Need advice/guidance/motivation

#1

Hi everyone- this is my first time EVER posting anything on a forum, so I’m excited- need serious guidance and tips.
I switched to a low carb lifestyle back in 2014 after my first kid (I was 32). Did strict under 30gm of carbs for the first 3 weeks, dropped 9lbs, and increased to 50-100 GM carbs (mostly from veggies)- continued to lose steadily and regularly over the next 6 months, for a total of 28lbs. Felt great- wanted to be 130 but I was 136 (I’m 5’7") but happy with life. More importantly, I maintained the weight AND the eating lifestyle and it felt right. Used to do zumba and yoga regularly.
Fast forward to 3 years later. Baby # 2 in Dec last year. Added processed carbs like rice back to my diet last year because I felt the baby needed it, and ate like crap during the nursing months (think cheetos and snickers ice cream everyday). Didnt do much specifically for weight loss in the first half of this year, and was really eating everything, but some came off on its own. I’m now 143lbs.

Decided to get back on the wagon for life now. Started 18 days ago, stick to under 30 grams of carbs a day. Doing lots of strength training, yoga and just started adding cardio. 18 days- not ONE lb lost. More importantly, clothes are still fitting the same. Urine ketostix say I’m def in mid-level Ketko, so WHATS up? I wanted to post an example of my daily diet and see if I could get some feedback:
Brekkie- coffee with 1 Tblsp wholemilk, half avocado, 1-2 eggs, 1 sausage or smoked salmon or some meat, 1 tblsp rictotta or cube of cheese
Lunch- usually some meat on a salad- I try and use as many lower-carb veggies like cucumber. Dressing with evoo or ranch or guac
Dinner- often same as lunch, or could be roast chicken with some spinach soup, or steak on its own. I love cauli rice so sometimes that with a curry of some sort.
Snacks are usually wasabi seaweee from TJ’s, or some nuts. When I have a sweet craving, I’ll have 1-2 spoons of almond butter or a Coke Zero.

What am I doing wrong? I actually started crying when I weighed myself at the gym on Monday- it was so disheartening because exercising is easy for me- have been an athlete since I was a kid, but food restriction is hard but I have been doing it consistently and with a positive attitude (not drinking wine is THE hardest thing ever btw).
Really hoping for some advice/tips- anyone faced a similar situation. Btw, I do realize I’m now 36, so my metabolism is probably shot- what can I do to kick start this weight loss process again. Bday in 3 weeks- would love to drop 3-4 lbs as a present to myself :blush:
Thanks all

(Christopher Bingel) #2

Best advice you’ll ever get, right here: Keep Calm and Keto On.

Try varying your routine: try intermittent fasting, keeping all your meals for the day in a 6 -8 hour window. Try varying the amounts you eat day to day, try a low calorie day or two, maybe a fast, followed by a feast day.

Make sure you’re drinking enough water. If you think you’ve had enough, drink more. :slight_smile:

Try weighing and logging your food completely for a few days, you might not be as on target as you think you are.

But most of all, be patient and listen to your body. If you feel good, you’re doing fine. If you’re over-hungry, over-full, thirsty, bloated, getting muscle aches or headaches, then that’s your body talking to you.

Good luck!

(Khara) #3

@Drai Sorry to hear your frustrations. Stick with this and I’m sure you’ll start to see changes. For myself, my body does this weird thing where it seems to hold at a steady weight for a long time and then almost overnight it drops. Since you’ve been waiting 18 days to see progress I hope you’ll see a result like this soon.

Your exercise sounds like quite a bit and you mentioned you just added the cardio. Is this possibly just a lot for your body to take on all at once?

From the info I’ve gathered from other members here, the ketostix will register ketones before our body is adapted and actually using them.

You also aren’t too high over your goal weight. From what I’ve seen most people who report great losses the first week or two have quite a bit more to lose. Those last 15 lbs tend to just be slow to go. :neutral_face:

Good luck!

(Christopher Bingel) #4

Full agree. I was at 300 lbs for a month, then I zoomed down to 280, where I’ve been for a month. Try measuring other things, like your energy, and your body measurements. I bet you’ll be seeing other changes.

(Erin Macfarland ) #5

Have you considered that what you “want” to weigh may not be what your body needs to stay healthy? Your weight is perfectly healthy. You may do more harm than good by trying to strong arm your weight down to a place where your body does not want you to be. You might be able to get there by implementing all kinds of dietary and exercise “hacks” but I assure you that you will not be able to maintain those in the long run. You may experience deleterious side effects such as lowered thyroid function, lowered sex hormone production (read: loss of libido) cold extremities, depression or irritability and not being present for your kids because you’re so focused on some arbitrary number on the scale. You have two small children. Be kind to yourself. I am recovering from anorexia and when I weighed 130 (I’m your same height) I was very ill. You are putting your mental and physical health on the line to achieve this “goal”. I would advise that you eat and move in a way that promote your overall well being. I can speak from experience that when you force your body to a size or weight that it will not naturally reach on its own, you will have all the above symptoms and also rebound hunger and most likely strong cravings for carbs especially because your body will perceive you are starving. So I’ll be the unpopular one here and suggest your re-evaluate your reasons for wanting to lose weight.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #6

I’ll be unpopular with you @Emacfarland

Yes. Careful about a number on the scale, it can be VERY deceiving! Also, give it time. After you are ketogenic several weeks/months and there is still no change, you might have reached your “Phinney weight”

(Erin Macfarland ) #7

EXACTLY @Brenda…if we have to go to extraordinary measures to attain a certain number, it’s not meant to be.

(Michael Haisten) #8

Always keep in mind that you did not gain the weight in one month, so we would be crazy to expect it to leave in one month. Try using a Keto calculator to figure your macros. I made a strict meal plan to get started and eliminated all snacks, they are gateway drugs!

Either way a healthy feeling is the true reward of eating correctly.

(Judi Campion) #9

It’s only 18 days. Just keep going. If your body wants to weigh less it will drop. A couple of questions to ask yourself?

Are you eating enough?

Are you getting enough fat in?

Are you able to fast? If you are still nursing then the answer is No.

Keep going, take measurements and be patient.

(Khara) #10

Hmmm. Ya I agree with the possibly unpopulars. Make sure we all are focusing on realistic healthy goals! Not sure how I missed the height when I first read this. I am 1" shorter. The first time I did Keto I wasn’t really sure what my final weight should be. I shot for around 150 and said I’d reassess once I got there. I ended up pretty quickly (8 months) dropping 40 lbs to land at that point. I then spent several months holding steady there. I think that’s about where my body should be as far as fat loss goes and then from there it’s just natural tweaking and adjustments and progression that happens from continuing to live this way. I think we need to realize too that we ought not hang on to old standards. For example in high school I was between 100-115. For many many adult years after that I just thought that if I wasn’t less than 120 I was overweight. The fully adult body really is different than that of an 18 year old and I/we need to be ok with that.
Good luck @Drai. Be healthy with this and just let time go by.
Thank you @Emacfarland for your story.
Thanks @Brenda for the Phinney Weight link.

(Erin Macfarland ) #11

Yes to all of this @KBG! It’s unreasonable and possibly harmful to expect our bodies will remain the same as when we were very young (and after having children!) Quality of life, mental health, disease prevention, these things matter so much more than weight.

(betsy.rome) #12

Ideas for you to break your stall:

  • Eliminate the Coke Zero.
  • To replace it, try my fav iced tea: To 1 qt water, add 5 ordinary decaf tea bags, and 1 mint tea bag. Nuke in a pitcher till it just boils. Cool down, pour in a 2 qt pitcher, add water / ice to taste. Or omit the mint tea, just use regular tea bags & a couple squeezes fresh lemon.
  • Have you tried a "Carl Franklin"cocktail? Delicious & refreshing, and gets some apple cider vinegar in you, which can help. Myself, I don’t sweeten it, but you can add sweetener of choice. Recipe: 2-4 tbsp of ACV, seltzer to fill cup, bitters to flavor (“Hella” brand recommended). Add sweetener to cut the ACV tartness.
  • Eliminate the whole milk, switch to heavy whipping cream and/or almond milk.
  • Try to put off eating till at least noon, except for your morning coffee/tea, and stop eating by 8 pm. If you can push it till 2 pm, even better. This gives you an IF eating window of 6-8 hours.
  • Try eating more food some days, less food on another day. Your body gets used to the routine, shake it up a bit. Weigh only 1x week. Even better, use a pair of tight jeans as a check progress. We all know the scale lies like a dog. :slightly_smiling_face:
  • Add butter, mayo, avocado oil, olive oil to your food wherever you think it tastes good.
  • Once a week, do a longer fast, like 24 hrs, dinner-to-dinner, or 36 hrs, dinner-full fast next day-till breakfast.