Nervous

#1

So my fiancé and I began the Ketogenic life a month ago. He is loosing like crazy, pounds and inches. In the first week I lost 6 lbs and like 3 inches off my stomach and few here and there the rest of my body. I use my fitness pal and count my carbs. I have not lost anything else since. I feel good. I eat 3 meals usually a fat bomb right after work because I am hungry and that holds me over until dinner. I have not lost anything else. I’m beginning to get frustrated. Somebody please tell me this is normal. I really thought that by a month I would be fat adapted and loosing more. I also exercise 4-6 days a week.

#2

My wife last 15 lbs in the first month, then gained 7, and has since lost it all and more. I told her, “Be patient. It’s a lifetime process. Be patient. Be patient.”

#3

Hmmm that’s what my fiancé said as well. LOL That does make me feel better though. To hear someone else not having lost a ton right off the bat. I have just read so much about people dropping weight so fast and I wasn’t.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #4

You don’t mention what kind of exercise. Just be aware that resistance training (i.e. -weightlifting) may result in weight gain, rather than loss, even if you’re losing fat, since muscle weighs more than fat.

Depending on intensity, you may want to dial back the frequency of your workouts, as you might be overdoing it a bit and need to give your body now recovery time.

Another important factor is sleep. Make sure you are getting enough. Lack of sleep can increase cortisol levels, which can interfere with weight loss, and cause cravings/hunger.

But all that said, stalls are a reality of keto. Patience is crucial.

(OM) #5

My husband lost 5 lb after he started keto, in his first week. Then nothing for about 2 months. Then he started losing more and more. He started at 247, went down to 242 after the first week, and now he is at 225. I think you only start losing after you get keto adapted, except for the initial water weight in the first week or so…

(Cathy) #6

How much weight do you have to lose? If you are near your goal weight, it will take longer to lose those last few lbs. If you are not close, you may need to adjust your macros. This might mean that you #1. might be eating too many carbs. Most people doing keto aim for 20g total or less. #2. you may need to dial down the amount of protein. This amount is highly individual and can take some fiddling around before you get it right. #3. it is true that you can have trouble losing if you are not consuming enough fat.

I agree that excessive exercise can have a negative result on the scale. I believe it is reccommended that only mild or moderate exercise is suggested until fully keto adapted which can take up to 2 months.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

Dr. Phinney says that women have a harder time taking off pounds and advises focusing on your dress size instead. It’s possible that you are gaining enough muscle poundage to offset the weight of the fat you are losing. As long as you keep getting trimmer, don’t worry about what the scale is saying.

#8

I am 5’2" and currently 153. I I would like to get to 135-140. I have my macros set in my fitness pal to 144g fat 86g protein and 22 g carb. I’m usually right on or really really close. I have not cheated at all. I’m so focused on this. As far as exercise I run 2-3 mornings a week and the other days I so some weight training but nothing crazy.
I’ll be patient I guess. Really just more concerned I’m not doing it right, which I know sounds crazy. Its really great to hear that other people loose slow as well. Thank you all for your comments :wink:

(Cathy) #9

Remember that diet is 95% of weight loss and exercise does little to nothing for weight loss. If you are doing it for the other benefits of exercise ~ great but if you are expecting it to help with weight loss, it might be a wash.

(MooBoom) #10

Pretty sure it is, certainly I went through something similar. Experienced a sudden loss in the first week- then totally stalled for a month. Nearly quit- but kept at it as I felt so much better in terms of increased energy, better sleep, better mental acuity, more even moods. Lo and behold around week 6 I weighed myself and had lost 8 kilos (17 pounds) since my start date. The weight has steadily been falling off since.

Keep at it, it’ll kick in.

#11

Thank you, that’s very encouraging!

(Tony Edwards) #12

Fasted cardio in morning or depleted cardio after weight training. Use MCT oil in coffee too.

#13

I have now begun the bulletproof coffee that I love. I can do the weight training and little carid fasted no problem. I have a 1/2 marathon at the end of this month that I have barely trained for… I can’t do the distance. I am struggling. I am a runner and have never had this problem. I tried to do 6 miles last weekend and had to walk every half mile. I’m hoping to just finish the darn thing and not even going to look at time. However I didn’t eat before hand. I wasn’t hungry at all. I am going for a run this weekend hopefully to do 6-8 but I’m going to try eating before hand and see if that makes any kind of difference. For the record I have never ever eaten before a run.

(Cathy) #14

Your mitochondria might be messed up.

#15

Ok so I’m only a little over a month in this woe. This is the first I’ve heard mention of mitochondria. I guess that’s something else i’ll need to do some research on.

#16

Could your protein and carbs be a bit too high? I try to stick to 60-70g protein and less than 20g carbs, I’m 5’5" and weigh (currently about 144lbs, after too much fat and protein on vacation!!!)

Being shorter than I am, and female, I’m guessing you may need to lower those two macros a bit…?

As for exercise, be careful not to overdo it and get that cortisol craziness going on. As for the mitochondria, this is a wonderful area of investigation and one that leads me toward some more slow, but steady weight/body weight/resistance training to increase those little buggers! I am not so well learned in this area though, so let others explain or better yet, keep on researching :wink:

(Mike Glasbrener) #17

PISS is real it takes 2 few weeks to a 2 or so months to become “fat adapted”. You aren’t too far from your target weight so the sudden and large drop that most see will not likely be as strong for you. Also, depending on your dietary habits before hand will dictate how much inflammation you had before keto. Most people who start keto are extremely overweight/diabetic/prediabetic and will have a lot of inflammation. Once they start keto that inflammation is shed quickly, 1-2 weeks. A stall of 2-6 weeks more is very typical. During that time while maintaining keto you should notice your hunger responses to become different. Desire for between meal snacks should go down, ability to skip breakfast will become easier (if you ignore the physiological scheduling). Then your weight should resume dropping. Stay the course and If you haven’t seen any of these benefits after 2 or so months then dig deeper.

IMO you can this up some up by cutting carbs further, getting rid of ANY artificial sweeteners, counting total carbs instead of net carbs, fasting… Some are harder than others. Again, if you have yout carbs around 20gr and are eating enough fat give it a few more weeks. BTW there are lots of good rewards for endurance athletes once you’re fat adapted.

#18

Thank you, lots of great advice in there. The last couple days I have noticed I’m not really eating breakfast. I’m up at 5 am and not eating until around 12-1. So maybe things are starting. I did just completely give up my sweet & low in my coffee. I’m allergic to other sweeteners and this is the only one I had no reaction to. I was using it in my coffee. I finally talked myself into putting the butter in my coffee and gave up the sweetener totally. I’m very good at keeping my carbs right around 5% carbs fat 75% and protein 20%.

(Carpe salata!) #19

All great.

Most keto-ers think of carbs in grams - stay under 20g for best ketosis. Keep your protein level daily ~1g per kg of lean body mass, and vary your fats according to how you feel. Some days will be way under, some will be way over.

(Dean) #20

i agree, I stopped exercising for the first couple months on keto, just did a walk couple times a week, i consistently lost 2-3 lbs a week for a couple months.