New to keto and have questions

(Marcos) #1

Hello y’all, I’m new to keto and started a month ago. My blood levels are typically 2.4-2.6. Somehow I’ve dropped 20lbs in this last month. A few of my therapists ( I’m a quadriplegic in a wheelchair trying to lose weight ) are concerned about the rapid weight loss and I’m starting to worry a little bit. I’m not starving myself either. Is it common to lose this much this quick? I started at 278 and now I’m at 259. Also on a side note my upper right abdomen has started bothering me lately, any advice?

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #2

20lbs within a month, for someone of your weight, is normal.
It is mostly water weight, not true ‘fat loss’, your weight loss will slow down now and possibly even stall, which is completely normal, it’s called the post induction stall period (made famous by atkins), and during that time there are a lot of internal metabolic processes at play to prepare your body for adaption. Keep doing what you are doing, you are definitely on the right track :slight_smile:

#3

Is the pain mainly after eating? If so it could be your gallbladder. I’d definitely mention it to your doctor.

(Marcos) #4

Thank you, I’ve been eating no more than 10-15 carbs a day and do IF on top of that. Any other recommendations?

(Marcos) #5

I want to say yes but it’s bothering me right now and my last meal was around 7pm, 4 hours ago. Why could it be gallbladder?

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #6

That’s a good starting point as to not overwhelm yourself too soon with too many changes, you are seeing good results, doing intermittent fasting and keeping your carbs below the threshold, nothing else to do now but enjoy the food you are eating and continue researching to expand your knowledge about this WOE.

Can’t provide any information regarding gall bladder, I don’t even know where it is in the body lol, something for me to look into in the future. Tho I am sure @anon54735292 is more than equipped :slight_smile:

#7

The gallbladder stores bile which assists in the proper digestion of fats. Often when people have eaten low fat diets in the past the gallbladder is rendered fairly inactive and can become ‘sludgy’ or create gallstones. When people start eating fat again the ‘sludge’ or stones can cause them problems. Some find that digestive enzymes help but if it is your gallbladder you’d want to get it seen to by a doctor so you don’t end up with an infection.

I’m not saying that is is definitely what’s going on for you - just thought I’d mention it as a possibility.

(Marcos) #8

Ok thanks for the information, I’ll probably get it checked next week. Doctors are already wanting to do blood work to check liver saying it’s unhealthy weight loss… since a lot of what is lost is water weight is it very easy to gain it back?

#9

It’s not unusual for doctors to be concerned about rapid weight loss but as @ava_ad0re pointed out it is likely to be mostly water. If you start eating carbs again you’ll regain the water weight rather quickly. Once you’ve lost that initial water weight you should continue to lose mostly fat at a slower rate that should be of less concern to your doctors.

(Marcos) #10

How much water weight could the body have?

#11

Depends on various things such as how much you weigh to start, your electrolyte/hydration status, previous carb levels, inflammation levels & so on but half of your 20lb loss could easily be water.

EDIT TO ADD: It occurred to me that your HCPs may be concerned with the possibility of muscle loss so you may want to have a look at this https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1373635/ There are probably more recent studies floating around if you give it a good google :slightly_smiling_face:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

Carbohydrate causes the body to retain water, so a fair amount, actually. I’m not so sure that the entire 20 lbs. you’ve lost was water, you may have lost a bit of fat as well. For men with fat to lose, weight does come off pretty quickly at the beginning. Women, with their more complicated hormonal situation, have a different experience, usually, But everyone finds that weight loss slows down as we reach our goal weight.

Let your doctor test your liver enzymes; there’s most likely nothing to worry about—and if there is, the switch to keto didn’t cause it. Have you mentioned your new way of eating yet? If you haven’t, consider doing so. Doctors always worry about unexplained weight loss, but this loss has a perfectly good explanation. But do get your gall bladder checked, along with the liver, just in case.

BTW, many people find that they can do keto just fine without a gall bladder, so don’t worry if they need to take it out. The gall bladder doesn’t make bile, it just stores it.

(Carl Keller) #13

Glucose gets converted to glycogen (stored energy) and glycogen gets stored in the liver and muscles. The water weight you are losing is when glycogen is released. For every gram of glycogen there’s about 4 grams of water stored with it. And yes it’s easy to gain back, by eating excess carbs.