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

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(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.

#21

Good luck Alex!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #22

He’s not off to a good start! Read the comments in addition to mine:

#23

Adding some L-Carnitine maybe. Meat does wonders for me and if you do not eat it maybe try the supplement. And a bit more food. Your mug cake was very interesting. I think I may try that.

I think it will be hard to lose a lot since you do not have a lot to lose. You may not be your pre pregnancy weight but if you have a lot of muscles you are in better shape. Good job on being healthy

#24

Thanks Helene, yeah the cake is pretty addictive, I use the marmite and peanut butter premixed in a jar, delicious with a tbsp of thick double cream!

I haven’t eaten meat for almost 40 years, so won’t be starting now, but thank you so much for the supplement advise. I’ll source it now.

The point is with my weight now, compared to 3 years ago ( and after pregnancy 5 years ago), is I was SO fit them as well ( way more than now), and was training six hours a day; boxing, kick boxing, Capoeira, weights, ballet etc…and I was 7 kilos less. So it’s not like I’m now muscle and was then fat, it’s actually the other way around.

As I said in my earlier posts, as soon as menopause hit, the weight started piling on, and absolutely nothing, no regime seems to fix that. I’m now barely training in comparison ( with lockdown and because I thought changing my exercise regime would confuse my body and kick start my metabolism). Judging by the fact I’ve just weighed myself ( I don’t do this daily btw) and have gained 1lb after doing Keto for coming 4 weeks is a bit demoralising! So after this amount of time no lose, and now a gain albeit small. I measured my waist too, and not a mm difference.

The other thing I wanted to add is I’m not counting calories, being a novice to this I signed with Diet Dr and have been following their meal plan. I tailored my own according to their recipes and data base, ( except the peanut butter marmite cake that was my own😂), and after using Fitness Pal to record it, it just so happens to be between 1,000-1300 calories I consume a day, so it’s not a conscious decision to eat that amount of calories.

Does it take some people months to reach fat adaptation? If that’s the case I’m willing to keep perservering, it’s just confusing that pretty much everything I’ve read says, first week you’ll see a lose or a difference, and then it might plateau etc…all these success stories as in some recognition however tiny.

I just wish I could know if I’m actually doing this right and for some reason my body is not responding, or I’m doing it wrong, which is why it’s not responding.

Sorry for the rant, off to look for these supplements now. Thanks!

#25

As far as I know, it takes months for everyone… Well, maybe not in plural… I’ve read 4-7 weeks for some level of fat adaptation, I know little about how it gets deeper/more serious afterwards. Many of us experience a very sudden change - especiallty if being in ketosis felt the same as before, I think :slight_smile: I got significant benefits after fat adaptation (7 weeks of uninterrupted keto), not just doing keto, that was almost exactly just like low-carb. It was life changing but as time passed and I went lower with carbs later, things got even better satiation wise.
It’s quite complex and our food choices are very important, it’s not always enough simply doing keto. I believe we have our ideal style and if we find that, we have way less problems.

#26

Thanks for that…I’ll just keep on going as I do like the foods I’m eating and the fact I’m eating regularly. No hunger pangs. Good to know it can take that long and I’m not a total write off!

(Brian) #27

That was my first thought, too. I sometimes wonder about where people get the idea of how much they “should” weigh. When I look at the “ideal” numbers for me, I would be practically anorexic. I get wanting to be a healthy weight / body composition. But I really do wonder where some of these numbers come from.

As a perspective, I’m a “country boy”. I live in the country and I work outside. I don’t generally “work out”, I just work. It’s not uncommon for me to be physically quite tired at the end of a day and have worked up enough sweat that I can’t find a dry enough spot on my shirt to wipe my face off. Maybe it’s different for somebody that rarely sees the outside of a building and sits in an office chair 10 hours a day.

(Bunny) #28

I think they come from “ideals“ what a person should look like and weigh.

One person could be fat and the other person could muscular and they both weigh the same?

I could ask a person what do you think about those body builders on YouTube or whatever, how did they get such big muscles? And of course they will say because they lift weights?

What they may not realize is a good volume of that skeletal muscle is glycogen or stored glucose and they eat lots of sugar and carbs before a competition to make them bigger or big professional photography promo. When they quit eating carbs and sugar they deflate and look like any other guy walking down the street.

Difference being is it takes a lot of food to keep those muscles big like that and very little food to keep you fat?

#29

Hey Bellyman, I just want to weigh what I’ve weighed for years, because I felt comfortable and healthy at that weight.

I also work so hard at maintaining it, so that’s why it’s been really a difficult transition for me to have put on this extra 7-10 kilos from nowhere.

I want to get back into my clothes, that’s all, just go back to the same weight I maintained for years!

I don’t sit at a desk either, I’m just running around as a mother, and I’m also a personal trainer, and Capoeira teacher and have been for many years.

At the moment I’m just trying to understand the damage I’ve previously done to my body by eating incorrectly, and so want to understand Keto, and benefit from it ( both weight and health wise). The fat I have gained is visceral which is very unhealthy, especially given my age and what implications that will have unless I try to undo it now. This isn’t just vanity!
It concerns me that this 7-10 kilos have crept on despite doing what I’ve always done, I want to knock it on the head before that 7-10 becomes 20-30, and my health is in jeopardy.

I’m still hoping this will happen by going Keto, despite seeing and feeling no difference as yet, I’ve been encouraged that it’s a long term, lifestyle change. I’m just going to go with it and see what happens!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #30

Visceral fat is related to insulin resistance, and should be used up as your metabolism returns to normal. The less carbohydrate you eat, the easier it will be for your body to sort this out. The return to metabolic health may take some time, but it will be worth the effort.

Since the body can compensate (within broad limits) for increases and decreases in food intake by manipulating the basal metabolic rate, it is an ineffective strategy to try to use caloric deprivation as a lever to cause fat loss, whether by eating less or by moving more. You are likely to find the goal posts moving on you, and eventually the hunger will catch up with you. Eating to satiety allows the metabolism to rise to a level where the body is less likely to retain its fat reserves, and eating a low-enough amount of carbohydrate will lower your serum insulin, thus allowing fatty acids to leave fat stores to be metabolised.

#31

Hey Paul, I really appreciate all the advise, it’s helping so much hearing people’s experiences and knowledge…after reading more and more, that’s what I figured ( the insulin resistance).

I’m still way under 20g, and intend to keep to that long term, and hope the ‘shift’ will eventually happen.
I’m absolutely not consciously counting calories, I’m eating my three meals a day in a fixed window period to satiety.
Thanks again!

#32

Check Dr Berry`s youtube “10 reasons for weight stall”

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #33

Why ?

Have you considered intermittent fasting?

#34

Hi, yes IF ( reason I said I eat within a window period)and have been for about 10 years, I mix it up: dry 20 hours, OMAD, or 16-20 hours non dry fast. Since Keto I have been doing average 18-6 hour…that was my whole point about being frustrated and trying everything :sleepy:

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #35

Three weeks is not very much time to see if anything works, much less ’ everything ’ …

If I were going to try OMAD as a strategy, I would give it at least three weeks by itself, to see what the effects are…

#36

Will do, I’m actually doing 20-22 hours then eating several small meals ( all combine less 10- 15g net carbs) in the 2-4 hour period as opposed to OMAD.
I always get way hungrier at night, fasting ( non dry) from 8pm to 4pm or 6pm the following day is no a problem at all. It’s the 8pm-12am ( before I sleep) period when the fast is re-commencing, that I find the most challenging and get the munchies! It’s always been that way, as I’ve IF for around 10 years, often a month of 18-30 hour dry fast back to back.

To be honest, I actually find dry fasts easier once you’re in the momentum. I’m now near the end of week 4 on Keto, still nothing changed at all, but I’m ignoring that part of it and intend to continue, at least for 8 weeks! Maybe something will shift by then!