OCTOBER 2019 Weight Maintenance Check In

(Tamela Robinette) #25

Welcome Bob! It can be a challenge, this whole maintenance lifestyle but it’s the best place to be! The hardest part is over and now you just have to focus on staying in that optimal zone. They’ll be ups and downs but just being aware of how easy it is to go back to the misery is half the battle!

(Central Florida Bob ) #26

Thank you, @Robinette71 and @collaroygal for the welcome.

There’s going to be a lot of keeping an eye on the scale, looking for new patterns. For the last five months I’ve been doing alternate day fasts - fasting three days a week. The rest of life has kind of alternated around that. I settled on when/how I’m going to weigh in - first thing in the morning on the day after a fast. With the Renpho scale I think I see patterns I wouldn’t have seen weighing once or twice a week. I don’t expect to be fasting every other day once I’m fully at goal weight, but I imagine I’ll keep doing fasting days. I expect to keep doing my ADFs until I get there.

Your advice on how you approach that would be appreciated.

(KCKO, KCFO) #27

I believe in mixing it up. I do IFing usually 16/8 or 18/6 most days, but I do go out to breakfast with my husband at least once on the week ends. I also do 2-3 36 hr-40hr. fasts a month, along with the monthly Zornfast, which can be any protocol I feel like that particular week. I’ve done black coffee/salt for 80+ hrs.or done bone broth. I have no set pattern for my body to get used to. I am just so thankful I am not hungry all the time and can easily choose to not eat at any time.

I step on the scale first thing in the morning after I visit the loo. I write down my weight, about once a month I look at the numbers and see if weight is trending upwards or downwards. I do not let the scales get to me anymore. Just another dang thing about keto/lchf WOE.

Megan Ramos has spoken on several podcasts about eating OMAD for maintenance, not weight loss. If you are doing lots of ADFasting, the OMAD should be super easy for you to do. She thinks it is great for keeping the weight off. Just make sure it is a nutrient dense meal daily and you should be fine.

(Tamela Robinette) #28

I agree wholeheartedly with the above. I find if I eat two meals a day along every day my weight creeps up, especially if I indulge in wine on the weekend or up my carbs at all. I’m mostly OMAD during the work week or 18/6. I try to do 18/6 on weekends but it sometimes ends up 16/8. I don’t sweat the scales unless I trend to the higher end of my goal weight range. When I see the number on the higher end I do a little longer fast, 42 or 48, have a OMAD day and jump back into a 20-24 hour fast and that brings the weight back down quickly. I don’t feel deprived at all doing this. I’m usually pretty miserable when I’ve overindulged and ready for that empty feeling fasting brings.

(Terry) #29

Hello. Newbie here at the forum. Glad to have found this place!

I’m a 57 year old male 5’8” who went Keto with IF 16/8 the day after Easter 2019. I’ve lost 45 pounds since that day. Gave up the nightly IPA, the ice cream, the pizza, the pasta and bread, and the endless snacking. Needless to say I’ve never felt better! Feel like I’m 30 years old again. I’m also a mall walker who averages 3-5 miles a day walking.

I went from 190 lbs to currently 145. Still enjoy IF and eating TMAD. My plans are to begin strength training to build more lean muscle. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t lose a lot of muscle when I lost all the weight. I have a fairly active job with landscaping work.

My question is “where do I go from here?” I don’t want to lose anymore weight. I still enjoy fasting. And I don’t want to reintroduce “trigger foods” that might lead me back to my former diet. Don’t think that will ever happen, but why even tempt myself?

P.S. I haven’t been very good at tracking macros. I just know the right foods from the wrong ones.

Thanks! Terry.

(KCKO, KCFO) #30

Great results CarbSlayer.

I had a chat with Dr. Phinney at the Ketofest in July, his advice is keep your healthy fats around 80%, eat protein and use low carb veggies. My husband is 6’, 70, and weighs 145 most days and would really like to add a few lbs. back, that is why I asked the good dr. about it. He suggested using fatty salad dressings to reach that higher level of fats. BTW, neither of us track calories or macros, we have learned what works for us, my needs are different than hubby’s, and we have meals that work for both of us. He is always going to pass on the cabbage dishes:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

All the best in staying on track.

(Terry) #31

Thanks for the reply. Great suggestion with the salad dressing! Can always use some more healthy fat in the mix.

(traci simpson) #32

I’m still toggling between 159-163. I started in June at 165 ish. Not much of a loss which is frustrating. Oh well…

(Susan) #33

Welcome to the forum, Terry, and congratulations on your Keto victories so far, and best wishes for the rest of your journey.

I use a free program to track my macros called cronometer.com.

(oops sorry, I didn’t read this was in the Maintenance section,I am far from that, but that app is free).

(Terry) #34

Thanks for the welcome! And thanks for the Cronometer suggestion! Looks helpful.

(Bunny) #35

Gaining weight on keto?

“Why am I gaining weight following a strict ketogenic diet?” (long-term keto)

If you see the above question which I’ve seen quite often, here is why? (may not apply to everyone but probably to the majority)

Adding resistant starch (is so vitally important for long-term keto that you can’t do it without it) and increasing my carbs to over 100 solved the problem with gaining and not losing or maintaining my weight loss along with weight lifting and cardio.

And if you don’t believe me and have any doubts watch the following video all the way through esp. the iodine part:

High Salt Diets & Athletic Performance w/ Dr. James Dinicolantonio (the author of salt fix)

Is Salt BAD For You? Dr DiNicolantonio, Author: The Salt Fix and Super Fuel

My Interview with James J. DiNicolantonio on The Salt Fix

The Salt Fix with Dr. James DiNicolantonio (two keto dudes)

(KCKO, KCFO) #36

Atomicbunny, I haven’t added resistant starch and I keep my weight in the range I want it to be. I can eat up to about 50 grams of carb, but most days I do not. I love Keto/lchf WOE, only thing that got the weight off and kept it off.

Salt and I are old friends, I never was good at cutting back on it. I used to eat fries with so much salt, I was actually asked by someone “Having a few fries with your salt.”

Editing to add for veggies I prefer the green ones, not just leafy ones, a little bit of onions, carrots and tomatoes, some cauliflower or eggplant. Before I was more grainarian than vegetarian, now I eat a ton more veggies than when I called myself vegetarian. I love all the berries too, just an occasional bit of apple, pear or citrus and that takes care of the fruit side of things. So resistant starch items are not at the top of my preferred foods anyway.

(Central Florida Bob ) #37

I guess that being the 30th, it isn’t the end of the month, but I’m still here. I haven’t reached my goal, because that’s the bottom of a 5 pound range that I’d like to stay in. This morning, I’m a pound above the top of that range. Last Friday, I was just below the top.

As predictable as the summer rains, once I posted about thinking I should start paying attention to maintenance a few weeks ago, weight loss stalled. For the last three weeks, I’ve been in a range that’s 1.6 pounds wide.

(KCKO, KCFO) #38

Happy Halloween everyone. :jack_o_lantern::jack_o_lantern::jack_o_lantern::jack_o_lantern:

CFLBob, 1.6 lb. range sounds very tight to me. You’re doing well.

I’ve started next month’s thread here

(Central Florida Bob ) #39

Happy Halloween to you, too! :jack_o_lantern: :jack_o_lantern:

My only problem with the 1.6 lb. range is that I’m still supposed to be losing, not on a plateau. In the three weeks, I’d have loved to have lost three pounds. In theory, it’s the last five pounds to go.

If maintenance is going to entail fasting three days a week, maybe that’s a sign that I can’t do it.

(Tamela Robinette) #40

I have come across a similar scenario Bob. I wanted to get to 135 and I did for a day or 2 but since vacation back in July, I’ve developed this nasty habit of binge eating, then fasting hard during the work week to get back down and then binge eating again on the weekends. It’s a nasty cycle. So I’ve decided to give up OMAD and fasting for a period and just eat 2MAD at slightly above maintenance calories. I seriously believe I have been under eating the right foods for some time now and that is triggering me to binge eat stuff that is absolutely horrible for me. I’ve gained 9 pounds in the process, my joints ache and I’ve lost all desire to exercise. This close to goal I don’t believe we should have to fast 3 days a week to maintain our weight. I fully believe in TRE and intermittent fasting and will practice TRE, but for now I need to step away from the fasting and nourish my body and some things I’ve read lead me to believe this will get me back to where I need to be. It will be a N=1 for sure. Let’s hope it works because I’m terrified of gaining all my weight back and clearly what I’ve been doing isn’t working. I will post in the November maintenance thread my progress.

(Central Florida Bob ) #41

Thank you Tamela! Very important stuff in there.

In the past week, the topic that I might be under nourishing myself has raised itself twice, now. In a thread I started a week ago on Biotin and B Vitamins messing up my nails for guitar playing, the main takeaway to me was that I may not be getting enough of some nutrients. I’ve started taking an “insurance” multivitamin every day (and don’t expect to know if it makes a difference until maybe February). The reply from @VirginiaEdie was particularly important.

My plan was to get to goal weight and cut back on fasting. On eating days, I do TMAD so that’s what I’d naturally start doing. I don’t know if going cold turkey on fasting all at once is smart, so maybe cut back fasting from three days a week to two, then to one. I haven’t actually thought out details.

Maybe I should start trying to get by with fewer fasting hours now. That’s a psychological shock. OTOH, I do have more days when I’m just kind of tired of fasting.

Background: last year about this time, I was about this weight. Instead of staying within a five pound window, I put on about 10 by January. When that got me started fasting again, I had some GI problems that I couldn’t get past (the big D). I couldn’t figure out how to not get it until May, and by that time 10 pounds had turned into 15. Because of that gain, I’ve been doing ADF since early May.

(Tamela Robinette) #42

We just gotta keep plugging away until we find what’s right. If I see the scales go up I’m not sure I won’t freak out and go back to fasting but I’m going to trust the process. I’ve also concluded I may be consuming too much protein so I’m tracking that, as well as adding in more fermented foods to feed my gut biome. Keep us posted on your progress Bob!

(KCKO, KCFO) #43

Those last few lbs can be most problematic. You just have to keep hammering away at them.

I found extended fasting got me below my desired goal weight. I do some IFing, a tad of 36 or 48 hrs. and a monthly Zornfast has kept off the weight and I am now averaging a daily weight that is 5 lbs. below my goal weight. I have an occasional bounce up to goal but that hasn’t happened in several months now. I take that as a signal that my body is healing more from all the abuse I subjected it to before keto/lchf WOE.

It is always a good idea to give some focus to how far you have come instead of only focusing on the last bit of the Journey. You will get there, you have to tools now to do it.

(Central Florida Bob ) #44

Thanks for your input on the protocols you’re following.

I’m pretty good at KCKO, and stalls are nothing unusual. For grins, here’s a plot of my weight vs week number from the time I started with my Renpho body composition scale. Three stalls since late May. That second one is weird with the excessive peak-to-peak noise.

ThreeStalls

There has been a change in the last month; in effort to figure out what’s going on with the cold hands and feet while fasting, I increased my fat intake at night around hour 24 to 26 of my fasts - which typically end after 40 hours. Sometimes 42, rarely less than 40. Instead of not allowing myself more than 100 calories, I’ve had closer to 200. I also switched my bike riding from hour 38 or 39 down by a full 24 hours to 14 to 15.

Do these things matter? Good question. Maybe?

As for focusing on how far I’ve come, I’ve been working on this since 2015 on keto and before that just staying low carb. I’m down 70 from my start and the effort is to get to 75 down. Focusing on that is what I do.

Edit to add 2:09PM EDT: I said this plot was from mid to late May. I have the date on the spreadsheet: May 26th. At 8:36 AM. May as well be precise.