No weight lose at all on Keto..please help!

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#1

Hi

I’m new to this forum and am looking for some advise from seasoned Ketonians!

I’ve been doing Keto for 3 weeks, I also IF ,16-22 hours everyday, mix the time of fasting up as I read on another forum that it’s more beneficial.

Track my macros etc…on Fitness Pal: carbs 10%, fat 70%, protein 20%, exercise (HIIT and or jump rope) at least 5 times a week…and I’ve lost nothing, not an ounce!

I’m a certified personal trainer, I’ve yo-yo dieted my whole life, and what worked before just doesn’t work now.

In 2015, aged 45 years I was 58 kilos with a 5 month old child (baby number 6), and fit as hell (sometimes trained for 4-6 hours a day).

I sustained that fitness level and weight no problem until about 2.5 years ago, then the weight started to pile on. No reason, I was doing everything the same…I was shocked, just didn’t get it. My weight as of January 2020 was 70 kilos, despite keeping up the same fitness routine (3-4 hours a day), Calisthenics, weight training, Aerial fitness, walking miles etc…

So started IF, OMA, no weight lose, then WW, Slimming world, no weight lose. Went on the Keto for 2 mths Oct 2019, no weight lose, but did feel better…

When I say no weight lose, I literally mean none, not only on the scales, but no inches lost.

So during the first two months of lockdown I was excessively exercising, around 12,000 jump ropes a day, 2 hours of HIIT, and OMD in a 3 hour eating period. Lost scale weight doing this extreme approach, (currently says I’m 65 kilos), but no inches.

So…back on Keto ( gained weight on it last time as believe I ate too many carbs), and as above to the book, strict etc…but as I said no weight lose!

I’m 5ft 5ins, 142-145lbs (it fluctuates), and 50 years old. I know it’s most probably hormonal, I get it…but I’m so frustrated and demoralised. I do everything right, but clearly I’m doing it wrong :joy:

I just want to get back into my post pregnancy jeans…that’s all 58-60kilos goal weight, so need to loose between 7-10 kilos.

I have screwed up my metabolism over the years, been 42 kilos ( with eating disorder), and 97 kilos with pregnancy. The point is I’m aware of what I’ve done to my metabolism, but I’ve ways been able to fix it. And now I can’t, no matter what I do…

I’m really hoping Keto will work, but when?? I also want to emphasis that yes, I want Keto for weight lose, absolutely, but also I’m back on it for the very benefits; better skin, hair, moods, energy, and most of all to alleviate menopausal symptoms!

Typical day:

9am Breakfast ( black coffee, at, 0.5tsp coconut oil)
Sparkling water with 3 tbs of organic apple cider vinegar

Lunchtime (anytime between 2-4pm depending on fast length)
2 eggs fried in butter or coconut oil (1tsp)
60g brie baked
0.5 tsp olive oil
3 plum tomatoes
Handful spinach
2 pecan nuts

Dinner (6-8pm depending on fast time)
100gram salmon steak
2tbs parmesan cheese
2tbs mayo
0.5 tbs pesto
Handful spinach cooked in: gee, coconut oil or butter

Peanut butter and marmite mug cake recipe:
0.5 eggs
1 tbs marmite peanut butter
Coconut flour 0.25tbs
Almond flour 0.5tbs
0.5 tsp coconut oil or butter
1tbs of sour cream, double cream or cottage cheese
0.5tbs Coco powder
70% dark chocolate 0.5 piece

Served with 1-2 tbs or double cream or sour cream

I drink around 5 cups of greentea and peppermint tea and water of course

So that’s pretty much my daily Keto meal plan
Calories 1000- 1200

Please help me!!!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

I’m sorry you are getting frustrated, but here are some thoughts to keep in mind. Firstly, a ketogenic diet is not a weight-loss diet, it is a diet that promotes greater metabolic health by lowering chronically elevated serum glucose and insulin levels. Insulin being the primary fat-storage hormone (among its many jobs in the human body), lowering insulin makes it possible for the body to shed excess stored fat, so it is a useful way to lose, but in a very real sense, fat loss is a side effect. There are many other benefits to a ketogenic diet. Second, fat loss is not a linear process, and you will have ups and downs in your keto journey.

Third, women respond differently to a ketogenic diet. A lot of the people who experience the rapid, large fat loss you read about in all those stories are men. This is not to say that it can’t happen to women also, but that women often have to wait for their hormones to re-regulate themselves before fat loss can commence. Furthermore, rapid fat loss only seems to occur in people with enormous amounts of excess fat to lose. Those of us closer to a normal weight find that the last few pounds (or kilograms) of fat come off more slowly.

Fourth, a lot of women buy into the advice to restrict calories in order to lose weight. They often do lose, but some of the weight they lose comes at the cost of lost muscle and decreased bone density. If a woman who does that begins a well-formulated ketogenic diet, and especially if she follows the advice to eat to satiety, she generally finds herself putting on muscle and gaining stronger bones, often even while losing excess fat. This may confuse the scale, but you can determine progress by keeping track of how your clothes fit. In this connexion, you can ask yourself whether you’d rather stay the same weight and look as though you’ve lost thirty pounds (14 kg), or lose those pounds and still look just as fat.

Fifth, while lowered insulin is a pre-requisite for shedding excess stored fat, cutting calories signals the body that there’s a famine going on. Its response to famine is to cut back on energy expenditures, reduce the metabolic rate, and hang onto its fat reserves, in order to get us safely through the famine. Eating abundantly, on the other hand, allows the body to ramp up energy expenditures, increase the metabolic rate, and feel comfortable dispensing with some of that excess fat. The easiest way to be sure to get enough food is to eat to satisfy hunger. Once insulin levels drop, the hunger and satiety hormones start working properly again, and appetite becomes a good guide to how much food to eat. Yes, this is exactly opposite to what the standard advice is, but it’s much more in line with the actual science than the standard advice.

So in sum, keep your carbohydrate intake low, your protein intake reasonable, and add enough fat to satisfy your hunger. You should start to see results soon.

#3

Hey Paul
Thanks for your speedy reply, I get everything you’re saying and agree of course, the same advise I’d give to clients asking for a quick fix in the gym including weight lose etc…
It’s unfortunately much harder to train yourself!
It’s just knowing all of this, I haven’t seen any results for the past two and half years no matter what trick I pull!

This time I’m going into it with a different approach, so like I said weight lose of course, but health benefits as an equal. I was just expecting something in the first couple of weeks, and then maybe a plateau, not a plateau from word go😂

It’s my own fault for totally over exercising, starving myself, yo-yo dieting, and body dismorphia for the whole of my adult life (what a waste of time)!

I hope that this new approach to eating, involving ACTUALLY eating, fixes my metabolism and body so it can reflect the effort I’ve taken to maintain it.

Since you’re more of an expert than I in this subject, did my daily meal plan seem legit to see results in the future?

Thanks again!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

@Faisca You ate SAD for 4 1/2 decades. You’ve been eating keto for 3 weeks. You’re expecting a miracle and it’s not going to happen. Get real, there’s a lot of metabolic damage to be fixed and it’s not going to get fixed overnight. The good news is it won’t take 4 1/2 decades either. Stay in ketosis as consistently as you can and things will get better. The excess weight/fat will eventually come off, but there’s probably a lot of other stuff more important to take care of first. Best wishes.

#5

Hi Fascia,

I am no keto expert, but my first thought is that your diet looks extremely low in calories for your active lifestyle.

Do you feel hungry throughout the day? Do you have enough energy for the active life that you lead? How did you decide upon this regime and number of calories? Have you had a blood test lately, and are all your vitamins, minerals, hormones etc where they should be? Do you sleep well and long enough?

OMAD, fasting, 2-3 hours of high intensity exercise… and all on 1000-1200 calories… I say this with kindness and respect (and with the important caveat of no expert nutritional knowledge) but I wonder if you are being too restrictive, and maybe your body is stressed, hungry, and holding onto fat?

You obviously have amazing self-discipline, to stay so active with so many commitments; I wonder if being a little kinder to yourself, getting more sleep and eating your favourite keto foods whenever you like, might help get you through this plateau. Think of it as trying something a little different perhaps?

Good luck and stay well.

#6

Hiya thanks for your reply! I’m not expecting a miracle, I was just hoping for any indication weight wise that I’m doing this diet correctly, as clearly the first time around I wasn’t. I don’t even know if I’ve entered ketosis yet, I don’t actually feel different physically. I just joined the forum to ask if what I’m currently doing is correct, hence the reason for leaving such a comprehensive post!
As far as ‘fixing the other stuff’, I’m on it by starting here and trying to lifestyle change. Thanks for your best wishes and same to you.

#7

Hi Camellia, in answer to your questions. I have lowered my exercise regime considerably, not because I didn’t have enough energy, but as part of trying to ‘fix’ my metabolism. So I’m only doing around 1-2 hours a day 5 times a week, I have also upped my calorie consumption, as before I was maximum 1000 calories a day, and often lower. I figured on Keto eating when hungry within the window period to satiety, is the healthy option, so that’s what I’m trying to do, but not snacking.
I am allowing myself food I love on Keto, the menu I posted is more than satisfying my pallet!

I IF because the menopause plays havoc with my hormones, I signed up with Diet doctor, and it is suggested there that women of my age, IF along with Keto to see and health and weight benefits.

I.am willing to give this time, but was posting to see if I’m doing it right based on everything I’ve said, and to see if others have had similar experiences. I haven’t had a blood test for a while because everywhere has been in lockdown, but I will soon.
You’re right about the sleep, but unfortunately I suffer from insomnia, and being a single mum of many, don’t have time for much pampering. I guess my exercising is my only treat!

Anyway, thanks very much for your encouragement and kind words, good luck on your journey too.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

Firstly, I’d eat more. You likely need more protein than you’re getting. Though expert advice varies, our standard recommendation here is 1.0-1.5 g/kg of lean body mass/day. Most people have an instinct for how much protein to eat, so your can trust yours. You might also doublecheck your carbohydrate intake, which appears to be a bit high. We recommend an upper limit of 20 g/day, especially to get started, since it practically guarantees getting into ketosis, unless you are extremely insulin-resistant. Then fill in with fat to satisfy your hunger. Forget calorie-counting; it doesn’t help, and there’s evidence that it actually hurts.

For best results, eat fresh whole foods. Vegetables should be leafy greens or ones that grow above ground; the rest tend to be too starchy (i.e., full of glucose). Fats should be mostly saturated and monounsaturated, so cook with butter/ghee, lard, tallow, and bacon grease, avoiding processed seed oils, with their excessive polyunsaturated fat content (it’s inflammatory). Fruit oils (avocado, coconut, and olive) are okay.

#9

Hey Paul, my carb intact, which I track on Fitness Pal, and use the meal planner from Diet Doctor, is never higher than 20g, infact it rarely goes above 14g sometimes as low as 10g (according to me strictly adhereing to Diet Doctor recipes and Neal plans).

The only thing I add is the peanut butter to the mug cake…that’s what I mean, I’ve finely tuned the menu…still no results :sleepy:

Not going to give up though, I’ll add more protein as you suggested, and lower my carbs even more. I just thought the 10% carb, 20% protein and 70% fat ratio was right. It’s so hard because I’m reading loads, and following advise prior to coming on here, I was increasing fat and decreasing protein.

I checked back over the week, and it’s never above 15g carbs, actually averaging 10-11g according to Diet Doctor and Fitness Pal, and as I said 20% protein 70% fat, give or take a few grams.

Maybe I should go with this for another couple of weeks until I hit 5 weeks and review? I’m also upping my exercise a little to include strength training/ body weight exercise (as well as jump rope foot cardio and HIIT) to see if it helps kick start me!

Fingers crossed.

#10

It’s almost 100% certain you are in ketosis then (and you eat way, way lower than 10% carbs. I don’t know where this 10% comes from - I saw it several times though - as it’s huge, I doubt many people can afford that unless they barely eat. but the limit is in gram anyway, not in percentage). Not everyone feels different on keto, I didn’t have a noticeable different myself especially before fat adaptation. Fat adaptation brought significant changes many others get right away in ketosis. Some people probably feels little change even then. It’s normal.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #11

@Faisca Don’t bother using % to determine your macros. Doesn’t work. Use actual gram amounts. If you’re sub-15 grams of carbs, that’s great! Keep it there. Determine your protein requirement, it’s probably somewhere between 70-100 grams per day. Bikman suggests approx 1.5 grams per kilo of total body weight. That’s a lot easier to determine accurately than ‘lean body mass’. If you have reliable ‘satiety’ signals, just eat fat to satiety. If you don’t, then set your fat macro to start as 2x your total protein by grams. Eat to these macros for a couple of months. If you maintain or gain weight, lower the fat total. You’re aiming for a ‘small’ energy deficit that results in burning about a pound or so body fat per week. That is sustainable and will not slow your metabolism. I would also stop the IF and OMD stuff until you determine how much you need to eat to maintain. You can’t just use calories in/out because your metabolism processes carbs, fats and protein differently when you’re in ketosis. Your body responds to energy in and energy expended by either losing or storing it. Calorie numbers are just a convenient way to keep track of the use/storage.

#12

Much appreciated, yes it seems like I’m just sustaining my weight, but as you said in your earlier message I have to give it time. I think you’re right, 8 weeks is a good time frame.
Thanks so much again!

#13

Thank you!

#14

@Faisca, I don’t think this has come up yet in the replies but I only skimmed them so I’m not sure: many people find that dairy stalls their fat loss (independent of macro percentages, calories, timing, etc). That might be something to test.

I’m sorry you’re frustrated :frowning_face:

#15

Hi Madeleine, thanks for that tip. I’ve basically been eating dairy and fish, and little else…I haven’t eaten meat (except fish) for nearly 40 years, and am allergic to seafood.

Maybe I’ll look at a vegetarian or vegan Keto menu…I don’t know why I’m finding this so difficult to get right!

#16

Try cutting out all the nuts. Including almond flour. They alway stall me.
Anything that tastes sweet, even with artificial sweeteners, can create an insulin reaction. The mug cake is not a good idea, especially with the dark chocolate. People who are fat adapted and in maintenance can more easily eat 1-2 squares of 70% chocolate than newbies who are not yet fat adapted. Even with 70%, there is still sugar in that chocolate.
Use cronometer.com to track your carbs. I think you might be eating more than 20g/day.

(Bunny) #17

Was looking at your profile picture if that’s you in that ring? You don’t look a bit out of shape and you are probably gaining muscle that you are mistaking for body fat by relying on a scale and as you may very well know lean body mass and muscle weigh a lot more than body fat? The kind of physical activity you do is a tell tale sign you are gaining muscle volume and trying to burn it up at the same time?

You weigh almost nothing as it is and your worried about 7-10 kilos?

Sounds more like body dysmorphia and body image problem than an actual physical or metabolic problem?

I know you may not want to hear this but you are in perfect shape!

More worried about those jeans you like than how other people perceive you?

#18

Hiya
Yes it’s me in the hoop! I do Aerial arts and martial arts among other things…
I am basically trying to get back to the same weight I was 3 years ago, when I was fitter and more muscular actually, than I am now.
I’ve gained 7 kilos since hitting menopause (1kg since that picture), nothing fits and it’s very depressing, I just feel larger, and have gained around 4 inches or more on my waist.
I now weigh the same as I did after giving birth to my 6th child (only 5 years ago), so I just want to get back to that weight, nothing more, and get back into my jeans which I can barely get over my butt!
I have suffered from all kinds of unhealthy relationships with food in the past, but not now. I just want the health and weight benefits of Keto and to fit back into my jeans!!
Thanks for all your encouraging words, it means a lot x

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #19

Yeah, it gets tricky, trying to calculate macros. Some points to bear in mind that might help: First, we don’t recommend measuring carbohydrate intake as a percentage of calories, but rather as an absolute amount by weight. Twenty grams of carbohydrate is 3.2% of 2500 calories, and 4.4% of 1800 calories, so trying to figure intake by percentage gets really tricky. Second, given that fats generally contain over twice the number of calories per gram than protein, equal amounts of fat and protein by weight mean that you are consuming 69% fat and 31% protein (leaving carbohydrate out of the calculation).

Also, it is probably worth mentioning that it is possible to ignore macronutrient composition of food, if one eats only fresh whole foods (i.e., meat and vegetables). It is the manufactured food items that make things complicated. Also, for most people, a ketogenic diet restores appetite to its proper function as a regulator of food intake, thus eliminating the need to count calories to determine how much to eat. Then all we have to do is keep an eye on the carbs and eat to satisfy hunger. I find it is much easier to record my caloric intake after the fact than it is to try to pre-calculate it and eat to a number.

(Alex Segrest) #20

I am right there with you… just finished my third week. I did lose 7 but that was all in first week - nothing since. I am going to add fat to my diet after reading replies to your post.