Lost 8lb week 1, no further weight loss in 2 weeks


(Niamh) #1

Hi guys,

With my wedding coming up in 2020, I decided to go keto after several failed diets.

My starting weight - 198lb
Week 1 weigh in - 190lb (fab!)
Week 2 weigh in - 190lb (no change :frowning: )

I use the My Fitness Pal app, take no more than 20g carbs per day, aim for 90g protein per day and rest of it fat for around 70% fat intake. I have approx 1200-1400 kcals daily and I haven’t cheated - even over Easter and my sisters Hen/Bachelorette party!

I have been checking my ketones in my urine, and I’ve high ketones. I even bought the ketone blood monitor and I’m reading at 2.2mmol/L

Example of my diet yesterday -
Morning - 3 x boiled eggs with some salt
Lunch time - Bunless burger (homemade by me) with 15% fat beef mince with no other ingredients, a slice of bacon, - (burger and bacon fired in olive oil) quarter cup iceberg lettuce, a tsp full fat mayo, 30g real cheddar cheese
Snack - 25g macadamia nuts, 25g brazil nuts
Dinner - Salmon fried in olive oil with roasted asparagus and brocolli. I made my own homemade pesto - handful of basil leaves, 10g pine nuts (I know higher in carbs but accounted for this), parmesan, half a clove of garlic, and olive oil,

I have also been drinking diet coke as I feel it’s my only vice during this thing.

Total cals - 1360
Fat 116g 75%
Carbs 16g 4%
Protein 70g 21%

Can anyone please kindly tell me where I am going wrong? Or is this normal for week 2?

Thanks
Niamh xox


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #2

Welcome. You’re going to hear people say that you didn’t gain the weight in three weeks and you won’t lose it that quickly either. I understand it’s hard to not see the weight dramatically move every week but I encourage you to look at other measurements such as tape measuring your body and how your clothing feels. You will see those changes before the scale moves. It’s possible for bone and muscle weight to go up as you lose fat which won’t show up on the scale even if you’re slimming down.

Your diet looks good food wise. I am a diet Mt. Dew drinker and after 5 months I naturally didn’t crave them as much but believe me, I held on strong to them for many months, as my last treat. When I stopped having them throughout the day at work, my weight loss seems to have sped up. While the artificial sweeteners in them don’t raise blood glucose, they can have a direct impact on insulin and that’s what we’re trying to minimize on the ketogenic diet. I look at it like snacking through the day in between meals because that’s what it’s potentially doing to my insulin.

Anyway, something to experiment with. I still have them occasionally but not as my all day drink anymore.

What is your goal weight/size?


(Niamh) #3

Thanks for your replayed welcoming me to the group. Your reassurance means a lot!! :heart:

I’m hoping to lose another 40-50lb by next year.


#4

Welcome. Don’t worry and be patient. Everyone is losing weight at a different rate. GL with keto.


(Robert C) #5

Your macro numbers look fine - to go a little faster you might want to drop the nuts and make your meals a little bigger (specifically so you do not need a snack). Maybe a few 100 extra fat calories also.

It is probably best to not worry about weight trends for 6 to 8 weeks.

When you dramatically change your diet, your body wants to hold on to a different amount of water. So, your initial weight loss was likely closer to your second week’s loss - no real change in fat - just a loss of water.

Remember you are supposed to spend 6 to 8 weeks generously eating fat to satiety to fix and raise your metabolism (you won’t gain weight on less than 20 grams of carbs but you might not lose weight during this phase either). Then you leverage that heightened fat-burning metabolism to easily burn your body fat by lowering the fat on your plate a few days a week - that is when real long-term body recomposition takes place.

Keto is the perfect diet to end up slim for a 2020 wedding.


(mole person) #6

The keto diet has a ramp up phase. For very many people the initial water weight losses are the only losses they see for the first month to six weeks. That’s because what the diet does is change your hormones so that you become less hungry and start to eat reduced amounts and less often. But this takes time as your entire metabolism is changing to learning how to efficiently use fat for fuel. So you have to be patient.

Your diet looks good. As you go on, over the next few weeks just pay attention to your hunger. You should be able to drop that nut snack at some point soon. Nuts are actually a pretty bad weight loss food for many people, especially as a snack. They are just too desirable. I stay away from them.

Also, keep in mind, that fat is your fuel in this diet but NOT a nutrient. You only need to eat as much as required to satisfy you at your meals. Don’t add more than you are hungry for just to satisfy a macro. This is a pitfall for many people starting on this diet. They think the percentages matter and they don’t at all. You want carbs as low as possible, protein at the right level for your height and sex, and fat only to satiety. As you hunger changes so should the amount of fat you eat.

Can I ask what your height is?


(mole person) #7

Also, @PetaMarie’s advice about artificial sweeteners is excellent. Many, many people find that their weight loss stalls end when then finally abandon them. They really can interfere with satiety. However, you may not be in such a stall as you are still in the ramp up phase and having a crutch is fine initially if it helps you stay with the diet. But it’s worth keeping in mind.


(Carl Keller) #8

I agree with @PetaMarie about the Diet Coke. Artficial sweeteners can cause insulin spikes and this is counterproductive to weight loss. This is a fact that is confirmed by science. Anecdotally, I read about a person who was overweight and simply by giving up his four to five diet Coke’s per day, he was able to start losing weight.

And I also agree with @Ilana_Rose about the nuts and snacking. I found snacking on nuts very useful in the beginning of my keto journey. They were great for taking the edge off my hunger and allowing me to make it to the next meal without carb relapse. However, the goal is to keep insulin levels low and snacking goes against that philosophy. The trick is to eat larger meals when you do eat so that snacking is not necessary. This is not only good for our insulin, it can help us break the habit of eating at specific times we are used to, even when we don’t really need to.


#9

I am 8 weeks in. I had a 9 day stall that immediately ended when i gave up things that i knew caused me inflammation. For me it was stevia, chocolate, cheese and nuts. I can get away with cheese and nuts in small amounts. I would think though that after a great 8 lb loss, your body could just be adjusting. If you were going to give up just one thing, id say the artificial sweetener because as previously said it causes insulin to rise.


#10

Giving up sweeteners and nuts is a good idea. You may also quit dairy for a while if that doesn’t help, but we are all different in how our bodies react to these foods.

Keto isn’t a diet for steady weight loss, but it’s really good for getting a smaller waist. Use measure tape and mirrors to make sure whether the scale is telling the full truth.

When you start out, it isn’t always a good idea to count calories. Count only carbs, eat as much protein you want, and fat to satiety. Eating too much protein doesn’t hurt your body. Even if your weight stalls for those few days of too much, your body is also turning up your metabolism so that you’ll lose fat better afterwards.

You really should try just eating for the first month on keto, and particularly if you want a specific type of protein. Your body will hold on to fat if it thinks you don’t have enough to eat, even on keto. This mostly means that you can go for as long as you want without eating anything at all, but when you do eat, you eat until satiety and no less than that. Regardless of calorie count.


(Jeramy Koval) #11

It’s good to hear that your goal is further out and that there’s plenty of time to adapt to keto. As others have said, the overall process takes time. What you’re experiencing at week 3 is normal for most people. Personally, I find that it takes me about 4-6 weeks to adapt to keto. I do see initial signs such as water weight loss, improved clarity and focus, etc. But the scale doesn’t budge much until I feel adapted. For me that’s usually when I start unconsciously hitting 16-20 hour fasts where I have to remind myself that I should eat.


(Todd Allen) #12

Using a scale is where you are going wrong. It measures weight but you are interested in fat loss. Fat comes and goes slowly, one pound per week is a rapid rate of change for fat. Water weighs a pound per pint and you can add or lose pints per day.


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