Hi All,
I start keto 3 days ago after coming off HCG and I have gained a kg.
My macros have been spot on as well as my calorie intake.
I’m hoping it’s due to the fact that HCG is so restrictive that my poor body is adjusting to actually getting some nutrients. For those of you unfamiliar with HCG it’s a 500 cal a day diet with zero fat and very very low carbs.
As you all have experience, is this just my body adjusting to having some actual food in it or is keto not for me?
I’m 173cm, 78.8kg (was 77.8 3 days ago), I wish to lose 10kg. I do HIIT 4 times a week.
My calories are set at 1265 to 1300. My macros are set at 70 fat, 20 protein and 10 carbs. I use MFP to track.
Just a bit scared as most of us are when the scales go the wrong way I used to weigh 93kg, don’t ever want to go back there.
Any insight would be much appreciated.
Gaining in the beginning
Well, let’s talk. First off, you went from extreme calorie restricting and yes you will gain weight now that you’re eating again and it may last for a while as your metabolism repairs the damage. It won’t continue forever and you likely won’t go back to your original weight. Now, why are you still calorie restricting? Your calories are very very low and so are your macros, especially for your activity level. At this stage in your journey, you aren’t excessively heavy so, you may see some water loss initially but, fat loss may come slowly. You are likely gaining or maintaining muscle with HIIT. I’m leaving my general recommendations for newbies below and if you have questions, please ask.
We have a few sayings here, “keep calm, keto on” and “trust the process.” Keto isn’t a quick weight loss diet. It’s a health gaining way of eating with fat loss as a side effect. If the scale is an unhealthy obsession, put it away for a couple of months or give it to a neighbor you don’t like.
There are two phases to ketosis and a ketogenic lifestyle.
Nutritional ketosis is phase one. Your body begins to produce and uptake some ketones while dumping the rest. It will still search for glucose to use as fuel. In this phase it’s not an efficient process. It has to work actively to get rid of stored glycogen, clean up excess blood sugar, and turn on the ability to use ketones.
Fat adaptation is phase two. Your body is efficiently producing ketones from intake and stored body fat and is also using them efficiently for energy. It takes around 6-8 weeks of strict keto to achieve for many but not all.
The basic “rules” I go by and many others can agree with especially for beginners are:
*20g net carbs max (you might tolerate more but, starting out, 20g net carbs or less will get you into ketosis.)
*Moderate protein (Moderate means eating different meats and eggs. Preferably meats with their own fat or meats you will add fat to. We aren’t trying to eat protein to be full, we want to add enough fat to our meals to be full with. If you are searching for a number, 1g-1.5g per kg of lean bodyweight is a good goal based on the 2 Dudes recommendations.)
*Fat to satiety (add fat to every meal and, if you are hungry, eat more fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. It is energy.)
*Do not restrict calories
*Do not exercise excessively in an effort to lose weight
*Drink plenty of water
*Get plenty of sodium and other electrolytes (Try homemade ketoaide)
Thanks so much! I have adjusted my numbers in the app and will aim for that tomorrow.
I count calories because I assume you still require a deficit to lose weight, even on keto? Plus I am an over eater big time. This helps me stop. I never feel full, ever.
There are differing opinions on CICO. And, one camp is no, no deficit needed. And, I dare you to try and overeat fat sources. Sit down and just really try. You will get sick and possibly puke. I’ll share a good link below.
Lol, omg that concept is so scary to me! My whole life has been about restriction, even as a kid my mum put me on diets because I was fat.
I will have to ease into this frame of mind I think. Right now while I’m gaining due to the repair work happening, i will leave myself at 1300. I will increase in a couple of weeks.
Oh and I got surprised with a trip away this weekend, not good for someone learning a new way of eating. Any tips on eating out. Breakfast is easy but lunch snacks and dinner scare me.
Yeah I dare you!
Well maybe not some one did that for me and it ended badly.
I am firmly in the camp of don’t cut calories below maintain esp when you are new, let things happen for a bit, your body has to sort. I think most people to struggle to make the macro in the first couple weeks, part of the reasoning is for you to train your body to understand satiey and full signaling. And for some people it can take a while, to get that right. Don’t feel compelled to eat to macro, but you should try. If you are still hungry and you hit your protien target only eat fat the rest of the way. Most people cannot actually eat enough fat until a week or two in. At 3 days you are just starting to get things rolling, although you may have been more ketogenic than most people if you restricted carbs.
Not sure, you could easily test with pee sticks, or buy a cheap breath meter. What were the macros like on your past diet, that would be a good indicator of what was happening.
You might try eliminating the snacks and eating more during the meal to get full enough to carry you to the next meal. When we eat insulin usually rises which is a bad thing and every time you snack you are starting the insulin going again.
I know its hard at first but something to work on.
Haha, macros were crap, I did the HCG protocol. It was zero fat, below 20g carbs and only 500 calories. Never again, it was horrendous and I felt like I was dying, literally! I can’t believe I did that to my poor body.
How long were you doing that, and how long in general have you been calorie restricting? I may have some special advice for you.
Ok so I have been restricting calories for my whole life, on and off. I did the HCG protocol for 16 days and couldn’t take it anymore, I had an out of control binge afternoon that ended it, all high sugar foods, sugar is always my usual downfall I am an addict. I’ve been on keto now for 3 days.
Ok that is not bad, But I would bet you are in ketosis already pretty good I would bet. I would really actually increase your intake of fat to the gain weight level for the next few days, say 3 or 4 you will need to get your BMR rate up there after that experience. Or just eat to till full carefully for the next few days which ever comes first. I would try and be heavy on butter or HWC if possible, or coconut oil. You don’t have to but I would try it, and ignore the scale for a little bit. Go for not being hungry and feeling good right at this moment, then try and use the maintain macros for a while say around 3 weeks.
Are you cold a lot? cold limbs fingers etc?
Not really cold, hard to tell as it’s that time of year when the weather is turning so yeh I guess I have felt colder when no one else in the house is.
I’m so scared to up my calorie intake as I have already gained a kilo since starting keto. This is the lightest I’ve been in years and I’m scared to go back.
I cook everything in butter and add butter or cream to most foods and drinks, I’m doing well at hitting my macros and I pre plan days and meals to avoid stuffing up.
I’m 42, I have to stop dicking around and get this right, I think this way of life will really suit me, even my intense sugar cravings are going and it’s only been 3 days. I set my macros at 5% carb, 25% protien and 70% fat after advice from a user here.
Felicity,
If you get some free time you might read through this thread. A lot of your questions were answered her as well as some great advice.
Stay strong!
Thanks so much everyone for all your help I will KCKO and check back in few days, fingers crossed there’s no more gaining, I’m happy to stall until my body is ready but the gaining makes me so unhappy.
That’s why you need to put your scale away. Seriously. You have a damaged metabolism like most of us that have found keto and causing further damage to it because you’re afraid of your scale isn’t going to help at all. Would you let a stranger walk up to someone in your life and say, “You’re fat and you’ve gained weight!” That makes them feel bad? Your family? Best friend? I would hope not. So stop letting your scale do it to you.
The idea that we have any control is an illusion we create. We’re taught to stare at a scale and then determine our emotions based on whether the number it shows us is higher or lower than the week before. Based on that number we agonize over each measurement of food and feel guilty if we’re not perfect. The truth is, the only thing we control is the physical object we put into our mouths. Calorie counts on labels aren’t always accurate, the scale can go up or down if we stand on it differently than we did the time before or if it sits on a new spot on the floor, we have no clue how many calories we actually use (we can sort of guess but it’s not excellent.) And somehow, we still think that our body with a million complexities can be so simple.
We also fear the idea of giving up the control we think we have by getting rid of our vices. Getting rid of the scale, not counting calories obsessively, cutting calories and agonizing over each crumb. This is how a dieter thinks. Keto is not dieting. Being in ketosis is utilizing a complex metabolic pathway that already exists biologically. Our body does not care what arbitrary number you use to judge it by and it doesn’t know what a calorie is. There are either things you’ve eaten or not. There is either eating enough or not. And being in ketosis is about selecting what you eat to reduce the insulin and glucose bath our bodies have been subjected to.
Two things you need to understand, and then I’m going to tell you a story.
CICO is horseshit. If you restrict calories on keto in the beginning, YOU WILL FAIL. At least weight-loss wise; you may feel a lot better, but you can not restrict calories and heal your metabolism.
Trust the process. Do everything @J_A-M told you in that first reply. Eat AT OR ABOVE maintenance until you are at least marginally fat-adapted. I will add that you need LOTS OF SALT and lots of water, especially at first, or you will get “keto flu” and feel terrible. Processing fat into energy takes more electrolytic processing than eating carbs.
Now that story. I am a 63 YO hormone deranged female, and have been keto right at a year. I restricted calories when I started, because I was previously eating less than 1100 calories and losing little, if any, weight. When I started trusting the process, I decided to go all in, increased my caloric intake to 1300, and WHOOSH. The scale started dropping. After about a month of this, I stalled again. My body had once again adapted to what I was doing. Again, I increased my caloric intake to between 14-1500. ANOTHER WHOOSH. What I’m telling you here is …
THIS AIN’T YOUR MAMA’s DIET - OR YOUR PREVIOUS HIGH CARB ONE. 
It heals what ails you, it improves your metabolism, it gives you energy without reserve once you are fat adapted. Yes, you might gain some weight at first, and I get the overeater thing because I’m one, too - I ate WAY too much yesterday and today and I’m thinking it’s a really good day to start a fast tomorrow. I’ll probably be able to go 4 days, maybe 5, without blinking an eye because my body is SICK of food right now. How’s THAT for an eye-opener? 
One more piece of advice: back off on the HIIT for a while until you’re fat-adapted. You will go through a phase where you can barely drag yourself through it and wonder what is going on - until you’re truly fat-adapted, when you can start ramping back up to where you were with a new store of boundless energy. If you want to do something, many people suggest doing some weights - slowly, with heavy weights, to failure. Check in the exercise subforum for more info on that. But high aerobic activity is going to be difficult for a while.
FEAR NOT! Once you get going on keto, you will never want to go back to your old way of living. Within a few weeks, your sugar cravings will be controlled (as opposed to controlling you), and you won’t believe how good that feels. All kinds of things will get better. I look forward to your first NSV post! Welcome - we’re glad you’re here. 