New to Keto - help

[Fatgirl]

Hi Everyone,
I am New to Keto and would love to have some advice. I have been very good and stayed to plan (I think) I have a lot of weight to lose to get back to pre-baby weight and I have only lost 4lbs. I find I was starving for day 1 & 2 and had terrible headaches but that has gone and don’t feel hungry at all. I use the Ketostix which was negative for the first 3-4 days and since then, I seem to be at 4 or 8 so well onto ketosis as far as I know. I have been exercising, but I could do more. Is there any advice to have a boosted weight loss? I was hoping for about 1 stone per month going on other peoples weight loss success’. Any advice would be much appreciated. Many Thanks. Kelly, UK

[LizinLowell]

Check out this thread for really good advice about what to expect from going Keto and how it goes in the early days:

Don’t make weight loss your short-term goal

Hey there newbies, thought I’d share some advice on my brief experience with the keto lifestyle and starting out 4 months ago. From what I have learnt personally and with friends and family who have seen my success and decided to tried keto, if you make losing weight your short-term goal for a ketogenic diet you are most likely to fail or make the experience a whole lot more difficult for yourself than it needs to be. By short term I am talking about the first 1 - 2 months of the eating lifestyl…

[Fatgirl]

Thanks Liz, perhaps I am focusing on the weight loss too much. How will I know when I am Fat Adapted? I keep seeing this term used but not sure what it means exactly?

[LizinLowell]

Fat adapted means your body has learned to burn fats for fuel instead of glucose (carbs). It takes a while for your mitochondria to switch over. I was already pretty low carb when I went Keto and I think it still took about 6 weeks, but everyone has different experiences.

Most people can tell they are fat adapted when their hunger suddenly sharply reduces and they feel full of energy and have mental clarity. Suddenly your body can get some of the energy it needs from the fat on your body. That’s when a lot of folks start to intermittent fast (IF), they stop having breakfast, for example, because they realize they are no longer hungry in the morning. Your hunger and satiety signals start to work better (hopefully).

Believe me I understand the impatience! Even if you can’t tell, though, eating keto starts a LOT of changes in your body and they are mostly hormonal which affects women differently than men. Definitely don’t compare your weight loss experience to anyone else’s! There’s probably some healing going on in there, if you are enjoying the food then stick with it, think of it as a lifestyle change and try to distract yourself until the results start to happen.

Read everything in the newbies section in the meantime

[Fatgirl]

Thanks again, I seem to not be hungry at all anymore already but I don’t have the mental clarity and I’m not full of energy yet. I do feel good though. I will stick with it and wait for it all to happen. Is it bad to miss meals now? I skipped breakfast today as I didn’t feel hungry. I hope that won’t slow my progress at all. Thanks for your help and advice I really appreciate it.

[LizinLowell]

My personal advice is don’t eat if you are not hungry. You will get hungry eventually! Just be sure when you do, to have some delicious keto foods at hand

[CandyLindTX]

The only thing I would add to Liz’s advice is eat until you are no longer hungry when you eat. Many people (myself included) fall into the “CICO trap” (calories in=calories out - NO THEY DON’T) and fail to eat enough to be satisfied. Be sure to eat enough fat. That will keep you from being hungry.

[jules4]

Kelly- how are you getting on? Is anything shifting?