Should I worry yet?

(Ellie) #1

I have been keto since April and have lost about 12lbs in total. I could lose another 20 but 10 would take me to a place where I would be happier with how I look.
I don’t have diabetes or any other health issues.
I have been fairly lazy keto but happier with how I was feeling and the freedom from carb crashes, but I would like to lose the next 10lbs so I decided to give ZC a shot.
It has only been a week and I’ve been eating home made meat loaf, ground beef, burgers, cheese grated on top, some mayo and cream, and eggs.
I only have 2 meals a day and lunch tends to be cold leftovers from last night’s dinner.
In the first 2 days I lost from 215 to 213, but in the last 4 days have crept up half a lb a day and am now at 215.8lbs. I’m 6ft1.
Normally I am the first to tell people that fluctuations happen and to be patient, but as this is my first foray into carnivore I thought I’d just check with ZC’ers that that advice still stands.
Ive also gained about 1/2 inch on my waist and hips each, after feeling much leaner after the first 2 days. I feel heavy in my abdomen too.

It feels like I’ve done a bit of a U turn after the first 2 days of it going well and am now facing the wrong direction!

(MelissaH) #2

I’m sure others will chime in but your body has to adjust, and patience is hard when you want results. Your bathroom trips are less on carnivore so that may be causing you some heaviness. Try a magnesium supplement and see if that helps.

(Chris) #3

Adaptation can take as long as a year. You need to allow time to heal.

(Elizabeth ) #4

When you’re eating any carbs or veggies like on keto, they dragged a lot of the fluid out of your body and when you cut them out completely your colon has to readjust and learn to absorb the liquid itself, there’s also a die off in your gut of the bacteria that were living off of those carbs and that fiber. There’s a lot going on, people consider themselves fat adapted on keto however it’s not truly a lipolytic process until you cut out the rest of the plant material and only have meat, then you become fully glycolytic. That’s an energy expensive process that the body does not like to do if it can help it, so that’s why it can take easily three to six months to really be adapted

(Ellie) #5

Thanks all. I assumed that as I had been on keto for several months that the transition would be pretty smooth as my gut bacteria was already used to very few carbs, but I guess it is another step further. I’ll stop panicking and give it longer.

(Ellie) #6

By way of an update. I seemed to peak at 215.8. I spent another couple of days at 215.2, and then today was 214.2.
I know none of these are big changes, but I’d far rather small changes heading in this direction and heading back up!
Fingers crossed for a 213.x tomorrow…

(Elizabeth ) #7

If you were using artificial sweeteners during keto, as probably just about everybody does, you might want to read this https://www.inverse.com/article/49475-artificial-sweetener-harmful-microbiome

(Elizabeth ) #8

I’m personally a little over 200, but my weight fluctuates as much as 5 lb from day to day. I highly recommend you weigh once a week or once a month if possible a lot of people recommend throwing the scale away.

(Ellie) #9

I was, but have cut down a lot in recent weeks. The odd diet coke (once a week or so) but I don’t do keto baking with powdered sweeteners.
Certainly making the change to ZC has made me almost eliminate them. An interesting article and food for thought.

(Elizabeth ) #10

99% is hard, 100% easy, just let go of anything sweet, they also can keep Cravings in the brain activated😉 http://www.zerocarbhealth.com/index.php/2018/05/22/15-common-zero-carb-questions-easily-answered/

(Ken) #11

Are you hungry when you eat? If not, start reducing calories. For adapted people CICO doesn’t apply for Maintenance, but it does apply for fat loss.

(Elizabeth ) #12

Actually, especially for women, weight is almost totally a function of hormones. Most long-term zero carbers find that they have to increase their intake to heal the underline metabolic issues and then when the hormones get normalized in the body after months or even years, then the weight will come off when the body decides that it has a new set point and homeostasis is always the goal. Reducing calories sends starvation signals to the body and prevents healing. You have to remember that especially for most women we have dieted and restricted so many times that we are now insulin resistant and our bodies have got to have lots and lots and lots of nutrition that is nutrient dense and yes sometimes high-calorie, to convince the body to let go of the fat stores. Yes you can lose a lot of weight by starving yourself, but it will not be healthy and it will almost certainly not be sustainable for life.

(Ellie) #13

I agree with that. I have a history, a decade ago, of successful weight loss through Atkins progressively leading to an obsession and disordered eating, which ultimately reached a point where weight loss stopped and then it all went out the window - “If it isn’t working then forget it”, and finally ended in me regaining the 50lbs I’d lost.
This time I trying very hard to let things take their course naturally and try to listen to my hunger signals and not focus on calories or detailed macros.

I have done low carb and keto long enough to know where the sneaky carbs are getting in, and in my attempt to not be too strict, I’ve reached a somewhat stagnant point where nothing is really moving. Hence my move towards ZC to try to remove some of those excesses without having to calculate every macro.
My alternative was going to be to do the lazy keto I was doing, but add in alternate day fasting, but I know that restricting is a slippery slope for me.

Anyway, I’ll try it for a month and see how I feel at the end of that. I’d like to shed another 10lbs or so before Christmas - but only for vanity reasons as I have bought a new pair of ski salopettes and they are a smidgen snug. I could wear them, but half an inch off my bum would make all the difference!!

(Bob M) #14

After reading through this thread and seeing that some people have to be on carnivory for YEARS to get a benefit, that doesn’t make me want to try it. I will try something for <6 months. If no results in <6 months, I’m out. For instance, I tried resistant starch and pre/probiotics for about 6 months and found no benefits. I tried hard, too, many prebiotics, many probiotics, etc. I tried Dr. William Davis’s l-reuteri yogurt for only about 4 months, no benefit (other than I could eat yogurt), as I didn’t see the point. Meanwhile, I’ve been low carb/keto going on 5 years and fasting going on about 3.5 years.

To argue that someone has to eat only meat for years is not going to win you any converts. And if you really only do get a benefit after years, how could you possibly tell it’s the diet? Seems like something else to me.

(Chris) #15

I’m wondering who is trying to win “converts”? The fact that some people get upset over what others eat is the definition of stupidity.

(Elizabeth ) #16

exactly, the less people eating meat the cheaper it is for me. I’m here to support people who decided that this is a lifetime way of eating and they want support and encouragement.

(Ellie) #17

I think it sometimes depends on the motivation.
If it is for general health and moderate weight loss, then there is probably no need to be as strict.
If it is to resolve an underlying serious health issue - autoimmune disease, cancer etc then I think I’d stick at it as long as is required to see results!

I think I am in a fairly middly position. At 6ft1 and 214lbs I am still in the overweight category, but I have run half marathons, I ski and surf and ride a motorbike and generally go about a fairly active day to day lift with no issues caused by my weight.
For vanity I would prefer to lose 20lbs or so, but it is both easy and frustrating to be in that category.

As with keto, people who have the most to lose in terms of weight, usually see the fastest results, and for those with less to lose the benefits are more marginal.

That all said, I try to focus on how I feel, and there is no doubt that I feel better on keto that I ever have when eating carbs. I am intrigued by ZC to see if I can lose a little more weight, but also to see if I feel even better. This would be great and would give me an n=1 reason to continue with whatever works for me. Reaching the point that food is just fuel and not an obsession in any way would be good.

Ultimately only each person can decided what is sustainable for themselves, and their threshold at which their particular benefit is outweighed by the perceived sacrifices of eating a certain way.
I don’t feel that anyone has been trying to convert me, and I am not trying to convert anyone.

Everyone can decide for themselves, and I appreciate the support on this thread. When making any change it is easy to get concerned about negative effects, but I will KCZCO (hmm not sure that acronym is going to stick!)

At the moment I am happy to give what I am describing to my husband as ‘negative vegan’ a try. ie I’ll eat anything a vegan wouldn’t!!

#18

No one is saying you have to do anything.
Having an open mind is a DIY thing, not a recruitment exercise.

Personally I experienced some benefits of carnivory within a couple of days.
Other benefits appeared over the next few months.
Some have not yet appeared after 9 months.
Although the best bits have been the unexpected benefits that I didn’t have a clue to expect. :blush:

Shrug.

Everyone is different.