have I started to play with introducing “keto bread” that is high in fiber resulting in 1 net carb per slice. However, I dont dip into the packaged keto stuff much. I really just try to keep it simple.

3-4 hours after first meal I will grab 1/4 cup of mixed nuts. Maybe a slice of cheddar cheese. Beef jerky if I have it. Final meal is around 630-7p and is again, a handful of “power greens” and a lean protien. Sometimes I will add half of an avocado.

I work from home as an IT systems engineer so Im stationary for up to 1hr at any given time but I do make it a point to get up and move around as much as possible and engage in house chores to keep me busy and moving. I dont think Im over eating but, if anything, I feel as if Im under eating.

#13

I am very bad at guessing macros and know nothing about your needs but it still sounds undereating to me… Tiny meals with quite little fat. Of course you should feel if it’s okay for you though not everyone feels that. I would be hungry and miserable and my extra fat couldn’t provide me enough energy for my deficit. People with bigger fat reserves have it differently though their energy need is higher…

I surely would track a typical day, I couldn’t contain my curiosity… Even if you eat enough calories, what about protein? Do you eat enough in your final meal? The others don’t have particularly much. Not like I know your protein need, my minimum amount is 130g and that takes a decent amount of protein sources to get :wink: It feels safer to eat more than the bare minimum especially when fat-loss is the goal.
(Of course, people have various ideas about the bare minimum. 1-2 g/kg for LBM is a quite common advice and sounds good to me as a starting point, some of us just have to give up and eat some more.)

#14

Our expectations are sometimes hard to manage. What are your expectations?
I suspect you are not eating enough for your level of activity. I would suspend the IF to 2-3 times per week at most. Get keto dialed in first. (2-3 months) Newer research has shown that IF is more successful if you eat in the morning. You do not state how much you want to lose.

How did you determine it was mostly water weight? Could it have been a combination of fat and muscle? Take a tape measure and have somebody measure your muscles.
Sarcopenia (muscle loss) is a real issue as we age, so we want to protect muscle mass as much as possible. As we get older, the ability to build and preserve muscle becomes harder. Slip-falls are the leading cause of accidental death over the age of 65. If you suffer a slip and fall over the age of 75 and go to the hospital, there is a 1 in 3 chance you will be dead in a year.

One of the problems with Keto is that once you are fat-adapted, you tend to lose the ability to be hungry and thus do not eat on a regular basis. This is a form of IF or caloric reduction. This is good in the short term if the goal is to lose lots of weight, but what about the long term? Leptin is a hormone made by fat cells that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite and also plays a role in body weight. Both of these hormones play a role and could potentially become dysfunctional when doing keto.

(Bob M) #15

I’ve been doing this 10 years as of 1/1/24. I can count on a few fingers the number of times when I’ve not eaten a meal because I wasn’t hungry. It’s very few.

I’m attempting a 36 hour fast, and I just had to eat salt to calm my hunger.

There are people who say that they “forgot” to eat for a day, but I’m not one of those.

It’s my theory that some people – like me – have messed up their system/hormones so badly that it/they never return to normal. Thus, my fasting 36 hours, to bring hormones back into check for a bit.

(Chuck) #16

I have lost 54 pounds in the last 14 months, we all stall, and some stalls last for months or even longer. The key with fasting is patience and staying the course. And yes to lose weight you have to eat in a deficit, but what is great with fasting is that is the lifestyle of eating you eat to be satisfied but not stuffed or overeating then you fast to give the body a chance to digest them go into fat burning mode. Weight loss isn’t fast but fast isn’t the correct answer.

#17

Good for you. This would suggest that your Ghrelin hormone is working as it should. What about Leptin? This hormone sends a signal that you are full and to stop eating. Many people are leptin-resistant and do not know when to stop.

#18

The chosen food items have much to do with feeling when to stop… Meat is pretty good at giving me stop sign while some items just make me hungrier let alone giving me a stop sign… Non-animal carbs tend to do that to me. But satiation is highly individual.

Fullness is another thing (in my vocabulary, at least but many others have that too), I dislike that feeling. I like to be perfectly satiated and highly reluctant to eat for a long time :slight_smile: And I want my hunger, thank you very much, it’s so weird to live without it, not like a complete lack of hunger could diminish my energy intake, it doesn’t work that way but I am probably not typical.
I got hungry 2 times today and ate 2 times today. It was perfect, I got my stop sign just fine both times.

#19

Sounds like it’s a really small amount of food as a whole, I’d definitely start tracking to get a real life average of what you’re eating. If your RMR slows down (or has already) it may take very little for you to overeat your TDEE. I did that to myself a couple of years ago and its not a fun thing to fix at all.

Opinion, but I don’t think I had the metabolic slowdown happen until I got into the fasting. I was definitely eating too much, but after all the fasting I lost a ton of muscle which made the problem even worse. That happened prior to trackers like MacroFactor that actually figure out your real TDEE, I just had Crononmeter which guesses like they all did, but gave no feedback if it was all wrong. I wound up having it measured and holy crap was it bad! Took over a year of reverse dieting and earning the muscle back to fix it.

#20

So now I’m a little confused but not entirely. I just used an online TDEE calculator and it recommends to intake 2,837 calories for maintenance and around 2,300 calories for cutting - this is all based on age, current weight compared to the average ideal weight. It’s obvious that I’m not nearly eating enough. Is this accurate?

What did you do exactly to reverse that? I actually like fasting, maybe I’ll keep the fasting period shorter so I can fit in more food.