“If you are dead set on losing those 15 pounds, go all out and switch to one meal a day”
This is where I get truly lost… most ppl are saying I need to eat more… and ditch the IF… it may be too much all at once… then another tells me to eat once per day?
My head is going to explode.
Whey protein is insulinogenic so I’d drop that from my routine and see if it changed anything.
Not sure if someone else mentioned this yet, but I would try an alternate source of protein (pea maybe?). I’ve read quite a bit about the whey protein spiking insulin.
All of the advice you’ve seen here sounds all over the map for a reason – different things have worked for different people here. There is no one size fits all. That’s why if you had more time, you could be experimenting with yourself and you’d learn what works for you.
I’m going to agree with Ernest about trying a longer IF or even extended fasting if you’re able. I totally get the wedding stress, too! Been there!!! But seriously, you can’t rush this. I lost a fair amount of weight very quickly on Medifast a few years back, so if you’re in a hurry, maybe that kind of thing can work for you. It’s also somewhat low carb – though pricy.
But I hope you understand this – I’m now here and on keto for a reason.
Yes, I gained it all back and more while trying to eat “healthy” after Medifast. Keto is a long-term solution, not a short-term one. And almost everyone here has done some amount of self experiments to make it work for them.
Keto is right for you if your question is: where do you want to be a year from now? Or two, or three?
Well IF is not for caloric restriction. Even though it seems that way.
It helps keeping insulin out of the equation as long as possible, among other benefits.
It’s easy to put away enough calories in one meal on Keto.
But again, this is what I meant by giving it enough time. That way you can experiment and find your sweet spot.
I do one meal Mon - Fri and freestyle on weekends but never more than two meals a day.
Do I count calories? Nope, I just eat a bunch of egg yolks and fatty cuts of meat.
I see you don’t eat meat. Whey protein shakes will spike insulin quite similar to carbs.
That could be an issue. Can you eggs instead of the shake?
Don’t be a slave to counting calories and macros BUT at the same time you need to experiment and find what works for your body. Eat big, enjoy your food and watch things happen.
I understand your frustration completely. Everyone will have a different opinion. It’s up to you to decide which course of action you’d like to take. I try new things all the time just to see what works, often not giving something enough time to see if it truly works or not. You really are doing all the right things from what I can tell. I’m sure you’ll find just 1 or 2 things you can tweak to get things hopping. Also, don’t forget the whoosh effect.
I use two types of protein powder… one is whey… which I’ve only been using for a few weeks. I’ve been on keto for 6 weeks, so that cant be the big huge reason that this isnt working. Prior to that, I was only using an organic vegan protein powder (pea)… so I’ve been using both… depending on the shake I’m making. The vegan powder isn’t very smooth, it’s chalky (that’s why I bought they whey, to rotate and have a smooth shake half the time) so I tend to use it in chunky type shakes.
So technically they seem to respond the same in my body. I lost nothing using only pea protein too.
I need to clarify… as a vegetarian who is basically now forcing myself to eat a salmon filet per day, just to get some protein… having a shake is really my only option… because I cannot eat fish 3 times per day… gag. Eggs are disgusting and make me feel ill. I do not eat much cheese at all… and wouldnt want to use it as a main protein source. I can no longer eat quinoa, beans, lentils, etc… where I got my protein from previously… so how should I get my protein? I’d be happy to eat it all in nuts (my macros for protein are 71-96g per day) but nuts have carbs… as does tofu… so it’s freaking impossible… I’d go way over my carb limit everyday…
The shakes are my only option to hit at least 50 protein per day… and TONS of ppl use protein powder… look at body builders?!
I feel like I’m lost in that maze in The Shining… this is just a winding road to nowhere… none of it makes sense.
If whey protein is bad, why are there TONS of videos of successful keto dieters posting videos and recipes about their success with it?
Completely confused… again.
Also, does HWC spike insulin too? If whey does? I understand that butter doesn’t bc it’s almost 100% fat… but HWC has all that milky water…
I’ve been using canned coconut milk in my coffee and shakes and stopped using HWC a few weeks ago, bc it’s extremely easy for me to overeat HWC… just poured into sauces or whipped… it’s also dairy, which I’ve heard can cause stalls. Cut out HWC… still haven’t lost a pound.
This is becoming exhausting BS 
Yup… always med to dark purple ketostix.
I wanted make sure they really worked, so I made my hubby pee on one after eating a pizza… it was tan… nada, zero.
I tested myself too, one day I ate more good carbs than I should have… got a pink reading.
Within a day of back to 20g… back to med or dark purple.
Trust me… I’m a perfectionist.
I’ve looked at everything.
My body just hates me obviously 
Hi Kate
I feel your pain and i think us girls need to stick together in these respects. Stress, hormones and cortisol levels play a huge part in our weight loss efforts.
Drink some green tea and maybe take a few nice walks and try to stress less. Good luck with your wedding.
You say your body hates you. Well, why shouldn’t it, if you refuse to give it the best food. Sorry for the snark, but you really are not coming off very easy to sympathize with here. Eggs might be natures most perfect food and you won’t even find a way to make them palatable for yourself, but then you complain about how hard it is to get protein.
You say you are a vegetarian and I won’t question your motivation to be one. It just means you are doing nutrition on Hard Mode. You are trying to swim with a brick in each hand. You can make this work, but you are going to have to give it some time and effort to get results – you first need to heal your body, and it’s going to take longer without plenty of animal products.
Even still, you might be one of the very few who are overweight without being insulin resistant, or who simply respond better to a low fat, high carb diet for weight loss. I recommend checking out Robb Wolf’s new book. It’s got some good stuff in there about tailoring your diet to your individual carbohydrate tolerance. Either way, don’t rush it. Sorry, keto didn’t work as well for you as for many, but whatever you end up doing, remember it has to be for the long term. No quick fixes will help you in the long run.
This I’m not sure of. I think HWC is ok for many (no insulin spike) as long as they can tolerate dairy. I’m one that can’t very well. I’m sorry I’m not much help.
@Brenda @Daisy @Fiorella @Donna might have more advice for you.
I apologize -off topic- but Carina, how did you get the purple “here” link?! I keep trying to do this but I end up just inserting the whole big giant post in the middle of my comment.
@KBG You just write the text you want to use as the link base, then select it, and click on the hyperlink icon (next to the quote icon) or use ctrl+k, then you can add the full link there. You can also add a title to the link (a description if you will). At first I didn’t realize that was an option and I was using the -a href - html tag 
It is VERY possible that by going into caloric deficit prior to keto adapting, you may have inadvertently slowed your metabolic rate. This concept is covered in some of the recent Two Keto Dudes podcasts. The idea is also presented in some of the Low Carb Down Under presentations on diet, particularly the long term metabolic problems associated with the Biggest Loser contestants.
When carb-adapted and confronted with a caloric deficit or fasting, the body down-regulates the non-mandatory metabolic functions. Body thinks it is starving since it doesn’t have full access to the on-board fat stores. It’s like a full fuel tanker truck running out of gas on the freeway.
When keto-adapted and confronted with a caloric deficit / fasting the body tends to successfully plug into the on-board fat stores and thinks it has near unlimited energy (massive energy per unit volume in stored fat) so it t keeps the metabolic fires burning at maximum.
Remember, you can be in ketosis after roughly a week, but it takes 3 to 4 weeks of physical changes (minimum) until the body is in a state of keto adaptation! Sounds like when you started your caloric deficit and fasting, you were still carb adapted.
The solution is likely to relax, take a break and eat more. Eat more fat if you can. Don’t try to cut down the amount you are eating. This will allow your metabolism to fire back up to where it was before.
Can you stand eating bacon? Might be worth trying to eat some while you wait for your metabolism to respond.
Otherwise, are you familiar with the Banting 2.0 lists? They’ve added certain beans / legumes to the orange list. Also, Tofu has been added to the new “Grey List” which, as the name implies, means it is in a grey area where no consensus exists. You might want to try it and see if it agrees with you. You might be fine with tofu or tempeh. Tempeh is a fermented product and most fermented things are good for the gut anyway. Either would give you some good protein options.
I’m not looking for a quick fix… you don’t need to sympathize with me. I was looking for guidance… bc I have covered all my bases.
I stopped eating animals as a teenager… because I LOVE them… and don’t WANT to eat them. I don’t care if pigs assholes are “nature’s perfect food”… it won’t make me eat them. Just like eggs, which look like baby chicken abortions to me… sorry if that offends you… but that’s the way it is. I still use them in baking, bc they’re necessary sometimes. But eating them all oogly jiggly and straight up… no way… sorry if that offends.
Every single time I have eaten an omelette, or fritatta I’ve been sick to my stomach for days… shall I just suck it up and eat eggs anyway? I don’t think so… perfect, or not.
I could argue that beets are one of nature’s greatest foods, or quinoa, or wild rice, or sweet potatoes, I could go on forever… because they are! But God Forbid, they’re loaded with sugar! And about a million other awesome things your body THRIVES on!!! They’re just not allowed on this diet.
I’m never going to stuff my face with bacon… sorry. Pigs have the memory vocabulary and mental abilities of a 5 year child… I don’t eat my dogs or cats either… who have that of a 3 year old…
Maybe it’s not possible to do keto without gorging on animals and their eggs… I just thought it might be.
I dont do meat at all ever! I have started eggs and enjoying them but totally get you cant. I think keto can still work without these things. Avocados and nuts. Lots of cheese. Yum Yum. I am currently completely addicted to butter. So weird but oh so good.
I lovvvve avocados, if only they were always available, ripe and not rotten at the store!
Mmmmm nuts… and cheeses! Love them but I think my body doesn’t. I’m pretty sure nuts stall my weight loss, and the HWC… oh my, it seems like that might be a whopper roadblock. Maybe it’s a dairy intolerance idk… eggs make me feel ill, every single time I eat them… always have!
I have a feeling that if I limited my diet to only whole foods… fish, oils and green veggies… the weight would come off. But I’d be extremely bored and very unsatisfied. No matter how much coconut oil and butter I ate.
I probably need to cut out dairy and nuts… when you’re a vegetarian, there isn’t much left. I need almonds in my life! And gruyere cheese! And whipped cream 
