I. Am. So. Frustrated!

fasting
progress
experiment

(What The Fast?!) #1

You guys. I know, I know the answer is KCKO. But I am insanely frustrated.

I started keto almost 3 months ago now and have not lost a single pound (I think I’m actually UP 1-2 lbs), nor do my clothes fit any looser. In fact, some of them fit TIGHTER.

Am I fat adapted? Yes, I feel strongly that I am, based on my workouts/not having to fuel on my bike. I’m also monitoring ketones (some days via blood, some days via cheap breathalyzer) and I’m generally between 0.6 and 0.8. I get up higher (1.5-2.5) if I do extended fasts or long, strenuous endurance rides.

Since starting keto, things have been a bit of a calamity for me…a comedy of errors if you will.

  • Two weeks in, I burned myself with near-boiling water and got severe 2nd degree burns. It took 3 weeks to heal (just for the wounds to close) and I had to take that time off the gym as well.
  • Four weeks after that, I was traveling out of state and caught a bad cold.
  • 2 days after that, I had to get an emergency root canal (actually they had to re-do a root canal from 10 years ago, but that’s besides the point).

I can’t tell if I’m not losing weight because a.) I’m doing something wrong, b.)there’s something inherently wrong with me in general, or if c.) it’s because my body has had to deal with all these weird things that it’s not used to (healing burns, dealing with a cold, and recovering from a root canal).

I’m also frustrated because I’m not experiencing all these great side effects that everyone talks about…

I have always had great, consistent energy throughout the day (before keto), and I haven’t noticed anything different.
I haven’t noticed any surprising mental clarity.
I have never experienced keto breath (except I when I did HCG many many moons ago)…thought this is not a side effect I’m hoping for. Ha.

But TBH - I don’t care about any of that stuff…I just want to LOSE SOME FRIGGIN’ WEIGHT. Or inches. SOMETHING. My boyfriend started keto a month or so after me and has lost 8 pounds + a couple of inches in his waist and chest. I KNOW, I know that men lose faster, but Jesus H Christ…when will it happen?!

Because I don’t like to complain without taking action, here’s what I’m going to do differently:

  • I charted my glucose curve for Stevia and it seemed not to have an effect, but I’ll cut that out anyway.
  • I’ll also cut out all dairy for the next 2 weeks and see if there’s any improvement there.
  • If that doesn’t work, I’ll take eggs out and see if that’s the issue. (LeAnn Vogel says they can be a culprit.)

The only carbs I eat now are from green vegetables, avocado, and dairy. I don’t indulge in any fruits, I eat nuts rarely and in small portions. I have only tried “keto-fying” a few things - cauliflower pizza, a couple of Brenda’s desserts, but that’s not the usual. Either way, I won’t do any of that stuff either anymore.

Based on everything I’ve read, it seems like a good option is going as close to zero carb as possible, and then increase from there to see what your tolerance is. I just ordered a bunch of grassfed beef and natural bacon (no sugar) from a local farm, so I plan to pretty much live off that for the next few weeks and see if there’s any improvement.

Please, Keto Gods, I beg you. Show me some results.

Answers to questions you may have:
I weigh 147-150
I’m 5’ 3"
I think my BF is 25.5 - 26%, but not sure…which equals about 50 kg of LBM. I eat 50-75g protein.
I keep carbs under 50g total, 20g NET, but try very hard to keep them under 25 TOTAL most days (avocados and salads make this difficult, which is why I’m going to go nearly zero carb).
I eat plenty of fat - that’s definitely not the issue.
I try to do IF daily with only 2 meals a day - either lunch and dinner or breakfast and dinner.
I have done 2 extended fasts.


(Adam Kirby) #2

Maybe you’re eating too much fat. You may be getting enough where your body doesn’t feel motivated to burn what’s on your body. If you are fat adapted then you should try dialing it back. If you look at Richard’s cool calculator and plug in your numbers you’ll see that you can get nearly all of your energy reqmts from body fat. Even with increased activity you shouldn’t need much dietary fat.


(What The Fast?!) #3

So, basically, CICO?


(Ren) #4

You say your body fat % is 25-26%. It maybe difficult to lower that because your body is fighting to stay at that level of body fat because that is where it believes it is at its healthiest.

I forgot which episode but @richard mentioned something about a majority of peoples’ bodies enjoy the 25% body fat percentage because that is when it feels its healthiest.


(What The Fast?!) #5

My bikini would strongly disagree.
I agree - that may be the issue, but I definitely have fat to lose.


(Adam Kirby) #6

Sure. Although no need to count calories, way too OCD. I am agreeing more with the Ted Naiman/Amy Berger school of low carb lately, though, too much dietary fat can in fact stall fat loss in some people. You have to try and see.

By all means try eliminating foods as well, you need to find N=1 solution. ZC seems like solid experiment.


(Crow T. Robot) #7

I agree with this. Try a month of ZC, no plant food. Don’t count anything, just eat to satiety. I suspect it might help your gut issues as well.


(What The Fast?!) #8

I REALLY don’t want to count calories ever again. I did it for way too many years. Counting macros is the same thing, you’re just counting a different unit. Everyone raves about this “listening to their body” stuff and I really want to be there. I’m getting real sick of the orthorexic life. Zero carb it is.

My boyfriend has not counted a calorie, a carb, or any other macro, AND he drinks vodka a few times a week, and he still loses…


(Adam Kirby) #9

I don’t propose you count calories. CICO basically implies calorie counting/food weighing/other OCD behavior, and that all calories are equal, and it’s only the amount that matters. Which is complete bullshit. We know that it’s hormones that run things.

But there are two schools of low carb thought I have noticed - 1) eat as much fat as you like, no problem, and 2) too much dietary fat will cause fat loss stalls. I propose one experiment would be to take out some dietary fat. Not in a neurotic way, simply removing dairy for example would do the trick nicely.


(Arlene) #10

Don’t compare yourself with your boyfriend. You don’t have his body. You never will. Firstly, consider your emotions right now. Sometimes I have to evaluate the timing of me feeling overwhelmed, and then sit back and wait a few days, or even a week till I’m in a more rational place to deal with whatever is bothering me.
I think zero carb is a great place for you to start with more self-experimentation. Give it at least a month, or maybe more. Read the information on the zero carb sites. They’re helpful. They helped me.
I understand your frustration. I am not a patient person. I don’t want to have to figure out what works best for me. I just want what works. Bummer we can’t have what we want all the time. I have to face that. Hang in there.


(What The Fast?!) #11

I don’t often compare our results - we both knew before he started keto that it would be easy for him and the weight would come off effortlessly. This does not surprise me.

It’s very hard though to not compare myself with all the women on this forum. And even without comparing myself to them, I’m nearly 3 months in and I have nothing to show for it. I know this sounds whiny - I don’t mean to be.

Honestly, what I’m frustrated about is that I really want to preach the keto lifestyle to people who I really believe NEED it…but it’s hard to do that when I don’t have any results to use as ammunition. Like, how am I supposed to tell people “you should totally do this diet that isn’t working for me?!”

I’m not giving up, I’m going to ‘keto on’…I’m just not great about the ‘keep calm’ part.


(Arlene) #12

Ha, you make me laugh. I’m not great at the “keep calm” part either. Some of us just aren’t born that way! :slight_smile:


(KCKO, KCFO) #14

I use MFP, I have several friends over there that did not lose anything for almost 2 months. Their bodies had a lot of healing to do, so it took a while.

You mention a couple of very body stressful events, that can mess with your hormones, slowing things down as well. Stress always messes with weight loss, I have been there and done that too many times in my lifetime, not matter what way of eating I was doing.

You are not that much over weight, I am a 5’3" woman too, and 141 is the top of normal range for us. So you don’t have all that much fat to be losing.

Try to relax and enjoy learning about this WOE, Experiment with lower carbs, try a few more carbs, see what your body responds to, and carry on.

Good luck on your Journey.


(Ron) #15

I know you said you do IF daily and have done two extended fasts, but if there is one thing 100% effective for weight loss it is not eating.

Your body can and will adapt to whatever schedule you set into, including low carb and even IF. If you are at a plateau and want to bust through it, you may want to try one more extended fast. Something like 5 or 7 days.

The idea that if something isn’t working, do it more to an extreme doesn’t sound like the best advice, although zero carb probably wouldn’t be harmful. What would the chief benefit of zero carb be? Stable insulin, which is what you get automatically with fasting. :slight_smile:

I was in the same boat until I tried doing different fasts - from 4 1/2 days, 2 1/2 days, 48 hours, 40 hours, 36 hours, 24 hours, 20 hours…whatever I feel like in changing things up. I wasn’t losing much anymore on a low carbohydrate diet until I introduced fasting. It may be the key. Or it may not. Good luck with whatever you decide!


#16

Nothing in your OP mentions portion size. It’s possible you are eating too much in general, regardless of macro composition.


(Mary Ann) #17

I really understand your frustration. After counting calories for decades I would rather cut stuff out than counting. I’m rooting for you!


(Crow T. Robot) #19

I’m someone who hates the word ‘calories’. That’s because it confuses people and obfuscates the issue of what your food consists of and therefore the effect that different foods can have on you. Thinking in terms of ‘calories’ makes people think losing weight is nothing more than a numbers game, i.e. “if I cut 100 calories each day, I will lost a pound of fat every 35 days.”

On the surface it makes sense, except that, 1) human metabolism is orders of magnitude more complex than a bomb calorimeter, and 2) the numbers game fails for most people. I look at that and say, why not talk about food instead of “calories”. There’s no such thing as a “calorie receptor” in the body anyway. The body doesn’t “burn calories” it metabolises ATP and the in the path from food to ATP, “calories” are irrelevant.

If you want to talk about restricting food, or types of food in order to lose weight, now we can start to have a constructive conversation. :slight_smile:


(Sheri Knauer) #21

I was going to mention the stress thing. Stressful events can lead to an increase in cortisol, which, excess cortisol actually can cause some weight gain, especially in the mid section. Just a thought


#22

A couple of things…

It is not uncommon for 50g carbs to be too much. I can’t do net carbs 20 g…only total carbs 20 g. If I go over, i provoke insulinogenic response, and promote weight gain. Everyone is different. That’s what I learned about my body.

Another thing is I can’t do artificial sweeteners. Again…it provokes insulinogenic response.

Also, I think you mentioned in another thread that you do lot’s of lifting or exercising or both? What is your weekly work out routine like?

Have you been gaining muscle from working out?


(jketoscribe) #23

Inflammation = water retention. Until the inflammation clears, all bets are off. Stay off the scale, eat well to nourish your body and avoid excess carbs that can contribute to inflammation and prevent healing. All this other stuff (more carbs, fewer carbs, fasting, not fasting, increase fat, lower fat) is just going to drive you nuts until the underlying inflammation is resolved. This is definitely a time for KCKO.