HELP! Not making progress... GAINING weight

(Samantha Bullock) #1

Hello Keto Pals,

I have been doing keto for 3 months. I lost weight initially (4ilbs with goal of 15ilbs) and was thrilled! Then it all started coming back and now I am heaviest than then I started.

I contacted a Keto dietitian who states I was not eating enough. i followed her advise and increased my calories from 1400 to 16-1800 for 2 weeks. I gained another 2 ilbs. I talked with her again and she suggested I intake more like 18-2000 calories.

This is very hard for me because I have kept my intake to 12-1400 for YEARS. So the idea of eating 2000 calories when I am already way above my goal is killing me.

I have done this for another 2 weeks and gained another 2 ilbs. I understand that I have put myself into “starvation mode” and needing to transition out of it. I am having a hard time trusting this because I have been eating more for a month with nothing but weight gain. I am trying to be patient but its very hard to see the scale at numbers I have never seen that high!

Weight trend since started:

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Most recent intake:

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Other info:
-Im Vegetarian: Should I start eating meat to help with intake?
-I do HIT training 2 days and Run 6 miles 2 days per week: should I focus more on weight training and less cardio?
-I can tell I am not fitting in my clothes anymore.
-I get 5-7 hrs of sleep a night
-I am 5"7’ and now 155ilbs.

Maybe try Intermittent fasting?
Has anyone else been in this position and can offer an estimate of how long before my body adjusts?
Or at what point should I say, screw this, and decrease my calories again?

I truly appreciate your time in reading this and any words of advice!

Samantha :slight_smile:

(Allie) #2

Your body needs to heal from the years of metabolic damage caused by chronic calorie restriction, give it time, focus on getting healthy rather than weight loss, and once your health is on track, weight loss will follow.

#3

I also lost 4 pounds initially and then gained it back double, but my case was different than yours in that I was not limiting calories and was greatly overeating. I don’t really believe in the starvation mode thing, so I’d say if you don’t feel like you need 2000 calories (hard to know without knowing your weight and height), don’t eat that. It sounds like you may have changed things up (contacting the dietician) prematurely, which is definitely something I’ve done. People who hit a stall need to not do something drastically different that may actually be detrimental (I definitely did this). You just need to wait it out, not change things.

(Samantha Bullock) #4

I added my weight and height to the original post. thank you for pointing that out. I am definitely trying not to change too much at once. But I am following the instructions of a nutritionist who specializes in keto diets.

She is awesome if anyone needs advice. www.ketodietconsulting.com

(Ellie) #5

Your stats show you have 9% of calories from carbs. Even at 1500 cals I’m pretty sure that is more than 20g of carbs.
Do you know how many grams per day of carbs you are eating? Try to stay below 20g.
I agree with upping the calories and being patient, but you need to keep your carbs down at the same time.
Do you measure ketones?

#6

Now that I see your stats (I’m the same height and only a few pounds heavier), I definitely think you need to be more patient. I stalled at 154 for a month and made the mistake changing up a bunch of stuff which only resulted in weight GAIN. Now, I’d be thrilled to be back at 154. At your weight, weight loss is going to be very slow. Try not to be discouraged by the people on this forum who are steadily losing weight every day or week.

(Samantha Bullock) #7

I appreciate the words of advice. I am having a hard time being patient but it helps to hear it from others.

I calculate based on NET cards which I usually have 20-30g/day. I can work to get that down though if that might help!

(What The Fast?!) #8

Do you track your heart rate? I’d be curious to see if you’re working more in “fat burning” lower heart rate zones or glucose-burning higher heart rate zones.

(Samantha Bullock) #9

My heart rate is usually 130-140 for HIT training and 150-160 for my runs. I am thinking about trading the HIT training for straight weight lifting. I would love any feedback on any one else experience on that as well.

(What The Fast?!) #10

I would say leave the HiiT and add strength training, drop the runs.

#11

If you take in too much fat, your body won’t use your body fat as a fuel. My guess is: dont eat more than you feel like, and don’t eat too many nuts.

#12

The whole reverse dieting thing can be a pretty slow process but I think it’s worthwhile if you have restricted a lot in the past & you don’t have much weight to lose.