Keto for one month, no progress?

(Ben Evans) #1

Hello, I apologize if this has been asked a million times before, this is my first time joining a forum :sweat_smile:

I’ll try to keep it short!
I’m 22, male, 5’7" 116kg. I started doing keto on 12th January. My daily calories are 1100, but usually below as I don’t feel hungry. I am strict at keeping my carbs below 20g and don’t really count protein and fat. I’m quite sedentary, only exercise I get is walking up and down the 6 flights of stairs to my apartment. I also fast intermittently for about 18-20 hours a day, sometimes I fast for 3-4 days at a time.

My problem is that during the first week, I felt a lot slimmer which is due to the lost water weight however ever since then the scales have kept me at my starting weight of 116kg. I know it is still early, but I’ve seen rapid weight Loss in so many other people it can be a bit disheartening. I’ve felt the greatest I’ve felt in a long time since I started, but would really like to see some progress!

Can anyone advise me on what I could do/change in order to start losing weight/fat?

Thanks!
-Ben

(bulkbiker) #2

EAT more!.. you’re starving yourself…not a good idea especially at 22 years old…

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #3

As Mark said eat more. Maybe eat two meals a day or even three to get your metabolism up. Keep carbs <20 and be patient. Everyone’s body is different and for some people there are underlying metabolic derangements that the body needs to fix before weight loss. Keto is a way of life. It is not a diet. Be in it for the long term.

(David Cooke) #4

We don’t all react the same and keto isn’t for everybody. However I would advise you to stick at it (and eat a bit more!) a little longer, After 14 months I am still losing a little, sometimes I gain, but I consider myself to be at a good weight. Are you looking at your fat and protein values? A bit difficult at first.

(Ben Evans) #5

So I should try to eat more instead of less? I always get scared of overeating because I’ve had a problem with portion control all my life haha! But I’ll try to eat more and start counting fat and protein macros as well!
Thanks everyone for the advice! :grin::grin:

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

What is your goal weight? If you were starting out 50-100 lb overweight you might see different results but those with less to lose will see slower results than those with a lot to lose. This isn’t a elimination AND restriction eating plan. If you’re cutting carbs eat when your body tells you it’s hungry, stop when your belly says it’s not hungry anymore. Those are the basic rules. Drink plenty of water and get electrolytes (search function will have a bunch of info on that).

Most importantly never compare your progress to anyone else. Everyone experiences changes in their own time.

(Just add butter) #7

Welcome, don’t be discouraged. We all adapt differently, some may take six weeks others 6 months, depending on how metabolicly damaged we are.

As above advice, you probably need to up your calories to meet your BMR(Basal Metabolic Rate) & TEE(Total Energy Expenditure). If you don’t you are basically calorie restricting which could down regulate your metabolism.

There is plenty good information out there, check out the Resources section. My light bulb moment(s) came from Dr Jason Fung on YouTube and his awesome book The Obesity Code.

You should discover “It’s all about the hormones”, especially Insulin.

Also be careful of sweetners as some may trick Insulin to spike sabotaging your good intentions.

Good luck.

(Carl Keller) #8

Keto is carb restriction, not calorie restriction. Understanding and responding appropriately to our hunger signals is the keystone to healthy weight loss.

My advice is to eat until satiated and keep your carbs low. Ignore how many calories you are eating and focus on not being hungry after you finish a meal. The number of calories you need to be successful will be determined by your satiety,.

#9

Yes its definitely counter-intuitive but if you eat too little your body goes into starvation mode and becomes unwilling to lose any thing. You need to fire up your metabolism not slow it down.

Do make sure you get the 20g carbs right. It’s easy to go over, even a tiny bit can make all the difference. Some people can get away with it, others can’t.

If you’re on any medication understand one pill can make all the difference. Again, just because others can get away with it it does not mean everyone can - but medication is a big factor.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #10

Same here plus videos of Dr Stephen Phinney talking about keto. The Obesity code was recent and has made a big difference in my wt loss.

(Ben Evans) #11

My goal weight is 64kg roughly to put my BMI in the healthy range. The thing is that I’m hardly ever hungry and that’s usually why I fast for so long, I just don’t feel like eating :sweat_smile: I take daily electrolyte and vitamin supplements and feel really good every day no headaches or anything. I’ll definitely try not to compare myself to others and hope I see a change with time! Thanks

(Ben Evans) #12

Thank you, I’ll have a look at Dr. Fung’s work! I’ve read about sweeteners doing more harm than good and have tried to cut out all sweeteners where I can so hopefully that’s not an issue :grin:

(Ben Evans) #13

I’ll try to eat more calories then and see if that helps, it probably is my body trying to hold onto fat reserves as it gets so little!

I think I’ll have to get used to the idea of eating more calories to get my metabolism working properly again. I’ve been so used to the idea that less calories= weight loss, when in fact that could be the very reason I am not losing weight!

I’ll look into that as well, thanks!

(Ben Evans) #14

Also, would anyone be able to tell me how much fat and protein I should be eating? I’ve kept carbs below 20g, usually around 15g, I just don’t know how much fat and protein I should be consuming :thinking:

(Dan Quibell) #15

You mentioned calories but also said you don’t even track things. You are probably really underestimating how many calories, if you really were consuming 1100 calories you would be losing.
Eating more is NOT the answer as that will
Cause you to gain weight and you already stated you want to lose bodyfat. Maine things you can try cutting out are any processed keto products, dairy make sure your drinks are calorie free or close to it.

(bulkbiker) #16

So Dan when you did the original bacon experiment how many calories a day were you eating in?

#17

We were all conditioned to believe in the S.A.D (Standard American Diet) “eat less move more” - but there are hundreds of millions of people doing that, how’s it working out for them?

If you follow the keto protocol it will work.

If you are concerned and want to “help” keto, eating so little is not the way to do it, absolutely make sure you are under 20g carbs and use 20g Total Carbs not Net Carbs as your limit.

Dr Eric Westman says it’s like “prescription strength” versus “over the counter strength”, as a doctor he wants keto to work first time every time so he councils patients to stay below 20g Total Carbs to really make sure they get into ketosis first time.

Once you start burning your own fat, your appetite will go down automatically, then you can “eat to satiety”. When you have protein and fat your body sends a signal saying “yep that’s what I wanted, and yep I’ve had enough now”. (Sugar and carbs bypass this signal, so we eat until jam packed and still want more).

Total Carbs is the “carbohydrate” value on the label. Net Carbs are Total Carbs value minus Fibre.

Use a good tracking app or two to make sure you don’t go over 20g. It may mean instead of a full avocado you have half.

Hope that helps. I know it helped me. Once I got razor sharp about the 20g it all worked better.