Frustrated!

(Diana) #1

Hey everyone! I’m new to the forum.
I started researching keto back in November of last year and started in December
Fell off around the holidays but I was only easing myself in and getting used to eating fat.

I started with my boyfriend in January and now he’s down over 70 and I’m down nothing.

My clothes aren’t looser and nothing has changed. I have net 20 carbs per day from vegetables, trace amounts in cheese etc.

I drink a lot of water and I generally really love this WOE

but its affecting our relationship. I’m so proud of him but all it does is remind me of how much NOTHING is happening for me.

Is it possible that keto just isn’t right for some people?

I have about 60 pounds I want to lose. I want to give up because I am finding this pointless. :weary:

(Raj Seth) #2

Try zero carb. If you have dieted before, your metabolism may be wrecked. Go hardcore keto. Eat a moderate amount of protein. Let fat be your entire energy source. Let your body slowly rebuild its metabolic health.
Keto is a process. Works at different pace for different folks. Men often lose quicker than women. Let Keto work. It does. Really.

(Ken) #3

You’re probably eating too many calories. Women often burn fat very efficiently. Try an initial 24hr fast, and adjust your calories down so you’re actually hungry when it’s time to eat. Do not eat if not actually hungry.

(Ashley) #4

Your probably not tracking macros, pay attention to your fat to protein to carb ratio, your also I’m assuming possibly eating the same amount as him? Which means you could be overeating?

(Diana) #5

I track everything on carb manager. I end the day at 1100-1300 calories. I make sure to not overeat. My ratio is 5% carbs 20% protein and the rest fat. I don’t eat much throughout the day because I am extremely satiated in this WOE

(Allie) #6

You need to fuel your body if you want it to cooperate with you. That’s not enough food tbh. The old calorie myth is holding you back.

Carbs below 20g, protein around 60g, and as much fat as is required to stop you being hungry. Do not restrict calories, make sure your body has what it needs to do what you want it to do.

(Alec) #7

That does not sound like enough to me. I think you should be eating more, not less. What are you eating? Could you give us a sample of a typical days food? People often think they are keto when they are not. How often do you eat?

Have you had any blood tests done? The key to losing weight is your insulin level. If you are insulin resistant and you snack, you won’t lose weight.

We want to help! We know it works, we just have to find your key.
Cheers
Alec

(Diana) #8

I don’t count calories. I only count my macros and make sure I have the right amount of fat. I’m saying that at the end of the day these are the calories that I’m averaging. I’m not starving at all. I feel extremely satisfied. But the weight loss is not happening while I have energy and im not hungry as often is great… I want the weight loss to happen lol

(Diana) #9

So in a typical day I have usually eggs with bacon and sausage with some shredded cheese, lunc is usually a salad filled with lots of chia and hemp seeds, olives, a little chicken, lots of olive oil, or I have a green shake which I have unsweetened almond milk, the greens powder, mct oil, half scoop of protein powder, and psyllium husk powder.
Dinner is usually a piece of meat the size of my hand cooked in avocado or coconut oil and a vegetable with butter.

I don’t bornally eat at night unless it’s that time of the month lol if so I do a keto chocolate mug cake with erythtitol.

If I feel the need for a snack I have almonds, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, or a string cheese

(Alec) #10

OK, if you’re not hungry, you shouldn’t eat more, but if you are snacking on nuts, I would say you are not fat adapted, and therefore your body is not burning your bodyfat effectively yet.

My recommendation: eat less salad/veg, have more straight out fat (especially your lunch, which sounds way too calorie restricted), try to avoid any snacking, try to up your cals to 1700-1800 (mostly fat), I would limit your eating window to 12 hrs per day, preferably 10 or even 8. This will reduce your overall insulin levels, which I suspect is the issue here.

One idea might be to do what the dudes have suggested to a couple of people: it might sound boring but just eat bacon and eggs for every meal for 2 weeks and see what happens!

One thing for sure, don’t keep doing what you’re doing. If you’ve done this for 6 months, and not lost anything, there is something wrong. We need to change it up a bit and try something different.

Let us know what you think and how you go if you choose to try some recommendations.

#11

Somethings wrong with what your eating, possibly you. We need a sample diet for a day or two to make sure it’s nothing obvious. Are you diabetic? Any medications that could be at fault? Are you working out?

Carbs, not net carbs. Especially when your troubleshooting. What is your ACTUAL carb count most days? Being below 20g NET is useless when your actual is in the 80’s because of sugar alcohols, weird fibers etc.

In over a decade of eating this way and having a ton of others do it, I’ve yet to see anybody not get their results when done correctly. Typically people that don’t loose are self sabotaging without realizing it.

EDIT: Just saw some samples, on it.

#12

Breakfast looks great, I’d can the chia and hemp seeds, the green shake scares me, how much and what is in it? “greens powder” also sounds like a potential problem. What protein powder? What kind of protein? Whey? Unless your lifting weights stay away from it until your adapted and even then you gotta be careful unless you actually have the demand for it. Byebye mug cake until your on track. Stick with REAL foods. Nuts are notorious for screwing people up.

(Diana) #13

I dont eat nuts often and if i do imeasure them out. I dont feel the urge to snack anymore which makes me incredibly happy. I feel very satiated and full with my meals. I feel the best ive felt in a long time minus the actual weight loss :pensive:o
I always check ingredients. My total carb count has never gone above 40 grams

Maybe I am not eating enough?

(Diana) #14

Lol i will get so sick of bacon and eggs but im not against givig it a whirl. I will take your advice and up my calories though

Its extremely difficult to get fat in though. I mean i cook everything in oil and butter as it is. I love cheese but i dont want to pver indulge on that either

(Alec) #15

I am guessing here, but I think you are filling up on “healthy” foods and not leaving enough room for fat. I think this would be the best way to be able to eat more fat, and up the calories. Don’t forget that calories in calories out does not work: the body simply compensates for high or low intake, which the conventional wisdom ignores.

I know what it feels like to have 60lbs to lose, and you must be mighty frustrated to see others succeeding when you aren’t. But please stick with it. Sometimes keto takes a while (although it shouldn’t take 6 months to work), and different people react to different keto nuances in different ways. The key point is, we know this works. Just KCKO, but in your case, shake it up a bit.

(Alec) #16

Diana
I think this is really important. If you feel the best you’ve felt in a long time, then you are on the right track. This is your body’s way of telling you it is healing itself (meaning it is regulating its hormones, and starting to work the way it is supposed to).

I have seen many comments from many people on this forum say “keto is about getting healthy, weight loss is a side effect”. I subscribe to this view. Stick with it, but shake it up a bit.

After you up the calories and if still no weight loss (after say 4-6 weeks), I would then recommend 2x36hr fasts per week for a month to see if that works. Fasting is keto on steroids, but not recommended if you are under eating as you are right now. You must make sure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs or it will go on strike, which is maybe where you are right now.

(Ken) #17

If you feel sated, and do not get hungry, your body is meeting it’s caloric requirements. That’s why you’re not losing fat. I felt that way for the first two years of my fat loss. When I adjusted my intake so I only ate when hungry, I ate OMAD and averaged a one to two pound loss per week.

(Jo) #18

I struggled with this too, and I asked in the forum. The answer I got is to try to get your calorie count up to about 1500-1600. Your metabolism has shut down and needs a push to start working again. You will probably temporarily gain some weight until your body recognizes it is ok to burn calories. Then you will start losing again.

This worked for me. YMMV.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #19

I am sorry to hear that.
Your boyfriend should be encouraging you, not making fun of your lack of progress, that’s not very supportive in my opinion.

Have you tried cutting dairy? Or fasting?
Please hang in there, I know it’s frustrating. Some of the other experienced ketoers might have more of an idea on what’s happening. I hope you work through it.

(Jay AM) #20

You may have misread. She didn’t say he was making fun of her lack of progress.

Diana, you’ve been given good advice above. I’d dump the green shake first, MCT oil is a very fast converter to ketones but it’s not great for satiety. Did you come from counting calories before this? Your food looks like when someone who counted calories comes to keto. They feel sated on less because their body is so used to not getting enough and they tend to eat stuff traditionally considered healthy, like the salad and green shake.

So, your plan of attack. Start with three meals a day and up your calories with fat. Butter, coconut oil, heavy cream, cheese, etc. Don’t snack. Snacking causes insulin spikes. When insulin is up, fat burn is stalled until it comes back down. If you feel the need to snack, eat a full meal instead with even more fat. Even if it was 2 hours since your last one. Try to get your calories up around 1600 at least. If you aren’t hungry at a meal time, just wait until you are and eat then. This might mean not eating breakfast and having an early lunch later and that’s fine. You will likely gain a small amount of temporary weight when you up calories as your body readjusts its BMR. What your scale can’t tell you is this weight gain isn’t fat. Also on your scale, stop using it for about 6-8 weeks. It gives you no useful information. We tend to want to use a scale to make sure whatever we are doing isn’t making us worse. But, you can drink a lot of water one day and show up a couple pounds heavier the next day. Is this fat? No. I’m also not telling you to get rid of your mug cake. If you want to eat that, make sure to eat it with a meal though and not a later on dessert. Eventually, you’ll want to find a natural transition to eating just twice a day. This will help keep insulin low. But, it’s not great if you aren’t already fat adapted so, you want to achieve that first.

Next, stop comparing yourself to your boyfriend. Men lose weight very easily while women don’t. We have a lot more working against us. If you take birth control or have PCOS, this can cause slower but not impossible fat loss. It can also cause water retention which shows as weight on a scale. We also have monthly hormone cycles that throw everything up in the air. But, it is possible to lose fat. It just takes more time.