New to Keto - Need advice!


(Kate) #1

Hey guys!

I’m in my 3rd week of Keto and just want to make sure I’m doing things right. I got great results in my first week, and lost about 5-6cms off my waist and my legs trimmed down, without any exercise (I took some time off the gym for an injury) and that was great!

Going into my second week, all those cm’s started to creep back on and I’m into my 3rd week and I feel just as chubby as I did before starting this.

Im not overweight, but could probably lose at least 5kgs and I want to get some lean muscle too - I don’t weigh myself because a) I don’t feel its accurate representation for weight loss, i would rather measure and b) I’ve had a problem with obsessing over scales before and I don’t want to fall back into that.

I’ve been using Carb Manager to track everything and my net carbs are always under 20g a day and my calories are around 1300. I generally always hit my protein and fat goals (more often protein than fat)

A typical day of food would be
Breakfast: Chia Pudding (2 tbsp chia, almond milk, sometimes low carb protein powder)
or
Low carb bread (5g per 2 slices, I usually only have 1 and a half) made into french toast (so just egg and butter with it)

Lunch: Small amount of some sort of meat (usually chicken) - Some days its by itself and some days I’ll add a handful of green veggies and maybe a slice of halloumi

Dinner: Always some sort of seasoned meat with green veggies (Broccoli, Cauliflower and a little bit of green beans)

If I’m going to snack, it’ll be on a handful of sunflower seeds but I try not to snack.

Am I going wrong somewhere? Everyone else I’ve spoken to has gotten tremendous results within the first few weeks and I seem to be getting nothing. I don’t want to give up because i’ve tried so many other ways to lose the little bit of weight I put on over the last year, and this is the only thing that has shown even the tiniest bit of progress, even if it was at the start.

Thanks guys! Please be kind too - I came here to avoid the assholes that were on Facebook :slight_smile:


(Allie) #2

If you want to gain muscle you need to eat more. 1300 calories is barely maintenance let alone growth. Carbs below 20g is great, that’s all you need worry about at this early stage, but you do need to give your body nourishment if you want it to lose fat and gain muscle.


(Kate) #3

Honestly, I struggle to eat that much because I’m never hungry anymore.

What do you think would be my best approach at the moment? Up my calories and keep my carbs at 20g?


(Janelle) #4

You don’t have a lot to lose and what you probably lost at first might have been simple water weight. I do have 75 lbs to lose and saw good progress that has slowed. People have reminded me that it takes a while to undo the damage of a carby lifestyle.

One thing - just an idea but if you look up “Page 4 Keto”, it’s just a list of whole foods and veg - nothing processed, no protein powders, etc. Works for some.


(Kate) #5

So should I wait it out? I don’t want to waste time on a diet that isn’t working for me but if its normal to not see weight loss at the moment then ill wait a bit longer. I just don’t know if I’m doing anything wrong.


(Candy Lind) #6

SMART CHICKIE!!! :heart_eyes::muscle: I would start tracking ONLY your macros (percentage of calories from) and start ignoring the total calories, too, at least from a “CICO” standpoint.

Good move.:wink:

I would say you’re on the right path, but you don’t have much to lose and you’re not fat-adapted yet. We talk a lot about your “N=1” - you are your own best science experiment. We ALSO say this is not a weight loss thing; it’s a “get healthy” thing. Keto is a way to fix everything in your body thats been broken by the SAD (Standard American Diet). More below on that.

Herewith, some things to try:

Increase your caloric intake a couple or 3 days a week. You have to keep your body guessing as to how much energy you’re going to give it - otherwise you hit a “set point” that it will fight to maintain. You’ve probably already done that to some degree by counting/restricting calories. Be sure to eat plenty when you’re hungry - moderate protein, plenty of fat for satiety, low carbs.

If you are having any “keto flu” symptoms, read up in the newbies section about how to treat it (SALT is the biggie!). Make sure you’re drinking enough water. Many people find they have to supplement magnesium and/or potassium, at least at first. There are recipes for a “ketoaide” that you can drink daily to help that, and also issues with cramping.

Read up about IF & EF in these forums and/or in Dr. Jason Fung’s books. Once you are fat-adapted, developing a “fasting muscle” is often the way folks get those last few pounds off and keep them off.

Do you feel as if you are metabolically deranged at all (IR (insulin resistant))? If you are not, be aware that most of the advice you receive on this forum is aimed at folks with IR, T2D, metabolic syndrome, etc. so it might not apply to you. Still, I’m confident that keto can make you the healthiest person you can be. KCKO (“Keep Calm, Keto On!”), and welcome to the forum!


(Keto Travels) #7

If your goal is to get a bit more fat in despite not being hungry … it got easier for me once I read someone’s description of veggies as basically “Fat delivery systems” :slight_smile:

If you are ok with dairy, maybe add a bit of cream to the chia pudding, a bit more butter with the veggies and meat, fattier cuts of meat (Chicken thigh, not breast) etc. One of my go-tos these days is Paté of some kind with celery or green pepper sticks.

For me personally, I can’t really do low-carb bread or chia pudding or anything vaguely grain/seed based without retaining water so I limit myself to the occasional flax seed porridge if I really crave something like that … my french toast is an omelet with cinnamon (more eggs, maybe a bit of ricotta, no flour at all or maybe a spoonful of almond flour).

Small tweaks …


(Kate) #8

I already cook my veggies in a tsp of butter! And I have cream in the fridge to add to things whenever my fat is a little low.

I actually don’t like eggs (go figure with the French Toast, right!?) and I work early so I need something thats easy for me to take on the go, which is why I opted for the chia and the LC bread :slight_smile:


(Keto Travels) #9

Ah, not liking eggs makes things tricky :slight_smile: Bullet proof coffee? That was easiest for me, before I gave up coffee anyway …


(Allie) #10

1tsp is hardly anything… 2tbsp and you’ll taste the difference. You’re on the right track but definitely try to increase the calories, maybe aim at getting down to eating bigger meals twice a day. Personally the chia pudding and low carb bread would not be good for me.


(Mike W.) #11

Are you planning on eating this way the rest of your life?


(Kate) #12

For the most part, yeah. I feel better not having a lot of carby stuff but once I hit a goal size, I want to re-introduce a tiny bit of fruit or be able to have a piece of potato now and then. I definitely don’t want to be this strict forever!


(Kate) #13

Why no good? Is it just a personal preference, or is it not something I should be doing on this diet?


(Keto Travels) #14

Yes, I am more of the “start with one tablespoon - oh whatever, let’s add another one” school of thinking too … :slight_smile:


(Kate) #15

I wanted to keep the teaspoons/tablespoons small and exact so I didn’t risk adding too many and completely blowing any limits (fat/calories) out of the water!


(John) #16

3 weeks is too soon to evaluate. Give it 6 weeks. For me there were lots of ups and downs until about week 5. In week 8 now and I seem to have fully adjusted.


(Allie) #18

The low carb bread products tend to still include products that are not good for people choosing a ketogenic lifestyle, they most often still contain wheat and gluten which cause problems for many people (including me) some contain oats too and I cannot tolerate oats.

Chia is ok here and there but for me, consuming it regularly led to bloating and weight gain.


(Carl Keller) #19

Try counting total carbs instead of net. I was doing 35-40 total carbs and it didn’t seem like I was losing that much per week. I dropped it to 20-25 and it seems like I’m doing better on the scale. I know 20 doesn’t seem like a lot and it would be hard to eat much of anything, but I don’t have hunger issues since I load up on fats and try to stay busy.


(Kate) #20

I’ve done IF before and it was great but it’s been s couple of years. I’ll definitely start that this week. Is 14/10 an okay place to start? I get home from work around 1-2pm and can eat my first meal then and then my partner doesn’t get home from work til 8pmish and least so we have late dinners (so 9pm?). Would this work?


#21

Sounds good to me. Start their and see how it goes