Not losing on Keto, week three, please help

(Hunter) #1

I did the Adkins diet years back and always had a lot of success. I would typically lose .5/lb per day. I am truthfully tracking and logging all of my food entries and major macros - Fat, Carbs (under 25), Protein and Calories.

I am trying to drop 20 lbs. I am using Keto test strips that indicate I am in heavy ketosis. I also have a keto breath meter that supports the results. That said, I am actually, slowly gaining weight. Why would I be gaining weight if the test strips say I am in ketosis? I believe they are accurate because when I started the diet they indicated that I was not in ketosis for the first week.

Please help!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Don’t panic.

You’re no longer the same person you were ‘years back’ when you did Atkins. How many years back and what you’ve eaten since then are what you’re dealing with now. Keto is a metabolic normalization process, not a quick weight loss diet. Remind yourself as often as you have to.

A lot of stuff happens when you start keto and it all happens at the same time. Sometimes other stuff takes precedence over weight loss. And 20 pounds is not a large amount of excess weight, so it’s very likely in your case that other damage you’ve done to yourself is more important to fix first. The weight will eventually follow as you move towards overall normalization. It just may take longer than you wish and end up someplace you didn’t expect. Stay the course and you’ll be OK.

(Susan) #3

Welcome to the forum, Hunter =-).

We usually suggest keeping carbs under 20 grams, eating adequate proteins and fats, and drinking enough water and electrolytes. Many of us find that consuming artificial sweeteners can cause us not to lose, or to even gain weight (myself and others on the forum have found this).

All that Michael has typed above is also excellent advice/wisdom too!!

(Hunter) #4

Other damage? What could that be?

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

Wow, that’s a BIG subject. Ultimately: diabetes, CVD, morbid obesity. But along the way: pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, food addictions, too much of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right stuff. Where to start? You can search this forum or scan the topics in the Health category. And, I guess this is as good an intro as any. Also, @Momof5 is one of the experienced folks to ask that question. She’s been there.

(Susan) #6

I damaged my metabolism up for years with anorexia, bulimia, diet pills, laxative abuse, lost weight quickly multiple times, always gaining back more each time. Back in 2002-2003 I lost over 100 pounds in about 8 months, then within 2 years I had gained all that back and more – and then yo-yo dieted again since then --50 pounds down… back up, on and on like this, destroying my body until I I was extremely sick --my blood pressure was dangerously high (I ended up going to the emergency room at the hospital) and then I was told by my doctor to buy a blood pressure monitor and to write down the numbers for a month and go back -I started Keto shortly afterwards and my blood pressure went down to normal, feeling way more healthy, my asthma improved dramatically, my joints began to stop aching all the time, I had better mobility, I could go up and down the stairs without feeling like I was going to having chest pains and huffing and puffing like crazy every time, I started to sleep better, had more energy, and I started losing weight too, (as an added bonus!) to all these other NSV’s (non scale victories).

I soon discovered the joy of doing Intermittent Fasting, and doing longer Fasts for Autophagy and other benefits as well.

I started out making sure that I only ate 3 meals a day with no snacks – breakfast, lunch, supper, and no calories from supper until breakfast. This soon moved to TMAD (two meals a day) – and then I kept shortening the window for eating. Now, for ages, I have been at 20:4 TMAD --so I eat Lunch at 1pm and supper at 4:30 (with no calories in between) and then I don’t eat any calories from 5pm until 1pm the next day --which is 20 hours IF a day.

Further, this month, I am doing dairy free and I will continue that into April, as I think that was stopping me from losing more weight. I don’t eat any artificial sweeteners, and no cheating. I eat meat, fish, chicken, low carb vegetables such as Bok Choy, cabbate, cauliflower mostly, and I always keep my carbs at 20 grams or less (often much less or even zero some days). I drink coffee or tea at each of my meals with MCT Oil.

I have lost 65 pounds so far --and I figure that it will take me about 2 more years to lose the other 98 pounds I want to for my ideal weight. I was 293 to start, I am now 227.8 and I want to weigh 130. I am 5 foot, 2 inches, and I am 55 and have 5 kids (so I doubt my stomach will ever be flat, haha); but, I am way healthier then I was a year ago and I love Keto and I am doing this lifestyle forever now =).

#7

Because ketosis doesn’t say anything about how your bodyweight changes…? Especially if it was only 3 weeks. Our bodyweight fluctuates a lot, many of us can’t even possibly lose weight quickly enough to clearly see the weight-loss on the scale, whatever this fluctuation is at the moment… Be more patient. Or eat less if you eat too much but you log your food and probably have some idea about how much you need. Or not, you are different from what you were years back…
If you ate little enough carbs, you should have been in ketosis in a few days as far as I know… Of course we can’t possibly know how low you need to go for it.

(Hunter) #8

Thanks all.