Need Some Advice for a Newbie

(Diane) #1

I appreciate the patience as experienced Ketoers probably get tired of people like me. I started Keto in April 2021 and was off to a great start. I noticed that for the last few weeks I have not lost any weight. I checked my ketones with my blood monitor today, and the ketones were 0.3 and my glucose was up. What am I doing wrong? I have not really adjusted what I am eating. I intermittent fast and only do 2 meals a day, and I get in at least 10,000 steps a day. I don’t want to give up or anything. I am just trying to figure out where I am going wrong, so I can correct it. Thanks for your patience!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

You may be doing nothing wrong. Fat loss is not a linear process, and the situation is further compounded when we gain lean tissue. We urge you to keep track of the fit of your clothing as an additional measure of progress.

If you want, you can post details of your diet and relevant details about yourself (age, sex, height, current weight, goal weight), and we can see whether anything stands out as a problem.

(Diane) #3

Thank you, Paul. I have been tracking my macros on Carb Manager. One thing I noticed is that some days my protein macros and fat macros were not as wide of a gap as the 70/20 recommendation (fat/protein) on Carb Manager. So, at dinner, I tried to bump up the fat by drinking some decaf coffee with a splash of heavy cream and some unsweetened coconut milk. I add just a drop or two of the Better Stevia.

I was adding electrolyte drops to my water when I first started Keto. I haven’t been doing that, so could that be an issue?

It is just puzzling to me. I’m in it for the long haul as a lifestyle change and not a lose a bunch of weight fast kind of thing. I didn’t have the huge weight loss that other people talk about. It’s just been a slow and steady 1 pound a week kinda thing…which I am grateful. It’s just these last 2 weeks that are no weight loss, and my glucose went up when I blood tested it today with the ketones…so that has to be the answer…just not sure why.

I will keep reading other posts on here. Very informative! Thx for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Don’t worry about it. As long as you are controlling your carb intake, getting a reasonable amount of protein, and filling in with fat to satiation, you are fine. Some people do better with more protein and less fat, while others do better with more fat and less protein. If you are feeling healthy, you are doing fine.

Not only that, but the figures of 4 kcal/gram for carbs and protein and 9 kcal/g for fat are round numbers, anyway. I used to know more precise figures, but all I remember is that the numbers for protein and carbohydrate are both 3.9-something, and the cals/gram for fats range from around 6-ish to 10-ish, as I recall, depending on the fat in question. (Anyone is welcome to supply more precise figures, thank you in advance.)

I don’t worry about electrolytes, except for salt. The body’s regulatory mechanisms for sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium are all interlinked, and I find that getting my salt intake in the right range helps keep the rest in line, as well. If I don’t get enough salt, I become constipated and have migraine auras; too much salt, and I experience—well, it’s not diarrhoea, but it’s definitely the opposite of constipation, shall we say?

People eating a plant-free carnivore diet usually find that they don’t need to put any salt on their food, but those of us eating some small amount of plants seem to need it.

My take is that most of us shouldn’t need supplements if our diet is healthy, but some people have conditions that require supplements and they should take them.

That’s healthy and sustainable, and you are more likely to keep the fat off that way. Slow and steady wins the race. Two other considerations are that fat loss slows as we get closer to a healthy body composition, and also, our body often has a different ideal weight from what we would like. I lost around 80 lbs. (36.4 kg) effortlessly, and could well stand to lose another 80, but my body seems happy the way it is. If my metabolism and my arthritis hadn’t improved so much from losing only this much, I’d be striving to lose more, but as it is, I’m happy.

You will see posts on these forums from people whose weight fluctuates considerably on keto. As long as the overall trend is in the right direction, a few weeks of no change are not an issue.

#5

2 weeks are a very short time. Our bodyweight fluctuates, it’s quite easy to mask a slow fat-loss for a few weeks (not like 1 pound a week is so slow, it’s pretty decent if you ask me - or many others. it’s a decent speed and you have no huge amount of fat mass so it won’t take for super long).
If you lost fat before and changed nothing, you probably continue the fat-loss. Many people notice some weeks without losing, it’s normal.

I wouldn’t force some numbers. People love fixed numbers for some reasons but they can’t be right for everyone. Especially that 70/20 means 10% carbs, that’s serious starvation with the usual 20g limit… But even without that, one people needs 80% fat or more, the other have wonderful 50% days… I am not very sensitive to it but I better don’t reach 70% normally and especially not the very common 75%.
Our protein need is in grams so percentages make not enough sense but I understand (as I experienced) keeping the fat percentage in a smaller range that suit us. Especially for therapeutic keto but we may have other reasons.

#6

Your fat loss has nothing to do with your ketone levels, if they’re there… you’re good. I lived in 0.3-0.5 and lost 100lbs there. Don’t waste your time measuring them. Have you posted a sample diet here before? What is your typical-ish macro breakdown daily?

(Diane) #7

Thanks so much!

(Diane) #8

Makes sense. Thanks a lot!

(Diane) #9

I don’t typically test my ketones. I did at the beginning when just trying to understand the whole way of eating. I think I did them once a month for 3 months. I stayed at the lower 0.5 range. When I hit this plateau, I thought I must be doing something wrong. So that is when I tested. It was 0.3, and my glucose was up…which I think might be the problem. I am back to logging everything I eat just to see if I can get back on track. I do intermittent fasting…just 2 meals a day in the 16/8 window. I know I shouldn’t let the stall on the weight loss discourage me, but I just wanted to see if maybe I was doing something wrong. I appreciate everyone’s help on here! Thanks.

(Marianne) #10

Welcome! Never feel bad about posting - people here are always happy to answer questions and help! This forum was my life line when I started. I really didn’t know much about how to do keto and was absolutely terrified that it wasn’t going to work. I posted all of the time and people were ALWAYS encouraging and helpful. Two and a half years later and I still love it. You may want to check out dietdoctor.com, too, for more great information. A lot of their content is free and you won’t get any spam email, offers or advertisements.

I think it’s so great that you want to follow keto for the long haul. That being the case, I strongly encourage you to ditch the scale and stop weighing yourself. The scale, to me, is the devil and a total mind bender. It fluctuates so much that what you see can be pretty meaningless, but the number sticks with you and messes with your head (whether it’s good or bad, for different reasons). If you have a starting weight, that’s all you need. After several weeks or whenever you feel your clothes fitting more loosely, then weight yourself (if you must). Then I would go as long as I could without weighing again. You really can give yourself permission not to do so, and it is so freeing.

I would suggest just eating to your fat and protein macros each day (okay to exceed), don’t count calories, and keep the carbs as low under 20 as you can. If you continue to do so, you will probably reach a natural balance where your body doesn’t require or want that much food. Three meals a day may become two, or maybe even one, once you become fat adapted. Let it happen naturally.

Lastly, I would ditch the ketone, blood sugar, or other monitoring devices. If you are eating less than 20g. carbs a day, you are in ketosis, your blood sugar is normalizing, and your body is repairing itself. Just let time pass, eat delicious food, enjoy your meals, and live your life without hyper focusing on any of these measurements.

Best. Hope to see you on the forum!

(Jane) #11

No need to add additional fat if you aren’t hungry or tired - it’s there to replace the energy you were getting from carbs previously. Just an observation- the small amount you are adding to your coffee is not significant.

Carbs are a max, protein is a minimum to prevent muscle loss and rebuild your health.

Sounds like you are doing fine to me!

(Bob M) #12

What’s happening is that your body is getting used to using ketones for fuel, so you produce less of them. I get 0.1 mmol/l when I test in the mornings.

Also, your body develops “glucose sparing” (goes by other names, too), which means your blood sugar rises in the morning. I don’t think it’s a big deal. This is from 2017, and I have months of data that look exactly like this:

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Edit: I don’t eat breakfast and exercise in the morning, both of which can contribute to higher morning blood sugars.

(Robin) #13

Welcome. Normal normal normal… we are all normal and none of us is normal. Dump the scales, trust the process. Feel what your body is telling you and listen to it. Stay under 20 carbs and the rest is just details.

Also… ask away. I have asked about everything from my poop to my hair. Some of us may have different opinions, but most of us believe that as long as you are under 20 carbs, the rest is up to the individual. There will be plateaus and there will be sudden loss too. Don’t trip about it. Just go by your clothes and how you feel. (My favorite part is the total lack of cravings.) You got this!

(Diane) #14

Marianne,
Thank you so very much! I will check out the dietdoctor website, and I did not know it was okay to exceed the macros. I seem to have little difficulty getting the protein macros in, but I sometimes do not get all the of the fat in. I got nervous when I read an article about gluconeogenesis. It’s sometimes confusing. Some people say it doesn’t matter, others are very strict about the fat/protein ratio. I just need to find my groove and get comfortable and confident in it. Really appreciate your time and the advice!

(Diane) #15

Thanks so much, Janie! I guess I am overthinking it. :wink:

(Diane) #16

Wow, Bob, thank you. This helps a lot. I have been skipping breakfast and exercising first thing in the morning. I appreciate the advice.

(Diane) #17

Thank you, Robin! I need to stop trying to get it “perfect” and just ride it out. I appreciate your encouragement!

(Marianne) #18

Yes! Still incredible to me, how I fought food my entire life prior to keto!!!

(Marianne) #19

Don’t skip a meal(s) until your body tells you to do so. It should be a completely natural progression. In the beginning once I was fat adapted, I would do a 24-hour fast once a week, because a lot of people here were talking about fasting. I assumed it was the thing to do. Although I could pretty comfortably hunger wise, I never cared for it. After time as my program morphed and I found my groove, I stopped fasting. Just wasn’t something I enjoyed. Again, these are individual choices. Another wonderful thing about keto.

FYI, I noticed your beautiful lab. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Did you see there is a topic “Show Us Your Dogs”? It is really adorable. People post pics of their fur babies and they are all so cute!!!