So annoyed

(purezion ) #1

Hi there. I am back on keto after 6 months of being off keto. I always stay on a grain free diet so I am a lo-carb gal for life. Well in the 6 months off keto I managed to gain 10 lbs with stupid cheats here and there while my skinny ass husband eats all the breads and struggles to gain. Enough with my bitterness with that. LOL.

I decided to start keto again with the addition of working out hoping I would lose weight even more successfully. I have always done keto no problem in the past but now Iā€™m not losing anything!! Itā€™s been 6 weeks now and I am now gaining weight on top of the 10lbs I gained off of keto. I loathe working out so now Iā€™m like whatā€™s the point??? Itā€™s this where the ā€œmuscle weighs more than fatā€ comes into play? Iā€™m starting to lose my sanity here. :sob::weary: can someone help? Below are my statsā€¦

-5ā€™5ā€ 160lbs. Eat about 1,400 calories a day.
My daily workout is jumping on the rebounder for 4 minutes at a time, 2-3 times a day.
-Sometimes I go for a 1 mile walk if weather permits

  • 20min of Pilates
  • 10 minutes of arm dumbbell lifting 3-5 lbs
    -30-50 min yoga.
(Robin) #2

Gosh, I have absolutely no advice for you! I just didnā€™t want you to hear silence for too long. I am sure one of our wiser keto masters will have some advice for you. I will say that I am also not a fan of working out, but I bought a rowing machine and mounted my iPad on top so I can watch Netflix or whatever while I row. No heavy resistance starting out. I increased over time. itā€™s a good total body workout. Then I just add some yoga stretches throughout the day.

I was one of the lucky ones who lost weight quickly and steadily. Just kept my carbs under 20 a day. Also went to intermittent fasting, usually eating between noon and 6PM.

I strongly believe keto is still the answer for you. Hang in there. Help is on the way. You got this!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

A couple of suggestions. First, what are your clothes doing? If they are getting tighter, thatā€™s one thing, but if they are not, then the weight gain is probably not worth worrying about. I was given a pair of trousers a few years ago for Christmas, but they were a bit too small. Twelve months later, still weighing the same, I found they fit perfectly. It is documented that muscle gain and increases in bone density can occur simultaneously with fat loss. This can be perplexing to those whose sole indicator of progress is the scale reading.

Second, if you are gaining fat, the first thing to do is to re-examine your diet for what we call ā€œcarb creep.ā€ Double-check the portions of food you are eating and their carb content to verify that you are still eating less than 20 g/day of carbohydrate. It also might not hurt to eat a bit more. Many people on these forums have found that eating too little triggers their body to hold on to its resources for the duration of the ā€œfamine,ā€ and that eating more actually started them on the path of weight loss. Just as your metabolism slows down when you short yourself on calories, it also revs up when given extra (keto) food.

(Roberta Worley) #4

One thing I know for sure and for certain: I cannot lose weight by trying to out-exercise what I eat. It just is a sure sign for failure.

Itā€™s hard to lose weight. If it werenā€™t, everyone would be doing it carte blanc. Make no mistake, being active helps quite a bit. I do my best not to sit and gaze at that glass feeding tube aka the TV. I do spend time watching it with my Dearest but I r e a l l y have to watch myself. Case in point, I have removed my comfy chair permanently to another part of the house so that if I want to recline, I can read, listen to music, whatever. TV is too much of a draw for me to easily get up and get moving. So, I had to do something drastic. And I did and I am S O much happier because of it.

I still spend some time with my Dearest watching tv but itā€™s been pared down and I keep paring it down more. It is SO worth it! Gotta keep moving or Iā€™ll get frost bite!

(purezion ) #5

Yeah my clothes are getting tighter. Itā€™s crazy to me because I always effortlessly lost weight on keto before with the same amount of food. I just worked out yesterday more than ever thinking Iā€™m getting so much accomplished and found another pound gained this morning. I will try eating more food to see if that helps even though it seems counterintuitive. My macros are always on point and I donā€™t find myself that hungry during the day. The sensation I get is that I am building muscle and the fat is protruding out more rather than getting burned off. Iā€™m beyond frustrated because I just want to feel healthy and I really do hate working out. I wish I could love it but with 4 kids and a full time job, I had to sacrifice all my hobbies and studies because I only have this one hour a day to myselfā€¦ and Iā€™m wasting it on working my ass off only to gain more weight. Rant over, thank you for your suggestions. I will come back to let you all know if eating more works.

#6

Looking at your workout routine, I donā€™t think it is possible that you have built any significant amount of muscle mass in the past 6 weeks. You are not lifting enough weights with enough repitition for that to happen.

You are however working out daily and working out can raise cortisol levels. With your level of working out, the raise in cortisol should not be significant. However if you have been dealing with stress, anxiety etc lately (honestly, who isnā€™t at this point) then your cortisol may already have been high and working out daily could push it above the threshold. High cortisol works against weight loss and some say it causes weight gain. Iā€™d say to give yourself a few days between working out to give your body to recover although to definitely keep the stress relieving exercises like yoga on those days.

That said, in my experience, weight gain on keto is usually due to carb creep. Some sneaky ingredient you didnā€™t realise has sugar etc.

(purezion ) #7

All of this makes sense, thank you! I did suspect the cotisol levels were an issue. Iā€™ve always had issues with them. I didnā€™t even think that too much exercise can raise them even more. Yes, I have been more stressed lately as well- including not being able to lose weight adding to it all. Especially not enjoying the Pilates and weightliftingā€¦ I think dropping that alone with help my stress levels, lol. I will stop the Pilates and weightlifting and will focus on walking and yoga to see if this works. Thanks again

(Laurie) #8

Iā€™d look at the rebounder jumping too. Rebounding has built muscles in my lower body like crazy. And Iā€™m talking gentle moves like stepping from side to side (I was almost crippled when I started rebounding, and am still old). So if youā€™re actually ā€œjumpingā€ ā€¦

(Bob M) #9

I guess if your ultimate goal is ā€œless weightā€, that might work. If your goal is fitness, itā€™s questionable. I had three DEXA scans done over the course of a year. The result? About 4 pounds of muscle gained and 6 pounds of fat lost, for a total of -2 pounds of scale weight.

Thatā€™s effectively zero scale weight, at least my sale measurements were so noisy that I couldnā€™t tell that level of weight loss.

But, am I better off after that than before? Iā€™d argue that yes I am. Unless youā€™re some type of body builder, more muscle is better than less.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #10

This interests me because I eat to macros and a calorie target zone.

Let me state upfront that I did not lose a lot of weight when I started keto, only about 35 pounds and that during the first 6 months or so. Iā€™m a 75 yo male (started keto at the age of 71), 6ā€™0" height, 145 pounds weight and overall lean composition. I have been lean all my life and weight was never an issue. Only since turning 60ish did my overall weight start to creep upwards to the point of feeling uncomfortable. So maybe my experience overall is not very useful. But I think my approach to macro/calorie management is useful and maybe helpful.

As an older male the most important number for me is protein. I donā€™t want to lose lean mass which can happen as we age due to decrease in testosterone and growth hormone. In fact, I struggle to maintain my weight rather than to lose it. I also make sure I include several grams of collagen protein every day since with increasing age we gradually lose the ability to make it. I use Bikmanā€™s recommendations for protein of 1 1/4 - 2 grams per kilo of total body weight. My current value is 1.8. That gives me the number for protein, from which in combo with total daily calories I calculate fat.

It took me the better part of a year of experimentation to discover the macro/calorie combo that works for me. In other words it required some testing and observation, primarily of two factors: whether or not I gain/lose/maintain overall weight and fat and whether I feel alert and energetic rather than hungry, tired and/or lethargic. Note: a tape measure and calipers are a worthwhile adjunct to a scale. The scale can give you only overall gross weight, the tape measure and calipers help determine fat comp. There are several online calculators that will convert your measurements into an estimate of % BF.

I determined my macros by trial and error. I suggest you do likewise, not simply accept some generalized recommendation you read on a website. I currently donā€™t do anything approaching a daily ā€˜excerciseā€™ routine. Although, I have been an avid cyclist most of my adult life, so I have pretty good legs! I work full-time at Walmart and the job requires standing and lots of walking during my shifts. Also, a fair amount of lifting and carrying heavy stuff. I also expend lots of emotional energy interacting with customers and staff. My primary tasks are supporting the front end staff.

As for carbs, I never look at food and think ā€œhow much of that can I eat and not kick myself out of ketosis?ā€ I look at food in terms of fat and protein proportions; the carbs are incidental and minimal. My carb macro is 15 total grams, I never go over 20 and frequently below 10. It was challenging at first, but now itā€™s easy peasy. I donā€™t miss any of the carb-loaded foods I ate for decades prior to keto.

Best wishes and hope this helps.

(Bob M) #11

Some people think thereā€™s something magical about walking, including Dr. Briffa:

Sadly, heā€™s no longer blogging, but I remember him arguing that walking is great and may allow one to lose weight whereas higher calorie exercise would not. Is that true? I doubt it, but it could be.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #12

@ctviggen Thanks, Bob. Nice short read. I was a distance runner in high school and college. I enjoyed it then, especially the cross-country runs through forests which was mostly what we did at UofMaine. But once I entered real life and had to get jobs and actually spend 40 hours per week working those jobs and another 5-10 hours getting to and fro, it was not sustainable. So, I too started walking as much as I had the opportunity. Still do, 50 years later. Even at the age of 75 I can run a city block to catch a bus. At my current job at Walmart I always ā€˜walk brisklyā€™. I go out of my way not to ā€˜act my ageā€™.

(Karen) #13

@amwassil well done you and keep mot acting your age! There are so many people who are old before their time. My dance partner is 83 and can still do a mean rock n roll.

(Edith) #15

I think this is good advice for everyone.

(Bob M) #16

Thatā€™s why I stopped cycling. Iā€™m slow in the hilly area in which I live, as in averaging only 12 mph with stops. When it takes 5 hours to ride 60 miles, I was taking basically all day (say, 8-9 am until 2-3 pm) to ride. When I had kids, that became impossible.

I think we underestimate how much ā€œworkā€ we do at (some) ā€œworkā€ environments. Iā€™ve been adding 2 inches of rigid foam insulation to my walls (breathing through my fancy mask 8-10 hours each day), and my heart rate goes way high at times. And, Iā€™m exhausted at the end of the day.

(KCKO, KCFO šŸ„„) #17

This is true for me I have found I have better results from the 30 mins. of walking 2x a day than any of the intense cardio etc. things I tried. If I canā€™t walk due to weather, I just dance to my favorite oldies. Works a treat for me, maintaining for over 3 yrs. now.