New here- need advice

(Becky) #1

Hello, from what I’ve been reading over the last few days this seems like a safe forum to be.
I just finished week2 today, and while in week one I lost 6.4 lbs, week two I lost nothing, in fact I gained .6,.8 and then lost it again. I have the strips and am showing dark pink and sometimes dark purple colours indicating I am in Ketosis. I am noticing my body trimming down, pants have more room around the waist and bra fits better.

My question, is the weight loss stall normal this soon in? And how long should this last? I don’t want to become discouraged, but don’t want to be foolish either.

The last two days I have changed my food. I have been doing IF 16:8 this whole time, although started a 23 hour fast last night, ending today with dinner to try and shake the weight loss stall.

Any suggestions, advice or encouragement is appreciated.

Have a beautiful day/night, where ever you are!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #2

Yes, it’s quite common. Sounds like you are losing inches, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You could give all your stats (age, weight, height) and a typical day or two of what you eat, including macros and the people here will let you know if you need to tweek anything.

The biggest mistake I see us newbies making is coming to Keto with the old low fat diet mentality of limiting calories. Keto doesn’t work this way, so make sure you’re eating enough. Restricting calories will slow down your metabolism.

The other thing I would caution about is fasting too soon. Fasting doesn’t necessarily have to be done with keto, but it works well with it once you are fat adapted. At 2 weeks in, it’s doubtful you are yet. Typically takes 6-8 weeks. If you have decent energy and you aren’t fighting hunger, IF might be okay. But if you’re struggling with either of those things, your body’s not ready for it yet. You would know that better than anyone, but don’t try to rush the process.

(Ashley) #3

6.4 pounds in two weeks is great, if you consider if you do that within the last two weeks you’d almost have 13lbs In one month. I lost 16 in one month, but I also was 251 pounds when I started, I adjusted my macros, learned a lot of things my first few months here and am down 31 pounds, your body is adjusting. Depending on age, height, weight, gender it can be different.

(Ashley) #4

I’d also not call that a stall. Your body is just beginning to adjust. Don’t think of it as a stall, think of it as your body working out it’s kinks.

(Ron) #5

This might help some -

(Becky) #6

Thank you for your response. I typically practised IF prior to starting Keto, but not 16:8 more like 13:11 so O figured I’d be ok doing this.

All that I have read has said calories are part of the macros to follow. Is this incorrect? I am using Carb Manager app to track my food and water and net carbs/fat/protein.

On average I am below 20net carbs by a handful and around 1300 calories. I am a little heavier, not sure I want to put my weight up here just yet- a little low on self esteem as it is.

Thank you again for your input, I appreciate all the advice and thoughts.

(Becky) #7

Is there value in MTC oil once per day? I have read conflicting views on this.

(Becky) #8

Thank you. I guess I was just expecting more because I have quite a bit to lose and read that weight loss can stop a few weeks in due to your body making adjustments and healing so I wasn’t expecting that after week 1.

I am feeling better mostly, the first week was tough with headaches and nausea but that seems to have passed now, thankfully.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #9

All trackers will track calories in order to break down percents of fat, protein and carbs. But you shouldn’t get hung up on watching calories beyond making sure you aren’t going too low.

And I’m almost positive you’re too low.
Keto doesn’t follow the calories in, calories out (CICO) that low fat diets make you follow.

I hope you get past feeling self conscious here. This is a really safe place and there are people on every level of the journey. Some with lots to lose. Some who’ve lost lots already. Some who just want the health benefits.

But since you are concerned about it now, I’ll give you my stats just for comparison. I’m 5’2” and currently at 134 pounds. I’m averaging about 1600 calories a day. Some days more, some less, but that’s a ball park average. Yesterday I was over 2000. Now I say not to watch calories, but at the same time, I do myself. The biggest rule of Keto is stay under 20 grams of carbs a day and eat fat to satiety. Unfortunately for me, after so many years of binging and starving myself, I’m not attuned to my satiety signals right now. So I can overeat, even on Keto. I could also starve myself, but I watch my calories to err on the upper end.

If you have a lot more body weight than me and are taller, than you would need to consume even more calories per day. So the 1300 would be pretty low. I like to have one high day and one low day per week and the rest somewhere in the middle. So my low is around 1200 and my high around 2000, but most days about 1600. I think this keeps my body from becoming too used to the same thing and adjusting to it.

The calories just give me a guide. The more important part is the macros. I really try to nail the 75/20/5 breakdown. Getting 75% of my calories from fat, 20 from protein and 5 or less from carbs. A lot of people find it hard initially to get that much fat in.

Could you share a day of your meals with us?

(LeeAnn Brooks) #10

I like it in my BPC, but with IF, I don’t drink it in the mornings anymore. Some people swear by it. Others think it’s a glorified coconut oil, which you can buy much cheaper.

It’s really a personal preference, but if you do try it, start very slow. It can mess up your digestive system if your not used to it.

I’m actually thinking about adding it back in somehow because I’ve been getting constipated lately.

(Ashley) #11

You will fluctuate until your fat adapted. Which is about 6-8 weeks and then your body will know how to use fuel.

(Becky) #12

Ok so I shouldn’t be worried about keeping my calories down but more at reaching my protein, fat and net carbs in tact. I too am following 75,20,5.

Yesterday I ate:
2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast

Snack of a piece of cheese

Salad with chicken, a bit of red bell peppers, cucumber and grated cheese with bacon bits and ranch dressing

Snack of almonds 1/4 cup

Dinner was 6oz piece of baked salmon, 6 asparagus spears, 1 tbsp butter, 6 slices of cucumber and 2tbs tzasiki dip.

I also drink 3-4 litres of water a day, which is about 1 gallon US.

(Becky) #13

So everything I’ve read has said it’s common and expected to be in ketosis without being fat adapted for a period of time. Would you agree?
Also have read that week one is usually all water weight lost and then your body can start holding onto water for a period of time and once it “lets go” you will see a loss of weight.

This is a long term goal (lifestyle change) for me, I’m just really trying to make sure I am doing this right and have the right info from the start.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #14

How close are you to hitting your macros with this? It’s a little hard to tell. Is your chicken the breast or thigh meat?

A lot of people find it hard to up their fat and calories. By picking higher fat content food innplace of lower fat ones, you can drastically increase it without adding a lot of volume.
For instance, instead of chicken breast, go for thighs which are higher in fat. Leave the skins on for even higher fat (and flavor) benefits.

Also I’m a little confused. You said you are doing some IF, but you listed a traditional 3MAD with snacks. Did you just not fast this day, or are you breaking down your eating this much within the shorter feeding window? If so, that’s a lot of meals to push into a small time frame. Ideally you want to go to 2MAD without snacking. If you don’t feel like you can do that without hunger, you probably aren’t ready for it yet.

(Becky) #15

I had chicken breast on my salad.

I fast from 6pm until 10am.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #16

It seems improbable your up to 75% fat with this menu.

  1. pick high fat ways to get your protein by choosing meats with higher fat contents.
  2. cook them in ways to add and preserve the fat. Add oils or butter or mayo to the cooking process. Hard boiled eggs are okay, but eggs fried in butter or bacon grease are even better.
  3. top with more butter, mayo or oil after cooking.
  4. mover your snacks with your meals to go longer times between feeding. It takes the body approximately 3 hours to digest a meal. During that time you aren’t burning fats efficiently. So by feeding every couple hours, your are slowing down your bodies ability to get lean. Eat less often but eat more to sustain you to the next meal.
(Ron) #17

Becky,
@Anniegirl9 is giving you great help here and I will leave it to her. I will suggest to make sure that your macro calculator is set on “maintain” level and not lose weight setting. This will help you get adapted better.
You might find this thread interesting as well as it is on this topic -
Newbie-questions

(Rob) #18

I put this in my logger (LoseIt) and it comes out 1375kcal (low), 55%F, 6%C, 39%P

That is a lifter’s level of protein (but it may well not matter since most people don’t suffer on higher protein), definitely fat dodging but great on carbs. All you need to do is raise the fat level which you can partly do with things like change breast for skin-on thigh, fattier dressing vs. tsatziki, fry the eggs, macadamias instead of almonds, etc. Lots of suggestions to search for on how to add fat.

I know it’s weird to say eat more but that is the keto truth… “eat more, move less” (at least in the start)

(Ashley) #19

I’d listen to them, up your fat some! Don’t worry about anything else but hitting macros for the first 6-8 weeks. Honestly when I ate more, stopped obsessing about it, the weight began to fall off.

(Becky) #20

Ok thank you. I was under the impression I had to meet my fat and protein levels but still maintain calories to no more than 1400.

I’m glad I come here.