Hi all, Ive been on keto for a bit over 2 weeks and im gaining weight!!! I lost 0,5kg in week one, but after that the weight has started going up… very slowly but still.
Ive been trying to lose weight for 1 year, im 36, 175cm and weight 68kg. I only want to lose 4 kg (which I gained a year before that when fighting recurrent SIBO) and cant (or at least want to stop putting on weight when I eat normally); first cut down on all junk food, sugar etc, ate 1200kcal a day for 4 months lots of lean meat vegetables nuts seeds etc a little fruit - didnt lose any weight at all.
now trying keto, I check ketosis 3x a day with urine stripes always in ketosis 0,5-3.
I know you cant go hungry on keto or won’t lose weight but because of issues losing or even just maintaining weight over the last year im terrified of just eating when hungry especially as I now see weight going up even on keto! what am I doing wrong? I dont buy anything pre-prepared, cook everything from scratch, calculate macros, dont eat too many protein. zero sweeteners (or sugar of course). according to calculator over the last week when allowing myself to eat freely I are 2100kcal a day.
No diabetes or thyroid issues, fasting glucose 5mmol/l, but I have endometriosis, severe PMS so my hormones are probably seriously messed up, could that be the case? or do people initially put on some weight on keto? im so scared of putting on weight because once I do I just cant lose any no matter what I do.
does keto help to regulate hormones for women, cause so far it’s worse than ever…
Putting on weight
Keto helps people to normalise their body mass and composition. You are a very healthy weight for your height and it may be that losing 4kg is not going to be possible whilst you eat a healthy diet. Starving yourself to lose 4kg is not a healthy option. Obviously, you need to do what you want to do. I would be happy to be young and healthy and enjoy eating for optimal nutrition.
I’ll let the females here reply because I understand it’s a tad different to us blokes …. Sorry if that sounds condescending or sexist, just a detail.
2 weeks is a bit early to decide much and it’s always said, low carb is about health … which may or may not involve weight loss.
Sounds like you are on the right track with your food.
The last few pounds come off very slow or sometimes not at all.
Your height and weight are fine. Although I understand you are happier when thinner.
Keto does help you lose weight, unless you don’t really need to lose weight. But I bet it will help with your health issues, maybe significantly, which might be a good trade off for just 4 pounds.
Either way, best of luck. Hang in there. Be patient. You got this!
2 weeks is basically NOTHING. You can’t see if you gain yet at all (but if you do a bit, don’t care about it, you probably need some metabolism quickening after eating only 1200 kcal).
Small (sometimes bigger) bodyweight changes are perfectly normal, it’s how the human body works… One simply can’t gain much fat in 1-2 weeks but water retention can do serious weight changes, it’s fine as long as it’s not a bad one where your legs swell or something.
Be a bit more patient, you can’t see any trend yet after this little time but it’s the early weeks anyway, get used to keto, eat as much as you body seems to need… Sometimes fat adaptation brings the bigger changes.
As you have little to lose, I wouldn’t expect a quick fat-loss. But it’s fine, slow fat-loss is great and with a small amount to lose, it don’t even take much time to slim down that way…
I know it’s definitely not true in general but I am a hedonist who doesn’t even like when other people go hungry… 
I am pretty sure that most people can find a woe where they can lost fat without suffering and mere keto seem to help the many lucky ones.
It’s complicated and individual if we should eat when hungry on keto and not when not. But it’s very good that you eat more now as you ate very little before. 1200 kcal is starvation for very many people, maybe most.
Eating too much is still a potential problem (except for the lucky ones) but the solution (usually?) isn’t staying hungry. I can eat a moderate amount, much and a ton and be just as satiated as the result, it’s about my food choices, it’s quite common, some items are more triggering or satiating, there are differences even with the same macros. Timing may be important too.
So if you find you eat too much at some point, tweaking your woe is probably a good idea. but 2100 easily may be right for you.
I am always so curious about it, how much protein do you eat? And what is too much for you? We all should avoid protein toxicity but it’s usually super hard to reach. Some people can do it, sure but most of us instinctively stop before it would cause more problems than needless, wasteful but very enjoyable protein consumption… I personally try to avoid the latter too but I regularly fail and I don’t feel too bad about it as my body doesn’t.
Well this is the general thing, sometimes a high but not that toxicity high protein intake causes problems, it’s more of an individual things, some people notice they need lower protein, higher fat/protein ratio… But most of us don’t need to worry about too high protein but I know many do. When I went keto, the Internet was all about keeping the protein moderate and I tried and failed to do that, it’s good I usually listen to my body and it was pretty happy with my usual high protein. Later it turned out it was a wrong idea - or just wrong in general.
I know nothing about diet vs hormones, I only vaguely know I do have hormones, my body just works as it should, no matter the woe.
Firstly, 68 kg/149 lbs. is a good weight for someone who’s 175 cm/5’9" tall. You may have problems trying to persuade your body that you need to lose those 4 kg. In any case, it’s going to take a while. The first 40 kg come off a lot more easily and rapidly than the last 4.
Second, 1200 calories is starvation level, and if your body thinks there’s a famine going on, it’s not going to shed its fat very readily. This is why the advice is to keep carbs low and to eat protein and fat to satiety. And remember, also, that because of their relative caloric values, you need only 133.3 g of fat in your diet to replace the calories from 300 g of carbohydrate.
Third, take a look at your actual carb intake. Our dietary carbohydrates have the most significant effect on our insulin level (insulin being the primary fat-storage hormone), and insulin is like a switch: below a certain level, and we are in fat-metabolising mode; above that value, we are in fat-storing mode. Unless you are extremely insulin resistant, keeping your carb intake below 20 g/day is likely to keep your insulin low enough for you to stay in ketosis (fat-burning mode).
Fourth, women’s hormones complicate a lot of things, and two weeks is not nearly enough time to sort that out. Many women take a cycle or two of re-regulating their hormones before their body can turn to the task of shedding excess fat. But if you keep carbs low, and eat enough food to satisfy your hunger, you will eventually start shedding fat.
Fifth, fat loss is never a linear process. Ignore the fluctuations and look at the overall trend.
Sixth, it is possible to add lean mass (more muscle, better bone density) on keto, even at the same time as we lose fat mass. This is a good thing. It means you are getting healthier. Focus more on the fit of your clothing than on the number your scale gives you.
If you have PCOS or other hormonal problems resulting from insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia, then be very careful. When I joined the forums six years ago, the women were all joking about “keto pregnancies.” That’s all well and good for those who are trying to get pregnant, but some surprises can be very disrupting.