I think I'm doing this wrong

(Pam) #1

Hi guys - So I am starting week three today and I think I am doing something wrong.

After my first few days and posting here I stopped counting pretty much anything and was just eating. I lost 5 pounds in the first week, but in this second week nothing. I have had no “flu” symptoms and the cravings are not going away at all. If anything they are getting worse. I feel that I am staying well under my 20g of net carbs a day, though I am probably over on protein and under on fat. I find it hard to eat a lot of fat for some reason.

An average day goes like this:

Breakfast - 2 boiled eggs, coffee with 2 sweet n’low
Lunch - some kind of salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing OR a 1/2 burger without the bun with mustard and mayo and a side salad with ranch.
Dinner - Some meat, usually chicken or ground beef, and some veggie — broccoli, green beans, something along those lines. Sometimes I make something like cauliflower rice but not often. I think only 1 since Sept. 16th when I started this.
Drinks are usually a bottle of water during the day, a 8oz can of sprite zero at lunch and 2 or 3 cans of diet mountain dew in the evening.

Someone told me it matter so my background is a 39 year old female, 5’4 approximately, 140lb. My goal weight is 115. I was always the “skinny” girl. I never had to diet or worry about what I ate. Several years ago I got very very sick and lost down to about 90lbs. Then I got pneumonia, the result was the dr. putting me on steroids which caused me to gain a LOT of weight. I have tried restricting calories (down to about 700 a day at my tightest) and killing myself with exercise. And nothing worked. So I decided to try this —

I realize this is a journey and I should probably not be impatient, but I still feel like I should be feeling different by now. Or seeing more changes…or something.

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

First and foremost, you’re in 3 weeks. You ate SAD for 39 years and you are not going to reverse the damage 3 weeks on keto.

Second, keto is a ‘normalization diet’ and a lot of things happen when you start keto. Hormones and enzymes readjust, cells and organs readjust, metabolism overall readjusts, crap goes out - all at the same time. Weight loss is a common side effect of the normalization process. But it is not a linear thing and it is normal to lose/gain/stall and repeat.

Finally, I’d ditch the Sweet-n-Low, the Sprite Zero and the Mountain Dew. I’d cut back on the veggies. I’d be very careful measuring carbs. 20 grams is not much and it’s very easy to go over enough to end ketosis if you are not measuring and weighing portions. If you’re not measuring/weighing portions, how do you know you are ‘staying well under’ 20 grams?

Lack of ‘carb withdrawal’ symptoms doesn’t indicate anything. If you’re actually in ketosis then be happy you did not experience anything. Lots of folks do and feel miserable for days or weeks. Lots of folks don’t and are very glad we didn’t.

(Ed) #3

There is a lot of artificial sweeteners in what you’ve listed (i.e. sweet n’low and diet sodas). Might have some impact and you could get rid of them and see what happens.

(Robert C) #4

One thing that might help with the cravings is to skip the sweeteners (especially the diet soda in the evening - when you don’t want the caffeine, it is difficult to lose weight if you don’t sleep well).

Also, breakfast would be better if the eggs were fried in a healthy fat.

(Pam) #5

I probably would cook them that way if I had time. I usually boil eggs for the week on Sunday and then I can just grab and go on the hectic hurry up, get the kids ready, get me ready and get out the door for work.

I probably could stop complaining and get up earlier and cook - but I also usually don’t eat breakfast until close to 11:00am

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #6

I should also mention that due to hormonal differences, women frequently experience more difficult results losing weight. I’ll bow out to our female members who can advise about that better than I. :slightly_smiling_face:

(Susan) #7

If you stop the artificial sweeteners, the scale will probably start moving again =). Does the ranch dressing you are eating have any sugar or oils in it? I haven’t been able to find any in the stores that was oil free and sugar free, that can also be a big problem. Drinking more water, keeping your electrolytes up, making sure you are having no more then 20 grams of carbs and No sugar (and often no sugar substitutes), eating enough calories (from proteins and healthy fats) and you should be losing in no time =).

If you get rid of the sugar substitutes, you will notice a big difference. You can add HWC to your coffee and/or tea instead, a few tablespoons of that a few times a day is an easy way to increase fats. I use Chosen foods avocado mayonnaise and some Extra Virgin olive oil on salads or vegetables as well, instead of salad dressing. Try to cook your meats and vegetables in butter, or bacon fat, it will help increase your fats easily =).

(Pam) #8

HWC?

I have no idea - it is a ranch that is made at the sandwich shop in the hospital I work at. They don’t really have nutritional facts available to look at. I am sure its probably pretty bad.

Just to clarify - even though I am keeping to under the 20 net carbs I should not eat anything that has sugar carbs at all? I think I am messing up here if that is the case.

(Susan) #9

HWC is Heavy Whipping Cream -you can buy it at any grocery store, and it tastes delicious in coffee and/or tea and is 35% fat, and really helps get up the fat and calories, and many of us use it in our coffee/tea on the forum =).

I use cronometer.com and it is free, and you can type in all of your food, and it will figure out the carbs/proteins/fats for you.

The ranch dressing you are using probably has seed oils and/or sugar in it, so you would be better off using some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and some Vinegar or Avocado Mayonnaise, or a combination of any of the three, for a salad dressing so you know what you are eating.

Sugar is what will keep you out of Ketosis and raise your insulin levels, so it is better to try and do zero sugar =).

(Pam) #10

I downloaded this one, but have not been tracking. Maybe I should start back. Also I was thinking about getting the urine strips just so I could “see” if I am going in the right direction.

I have heavy cream at home that I use in several of the recipes I have found that I like to make. I can try it in the coffee. If diet/zero sodas are bad what do you drink? Just water? :unamused: I hate water

I am from the south nd we drink sweet tea lol - That is probably one of the things I miss the most right now. Having sweet tea with dinner. I was going to start making it with stevia, but if the artificial sweeteners are a no-go then I guess I wont.

(Robert C) #11

It is best to avoid “net carbs” unless you know you are just subtracting out grams of fiber in a natural whole food.
The term “net carbs” can be used by food companies to mean just about anything.
For example - Atkins bars have lots of carbs but, the company claims the type of carbs they put in don’t affect your insulin levels so, shouldn’t be counted. Others claim that there is some effect but not as much as regular carbs.
Avoiding processed foods will get you out of these “net carbs” worries.

(Robert C) #12

The faster you get all artificial sweeteners out of you diet, the faster you will lose the desire for sweet.

(Jessica) #13

Also depending on where you are in your cycle you can get inaccurate scale results.

Are you taking measurements?

(Pam) #14

I don’t have a tape measure that I can find…need to buy one.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #15

Just measure with string/ribbon and label each one. You can measure it in inches later when you get a tape measure but at least you’ll have “now” measurements.

I used to be a Sweet-n-low addict. I used it for 20 years. Before keto, when I was eating carbs I ran out and dropped 5 lbs that week. I did some reading and it can mess with the gut flora, more than some of the other ones. I switched to Splenda but I will admit, it’s been helpful trying to use it as little as possible. I’m also a former Diet Mt. Dew drinker (at work) and stopped that as well. I make a strong coffee in the morning, add ice water and a splash of cream and drink that in a tumbler. Or iced tea with ONE sweetener packet, not the heaps of the stuff I used to use. And believe it or not, you may find yourself craving ice water at some point. I can’t believe I did.

(Katie) #16

I’ll bet that between the salad dressings and the mayo you are over 20 gram right there. That stuff is also made with vegetable oil (really just industrial oil) and you should avoid it … it is loaded with omega 3, and whatever the chemical de jour.
.
Make your own and bring a bit with you to work. Easy to do…but, use olive oil instead of that industrial stuff.

Stop all the artificial sweeteners. If you must use something…use erythritol…you won’t get an insulin reaction from it.

(traci simpson) #17

You probably hate water because you’ve been drinking soda and sweet tea for so long? :woman_shrugging:t5:

(Marianne) #18

Agreed. Just follow the 20g carb guideline (total carbs, if you can), and make sure to eat. Give this time; it will work. Your body is very busy internally. Don’t over-analyze and let more time pass. Trust it is happening.

I’m wondering why half a burger? Are you satisfied with this portion, or are you concerned about your food/calorie intake. If you are eating your meals to satiety, that’s fine; just don’t look to restrict your food/portions unnecessarily because you think it is better.

Good luck and keep posting!

(Rebecca ) #19

Hello, Stevia isn’t not an artificial sweetener…it comes from a plant.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #20

Technically, it’s fine, but sugar–sucrose–is composed of a glucose molecule bonded to a fructose molecule, and the fructose brings its own set of complications in addition to the glucose effect on insulin. Fructose can be metabolised only in the liver, and it has many of the same bad effects on the liver as alcohol does—because the same metabolic pathway handles both of them. Fructose also acts on the brain’s reward center the same as ethanol does, and a significant percentage of the population is vulnerable to sugar addiction for that reason.

The liver can handle fructose just fine, as long as it is not overburdened. Dump too much too fast on it, however, and over time you get fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, steatohepatitis, etc. So for all these reasons, and because of the possibility of being carried away by cravings, we generally find it easier to steer clear.

If you need artificial sweeteners at first to help you over the hump, then use them, but many people find that artificial sweeteners hamper fat loss. Others find it easier to do without a sweet taste at all—the taste of an artificial sweetener only reminds them of what they are missing.

From my own experience, I can tell you that I still crave sugar, even when I am not hungry. Fortunately, however, the satisfaction of my keto diet has made clear the difference between a craving and real hunger, and it somehow helps me resist the cravings. I also find that I don’t enjoy sweet things nearly as much as I did before.