Hi everyone,
I’ve been strictly following keto for almost two weeks. Before this I ate fruit, whole grains, and veggies (for about two years) I used to go very light on meat and I ate almost no dairy aside from yogurt and cream in my coffee. I did have occasional homemade treats like cookies and cake on birthdays. Unfortunately I never seemed to lose substantial weight, despite exercising frequently. The only place I really have fat is in my belly and arms. I’m 5’4" and 20 years old. I know this isn’t my natural weight because I used to be 125, then gained 20 pounds after a year abroad in Italy (so much pasta…) When I started keto this month I was 142, then about a week in I was 136. However, the last few days I’ve been so bloated and unhappy with my appearance, and yesterday I weighed myself to find that I was up to 140. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with bloating? Is it normal? I know I’m not lactose intolerant so it can’t be that… is it very abnormal to gain weight back while still following the keto rules? I’m staying under my calorie limit of 1,400, and doing either cardio or stregthening almost everyday. I’m worried I may be consuming too much fat.
One week in and bloated
I would be amazed if fat made you feel bloated and gain suddenly like that. Sounds like a classic carb or sensitivity reaction to me but it is hard to tell without more info like @fiorella says. I can’t say we will solve your problem but we might have some ideas you can work with. FYI I consistently go over my calorie “limit” and usually with fat and still either lose or maintain weight.
From the description, you’ve totally switched up what you’re eating and it’s a shock to your digestive tract and cells, and it sounds like your body hasn’t found a balance with the new way of eating. I would say that this is common and expected, but not something that everyone experiences, but we’re all unique snowflakes. 
As far as the bloating being normal, I can say that even as a male without the cycling from shark week, I find that my weight will swing up and down over time and right now a size 11 ring that just slid off my finger 2 days ago is stuck on there like it was glued on, so I’ve definitely gotten bloated in the last couple of days and if past experience is predictive, the bloating will subside.
Our bodies adapt by keeping enzymes for digestion in the intestinal tract and glycolysis/lipolysis in the cells, and switching from a sugar-burner to a fat-burner means that these enzymes are being reversed, so it is possible that you’re consuming more fat that your body is ready to handle in such a short time (2 weeks), but trying to limit dietary fat could significantly interfere with getting fat-adapted and delay the results you’re looking for.
If bloating were the only side-effect of eating too much fat for your level of adaptation, I’d say that limiting it would hinder your progress, but a more severe side-effect like diarrhea would be the sign to reduce fat until it subsides.
Are you checking your calendar? Prior to monthly menses, there’s usually a water weight gain (that will disappear). For some, ketosis may change the timing of the cycle, so it may be that even if it’s not ‘time.’
Thanks for all the helpful responses!!
I’m about a week away from my cycle but it’s generally very light and I have almost no side effects from it, but maybe combined with my new diet there is some kind of a reaction going on.
My typical day of eating consists of-
Breakfast:
Coffee with cream, 2 eggs cooked in olive oil and sometimes sausage or bacon. Sometimes I’ll melt cheese into my eggs.
Lunch:
I usually snack throughout the day instead of eat a full meal, I like to have turkey slices, chicken, or tuna. Also boiled eggs, avocado, mozzerella string cheese or cheddar cheese slices. Also sometimes I’ll have celery sticks with 2-3 tbsps of almond or peanut butter. If I do eat lunch it’s generally a salad with spring mix, chicken breast or tuna, avocado, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Dressed with olive oil, vinegar, and salt.
Dinner:
Dinner is usually a meat like chicken, steak, ground beef, or pork, with a vegetable. I used to eat salmon because I know fatty fish is really good but I just can’t stomach it anymore. My favorite veggies are broccoli, asparagus, and cauliflower. I always cook my food in liberal amounts of olive oil or coconut oil. Sometimes I melt a slice cheese on top of my meat.
I drink about 2 liters of water a day. I also frequently have about 4 tbsps of unsweetened heavy whipping cream for dessert, or just a spoonful of peanut butter, if I’m not at my calorie limit.
I would be so grateful to any changes I should make to my diet as this is still all very new to me!!
Thanks for all the help everyone, the support feels amazing! 
do a forum search on electrolytes. one symptom of dehydration is bloating.
could be an easy peasy fix 
Our sex hormones are made from fats and cholesterol and the typical diet is low in these, so hormones tend to suffer. When giving our bodies all the components it needs to make these hormones, many people see changes related to the increase.
Hi - I’m pretty new to this too, but I’ll tell you that in the beginning, don’t pay attention to calories. This is where I got tripped up. Worrying about cutting calories below BMR to get into a deficit, while trying to switch fuel sources and train my hormones was a disaster. I was cold all the time and hungry. So, would stop worrying about that for now. You can put calories back in the mix (if you want to) later on when you are fat adapted and your body knows to use fat for fuel.
Also, eat full meals and keep snacking to a minimum. You do want your hormones to start signaling properly, so eat a moderate amount of protein, and eat fat. You’ll get carbs from incidentals. I wouldn’t do too much nut butter in the beginning. It has a big carb creep, and in the beginning, I was diligent in keeping under 20g total carbs, so my hormones would kick in appropriately.
I have no idea how much of anything you are using, but to me, these sound light in the fat category and maybe heavier in the protein category??
Your caloric count is not too high given your expenditure, so you are not eating too much fat. Counting calories is not really a keto rule, though.
Perhaps you should share your macros, like “I’ve been eating 20g net carbs and 50g protein per day” and I am gaining weight. If that were to be the case then you would likely be retaining water or you would be eating too much fat.
I am in ketosis, but not much longer than you. I am amazed at how high I must go in sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. I have been increasing them steadily and am hopefully leveling off now.
What I learned about my digestive system is that I cannot snack and nibble throughout the day without paying for it later. I learned this because of the business travel that would induce me to have a boiled egg, and then a handful of nuts later, and then some salami an hour later, and then maybe another handful of nuts an hour later, and so on. By the end of the day, even though I would usually be under my typical calorie amount, I would always feel bloated and just a general feeling of “blech”.
When I stopped snacking, and just stuck to eating windows (with zero snacking in between), my body regained a better chance to properly digest the food. My bloating reduced, and the feeling of satiaty and good gut feel returned.
We are all different. Finding the levers that work for or against us can be tricking.
My recommendation is to test each variable one at a time (as the other recommendations you are getting from folks on this forum), and you will learn more about how to get your body at its peak performance, or closer to it. Good luck!!
Totally agree with @Fiorella. I think that snacking doesn’t trigger satiety to the same degree that a full meal will, and although I wouldn’t tell someone they can’t snack, I would encourage them to eat bigger meals until they don’t feel the urge to snack in the same way that @MKChitown suggests not paying attention to calories.
Don’t pay too much attention to your scale. Weight can go up even in the middle of a fast when one is undoubtedly losing fat. And then hold steady for a week before plunging. If you feel bloated it’s probably because you are retaining water or digestion transit time has slowed. When that resolves the pounds will drop.
My guess is it’s the electrolytes as others have suggested. If you aren’t eating processed food the amount of added salt needed when going keto can be shocking to those, like myself, unused to using a salt shaker.
Many recommend to start very low carb to make the transition quicker. But plenty have also done it successfully more slowly going low carb first before going keto, especially if doing it just for weight loss versus treating a medical condition like diabetes. If bloating is causing symptoms more severe than dissatisfaction with the rate of weight loss maybe try a little more gradual approach such as eating a piece of fruit for dessert and see if it eases bloating. I’d avoid added sugars, refined starches and other junk foods but perhaps retain a few of the whole unprocessed foods you previously found agreeable while making the transition and developing the needed salt shaker habit.
Has your bloating dissipated? I’m starting my second week and am feeling bloated now. How did you cope and how long before it subsided?
Every fat source accept Dr seems to come with a lot of protein. For instance cheese is really a source of protein rather than fat when on a ketone diet because the ratio is a little over 1 to 1 fat to protein. Ideally, in the induction phase, you want to be at the very least 2 to 1 or even 3 to 1, and that ratio is in weight not calories, so for every gram of protein you want to grams of fat at least. Once you are adjusted to your new Diet you could play with protein and fats and carbs as well and see how raising or lowering a macronutrient affects how you feel etcetera. Protein makes you or at least me bloated and zaps me of energy. Not enough fat or perhaps also problems with electrolytes affect my mood and energy levels also. The way I have made it work finally is to eat a higher fat, lower protein and much higher salt diet. This time adaptation has been a breeze. And I would not worry about calories or weight because your only goal initially is to adapt comma to learn to be in ketosis and burn ketones and fatty acids for fuel. It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to become efficient in this so I would urge you to be patient and just eat to satiety. Trying to manage your way, your calorie intake as well as your adaptation to ketogenic diet is way too much to take on. It’s recipe for failure. Your only goal should be adaptation to the ketogenic diet according to the well established principles outlined by experts in the field. Particularly, moderate protein, high fat, and extra salt. Period! Good luck.
Wow your diet is almost identical to mine! Easy and simple. I’ve only been doing keto for 3 weeks. I’ve lost about 7 lbs but I’m feeling bloated and uncomfortable. Looking for advice