Hi everyone, I have been on keto for about 3 months now and have lost about 17 pounds since I started. I am 5"4 , 39 years old and 137 pounds, and currently have 27% body fat and go for 30 minute brisks walks each day. I’m trying to get back to 120 pounds. Since I am relatively new to keto I have made many mistakes but have managed to lose a good amount of weight, however when I started to see lots of hairloss and noticed I was feeling tired I realized I needed to alternate between more nutrient dense proteins and increase my protein intake. So now for the past 2 weeks I have been gaining weight steadily approximately 2 pounds now and I noticed that my belly fat has increased so its definitely not muscle increase. I’m currently eating about 30g protein per day give or take and I do feel better energy wise, the hair is still falling but I’m hoping that will pass. According to ruled.me I’m supposed to be eating 1281 calories total, 20g carbs, 30 g protein and 120g fat. I am following this but still gaining weight, I can feel my belly fat expanding. I have never been diabetic and I’m not on any medication and otherwise healthy. When I was eating less protein I was loosing consistently and now that I’ve increased protein I’m gaining. I wouldn’t mind if it was muscle mass increase but I’m feeling my belly is getting rounder and bigger. On top of that I noticed that increasing my protein has caused me some insomnia. Can someone please shed some light? Thank you so much.
Gaining weight on keto, protein problems
What. My height is the same as yours, I am fattier and more active.
I eat 100-180g protein a day… It’s high but not extreme (others eat this much too) and it works just fine.
I would be okay with 70-100 (if I could figure out how to go that low) but 30g is insanelty low for everyone! Even people sensitive to protein eat more!!!
You can’t imagine being even remotely okay if you practically only eat fat. 30g isn’t enough for anything.
Gaining would be my least problem while eating this. I would worry about my surely shrinking muscles and all the problems too low protein causes. Our body badly needs protein for many things and you don’t eat it, it seems.
No one and no program or site can tell you how much to eat. It’s best to eat according to hunger and other signs (not everyone has the “right” hunger signs and it’s no problem as long as it doesn’t trigger undereating) first. And if it doesn’t work, I still wouldn’t stay hungry, just try to change something, eliminating items, different timing, less stress if possible… So many things can interfere.
You say you had LESS than 30g protein a day before…? (How is that humanly possible? Okay, we are different but still…)
I quickly look at the calculator at ruled.me, I deliberately kept the protein the lowest, default value (0.8g/lbs) but the calculator suggested up to 1g/lbs for light activity. That’s higher I consider just adequate for much higher activity, it seems this site encouranges being generous with protein 
I got this for you there:
I wouldn’t follow these, I follow my own body but I am patient and never lost on keto so I understand your attitude is vastly different. Still, these numbers are just guesswork, probably using some statistics but you are an individiual. Your needs aren’t even the same every day.
Hi Elizabeth! WELCOME!
My goals are similar to yours. I am 5’6. I weigh 140 pounds, 26 percent body fat. I am 52 years old. I walk about 1.5 hours per day. I would like a flat belly and to be as lean as possible.
Yesterday was a typical day. I had 6 grams of carbs, 149 of fat, and 144 of protein. I almost hit 2000 calories. I try to hit that. I don’t always.
1 percent carbs
69 fat
30 percent protein
I have been at this for over a month and I lost 20 pounds so far. The next 20 will be harder, but the priority is becoming insulin sensitive so I am keeping fat high and carbs low.
I take pictures and measurements, because my scale and eyes aren’t dependable.
Anyway, I just wanted to pipe in and say, “Me too!” 
We are goal cousins. 
I totally have insomnia too. I like the alone time in the morning - it is okay, but I do want to quit coffee. I drink three cups a day and it affects me more now that I am not carbed up.
I take melatonin at night. It is my only med/supplement atm. I love it, but I look forward to my rythym settling down so I can quit that too!
Hi, I’m 51, same height and only a few pounds less than you. I’ve been on keto (20g net carbs at first, then
30g of net carbs/day later) since about begin 2020. I consume a lot more proteins than you. I’m not losing weight, but I keep it the way it is with ease. I’m not trying to lose weight and my health is good (no diabetes, etc).
Yesterday, a typical day, I consumed about 110g of proteins. Lots of eggs and porc. My carbs were ‘used’ in a small lemon cheesecake (erythritol, cheese, lemon zest, heavy cream).
I haven’t experienced any hair loss.
Just for info, in case you wonder what happens with others in the same situation as you.
If I had to guess what’s going on with you, I’d bet on lack of proteins, but that’s just a guess.
Good luck with your weightloss!
30g protein, are you trying to kill yourself? Seriously, that’s insane. Unless you’re very small and very inactive, you need way more protein, and way more food in general.
Hello!
I’m curious: I thought people took melatonin to sleep better. If you’re taking it and not sleeping well, why do you love it? What does it do for you, if I may ask?
I suffer from insomnia, too. Lately, I’m drinking less water later in the day and going to bed much earlier. It seems to help and some nights I sleep well. I also listen to podcasts at night, in bed. I think the people talking have a good effect on me, like someone telling a fairy tale. It puts me to sleep.
I’d say now I’m sleeping relatively well 50% of the nights. I hope it gets better!
Good luck with your goals!
Hi!
I love the melatonin because it puts me right out. After I take it I start to get heavy and sleepy. You know how kids can fall asleep wherever and whenever when they are tired? It is like that for me.
I go to sleep around 9 - 11 ish and wake up…anywhere between 1 am and 5.
So getting to sleep is no problem. But staying asleep is. (The sleep is deep and dreamless - not patchy)
So I don’t blame the melatonin- it has been a good friend that gets me to sleep. It is the coffee that is not such a friend, I suspect.
Given your weight and lean mass you should be eating in the range of 50-70 g of protein a day, which means 200-280 g of meat (since most meats are roughly 1/4 protein). The key to a ketogenic diet is to keep carbohydrate intake low, not to starve yourself. Starvation provokes the body to react by slowing down the basal metabolic rate and by avoiding all unnecessary energy expenditure. If you want to shed some body fat, this is exactly the wrong way to go about it.
I would strongly advise increasing your protein intake, and also your calories. As long as you are controlling your carbohydrates, you can prioritise protein and fill in with fat. Listen to your body and be sure to get enough food. Eat when you are hungry, and don’t stop eating until your hunger is satisfied. At first, this will seem like a lot of food, but as your insulin drops and stops interfering with your appetite hormones, your appetite will regulate itself, and you will find yourself eating at a level that will allow body fat and dietary fat to be metabolised. Your body will respond to the increased food intake by ramping up the metabolism, spending energy in extra ways, and even wasting energy.
Hair loss, by the way, can accompany any change in diet, and it doesn’t mean that anything is wrong. It generally normalises itself fairly quickly.
Another thing to be aware of is that the last 20 pounds come off more slowly than the first 200. Since you are close to your goal weight, just be prepared for it to take some time to get there. This is normal, and everyone experiences it.
Nonsense. That’s a recipe for disaster! Eating so little protein and reduced calories you are at risk of Kwashiorkor. If you’ve been following those macros for three months you’ve probably slowed your metabolism as well. My suggestion is to eat more protein and fat, less carbs, and more overall. At 39, you probably need a lot more than daily 30 minute ‘brisk walks’. I’m 75 and walk everywhere I go. I have a full time job that requires standing and walking for 7 hours each shift. @Ellacosew is 52 and walks 1.5 hours per day. “Eat less move more” is baloney, but “Eat more move more” works.
You will probably gain more weight when you increase your overall intake. But if you also increase your physical activity significantly, the weight will eventually come off again. You need to eat enough to boost your metabolism back to normal.
PS: As noted by @GME below, only assuming your thyroid function is relatively normal. If not, that changes everything.
It could also be your thyroid. Weight gain and hair loss are classic symptoms. Also being cold when other aren’t, fatigue, mental fog, dry skin, and many more.
Excellent point, Gina!
You’re going to loose any muscle you have eating that little protein, as a result your BF% will go up!
Hi everyone, thank you so much for all of the suggestions and advice. I thought I needed less protein because I have a mostly sedentary lifestyle with a desk job and didn’t want it to turn into more fat. I usually have 30 min brisk walks in the evening because with the insomnia I’m just to tired for a real workout. I eat 2 meals per day and have already eaten 25g of protein for breakfast this morning and will do that again for my second meal. I am definitely not trying to starve myself. I want to be healthy and feel great but loosing the last 17 pounds is important to me. This is my first time doing keto and just trying to figure this all out. I’m also going to to increase my brisk walks to 1 hour per day in slow increments and see if I can get to a good place where I can start loosing weight again, since its my last 17 pounds to get to my 120 goal I will try to be patient with myself. I don’t have any thryroid issues, I actually got my bloodwork done about 1.5 months into keto because I was worried about keto being bad for me (again I’m new to keto so naturally one would have doubts) and thyroid hormones were under normal range. The bad cholesterol went up, that was a first for me but I think with time that will normalize. The hairloss is a concern, the last time I had this kind of fall out was when I started taking birth control pills in my early 20’s. Anyway, I hope this will alo pass. Going keto has been a blessing for me because I am allergic to gluten and have been able to loose weight so I will keep going and hopefully learning what works for me as I go. Since I’m currently doing approx 1280 calories should I try increasing that to maybe 1400? Any advice? Thank you.
The symptoms of low thyroid are near enough exactly the same as those caused by undereating in general and undereating will mess with your thyroid hormones. If I were going to have my thyroid hormones tested I’d try to eat better in the lead up to the blood draw.
Thank you @TheOrangePimpernel this was just a regular bloodwork from my annual physical. I wasn’t specifically testing for thyroid, but I did make sure to include it as its always a good idea to check it. I will be getting bloodwork again once I feel I’m in a good place with keto in the next few months to make sure that is still okay and also to see if LDL cholesterol has improved.
Yes, stop limiting calories completely and eat when your hungry. Only count carbs, eat protein and fats to your appetite. If you feel you absolutely HAVE to count calories then do it to ensure a minimum intake of around 1600.
If the ruled.me calculator is is giving people those kinds of numbers then Craig needs to be made aware so he can fix it as that is just dangerous.
My weight is currently 120lbs, I count nothing, not even carbs as I just keep them as low as I can, and eat whenever I’m hungry.
You are losing hair because your protein is wayyyyyy too low. I’m 54 and 5’3”. I eat over 100 grams of protein a day.
As a petite person, you need to eating only nutrient dense foods. Eating mostly fat does not provide your body with all the protein, vitamins, and minerals it needs.
Think of this: 30 grams of protein, 20 grams of carbs. That’s not even 200 calories a day of the nutrient containing foods. Fat has some but not much.
Thank you so much for this information @Shortstuff, it really does make a huge difference getting advice from people who know what they are doing. Yesterday I had around 55g of protein, the highest since I started keto and I felt very satiated, also around 1400 calories. I went for a 2 hour walk because being Saturday evening I decided to push myself a little and this morning I see I lost 1 pound. Wow. I’m definitely going to continue this and hopefully increase protein. I would really like my hair back! I definitely can’t do 2 hours of walking each day but I will try for 1 hour for sure. @Shortstuff @VirginiaEdie may I ask what your work outs looks like? Are they daily? Thank you.