Soooo Discouraged.. please help :(

(Ross) #21

Just a month? Relax. A female friend of mind had the exact same thing happen. Lost the initial weight then plateaued for a while on the scale… She was frustrated until she started to notice the non-scale signs like her pants were too loose and her bra strap was loose and her shape started to change. I think she was putting on a little muscle in the right places while dropping a little fat in others.

Why are you fasting so soon? Is that a good idea while still going through the keto adaptation phase?
Might be a good idea to let your body fully adjust to burning fat first. That’s a lot of changes to throw at your body at once!!!

(kate) #22

This is exactly what I’m worried about… is it medical… my doctor once mentioned that my thyroid was a bit “lazy” or low functioning… but he said it wasn’t that bad.

Is there anything I can do for that?

EDIT: DUE TO BEING UNABLE TO POST ANY MORE REPLIES TODAY (22 is the newbie limit I guess)

Thank you all for your amazing suggestions, lovely welcoming spirit and support!!!

A few things I wanted to respond in this edit, then I’ll be back in 24 hours… sob

I’m not fasting on purpose, I have never been a breakfast eater… so it’s a natural thing for me.

I was actually sooooo relieved to FINALLY find a way of eating that didn’t require “eating breakfast” or “6 small meals per day” ughhhhhh…

Twice is good in 8 hrs… it’s what I’ve pretty much always done. Even before keto.

I have been a vegetarian since I was a teenager, only eating seafood very occasionally, so no bacon for me! This is the most fish I’ve ever consumed in my life… the most protein period! My lifelong diet had mostly consisted of chocolate, salads, bread and starchy veggies… maybe my body is in a state of complete shock…

I don’t eat any refined vegetable oils… only coconut and olive oil… and butter… mmmmmm butter…

The shake has whey protein, 1g carb powder, usually add coconut milk or almond milk, unsweetened of course, nut butters, instant coffee, ice, water, cocoa powder, heavy whipping cream… all sorts of variations, depends on my mood.

I agree that it’s possible that I may not be eating enough. I was looking into carb cycling yesterday, and maybe just simplifying things by having a cheat day (still whole foods like roasted potatoes or squash… not birthday cake!) I may need a feast day, and then a few lower days… I think my metabolism is asleep.

Most of all, heartfelt thanks going out to all of you, with your beautiful words of encouragement on my wedding. This is hard for me. It’s been a short engagement, so I didn’t really have time to plan, prepare or transform myself as much as I’d like. I haven’t always been this size… it crept up on me… life.

Love it here, you guys rule!!!

See ya soon :wink:

Hi Saphire:

Just to add… I’m definitely eating enough fat, I’m well within my moderate macros amount daily, sometimes over… and I’m beyond definitely NOT eating too much protein. I can barely hit the minimum of 70g (which is the macros calculated on my IDEAL weight of 165 lbs… not my current weight… which would require I eat 25 grams MORE! 95 grams ughhhh) The shakes are integral, because I simply cannot eat 70-90 grams of fish and nuts per day. I have several protein in powders, a few are whey… a few are organic vegan protein, I noticed no difference in loss/gain with either. I rotate them. I don’t eat eggs or cheese much at all… tofu is yummy, but a highly processed soy product… that is not low carb… so for me, organic vegan protein is definitely a more healthful choice.

I feel like I’m doing everything right… I’ll try not to focus on the scale as much but it’s very discouraging. When you’ve cut out over 30,000 calories you used to consume in a month… give up potatoes, chips, rice, butternut squash, lentils, peas, beans, quinoa, etc etc etc…and you’re a vegetarian… and see no results… it REALLY SUCKS.

#23

I’m not a thyroid expert. Many others here are. If you search thyroid here, you’ll get 50 hits and a handful of very helpful in-depth threads.

(jilliangordona) #24

I didn’t see this mentioned above but I may have missed it, but you may actually be eating TOO little. I was stalling for a while and I stopped my IF for a bit, feasting and eating a min 2,000 calories each day and I started dropping weight again. I am back to IF, but I think feasting and revving up my metabolism helped a ton.

Considering eating more and see what happens for a few weeks.

(Ross) #25

the answer is always to eat more bacon I have found :slight_smile:

Being in a “caloric deficit” prior to keto adaptation likely has the effect of slowing down the metabolism anyway.

Besides, it is impossible to calculate what a caloric deficit really is. Only our hypothalamus knows.

(Ross) #26

what’s in that shake? Are you eating any “vegetable oils”?

(Liz ) #27

I just want to say I was a 5’ 8", 260 pound bride in a size 20 dress 15 years ago & I looked radiant! That was my heaviest weight & I’ll never see that number on the scale again thanks to low carb, but I’m not sad about having been a big bride, it’s still a magical day regardless, in my opinion. I know you will look stunning at whatever size you are on your wedding day.

Also, I started strict Keto March 8 at age 47 & it took me months to start losing weight consistently and it’s still slow for me, women have specific hormonal issues that seem to take longer to resolve. Sounds like you are doing everything right, it just takes time for your body to heal & shift. I’m glad you are having non scale victories in the meantime. Hang in there, it may not happen on the schedule you’d hoped but it will probably happen eventually unless there is some other issue like thyroid that needs taken care of. My biggest foe in this journey has been impatience so I feel your pain.

(Carpe salata!) #28

By the way, if we’re talking keto, a feast day means eating extra fat or LOVELY FAAAAAT as Richard would say on the podcasts.

Don’t get back to carbs - especially while you’re getting fat adapted. Carbs get you back to high insulin and sugar cravings. Fat gets you to low insulin and metabolically it kickstarts your fat-burning system. Fatburning is what it’s about and carbs shut that down. Feast on fat.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #29

Not to mention Dr. Phinney, who calls it “succulent fat.”

These phrases are music to my ears.

#30

Try this for 2 weeks. 10g carbs, 60g fat, 80g protein. 8 x 16oz bottles of water

(Carey) #31

I agree that a month in is too soon to worry about the scale. Yes it can be encouraging but not in your case right? Your body is BUSY upregulating good stuff and down regulating bad stuff and has a lot to sort out it takes time. Your best bet is a tape measure and good sleep and stress management. You should also consider measuring blood ketones. Yes it is a financial investment but until you are solidly fat adapted the pee may be telling you you are further along than you think. Track other data too for encouragement. Do you have recent blood lipids and hba1c and CRP that you can run post keto labs to see if those have improved? It may be too soon but the more data points you track the more ways you can give yourself the gift of encouragement that you ARE on the right track.

#32

No expert but a couple of things jump out, some of which have been already said.

I would give up the shakes for a week and see what happens, there are vegetable sources of protein, tofu and others which are low carb. Also, Richard did an experiment where he only ate the bare minimum protein for 2 months and his lean body mass increased, its in a one of the podcasts from March or April, I forget. There is some controversy around whey although since I do not eat it I have not followed the debate.

I think you may be eating too much protein and not enough fat. While I am too lazy to look it up, there is substantial debate about protein, some believe it should be 1- 1.5 per kilo of lean body mass, others rely on ideal weight (which is more than LBM since, everyone even at ideal weight will have fat and hair and so on). Others believe it should be .8 or so (I forget exactly) some less, some more.

Megan Ramos (who works with Dr. Fung) is a big believer in not doing the same thing every day so your body does not adapt. Some days do 20:4, some days do 16:8, some days fast if you are inclined. I am not a big planner or organizer so this suits me.

Guacamole is a good source of veggie fat. I buy the premade single serving cups (read the label as carbs vary alot). Sour cream is delicious, as is butter of course.

I agree that carb cycling is a bad idea and you increase your risk of cheating.

I started fasting in March and Keto in April. Yes not the usual pattern but I was already moderate carb, had lost 15 pounds from November. Iinterestingly I found fasting easier when I was moderating carbs than initially on keto. Until I tried feasting before the fast and that really helped. For me, I seem to lose the weight during fasting and then use keto to maintain and reorganize. Since March I have lost a decent amount but most was off by mid July and I still have another 50 or so to lose. I have not done many fasts recently and have not lost much weight or really any since July. The interesting thing is the same people I saw in July at my local pool club have been commenting lately on my recent weight loss. I keep telling them I have not lost since they have seen me but they do not believe me. Also pants that I could not wear in July are loose on me, as are some shirts I bought in July that I will be returning because they are too big

(Stephanie) #33

Hi Kate! You and I are on the same path. I lost almost five lbs my first week of keto but no loss since then. I started strict keto on 8/1/17. Hang in there! So many benefits from keto. The weightloss will happen. Your body may be repairing itself first.

Stephanie

#34

Couple more ideas

Peanut butter as a legume is controversial as well.

You mentioned thyroid. I would educate yourself on your numbers. If you are feeling sluggish and have good insurance so that blood tests are free, I would go on the thyroid area of the site and discuss the tests you should get. Obviously TSH but possibly check for autoimmune and tests to check your thyroid hormones, T4 and how well that is being converted to T3 as well as check reverse T3. Most internists think they know thyroid but they really are not as well informed as they think. Also the TSH reference ranges are usually set too high. Ideal thyroid is between 1 and 2 or so I have read. Most reference ranges go to 4 or 4.7

(Khara) #35

Prawns are also really high in protein and very small so you don’t have to eat many.
Do you have any clothes that you know fit a certain way pre-Keto, for example jeans you could pull on but not zip, that you can try on now and look for improvement?
As for your wedding day I’ll bet you will look healthier just by being Keto for 3 months prior. It has a way of making everything look better…skin tone and color, less bloating, and you just feeling better will mean more smiling. Hopefully you’ll enjoy some weight loss as well. Be patient, it’s still pretty early.

(Allie) #37

Stop restricting yourself so much and allow your body the fuel it needs to repair itself which it cannot do while you’re not even giving it enough fuel to function properly at a basic level.

(Caryl) #38

Weirdly, I lose weight only when my daily intake is >1800. I have thrifty genes which don’t like restrictions! It may be counter-intuitive, but it works for me.

(Nancy ) #39

When I stalled, I realized that I was fasting too much. I really upped my fat intake and therefore overal calories for 2-3 days and then started loosing again. Don’t increase the carbs. I tried to read all the comments before writing this, but don’t remember exactly what you eat. There are some great recipes for fat bombs - both sweet and savory. Try going crazy with the fat bombs, coconut oil, etc. for a few days and then go back to your current macros. Search for 2ketodudes podcast with Megan Ramos (March 19 - switching it up with Megan Ramos). Great info and really works for me. I try not to have too many days in a row where my total calories are the same. Hope this helps.

(Nancy ) #40

Just listening to another podcast and it reminded me that olives are a good Keto food. According to myfitnesspal, 5 olives have 2.5 grams fat and 1 gram carb. Just an idea for some variety if you like olives.

(Sheri Knauer) #41

You mentioned adding powdered PB to your shake sometimes. Most of the powdered PB I have seen have added sugar. Also, you may be too strict on calories. Suddenly cutting out 1000 calories for an extended time period could be causing your metabolism to readjust to that caloric intake. Increase the fat (hence calories) and see what happens. This is called the tweaking period to find out what works for you. If you are feeling much better, just keep up with the keto and the weight will come off (perhaps not at the speed you would like). The alternative is to go back to old eating habits, gaining weight, and feeling crappy.
I listened to a podcast a few days ago and the woman being interviewed was talking about the lying scale. She lost like 10 dress sized but total weight lost according to the scale was like 7 lbs. Take your measurements and go by how your clothes fit. Much better indicator of fat loss and body recomposition.