Just starting...need some reassurance


(Cindy Duncan) #1

I just started a keto diet the first week in January, I have never done it before. I have lost weight before with calorie restriction, so I have faith that works, just wanted to try something different this time.
I am logging my food, am sticking to 1200 calories, 75 g protein, 92 g of fat, and 18 net carbs. I guess since I have never done this before, I don’t have faith that it will work. My total goal is to lose 45 lbs, and break my carb addiction.
I don’t know what to expect from the scale, but so far I am confused. The first week I lost 6 lbs, gained 1 the next, and stayed the same this week. I have consistently been in ketosis according to test strips, and have not cheated.
The scale result is confusing, not what I expected. To gain??? And then not even lose it the next week??

I guess since I have no past experience with keto to base it on, I need some reassurance that this is going to work!!!


(Empress of the Unexpected) #2

Do not restrict calories on keto. Keep to under 20 carbs a day and eat when you are hungry. At first you lose water weight. It took me a few months to see real fat loss but I am approaching two years and the weight has stayed off. Also, 45 pounds is nothing. The less you have to lose, the longer it may take. But you are getting healthy in the process. I only had 25 to lose.

This is a good resource.

http://pwop.com/download/TheKetogenicDietInANutshell.pdf


(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

Welcome to the world of Ketogenic eating and the forum Cindy. KETO does work and I can testify to that. I lost 60 lbs over a year. Went from obese to a healthy weight, kicked my blooming diabetes to the curb. I am stable and at a healthy weight for my age and size, at the lower end of BMI calculations.

You are saying you’re not sure about KETO and have lost with calorie restriction in the past, but here you are. Calorie restriction does work, you’re correct. It worked till it didn’t like so many others have experienced and then the progress was lost in that metabolic cycle that calorie restriction always brings you to, over and over again feeling like you screwed up and did something wrong. And denying yourself food once again it that punishment cycle of non progress.

So you’re trying it differently now and you must abandon that calorie restriction. KETO is about carb restriction not calories. You need way more than 1200 kcals for KETO to work it’s magic. You’re going to need energy and get your body out of starvation mode to let it know it’s okay to burn fat, we’re not starving anymore! Hurrah! You’re metabolism will speed up doing things it has avoided because of the food shortages. You’re body has been running at a slow speed and holding onto energy for tomorrow instead of letting go of fat stores easily. Stop following macro advice from a calculator telling you to eat 1200 kcals, that’s bad advice that crept into KETO eating from the CICO people. KETO runs off completely different mechanics. First all calories are not created equal so a carb calorie and a protein calorie and a fat calorie all have their own metabolic pathways in your body. Carbs trigger the highest amount of insulin and you store excess glucose as fat. Protein creates less by far and fat almost none. Keeping insulin responses minimal is key to ketogenics and weight loss. So it’s all about hormones, not calories. Keto fixes your hormones and you learn proper responses to hunger, not the hyper hunger you get from quickly used up glucose where you’re always hungry or can’t figure out when to stop eating till you’re stuffed full maybe still wanting more even. When you burn fat from eating keto instead of carbs when your stomach gets empty your body will naturally use body fat for energy and not tell you your starving and need a snack. This is getting long and you have much you will learn sticking around here but this is a helpful easy starting guide. Just restrict carbs to <20g daily and eat meats and protein and fats to satiety. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full for now. Try not to snack, eat what you need at meals. Occasionally a snack starting out is better than undershooting on food and being hungry.

Best of luck to you Cindy, KETO will work for you, stick true to plan without cheating yourself eating non KETO foods and you will be fine. It takes a different amount of time for us all to respond so don’t give up when you see men posting they lost 25 lbs in a month. We’re all unique and traditionally men lose much easier than women because of women’s biological needs for body fat to have functioning reproductive systems, and that will hang with you even after childbearing years have passed. Don’t get discouraged and want what’s waiting ahead. :cowboy_hat_face:


(Polly) #4

Welcome to this forum @Daisymay1

@David_Stilley and @Regina are absolutely right when they advise against restricting calories.

I hope you enjoy this new way of eating.


(Bob M) #5

As a point of comparison, I’m a male and have lost around 60 pounds in 6 YEARS. Now, I’m on beta blockers, which supposedly affect lipolysis, so that might be working against me.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

Absolutely Bob. I’m on prednisone and that jacks my BG up regardless of what I put in my mouth or if I am fasting. I have never had fasting BG below 100 but KETO still worked even though I have seen lots of experts claim if your FBG is over 100 KETO doesn’t work. Can’t you use any alternative to the nasty Beta Blockers? I have had my doctor prescribe them for BP medication but refused and got something else. Have you had heart surgery or something that makes them essential? They mess with male function eventually so a no go for me. :cowboy_hat_face:


(Cindy Duncan) #7

I am full and satisfied at 1200 calories. So should I Force myself to eat more? Will only eating 1200 slow down my loss?

Cindy Duncan


(Marianne) #8

I’d go back and reread @David_Stilley and @Regina posts. They have explained keto very well.

When I started keto (Feb. 2019), I ate three good sized meals a day, even though I never had before prior to that. I did not snack in between meals and only drank water or one cup of coffee per day. Although I wasn’t “hungry” for my next meal, per se, it wasn’t like I was stuffed to the gills and too full to eat. This time around, I believed what people reported and fed my body to heal it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rich, delicious food, and the versatility of what I could eat - and actually being allowed to eat! I looked forward to every meal. This alleviated any hunger and cravings for eating off plan and kept me satisfied for almost a year now (can’t say that about any other diet I was on - the most I could sustain with that was about 3-4 miserable months). After about 4-6 weeks of this and after my body and metabolism had adjusted, I naturally morphed to eating two meals a day and now one mainly, with 48 hour fasting once a week. I became “fat adapted” in approx. 4.5 months. I lost weight right from the beginning and felt physically better than I had since my youth. I have lost 60 of 80 lbs in 11 months, all the while eating. I stay off the scale except when I go to the doctor’s and never measured ketones or anything else.

My husband, who has always been thin in good shape, has eaten keto now, too, for the past nine months and loves it. Even though he has been committed to weight lifting and working out for over forty years, even he lost approx. 15 lbs. of stubborn belly weight which he couldn’t drop before. We often marvel to each other, “Do you believe we can eat like this?!”

Look at this as a marathon and not a sprint. It is a healthier way of eating, overall. Dietdoctor.com is a great source of scientific information, in layman’s terms, that may take some of the mystery out of it.

Good luck.


(Empress of the Unexpected) #9

I read about that also. Been on 80 milligrams for 12 years, following a diagnosis of atrial septal defect. Had an occluder device inserted. Even after, had mitral and tricuspid valve issues. I tried to go down from 80 to 60 milligrams after starting keto. Breakthrough migraines and panic attacks. Horrible palpitations. Seems my body needs the drug, even if it is causing belly fat. On a positive note, lnderal is one of the safest drugs out there. Sometimes drugs are what one needs. I spent 49 years so exhausted, with my heart beating so hard. Woke up after the procedure and felt like a new person. But still need beta blockers.