No weight loss. Does this just not work for some people?

#59

It tends to be under 50 for weight loss for most people, but plenty of people have been successful on Zone-style diets, too, which is typically 100-150g of carbs. The actual point for generating ketones is pretty much any point when you’re not eating enough carbs to meet daily glucose minimums. Dr. Michael Eades has said:

If you keep the carbs low enough so that the liver still has to make some sugar, then you will be in fat-burning mode while maintaining your muscle mass, the best of all worlds. How low is low enough? Well, when the ketosis process is humming along nicely and the brain and other tissues have converted to ketones for fuel, the requirement for glucose drops to about 120-130 gm per day. If you keep your carbs below that at, say, 60 grams per day, you’re liver will have to produce at least 60-70 grams of glucose to make up the deficit, so you will generate ketones that entire time.

He’s referring to fat-adapted people here, I think (“when the ketosis process is humming along nicely”); it sounds like if someone is not at that point the glucose requirement is even higher. But this all ties into the logic behind Atkins and Eades’ recommendations in their very low carb/keto plans that you can raise carb intake somewhat after a few weeks of extremely low levels and still continue to lose weight. Dr. Eades doesn’t make any reference to people needing to be extremely large to generate ketones at 60g/day. I would imagine that size makes some difference, because smaller people simply need less fuel. However, most of the glucose we make is for our brains and I don’t think our brain-size or power varies significantly with the size of the human.

Quote is from the last paragraph of this blog post:
https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/05/22/metabolism-and-ketosis/

(Emily) #60

I think tracking macros is important in the beginning; do it for a couple of weeks until you get used to values. I thought I could just use common sense but then found out through tracking that I was really not accurate in my appraisals of how many carbs I was taking in. I also can easily go over my fats if I’m not careful (I presume all those people having a ton of butter + MCT in their coffee or slathering butter everywhere are doing IF or OMAD). I also tended to be innaccurate in my protein assumptions. So - tracking marcos can help, and might point out a few areas where you’re overdoing it or not getting enough.

I also use macro tracking for advance planning. Let’s say I know I’m going to a barbecue where I will probably have 2 glasses of wine and a big steak - I enter these things in advance, and that way I know to cool it on the other meals that day.

Carb Counter and Fitness Pal are good trackers, even in the free version.

The snacking thing was a suprise to me too, as so many sites offer ideas for healthy snacks (a couple of walnuts, celery sticks with nut butter, etc.). The key to keeping insulin down is eliminating the grazing and snacking (sorry)!

(Jamie) #61

I use carbmanager on Android. It lets me input everything and shows where my macros are at. As long as I hit sub 20 carb, and keep each protein serving between 100-125g I can just pour on fats depending on hunger. It also remembers your last input, so once you calculate each serving size you can easily input it with speed. And copy between meals if needed. Their catalogue is extensive, or you can input your own micro based on your produce.

I found it easiest to print a list of the carb foods I’ll eat, the serving measurement with carb both pre and net. Then out with the weight and do the dillogence. After a few meals it becomes easy to eyeball.

Dietdoctor and marksdailyapple are great keto resources. Tom Bilyeu also has a ton of podcasts with doctors etc on health theory at YouTube. Shawn Stevenson. Dr. Rhonda Patrick. The list goes on and on.

Best of luck!

#62

Or men under 40. Or people who are not trying or wanting to lose weight. :grin:

(*Tame Those Ghrelin Gremlins) #63

Best advice, 100 %. After awhile it’s easy to go between meals, or even forget about them lol.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #64

@Factotum I track macros, weigh and measure very carefully. I built a spreadsheet specifically to do so because I could not find any commercial or freebie online that did what I wanted to do. I suspect that very few eat quite like I do. :wink: I even set my fat:protein ratios based on daily protein requirement which in turn is based on Bikman’s recommendations, so not arbitrary numbers. I agree with you that guestimating can be inaccurate and usually is. But it appears good enough for many.

I only do IF when you count not eating for the 7-8 hours per day when I’m asleep. That would make it 16-8 in my book. :wink: I do put three different fats in my coffee in addition to a couple of whey protein powders and a couple grams of my electrolyte mix. Thus, my coffee is really ‘keto coffee’ in the sense that it matches my macro ratios rather than a ‘fat bomb’.

@ZuleikaD I’m 73 going on 74 next month. I eat 2700 total calories per day of which 2300 is fat. if I miss my calorie target a few days in a row I lose weight. I’m 6’0", 141 pounds, 12% body fat and I don’t want to lose weight. :slightly_smiling_face: I’d really like to gain about 15 pounds of upper muscle mass, but it’s a challenge.

My recommendation for ‘snacks’ is to keep a bottle of salt water at hand at all times (could be an electrolyte mix of sodium, potassium and magnesium) and when the urge to snack rears its head, have a drink instead.

#66

90/60 Is fine for me and is a good day. I don’t get dizzy until it dips under 90 at around 85/50 I’m needing to lie down. Happens every now and again.

#67

Update…so stopped snacking and moved to 3 meals a day with one snack (I need to keep up my blood pressure and 1 to 2 meals a day is not for me). I’ve been religioulsy under 20g of carbs apart from one night of too much wine which tok me to 26g. And making sure my fat is high enough. After a week of this adjustment the weight loss is…zero!!! I’m giving this another week. I lost 5 lbs in the first week and then nothing for the last month. Still not in ketosis according to pee sticks although i feel good. I just cant help but feeling calories are too high( i know thats a dirty word on keto). Ive just never needed to eat much over 1500k before my body starts accumulating fat.

(traci simpson) #68

I’ve been doing this since February and I haven’t lost a pound. My clothes are looser and my vision is much clearer. I have more energy and don’t lay around the house. I’m back to working out almost every day and I’m not depressed! Don’t give up yet, you are too early in it to stop. I’m sure your body is working from the inside out trying to maybe fix some things that you might have going on. Don’t focus on calories. Don’t focus on calories. Don’t focus on calories. Don’t focus on calories. Don’t focus on calories. 200 calories from coke have a different effect on your body than 200 calories from chicken or spinach.

Me- NO POUNDS LOST! Still going to continue.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #69

Ditch the pee sticks. They aren’t helpful.

There are lots of people here who have taken a while to lose weight.
If your body truly only needs the 1500 calories then modify your macros around that. But give it time. Don’t forget many people have changes going on internally before they start to see the pounds come off. Just keep the carbs under 20g.

split this topic #70

2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Help I’m so confused

duplicate posts

#71

5 lbs. a month is a pretty good and typical rate of loss. Generally, keto won’t make you lose weight faster than you would with calorie restriction, it’s just easier and healthier.

That really depends on where your RMR and TDEE are (maybe you’re tiny or older or both). Maybe have a look at a calculator that will work with an estimated RMR. They’re far from exact, but should give you a good ballpark to work with. If it’s telling you that you should be able to eat a lot more than 1500 calories worth of food, then it’s a sign that calorie restricted dieting has messed up your metabolism. Sooner or later, you’re going to want to do something to fix it. Try http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com

Or protein-wise. Eat more!!

(traci simpson) #72

I agree with you on the food. It’s not much at all. He needs to go to what did you KETO today and see what everyone is eating.

(Diane) #73

What doctor is that? I think maybe I’m missing something. I’ve been doing keto (20 gm) IF since February and nothing…no lbs or inches.

#74

Interesting to hear we are in the same boat. I believe the first week was some water weight. I’m not losing anything. I’m a firm believer that everyone is different and despite people convinced about certain ways of eating there is no one size fits all approach. I will keep going a little longer though.i feel good but hungry despite people saying I shouldn’t be!

(Diane) #76

Yeah…I’m also not feeling the energy people claim. In fact, I feel weak. Was it you that mentioned a doctor who claimed all his patients lost weight?

(Confused!) #77

I have the same issue. I don’t understand.

#78

I suspect there is nothing that works for everybody. I did not loose anything during my 1st month of keto. I lost some weight during the 2nd month and even more during the 3-rd one. Then the process slowed down, almost stalled, but I was not gaining. Unfortunately, keto was disagreeing with my health - I always have had low blood pressure, but with keto my BP changed first to normal, then it became high. So I cut fats and replaced them with some … carbs ( I became more generous with berries, then I added some fruits - 1/3 of an apple or 1/2 of a peach a day, and on some days I even eat buckwheat or oatmeal). Strangely enough I started to loose weight again! But I switched to to this low carb diet after 5 months on keto.

(hottie turned hag) #79

@Hypatia do you mean blood sugar?
How does eating more often raise BP, in your opinion?
(My degrees/career are in a med sci field and this doesn’t jibe for me).

Not implying eating 3X/day is bad; just that BP is not affected by solid food intake per se,-barring actual deficiency related cause- though fluid/electrolytes are big factors.

(Bunny) #80

Dr. John Limansky, MD has been doing keto for 15 years…16 years to date. He describes tiny nuances that prevent people (his patients) from burning body fat. People forget that MACROS (that includes counting calories) were designed to help with recognizing portion size, it is not a direct conduit in science to lose body fat i.e. counting calories would work if you were dealing exclusively (mechanical, chemical?) with a thermal dynamic system, but we are not a calorimeter that measures heat of chemical reactions, that may be true for food blown up in a metal container but not for you?

Keto & Fat Adaptation Beyond Macros w/ John Limansky, MD Streamed live on Aug 21, 2018 In this live chat, internal medicine doctor, John Limansky discusses the many ways to optimize your body’s fat burning metabolism with diet and lifestyle.