Been doing this a few months. There’s a couple of issues:
I haven’t really lost any weight. Or at least it’s stalled.
I don’t have any of the positive symptoms associated with ketosis: i don’t taste metal in my mouth, I’m not brimming with energy as some people claim, I haven’t noticted any super levels of focus. I also get hungry about every 3 hours. I certainly couldn’t skip meals, nor do I want to.
What exactly ate you eating? It doesn’t sound like you are getting into ketosis at all, much less becoming fat adapted. There is probably something in your diet that is holding you back, or you could be restricting your fat or calorie intake.
i eat some beef + lettuce and broccoli for breakfast, chicken + avocado and cabbage for lunch and pork + spinach and kale for dinner. The portion sizes are about an ounce for everything but the avocado which is up to about 3oz. I’ve checked the nutrients and it’s well below 20g carbs. Portion sizes for the meat come to about 150-250g cooked. I fry the breakfast and dinner in butter. I’ve checked with ketostix and as far as I can tell I’m in ketosis. I must be since I’m eating very low carbs.
Thanks, from the food list, I guess you’re counting net carbs and not total carbs. This can be a problem for many people especially starting out. Many have to stay under 20 grams total to see progress. Is the meat you’re eating lean? (Chicken breast, pork chops, lean ground beef) cooking in butter is probably not enough fat. Also, avocados are great, but they are carby. Also, you may be getting into ketosis simply by restricting carbs. Eating fat isn’t required for ketosis. This may be your problem. I don’t think you’re eating enough fat.
I’ve checked both, and afaict net and total are less than 20g.
What is your definition of lean? Chicken thighs have 17g fat per 100g weight. I don’t know about the beef because it is brought fresh and has no labelling. Pork is about 19g fat per 100g.
You want me to eat more fat? How does that trigger weight loss? I must tell you that every other source i’ve read on this advocates that one should eat less (relatively speaking) in order to tap body fat.
If you are still feeling hungry, you are either eating too many carbs or not eating fat to satiety. I would go with total carbs for now and see if that helps. And up the fat.
Another thing, eating too much protein for your body will produce glucose and can also make you hungry.
Isn’t it the case that GNG is demand driven - and that a lot is required to produce glucose?
I’m confused. I’m getting contradictory advice. How do I know who is correct? Eat more or less fat to lose weight?
If you are not fat adapted and creating the glucose your body needs from fat, your body could use extra protein to create glucose.
I wouldn’t worry about eating too much fat till you are fat adapted. Depending on where you body is on the metabolic derangement scale, it can takes weeks or even months.
Everyone is different. You really have to track you macros and makes adjustments as you go. It’s an experiment of one. What works for others may not work for you and vise versa.
You do not mention your bf% - do you have a lot to lose or are you close to your goal weight?
I am around 40% bf I am fat adapted. I don’t get hungry between meals. I can fast for days and the hunger I feel goes away when I drink water.
If you are not fat adapted, your body is not using your body fat effectively to create the glucose you need or you do not have enough body fat to produce the glucose it needs. Until you are fat adapted, keep carbs real low, moderate protein and eat fat to satiety. You will not overeat fat if you listen to you body when you are full.
My bfi is about 29%, i’m about 23kg over.
I’ve no idea what else to do to get adapted assuming I’m not, and there’s no way to tell.
Can you tell me the basis for saying eat more fat though?
I do eat to satiety.
Sorry I didn’t get back sooner. The basis for eating more fat is the fact that your metabolism will actually ramp up due to the available energy (fat). If you’re like me, you spent years dieting and trying everything imaginable to loose weight. This has damaged your metabolism. By eating more fat, you are nourishing your body. But it will take some time to heal. The dudes did a podcast recently that deals with this issue, something about metabolism. Give it a listen if you haven’t already. The last thing we need when we start this WOE is to restrict fat. Sorry if I have caused any confusion, I am not an expert, just one who has been eating this way for 2.5 years and doing most of it blindly in the begining. KCKO!
if you are not yet truly fat adapted your body isn’t tapping into existing fat stores.
restricting carbs/moderating protein you need to make up for the intake deficit…while keeping your body from interpreting the shortage as a famine situation. (slowing BMR)
the goal is to reduce insulin (the storage hormone…fat cells are the storage receptacles) while keeping the metabolism humming along.
fat is the least insulinogenic of all of the macronutritents so we eat “more” to make up for the intake deficit while not increasing insulin.
if you are moderating protein, limiting carbs AND fat…then it becomes more about calorie restriction over hormone regulation…so not fun (or successful long term) LOL
Y@mikki @jamestorie Question: once you become fat adapted (I think I may be getting there now), is there a tendency to gain weight if you continue to eat a very high level of fat? I recently noticed the scale going up (gained 3lbs this week, which puts me just over the weight I started at 7 weeks ago) and am wondering if maybe I’m fat adapted and can scale back the dietary fat. (I know “to satiety” is ideal but it’s been really hard for me to tell when I’m full.) I will say though - I woke up the last two days not hungry which, for me, never happens! (That’s why I think I’m becoming fat adapted.)
Can you provide a source for this? You are literally the only person ive seen saying this and that includes doctors like Steven Phinney and the Diet Doctor
ok so this may not be useful LOL
i’ve actually been increasing my fat BUT i rarely step on the scale…it’s literally a “dumb” tool.
your increase could be from anything from your potty issue to resuming working out after being off from your injury…or even drinking less water in the days leading up to your “weigh in”. (just like restricting calories makes your body hold on to fat…the body holds onto water when there is a deficit)
Ha! Your comments are always useful. I’m getting a little irritated with no weight loss and no loss in size/fit of clothes, but… (sigh)…I’m trying to KCKO. 
it’ll happen…just not as quickly as we would like…
“what? i’ve been paying attention to my eating for one whole day and i’m not at goal?!” LOL
i wore a pair of pants yesterday that have always “fit” but they were way more comfy and looked better…after more than 4 months.
i know i keep saying this but…if not keto then what? so i keto on and get small victories 