Dear all,
It’s my first day of the week 4.
I got a freestyle ketone & glucose meter and I tested frequently(i.e. 3-4 times a day) since the beginning of the 2nd week.
I got fantastic figures from the meter. i.e. morning - without breakfast, ketone - lowest figure 1.4 mmol and highest figure 3.2 mmol; Glucose, morning, lowest figure 2.6 and highest 3.8. The glucose is lower than the normal level but I didn’t feel any uncomfortable. My glucose went to up to 5.x in the day time 2 hrs after a meal with the most carb
My typical intake of a day includes 30~40g carb, 90-120g fat, 45-60g protein. Total calories are around 1300.
I’m a small size person - 1.55m, 54kg at the first day. Lose 2kg in week 1, then nothing happens in week 2 & week 3.
But with that 2kg I didn’t actually have any body change - my wrist, belly, waistline, legs - nothing was changed.
Can someone please tell me what’s wrong here, or it’s considered as “normal”?
Thanks you very much
From Sydney, Woman, week 4, meter figures are fantastic but no visible change
Keep calm and keto on. Not everybody has the initial whoosh that a lot of people do.
My advice is almost always this:
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Be patient, as long as you feel good, you’re probably doing OK.
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Listen to your body. If you’re hungry, eat. If you aren’t, don’t. If you’re foggy headed or achy, check your water intake, electrolytes, etc.
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Experiment on yourself. Up your food intake, fast for a little while. 30-40g of carbs is kind of high, especially with a lower calorie intake, try getting that down under 20. How much protein are you eating? Shoot for around 1g per kg of lean body mass. For you a nice round number would probably be 40-50g of protein per day. See if that has an impact. Do you take a supplement or multi-vitamin? If you do, try skipping it for a few days, if you don’t, try taking one for a few days.
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Data is your friend. Log everything you eat for a few days, maybe you aren’t eating exactly what you think you are. Log your water intake, you might not be drinking enough.
Keto is a food plan that enables your body to get out of an unhealthy cycle. Weight loss is going to be a matter of experimenting on yourself, seeing what works, and doing that until it doesn’t work any more, then starting over.
The 2 kg you lost the first week were water weight. So it’s normal that you didn’t see any change. Maybe you were less bloated, but it wasn’t very noticeable.
You’re at the first day of week 4, which means that you’re probably not fat adapted. So it’s normal not to lose a lot of weight, if at all. Your body needs to change its fuel source. When it happens, it’ll use your body fat as fuel and you’ll lose weight.
Your weight is 54 kg, which means that you don’t have a lot of weight to lose. Unfortunately, it means that it’s going to take more time to lose the last kilos than it is for an obese person.
So my answer can be shortened to “keep calm and keto on”
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Are you on the ketogenic diet for weight loss only? Or are there other health goals in mind?
Thanks Chris! I am feeling well now except the scale figure.
With regards to the “listen to your body” part, as I am intake very high level of fat now, especially compare with my previous high-carb, low protein, low fat diet, a lot of time I feel i cant finish that 1200 Kcal. For example yesterday, at the end of the day I didnt even feel hungry, but I knew I didnt have enough fat/calories so I bite 40g butter to reach the goal. My deepest concern is if I intake less calories than the basic metabolic rate needs, would it hurt my matabolic rate at all?
I did log everything day to day as my concern is I will eat too little - interesting if the same amount is from carb it’s easy
Thank you again for some detailed comment.
Thanks Sonia!
I thought my body is using fat as fuel as the ketone level did increase - I thought the ketone is the product of burning the fat but maybe I’m wrong.
My goal is to be 45-47kg, which I think it’s a lot - 20% of myself.
Appreciate any feedback.
Hi Brenda, my biggest initiative is weight-losing, or whatever can give me a slimmer body. But now I can feel other benefit-with a very stable glucose figure I am more energic during daytime, especially after lunch.
The doctor said I have insulin resistance/impaired glucose tolerence. I changed my diet after I heard about it i.e use wholemeal food, beans,sweet potatoes as the major source of carbs. I didnt do any glucose tolerence test after that but I am usually feeling sleepy after a meal. Now it’s improved. It’s an unforeseen benefit and I m really glad.
I thought I am going to quit the ketone generic diet after my weight is ideal but now I am thinking stick to it for a long time.
Thank you
Fiona
Hey Fiona
It looks like you’re in Sydney, if so, we’re having a meatup on Sunday 17 September at my place in Warrawee. A great opportunity if you’ve got questions.
Here is a link to the details.
Dear Linda,
Thanks for the warm invitation. I wish I could go but I have to do the on call support for the entire Aug/Sep and the first two weeks weekend. Let’s keep in touch - Do you have a meetup team by any chance? I rarely use that app but I think it’s time to pick it up to find the cohort!
Thanks
Fiona
Do you enjoy reading? If so, I’d recommend “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Jason Fung. It’s VERY approachable, and it’s very much NOT a diet book. It is a very understandable, straightforward, and hype-free coverage of how a lot of what we’ve been taught about our metabolisms are not correct.
One of those things, addressed in his book and elsewhere, is that calories in does not always equal calories out.The only numbers that I watch are my carbs (mostly net, but also total) and I try to keep that as low as possible. Protein is also kind of important, but only (again, in my opinion) for troubleshooting stalls or glucose weirdness. I believe very strongly that if you aren’t hungry, you shouldn’t eat. And you certainly don’t have to eat.
Heck, look at @Brenda, she fasts for a few days every month, and has done some crazy long fasts, all while aggresively weight lifting, living and adventurous life, and in no way wasting away due to low energy and decreasing BMR.
It is definitely easy to eat more calories from carbs than from fat. Your body is programmed to want those things and to drive you to get as much as possible. But with fat, it’s a lot easier to listen to what your body is telling you, and to stop eating.
I hope this helps, and good luck with your journey!
Hi Christopher,
Thanks for the recommendation. I love reading but as you may have been aware of I’m not an English native speaker. Reading English books, except the ones related to my profession, is not easy but I will give it a try. I have got the book from Amazon and hopefully, it won’t include too many difficult terms.
My total carbs are 30-50 a day, all gained from green leaves, avocado and a bit of the meat. I am using an app calculate the total carbs only. I heard fitness pal can calculate the net carbs but I can’t find it from apple store
I also use the psyllium husk - I don’t even weight them - I think in total around the other 20-30g a day otherwise I will have constipation problem.
Again thanks for all these details. You definitely give me a lot of help!
Thanks
Fiona
Hi Fiona
If you send an email to ketosydney@gmail.com and let us know you want to stay in the loop for future events, we’ll make sure you are contacted when we arrange the next one. We plan on having one every couple of months.
Where in Sydney do you live?
Cheers
Linda
@carolo
Hi Linda,
Thank you, I’ve just sent it.
I’m living in south Sydney in Sutherland Shire.
Thanks
Qin