I’m not going to give up I just want to know where I’m going wrong . I lost 5 pounds my first two weeks on keto (total ) the 3rd week I went up a pound and the 4th week up another pound. I’m trying to wrap my brain around why . I did read to not eat as much dairy or nuts I just don’t know the validity of how that can stump you . All last week all I ate was low moisture string cheese and bacon because that would fill me up and my ketone levels on my moniter we’re good . I find it easy to just eat cheese and bacon I don’t want to always be cooking like an actual meal . I just need tips on other easy things to eat . I’m going to give keto another few weeks since I’m adding excersize in but I lost more weight calorie restricting and eating fruits and grain whole wheat bread than I have on keto and that’s frustrating . My moniter says im doing right but my body is not budging .
Gaining weight on keto :(
Well, first off, scales are useless to measure progress. Second, you didn’t gain a pound of fat two weeks running. You lost initial water weight and then, for 2 weeks, you had some water weight regained. Water weight fluctuates. If you weighed yourself every hour every day, you’d see that your weight fluctuates all day long. Sometimes in multiple pounds between fluctuations. Sure, calorie restricting works until you’ve reduce your BMR to the point that you can’t maintain it any longer and then suddenly gain weight while calorie restricting. I mean, no one can argue that someone with long term anorexia isn’t skinny. We could argue that they aren’t healthy though. Being ketogenic means getting out of that dieting for weight loss mindset. Most of us have done that our whole lives, did it work? Clearly not if we’re here.
It is not necessary to cook all the time. Not only is fast food an option but, cold foods are also an option like ham with cream cheese for example. I’m leaving my general recommendations for newbies below. See where you’re at in relation to them.
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. People like the idea of numbers because it feels like control. That’s an illusion. The only number that can potentially provide actionable information for most people is a blood glucose reading. While numbers might be interesting data to track, they aren’t something to chase. Everyone’s numbers are different, everyone changes in different ways.
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)
How much do you have to lose, how tall are you, and what’s your exercise level?
I weight once a week. I’m 5’5 175 pounds, I would like to be in the 140 range so about 30 pounds
Oh and my excersize I’m doing is walking 30-40 minutes on my lunch break at work
The scale is evil… hide it for a while! I, too, am numbers obsessed, and even though intellectually I know that peeing on keto sticks, breathing into a monitor, and pricking my finger for blood samples is not necessary or even accurate, I still do it to amuse myself and mostly to keep myself motivated. But if you get discouraged or frustrated when the numbers are disappointing, don’t do it!
I was shocked when I pulled out the tape measure. The scale said I hadn’t budged in a while but the tape measure proved it wrong. Jot down some measurements and check those in a week or two. I fluctuate like crazy with water weight, can’t even get my rings off today so if I got on the scale I know it would show a gain.
KCKO.
Sue
Okay, so let me lay out a theoretical. Now, I’m obviously not a proponent of making the scale the sole measure of success here, but let’s play out a story.
Monday you weigh. You’re 175.
Tuesday 175
Wednesday 174.2
Thursday 173.8
Friday 174.2
Saturday 173.3
Sunday 174.5 (ate some extra cheese, had a mild inflammatory reaction, drank some extra water, retained some extra water, have a lotta poop in the system…whatever, pick your extra weight source)
Monday you weigh in at 175 again.
So you either have to weigh more often to get a better picture, care a little less about the scale, or break out the measuring tape. How are you feeling? How are your clothes fitting? How is your energy? How are your hunger signals? Those are all non-scale markers of “I’m doing good stuff here”.
ALSO us ladies use the extra HGH keto brings out in us much better than our male counterparts, so while the scale sometimes doesn’t move, the inches do. For guys it’s the opposite - the scale will keep going, but the inches won’t go as fast. That’s a Megan Ramos saying, I can’t take credit for it. So I’m about 175, down from 250, 28F 5’10". I’m down to my last 20-30, and it’s going at a snail’s pace. However, I am losing inches like crazy and gaining muscle definition everywhere. HGH makes our bones more dense (which is awesome for combatting any risk of osteoporosis!), and promotes lean muscle mass. I don’t even friggin work out, and it looks like I do.
There’s a lot of reports of people hitting a tiny stall around weeks 3-6. Atkins had a name for it…the worst acronym ever.
Post
Induction
Stall
Syndrome.
PISS. Yes. That was the catchy acronym they settled on. If this is the case, your two choices are either KCKO (it’ll pass, I promise), or incorporate some fasting, either intermittent or otherwise to jump start the party.
So either 1. You don’t have all the data. or 2. You’ve hit the normal PISS stall.
Jennifer is correct. I am in week five, and though I am only five pounds lighter, people think I have lost a ton more weight. My clothes are looser, I look thinner, and I even feel lighter on my feet!
only dairy with high carbs contents are not
adviced such as milk and yogurt.
even small intake of milk and yogurt should not
violate keto diet as long as the daily carbs less
than 20 grams.
other dairy should be ok
The string cheese I have says zero carbs , it’s weird cause some cheeses have like 1 or 2 grams but I get the 0g even though it doesn’t taste a good . So most days I don’t even hit 20 carbs in a day since I’m really only eating the string cheese and bacon lol I usually have salad at lunch just to change it up and maybe a few almonds so I would say in a day Iv been lately under 10 or 15 grams of carbs but like I said there have been days were I only had a few carbs in a day because all I ate was cheese and bacon. My stomach hurt though I think it makes me constipated and backed up when I have just that
I’ll have to get a tape measurer. Initially when I lost the first 5 pounds my clothes fit looser but I don’t feel any extra looseness now lol my energy is fine for the most part , it still shocks me that I’m never hungry or I can go forever without eating. When I am hungry it’s not like a raging hunger like it used to be before keto where you are like omg I have to eat im so hungry . Now whenever I feel like I’m getting hungry I eat a little bit like a salad with low carb dressing mixed with mct oil or I’ll have cheese or a few almonds , then I’ll chug water and wait like 20 minutes and then the hunger kinda passes lol I eat a lot of little I wouldn’t even call them meals like I never eat a full meal anymore , whenever I try and I have like a plate of food I end up eating one thing and I’m full so I find it best to just eat little bits as I’m hungry ( maybe I’m wrong for this but I was wasting more food and felt like I was making too much to eat before) on weekends it’s easier for me to go longer without eating , yesterday I work up at 7am I had coffee and then didn’t eat till about 1. Some days I’m hungrier than other days . Some days I eat once and I feel like something is wrong with me that I’m not hungry but I go with it lol it’s weird I haven’t figured it out or gown my body is adjusting to it yet , I try to listen to my bodies needs and just go from there . I do notice my body is looking a little different , I have fat places I didn’t notice before but maybe because my body is now changing and so I notice those areas now more. I’m also loosing my butt and not my gut lol which is disappointing but I can get it back by going to the gym, I just want to be closer to my goal weight before I start defining muscles and such
I think it is important that we like what we eat
If we do not sooner or later we will quit.
that is why I like the keto over atkins.
what I am trying to say that cheese with
slightly more carbs but You like is better
than cheese with zero carbs but does not
taste good.
the later may cause keto termination in a
state of lack of well.
I’m planning to write longer on this subject, but I am growing concerned with the way Keto is developing.
For people who failed on CICO the answers were you are doing something wrong based on eating too many calories or not moving enough.
This “if you were a better person” view is now permeating keto thinking. The science is not settled and we don’t know everything yes from our perspective it all sounds logical and plausible but didn’t we all think the same with CICO?
We all need to be careful as the tone is if you fail at keto you must be doing it wrong. As we know from CICO, people would be highly disciplined (slashing calories and exercising) and not succeed. They blamed themselves and so did all those around them, they were weak.
Those coming across from CICO to keto are likely just as disciplined and determined to get their health back. If that statement annoys you then take a deep breath because that is the shift in tone I’m detecting. So perhaps just perhaps we don’t yet have the full answer.
Blaming an individual which in keto world is to question (almost interrogate) anyone not succeeding is destructive.
We must follow the science and for a significant number keto isn’t working. We only hear from the brave few prepared to take the interrogation because they want to succeed I suspect their are many morr who can’t make it work but stay silent.
Real science wins not by focusing on those it works for but for those it fails. For in those not seeing the success there may well be useful insights.
Perhaps if the CICO lovers had listened to those it wasn’t working for rather than berating and dismissing, we would never have arrived at the appalling health issues we now face.
I believe doctors are told only 50% of what you’ll learn will still be right in 10 years we just don’t know which 50%. That is probably true for keto too.