Lost Water Weight But Starting to Go Up Again

(Aya Ravensong) #1

I’ve been doing keto for about a 10 days now and after feeling like trash for a few (I’m assuming this is the dreaded keto flu) I began to shed weight like nobody’s business. 9 lbs in a few days. But all of a sudden this has stopped. I’m certain that this is because it was water weight.

I’ve been stuck at the same number for a few days, which wouldn’t be too troubling given the average healthy rate of weight loss, except that I’ve begun gaining a few more ounces each day. I imagine by tomorrow, I’ll have gained an entire pound back.

Now, I’ve been exercising everyday with the exception of 2 days, and have been eating WAY under my recommended calories for the day. This isn’t intentional, but at the end of the day I just find that there’s so many calories left on the MyFitnessPal app. Because of this, on principal alone shouldn’t I be losing weight regardless of if I’m in ketosis(which I’m beginning to doubt at this point) or not? Or at the very least, not having it creep back up on me?

I will admit that I don’t think I’m eating enough. I’ve put my macros ratio in MFP at 75/20/5 for f/p/c and I’m usually really close to that. But what I wind up eating never reaches the recommended amounts. For example: my recommended fat intake is 221g and I usually only get about 100. The calorie deficit I have at the end of the day is usually over 1000 more than the number I chose to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

Could this be why things don’t seem to working normally for me? Have I unintentionally put my body in some survival mode where its just holding everything I put in it? Or could it be something else? What should I do to fix it? Force myself to meet my calorie goals? Am I just not in ketosis so the extra fast is just causing me to gain without being burned off? I need help, y’all.

For reference: I’m 27 years old, started out at 420lbs but am currently 411. I usually get in less than 20 grams of total carbs a day no matter what. The only exceptions being the first 3 days while I was still feeling like trash. But since I began its never been over 30. My daily recommended calorie intake is 2360, but I usually get in between 1200-1800. Usually closer to 12.

If there’s any other info I could let you know to figure out what my problem might be, ask. I’ll be glad to share.

(Carolyn aka stokies) #2

You may have hit the nail on the head exactly by observing under-eating and over-exercising. That’s like putting the body in the middle of a 2 front war and as a result, it revolts, from my experience. Working out puts you at an automactic deficit and your body, being underfed, might see that as a threat and resists shedding fat. This creates TOO much stress, spikes adrenaline and cortisol which in turn affect insulin as well.

I found FOR ME that exercise needed to take a backseat as I worked on losing pounds. I needed to break through my insulin resistance too. Underfeeding has been a struggle of mine too and would inevitably lead to stalls or gains. Another thing to consider is to make sre you are getting full sleep and lower stress. Stress spikes cortisol which then spikes insulin. It really is about managing insulin levels so you can allow your body to burn its own fat stores for fuel.

(George) #3

Firstly I’d say don’t weigh yourself daily. Body weight fluctuates a lot, so I only do it once a week. dont worry too much about calories, just eat to satiety, making sure your carbs are low and your fat is the highest macro, and eat within a good window of time. Practice daily intermittent fasting, and try limiting yourself to 1 or 2 meals ONLY within that window. Eliminate any and all snacking.

(George) #4

and yes the exercise might be an issue as well. Cut back a bit. In the beginning, I was doing 1.5 hours every day of exercise. Then, because of unforeseen circumstances, I ended up going almost 2 weeks without any exercise, and still lost the same amount of weight I was losing with exercise. So now, I only do about 20 minutes 4-5 days/week of intense weight lifting, and that’s it. I also increased my fat intake so I’m more satiated, and I’ve started losing about an extra .5 lb a week since i made that switch

(mole person) #5

If you’re not hungry there is no need to eat more. Just make sure you are getting a correct amount of protein and very low carbs. Fat is a lever to get you full enough but you shouldn’t be eating more fat than you need for that purpose. If your body isn’t complaining for more it’s a good thing.

It’s way too soon to worry about a stall. Six weeks is how long people tend to take to really get into the groove. Right now your body is sorting out how to do a whole new sort of metabolizing.

(Aya Ravensong) #6

This sounds logical. It’s just been kind of hard to get everything I’ve learned out of my head from yoyo dieting before. But a lot of it really doesn’t apply to keto. I find myself reluctant to eat to satiety because my instincts are telling me I eat way too much. I really need to work on pushing past that.

(Aya Ravensong) #7

Well, the thing is I AM hungry. I’m not eating so little because I don’t need it. I just can’t get past the hurdle of “this is one serving and that’s all you get.” I kinda wish that WAS the case, but I’d be lying to myself if I acted like it was.

(Dan) #8

I am a newbie, 5 weeks in. I use an MFP also. The only hard rule for me has been the 20g of carbs. I don’t worry about the number of calories MFP suggests. I eat till I am full. Using fat to get to the full feeling. I am not working out at all. Still Keto is working for me. Some days I go over what it says my calories should be some days I am under. I let my body tell me when it’s full and watch my carbs. Like I said though, I am no expert. Someone will correct me if I am wrong.

(Aya Ravensong) #9

In my head, I know weighing myself is a terrible idea for me. Then I tend to obsess over it, and it drives me crazy. But I can’t, NOT know. This is something I need to work on. I think I’m approaching this whole weight loss thing from the wrong headspace. I think that’s where my problems are ultimately stemming from.

I think for now, I’ll work on adjusting my eating. I’ll stop counting calories and only count macros. Hopefully this will get me back in the right direction.

As far as exercise, I only do 30-45 minutes of brisk (for me anyways) walking a day. Considering I’m pretty much on the couch the entire rest of the time, I don’t feel like that’s too much for me. If I’m having problems still after eating more, then I’ll definitely address this too, but I think it ought to balance out a bit better once I’m getting enough fuel from my food.

(Aya Ravensong) #10

I’ve been hearing a lot of this from others as well. Even a lot of the people I follow on Instagram say similar. I think that’s what I’m going to start doing as well. I just get so caught up with tracking those numbers. I feel like I don’t have control when I don’t, and that’s too close to not doing anything at all. There’s lots of things I have to work on with myself.

(Aya Ravensong) #11

Thanks for all the help, everyone. You’re really giving me some good insight.

(Dan) #12

Also, I don’t know if you are already doing it but I would start tracking measurements and taking progress pictures. That tells a more accurate tale than what a scale tells you.

(mole person) #13

If you’re hungry you should be eating. Especially at this stage. Don’t even think about weight loss for the first six weeks. This time is all about training your body to hum along on fat. So keep carbs low, protein moderate and add as much fat as you need to be SATISFIED. In six weeks if you are still not losing weight you can think about tweaking this or that, but it’s too soon for that and will probably be completely unnecessary for quite a while. Just give your body some time to get used to this huge change in relative comfort. It’s stressed out enough by the big change of losing glucose, you don’t want it stressing over starvation signals too.

#14

You’re going to be hungry like crazy for the first few weeks. Eat. Eat some more. Just don’t eat carbs. Your appetite will down-regulate on its own at some point, don’t worry about it.

One pound is nothing. I’m half your size and my weight can bounce up and down a couple of pounds nearly every day. The trend is what’s important.

Yes!

(George) #15

Absolutely, just remember to eat until you’re full. Maybe have a glass of water a few minutes before you start eating. Don’t worry about hitting your macros if you’re already full, everything else will fall into place.

(Alec) #16

Everyone starting keto has just 2 things to do for the first 6-8 weeks

  1. Eat less than 20g carbs per day
  2. Eat fats and protein to satiety. For now, don’t worry about the balance between fat and protein.

You are right now achieving number 1, but not number 2. Focus on eating to satiety, and relearning what that means.

That’s it. If you do this and things don’t start working in 8 weeks time, ask for more advice, and we’ll look at what you’re eating.

For now, focus on satiety.

(Alec) #17

By the way, 10lbs is 10lbs, don’t overthink re water weight. You’ve lost 10lbs, and that’s fantastic!! Well done. Keep calm and keto on. I am confident keto will work for you.

(Aya Ravensong) #18

That’s a good idea. Maybe I can do that instead of looking at the scale. Then I can still fulfill the need to track something without obsessing over my weight. Thanks.

(Aya Ravensong) #19

Thanks a lot for the input everyone. It sounds like overall I just need to give it some time, and listen more to my body and less to my head. I’m going to put this advice to action while I continue on my journey. I really appreciate everyone’s wise words.

#20

When I started keto I was only weighing myself monthly (then eventually weekly). I knew that I couldn’t afford to be discouraged by normal weight fluctuations that could possibly send me back into the arms of sugar when I was new to this WOE and vulnerable. I can also attest that you can actually stall your weight loss by undereating, and I’ve seen examples on this forum of people having the same issues when over-exercising.