Soooo Discouraged.. please help :(

#82

I haven’t read all the comments but it seems to me you are focussing on the wrong thing to start with. You are putting pressure on yourself to lose weight for your wedding - I get that, it is an understandable thing to want to do. The trouble is that your focus sounds like (I can only go on what you say here so could be completely wrong) it is on the short-term “fix” of losing some weight rather than on the long-term goal of getting your health sorted out.

The fact that you have been on many diets before and they don’t work will tell you something about calorie restriction. The trouble is, you are focusing now on a calorie deficit. Your body is holding on to weight for a reason and you need to find out why. I don’t think that cutting this, that and something else is going to do the trick. It is quite possible that you are not eating enough - it is difficult to tell from what I have read here. How were you eating before? It sounds like you were quite probably on a healthy plan before, just higher carb?

I think you need to look inside to see what is going on. I would want to know what the following health markers had to say - so blood tests.

  • thyroid (TSH, Free T3, FreeT4 and antibodies)
  • iron panel (inc ferritin, saturation, folate)
  • B12 and ideally other Bs
  • vitamin D
  • HbA1c
  • fasting insulin

You say you get plenty of sleep - good quality sleep? How are your stress levels? What health issues have you had in the past? What is your weight gain/loss history? You say you have always struggled with weight - since childhood or more recently?

There are so many factors that can influence your weight. What is important is getting to the root issues of your health. If you heal them, your weight will stabilise to where it needs to be. IMO the better focus would be long-term health and happiness and the weight will naturally follow. I know that isn’t what you want to hear because of the wedding target. I think that getting a proper handle on what is going on will be a great place to start and hopefully give you some answers so that you can be a bit kinder to yourself and enjoy your special day in a body well on its way to finding its perfect balance. Different people lose different amounts in different patterns - there simply is no standard weight loss pattern to be expected and anyone who tells you different is misleading you. It is actually very typical for women to have no weight loss for quite a while. I have seen many gain initially too. That is why it is important to focus on everything else but weight as indicators of whether this is the right way of eating for you or not. You could quite easily have a hormonal issue that is putting the brakes on, inflammation, auto-immune issues.

(Jo O) #83

I haven’t listened to this podcast yet. But it might be helpful.
Woman’s perspective on Keto and this episode is on Keto & vegetarianism.

Healthypursuit

Update: FORGET IT For you short term goals, probably not helpful for your situation.
Maybe long term as long as you stay vegetarian.

(Ross) #84

No problem!


There’s one of the two recent podcasts where they cover the issue (early in podcast).
Sounds like the same thing you are experiencing.

BTW, when I was dropping weight, I don’t think I was every in caloric deficit.
Considering how much bacon, eggs, avocado and olive oil I was eating…I was always full…never felt hungry. I probably at much more than I really needed. Not sure why it worked but it did. Three very high fat meals/day, often large. Didn’t eat between meals. BOOM.

I didn’t attempt IF until over 2 years in when I wanted to try and lower my set weight a little (it works).

Hang in there! We’re pulling for you! :slight_smile: KC&KO!

(Ren) #85

If you do not like eating animal products for protein you can eat plant based products for protein.

Obviously quinoa, beans and lentils are not a viable source on the ketogenic way of eating. However Flax Seed meal, Chia Seed and Hemp hearts are ketogenic friendly and are a good source of protein and fat, while having low net carbs.

Also are your measurements changing even though your weight isn’t?

That is all i really have to add to the conversation, good luck in sorting out your deranged metabolism!

(Roxanne) #86

I’ve recently discovered pumpkin seeds as a good source of protein, high in fat and lower in carbs than nuts.

#87

I recently started eating pumpkin seeds and I haven’t fully forgiven myself for not eating them sooner in life. They shot straight to the top of my list of favorite snacks. Haven’t sampled may varieties but the Trader Joe’s ones are awesome!

(Roxanne) #88

Costco carries a large bag of slightly salted ones In their baking/but aisle. You can get some nicely spiced ones in some other stores too, I’m still experimenting.

(Becky) #89

I love this video! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

(Jane Reed) #90

The phrase “keep calm and keto on” isn’t just a clever riposte. Among other things it means, to me, that giving up on this way of eating will send me back to the sort of diet that made me fat and unhappy and drove me to trying keto in the first place.

In 3 more weeks I’ll be at my one year anniversary of starting keto. I’ve lost 25 pounds. If I believed the fairy tale success stories I would have packed it in long ago. I have more to lose, though not nearly as much as you. I won’t lose it by throwing up my hands and diving head first into a bag of chips or a quart of ice cream. (If only.)

You spent a month researching this WOE so you must have been convinced that CICO was not how you could drop fat and get healthy. Surely that hasn’t changed, has it?

So you are one of the unlucky ones for whom keto did not rocket you to slenderness. Same here. There are thousands of us who just have to dig in and stick to the program because there really is no other way to get to our goal.

My advice:. stop reading those wild success stories. In a year’s time, on your wedding anniversary, have a portrait photo taken of you in your wedding dress, where it will be hanging off you like a potato sack. Then have another photo taken dressed in a wedding gown that fits like a glove. I can see it now, and you look great.

(MooBoom) #91

It’s pretty obvious you’re not getting the weight loss results you hoped for and thought were reasonable.

It’s also perfectly natural and totally human to be really really upset about that, especially because you have invested so much time and effort and research into something you were pretty certain would yield results, and has obviously worked super well for a lot of other people.

As a bystander, it is hard to read the pain and frustration in your posts- you really have a way with words hehe! I feel your pain I really do! But honestly, at this point, diving headlong into how awful and frustrating and disappointing this has been for you is obviously only making you feel WORSE. You don’t want that, none of us want that for you either! It seems you are at a crucial point, where you kind of need to accept that this hasn’t worked the way you want it to, and decide how you’re going to move forward.

Are you going to chuck it in because you’re a slow starter? Or are you going to hang in there, cheered on by all of us who want to see you succeed, healing your body at the pace it wants to go at.

Please choose the latter- lots of love to you and a big old hug.

(Davey B ) #92

Wow, it sounds like you’re doing all the right things, and very disciplined! If you’re in Ketosis, and it sounds like you are there, please be patient and let your hormones adjust (catch up) to the new program (no more carbage, yay!)

My wife had the same delayed response with her weight loss. Once her hormones adjusted, after almost 2 months, great things happened and weight started to fall off. In the meantime she did feel better overall, and luckily there was no time pressure! :sweat: I know it’s easy to say but… Be patient and stay with it because what you wrote sounds very good.

Do you feel better, inflammation, energy levels, blood sugars, sleep,…? If so, try to focus on those benefits. The weight loss will definitely follow! :+1:

Stay the course, and we’ll cheer you on! All the best with the new lifestyle and the upcoming special event! :blush:

Regards
Dave

(Anne) #93

Great video! Thanks for posting

(Ross) #94

http://veganatheart.org/vegan-keto-low-carb-diet-with-meal-plan/
You may find this handy. Tim Noakes just tweeted out this link today.
Great stuff inside!

#95

Another Vegan Keto suggestion @kate_88

(MooBoom) #96

@kate_88 haven’t seen you around lately- how are you going?

(Lindsey) #97

Have you done any blood work to see if anything is off?

#98

It can be really frustrating when working hard is hardly working. Can you tell me: 1. Why don’t you eat meat? 2. What protein shake are you drinking? 3. Why are you intermittent fasting every day? 4. How do you feel? (Lots of energy each day, crashes, etc…) 5. How long have you struggled with your weight? 6. What weight have you been most of your adult life?

(MooBoom) #99

I think she flew the coop guys. Sad for her.

(Robin) #100

I hear you, I have problems loosing weight as well. I hate not being able to loose. I’ll loose 10- 20 pounds and then stop. I recently did some research on this because it made me want to tear my hair out. One Keto-er, mentioned (Shawn Mynar) that as soon as you put your body under stress, it retains weight. Stress can be a lot of things, aka relationships, stress at work, stress of what you are eating. One other thing that stresses your body out can also be NOT EATING ENOUGH. Here is a link to a podcast she did that explains some of the hormones involved. It is part 2 of a 2 part topic. She really wants women to eat until they are full in order to restore our metabolic “fat set point” which is where our body is comfortable at. Check it out, see if that could be the issue. http://www.shawnmynar.com/estrogen-dominance-adrenal-fatigue-pcos-menopause-thyroid-leptin-why-women-gain-weight-even-on-keto-part-2-011/

(Ernest) #101

Sometimes we have to understand that weight loss is not a linear process. Weight loss should be the side effect of getting healthy.
And our microwave society doesn’t help matters. We want results yesterday.