I'm not stalling...I haven't even budged to start with (Haven't lost either pounds or inches!)

#1

Hi guys,

I really need some support and ideas. I’m 163 cm (5’4") and weigh 65 (144). I’ve maintained a weight of 60 Kg for over two decades, then in the past couple of years I added 10 pounds, then the past few months I gained five more. I used to lose any new weight easily, but this time, I tried all my trusted measures to lose but failed completely. The thing that was bothering me most was that I was RAVENOUS most of the time. I even got hungrier right after eating.

Then I started the ketogenic diet forty five days ago, after hearing how it suppresses hunger and helps to lose stubborn weight.

In the first week I lost four pounds! I was overjoyed, only to learn they were only water weight I promptly added back and I’ve been stuck at 65 kg (144 pounds) again ever since. I haven’t lost inches either, so no, there are no other signs of success. I’m also hungry most of the time, sometimes almost as much as before, so not even getting the satiety factor. I tried intermittent fasting of 16/8 for a week, and it made no difference. Urine ketone strips always show moderate or high ketones. And I exercise 6 days a week, a intermediate exertion of at least 30 minutes with a combination of free weights, body weight exercises and HIIT like cardio.

As for what I eat, Per MyFitnessPal, I’m supposed to eat 1320 calories per day, and I’m tracking and following the macros of 5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat. Most days I hit my carb and fat macros or below, but I find it hard to hit the protein one, since I don’t eat meat, and only eat chicken, eggs, (which I also don’t enjoy) and fish, like salmon and sardines. I tried to raise my calories, as I heard these might be too low, and causing me to stall, and I ADDED weight instead.

I can’t bear artificial sweeteners in any form and find they all taste horrendous in anything, so I’m not causing any insulin spikes eating alleged no-calorie substitutes, and I take my drinks unsweetened, and have thrown away all attempts at keto desserts and commercial substitutes. I also found almond and coconut flour products terrible, so I don’t eat any bakeries using them. I occassionally eat an ounce each of cheese and salami for a snack or sometimes meal.

The only thing I eat regularly is heavy whipping cream, which I put in my tea and cocoa to make them palatable (2 tablespoons per drink up to three drinks a day, since most of the time I can’t find something I like to eat, so I use a drink instead) I also drink unsweetened almond milk in those drinks. I tried the bulletproof coffee in every possible way, and I had to force myself to drink it, and I can’t see myself every enjoying it, and that’s why I substituted it with the heavy whipping cream version which is at least marginally palatable to me. The only nuts I eat (very occassionally) is an ounce or two of almond or pecan. I use vegetables like spinach and broccoli and brussle sprouts occassionally, and lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onions, olives sparingly in salads or omelettes and stay within my macros using them. In those forty something days I ate a couple of handfuls of raspberries and blueberries, but that’s it.

I use ghee, unsalted butter and refined coconut oil in all my cooking, and sometimes take a tablespoon of coconut manna as a dessert.

I am getting very discouraged, especially since I’m not getting the satiety factor that people report, which would have been enough for me. The things I find palatable are so limited and repetitive, since all the so called keto version of foods like breads, pancakes and desserts totally gross me out, that I’d rather just not eat them. If I cut cheese and nuts and whipping cream, if they’re the reason for my failure to lose weight or inches, I don’t know what’s left for me to eat, besides egg, chicken, salmon and a few vegetables.

My goal weight is 58- 60 (around 130), which is the weight I was totally comfortable within my own skin, but I’m literally not budging, and I don’t seem to be getting any other benefits.

Any ideas what could be going wrong???

(Alan Williamson) #2

Keto is not magic. For many people the key to losing weight is to lower insulin. Insulin is a growth hormone.
It also makes people hungry…that and ghrelin. People starting keto from the standard American diet of low fat and high carb likely have high insulin. Many are eating 6 times a day. What happens is they cut back on the meals, insulin lowers and they lose weight. That works for awhile then they plateau. To move forward, the options are to not eat food that will raise insulin (mostly fat) or do fasting (insulin is zero for a period of time). The key is to lower insulin levels.

#3

I never really ate the high carb low fat diet, and on the keto diet I eat mainly fats and keep my macros. I don’t expect magic, but I expected anything, like even a tiny drop in weight or inches or a decrease in hunger…none of which is happening. So I was wondering if someone experienced anything similar and if they managed to solve their problem eventually.

(Andrew) #4

Have you previously dieted? Specifically a calorie restricted diet?

What are your blood glucose and blood ketone levels?

I also didn’t get any reduction in hunger. I got hungry between bites. Bad Leptin signaling apparently. One four day fast has made a huge difference for me. You might check that out. I can barely eat half what I used to. If I eat my normal speed (inhaling) i now suffer badly.

#5

I never dieted before, not since I was sixteen (three decades ago) and I lost the initial baby fat I had on me. All my life since, I used to eat everything in moderation, never restricted my fat intake or tried sugar substitutes of any sort. If I added weight after a vacation or something, I simply dropped one meal a day and I shed off the excess weight.

But during the past three years, I was put in a situation of constant stress, plus a lack of focus and time that lead me to rely on convenient foods, and that led to the increase in my weight (the initial ten pounds). I kept losing some of those till I stablized at 138. Then in the past summer I added 8 more pounds to those at my highest weight. After I stopped the severe excess in eating, I lost two pounds…and have been stuck at 144 ever since. It might not be much to some, as everyone I know keeps telling me I look better with the 15 pounds on, but I feel horrible inside my body right now.

What I’m getting at, there’s no reason for my metabolism to be broken like some people refer to it, as I have never exposed it to much ups and downs.

I haven’t checked my glucose or ketone blood levels, but I’m wondering, even if I do, and I find anything wrong with them, what more can I do than what I’m doing now to fix the problem?

I tried intermittent fasting for a whole week after a month in keto with no results, and the hunger issues stayed the same (as well as everything else) I get hungrier AFTER I eat a very fatty meal, even with no carbs to it (like I just did after I ate two pastured eggs with one tbs coconut oil and one tbs butter an hour ago) Yesterday I ate chicken cooked in ghee and coconut oil with some mushrooms, with a masala sauce of heavy whipped cream, full fat yogurt and spices so I can reach my macros for the day, and it was so fatty I ended up feeling a bit nauseous…BUT still within the nausea I felt the hunger pangs. I’m really unable to figure out what this is all about!

(Andrew) #6

Well if your bg and/or bg aren’t right then that’s why you aren’t losing weight. Some poor people can’t eat dairy without big insulin responses. That may be your problem even. Always check the most obvious thing first.

#7

I guess I will have check my BG and BK, though that still won’t solve my problem. With the way I can’t tolerate the taste of things like BPC and fat bombs and almost all keto versions of foods, without the occassional dairy and nuts, I’ll be limited (even more than I am) to eating literally a handful of things, half of which I find unappetizing to start with (like eggs and chicken). But I guess I’ll at least know for sure.

Any advice on which device to use that gives accurate measurements for both and have available strips?

(Andrew) #8

I have a Precision Xtra. It measures both. Highly rated. Not the cheapest I’m sure

#9

I’ll look it up for sure and as long as it’s accurate, it’s worth it.

How often do you need to measure your BG and BK? Or is it just in the beginning to know your trends and your response to the different foods you eat, then from then on as a maintenance check?

Thanks so much for all your input!

(Andrew) #10

Exactly. Once you know that ghee doesn’t budge the meter you don’t really have to check again. Feel super tired after a meal you thought was fine. I check. It’s always too high. Then you eliminate things or you can go the other way and add to a known good food (or nothing of course).

I just check Ketones in the am.

One day you will know before looking and stop checking.

#11

Awesome. I’ll copy and paste this last reply and keep it as a guideline. I really hope I find a balance to rid me of this unnatural and constant hunger. It’s really my main issue, not the unmoving weight and inches. I would have given keto a much longer time to kick in without worrying or asking if not for it.

But you check ketones regularly? I saw the keto strips and they’re mighty expensive, so I was wondering if I really need to check frequently.

(Leigh Thomas) #12

Insulin resistance and stress are the 2 main factors that cause people to gain weight and also stop people from losing weight.

Your primary focus for now should be to fix those 2 issues.

To fix insulin resistance you need to do keto with IF and try to have 1 to 2 meals a day over a 4 hour period and avoid snacking. Use something like MFP to check you are getting your macros right.

To fix stress avoid anything that stimulates the adrenal glands and maybe try some meditation, avoid the news, negative people and try and identify anything that causes your stress levels to raise and try and find a solution to help reduce stress.

Are you getting enough sleep? sleep is important in healing the body.

Looking at weight is also not helping with stress levels so you should try and avoid anything weight related for the time being.

#13

I’ve been meditating and practicing yoga for a year now, and that had addressed my other physical symptoms of anxiety like fast pulse at rest and palpitations and sleep paralysis completely, and also have fixed my sleep. I now get to sleep at a specific time every night, fall asleep almost at once and sleep around eight hours and wake up without an alarm at the same time (which used to be impossible) wide awake and not needing to turn over and sleep some more like before. I look at weight now only once a week, but not seeing or feeling a change in my body is what’s bothering me, but mostly the hunger! When my other stress symptoms disappeared, it made me hopeful that I had reduced the stress hormones, but the only things that seemes resistent to anything is the hunger and weight…so I was looking at other reasons for my problem…and hoping someone might have a similar experience and a way out of this ongoing situation. Another thing is I’m hungry…but I’m not craving anything. Just a feeling of gnawing emptiness that’s almost always there no matter what.

(bryan vandyke) #14

Maybe over exercising? I was listening to a podcast the other day and they where taking about constant exercising raising inflammation, cortisol, or stress or something. Leading to stalls in weight loss. Maybe your body needs more than one day a week downtime to recover?

#15

I think your way of looking at this is a little skewed. Controlling insulin is the key to solving the problem. Since that’s inconvenient to measure, BG is the best proxy. The objective is to have a low basal BG that rises when simulated and then falls precipitously (in response to insulin secretion). The inability to do this is the definition of IR. Test yourself to see if this is applicable to you. Here’s how:

If you’re IR, it can be improved over time (measured in years not weeks). Fortunately, weight loss can occur more rapidly. Since high levels of insulin prevent lipolysis, the day to day task is to minimize stimulating insulin. So keeping BG (remember it’s a proxy) low is key. Carbs increase it the most, followed by protein, then fat. Ketosis is not triggered by eating fat. On a ketogenic diet, only carbs and protein need to be titrated. Fat is just a filler for adequate calories. This is especially true for those who want to lose weight. Ideally, we want the fat to come from our butt (not our diet). Metabolisms vary, but if we over eat fat (or any other macro) we will gain weight.

I live in a household where one person is trying to gain weight and another is trying to not lose any weight on a HFLC diet. This is accomplished by eating large amounts of fat.

Being in ketosis doesn’t require drinking BPC or eating fat bombs. Unless the only foods you like are carbs, eating HFLC doesn’t require eating foods you don’t like. Any kind of meat: goat, cow, bison, pig, deer, fish, etc. Top it with any kind of fatty sauce you like. Add low carb veggies, and it’s a meal.

Lastly, if eating and IF isn’t sufficient, try EF. It will work, the only question is dosage.

(Leigh Thomas) #16

Are you getting your marcos right and are you eating enough?

eg, 2200 cal = F 175g 70% P 140g 25% C 25g 5%

(Consensus is Politics) #17

The tips about insulin really are key. Insulin will stop fat burning for a while, past even when the insulin has been expended. Insulin itself has a very short life, minutes I believe. But it’s effect is lasts hours (iirc).

In my opinion, looking at macros as percentages aren’t accurate enough. Shoot for zero carb. Forget the percentages. Take your ideal lean body mass in kg, and multiply by 1 (I know, but later you’ll understand why I said it that way). And that’s how many grams of protein you “should” be eating. Fill in the rest of your calories for the day with fat.

I’m extremely IR (again , this is my opinion, based of observations when I eat too much protein or even have a few carbs by accident. Hence I shoot for zero carbs). When I started Keto in October, I lost 40 pounds in 14 days. Oh yeah, it was great. Since then I have hovered at my current weight, and boy is it frustrating. I’ve done IF of 20/4 several days in a row. I might need to do some EF’s to break through the plateau, but I’m thinking I need just a tad more will power to get through it :cowboy_hat_face: but I will do it sooner than later.

I’m sure you’ll get there. Be strong. Just remember it’s a finicky thing, the body. It’s also forgiving. So if you’ve been eating something that’s been causing insulin spikes, as it certainly sounds, then you’ll find it, don’t worry.

As for the foods not being appetizing, that tends to change over time as well. I’m sure you’ve heard of some people suddenly one day being turned off by sweets? Well the opposite happens too. Suddenly one day, something you didn’t like eating actually tastes good now. It’s happening to me now. I’m finding new foods to enjoy, and I constantly remind myself not to say no to a Keto friendly food, just because I never liked it before. That’s the hard part. I like to hate green bell peppers. I love to hate liver. But, one of these days I’m gonna just suck it up and give them a try again🤠

#18

I don’t believe half an hour of exercise could be called over-exercising? Or can it? Anyway, I actually tried to lay off for a few days after almost a month on Keto to see if anything would move in any direction, doing only a night time stretch yoga routine…and again, nothing happened. I feel as if I’m frozen in this state.

(Auden) #19

@Olivia1 Have you checked for a thyroid problem? It just seems like you’re doing a lot of things right! On MyFitnessPal it says I should eat 1400 calories. But I lose weight eating as high as 2100 calories. I worried about that until I read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung and understood a little bit more about metabolic rate. Maybe you’re eating too low calorie for you? Also, I know of one keto person who eats the same meals every day for a week and that works for her.

#20

You may want to look at posts by @KetoLikeaLady similar situation