Hoping this kind community can help with some advice or encouragement.
I’m 34 years old, 5’4" and 139 lbs today. I’m having an inconsistent experience with keto and would like some advice on what I can do to drop 15lbs.
I have eaten low carb for a long time knowing that it can help with PCOS symptoms, but I had a tough year and got off track, and decided to take more control of my health to lose some weight and get my period back, with a view to start a family in the next year or so.
I started strict keto on 4th January and my weight has been up and down daily - some days it’s 134, others 138 and today the highest I’ve had in years at 139. Help!
Throughout most of my adult life I’ve been around 125-130lbs. Two years ago I left a stressful job (I was at 135lbs then) and did a three day juice cleanse and continued low carb after that for a couple of months, and things improved a lot. I felt amazing, I lost weight and kept it off for a long time with healthy eating and regular running, hovering around 122-4lbs getting down to 116lbs at my lowest when I was very busy and barely eating, which I know is not healthy.
The weight crept back up when I had to travel for months on end lsat year for work in remote areas with little fresh food or sleep, and did not have options to choose what I ate.
I feel terrible at this weight and desperate to get back into shape so I can feel good and enjoy skiing like I used to. It makes me sad to be so heavy and slow now, and I’d like to make the most of the rest of this season as skiing is what makes me the happiest. I also have a job in the entertainment industry and feel a lot of pressure to look good, so I admit this is part of my “why”. Most of all I’d like to get my hormones back on track.
I have PCOS and struggle with various symptoms. I have been on BC several times over the past years and lost weight on some, gained on others, felt like crap emotionally on all of them. So I stopped 18 months ago and have not had a period since then. I’ve been on and off Metformin as well for long periods, but it doesn’t do much for me either way. Every doctor I’ve seen has shrugged off my problems, only offering other types of BC or suggesting I wait until I can’t conceive and and look into IVF then. It’s demoralising. I decided to try and get back on track through keto after reading some success stories.
I have been doing 16:8 IF (fasting 20:30 - 12:30) and counting macros meticulously. I am a pescatarian, drink very little alcohol and I limit dairy to goat or sheep cheese, 1-2 oz per day. Overall my calories are around 1200 and I stay under 20 net carbs consistently, under 20 over most days. I haven’t noticed any difference. When I started keto I had the real flu already, so hard to know if I had keto flu. I feel better now but hard to say whether it’s because of keto or shaking off the viral flu.
I’d like some advice on what I can change to try and get the weight moving, or at least not going up. I know it’s not all about the scale but I haven’t noticed a difference in how my clothes fit.
A typical day looks like:
7am 3 days per week dynamic yoga or cardio boxing
9:30am coffee with 1 Tbsp MCT
2:30pm lunch - 2 egg frittata with zucchini, spinach, 1oz full fat goat cheddar, side salad with olive oil
4:30pm small snack usually of a few pecans or 1oz sheep or goat cheese
7:30pm dinner - salmon fillet with roasted cauliflower or zucchini noodles, butter, or shrimp tacos with romaine lettuce shell and avocado. 1-2 times per week, I’ll have a hot chocolate made with unsweetened almond milk (no additives) and dark cacao powder.
Plus I commute to work by bike 10 miles per day.
I take Inoslitol, B-vitamins, folic acid, choline, biotin, probiotics, ashwagandha, evening primrose oil, vitamin D and magnesium daily.
Any ideas on why the scales aren’t budging? I’ve always drunk around 2 litres of water per day and don’t have much caffeine, so I don’t know if I need to drink more or less, do more or less exercise. My current macros are 84g F / 20g C / 67g P.
Thank you in advance for your advice!