Help - I am a newbie and not losing anything

newbies
#1

I have been on keto for approx a month and have not lost a pound. I have been using a carb app so not sure what I am doing wrong. Frustrated!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

You’ll need to provide a few more details to get any useful advice. In the meantime, check out the following if you haven’t yet done so.

(Susan) #3

Welcome to the forum, @Funfood

I agree with @amwassil about needing more information --but also the link he gave you is excellent and very concise and might resolve your issues reading it too =).

#4

My go to meals are eggs, bacon, cheese, Avocados etc. I’m just getting into recipes that keep me in the 75, 20, 5 range. Thank you for your suggestions, I will look into it.

(Polly) #5

Welcome to this forum @Funfood

It might be sensible to check that there are not too many additives in your bacon and cheese. Choosing the bacon without sugars ( things that end in -ose on the label) and cheese which is as close to artisan cheese as possible rather than processed slices or shredded cheese with starch added may help. Whereabouts in the world are you? Obviously, different products are available in different countries.

The next question is have you measured with a tape measure? Sometimes inches go before pounds.

#6

@Funfood
Welcome to the forum. I was also almost disappointed that I didn’t lose all the water weight that others did in the beginning. It amazed me to read that some people lost something like 20 lbs in the first 4 weeks! But later I realised that these are people whose starting weight was much higher than mine. This could be one reason. I lost around 2.5 kilos in the first 4 weeks. Not a lot but ok. Now I have been in for 2.5 months and it is still only 5 kilos. One has to be patient though, because after about 3-6 months when we actually become “fat adapted” the hunger goes away, and then we don’t need to eat so much anymore. IF and other modes of fasting becomes possible. I did 60% fat, 30% proteins and 10% carbs. If my carbs were 25g one day, I lost nothing. So I have to keep below 20g carbs in order to lose anything at all. Even if my proteins were too high it wasn’t a good thing. So maybe you have to check what you are eating for hidden carbs? Another thing that can happen with some people but not all, is that artificial sweeteners can make an insulin reaction which stalls weight loss for some. I ate keto sweets anyway because I could not give them up yet. I would call the first 3-6 months before fat adaptation the “induction phase”, where we have to tweak here and there and get used to this way of eating without missing a lot and enjoying our food along the way.
Otherwise I would remain on keto and wait for fat adaptation when you will be amazed that you no longer need any breakfast. ( In the beginning I was enthralled with eggs and bacon for breakfast. EVERY DAY. Right now I don’t even want any breakfast.) I haven’t been on the scale for a while and might go check today, but I feel good and my clothes have become a fraction looser.

(Jane) #7

What is your current weight and height? How often during the day do you eat?

#9

Percentages are next to worthless, even more so if you’re trying to lose weight, because your need for fats can also be satisfied by stored body fat in place of ingested fat. And your need for protein should primarily be based on your lean body mass. It’s not a function of your caloric intake.

You should determine your macros in grams. The proteins macro is a lower limit. The carbs and fats macros are upper limits. You should not be eating to meet the carbs and fats macros if you’re not hungry.

Early on, you may find you need to eat more because you’re hungry. Just feed that hunger fats and proteins, but as few additional carbs as possible. Once adapted, many find that their hunger goes down.

(Windmill Tilter) #10

I hear what you’re saying, but that ratio isn’t useless per se. If you’re eating a nice fatty ribeye, it’s going to naturally come in at around 70/30 if it hasn’t been over-trimmed by the butcher. This ratio of fats to protein will be reasonably successful for most people whether they are 400lbs or 150lbs. I’m not saying it’s perfect or optimal, but it’ll usually work.

I don’t manage these ratios personally, but I still track my kcals and macros every day. My rule of thumb is to only buy foods with 1 ingredient. After I’m done eating for the day, my ratio usually falls reasonably close to 75/25/5. I’d bet that’s true for most people here even though it’s unintentional.

That’s my 2 cents anyway.

#11

I look at it this way:

  • There are no essential carbs, so that percentage could be zero.
  • The body can satisfy its protein needs either from what is eaten or from protein sources within the body, like muscle tissue. I know which I would prefer.
  • Although some essential fats can only be externally sourced, the body can satisfy the rest of its fat needs either from what is eaten or from stored body fat. For weight loss, I know which I would prefer. What does it do to the ratios of caloric intake if a significant chunk of the fat needs are coming from stored body fat?

The percentages are going to vary, maybe significantly, depending on how much lean body mass one has, how active one is, and how overweight one is, among other factors.

70/30 might be good for an active carnivore at their ideal weight.

When I started at 650 pounds, 75/20/5 would be ridiculous.

#12

75/25/5 may be fine for many but percentages don’t really matter. Not they are important but the grams should be okay. If one eats right and happen to have these percentages, great but if it’s 60% or 90% fat (but the grams are fine), it’s just as good.
I have almost no chance to lose fat with 5% carbs (let alone 10%, that’s a common number too but it’s surely impossible or not advisable on keto for many, maybe most of us), I prefer 1-2%, maybe 3. 75% fat is overeating in my case, I almost never go over 70 but 65% is fine and probably more frequent. Many people need/eat more protein and/or less calories than me so even lower fat percentages must be not rare and more ideal than my 65-70.

(Heidi ) #13

The very best advise I can give after 3 years and a tone of learning is this. Educate yourself on how insulin works. Full stop. With that said, It’s very possible that you have a metabolic healing to do before you see weight and shape changes. Health first, body composition will follow after that. If you happen to have low insulin sensitivity, then until that sensitivity is restored through a low carb diet and ideally, fasting, you will not see the fat metabolism you’d like. This will change if you are vigilant and focus on healing first. In order to metabolize stored fat (and thus produce ketones) insulin must be low enough. There are so many factors… listen to Dr Ben Bickman. He’s my favorite speaker on the subject. STICK WITH IT!

#14

Just stay under 20 carbs and read all labels, sugar hides in everything commercial and has many names. It will kill what you are trying to do. Beyond that, don’t worry, be happy and stay under 20 carbs.

#15

5’3” 185lbs. I eat 3 meals or two and a snack. I track all food on a food tracker so try to do the 70 20 5

#16

5 g of carbs sounds very harsh to me. Thats like full fledged Atkins. If I eat above 20g of carbs I stall. But 20g or less is good. I usually do 60% 30% and 10% carbs. Seeing that some carbs are in veg and dairy and even eggs contain carbs -I dont usually go much lower. Lately I have eaten maybe 10g some days- but 5 g seems awfully low to me. If you can manage it then fine. But I like to cook myself some good meals and that makes it hard to keep the carbs that low.

(Jane) #17

So how many g of carbs does that work out to per day? Percentages don’t tell me anything without knowing the calories you consume per day. I could calculate the carb grams with that info but if you are tracking everything you already know.