Sorry to hear youāre having trouble, if you want you can make a separate thread about the issues youāre having if you have questions but Iāll go ahead and address some things.
- It is very normal to lose water weight at first and then stop losing for 1-2 months. It took my dad 3 months to start losing again, and it varies person by person. Youāre likely not doing anything wrong. It also took him that long to be able to skip meals, so thatās normal too. Your body is learning to use fat as fuel, which can take a while. Just get used to eating fat as fuel. Hungry but donāt want to worry about going over in protein/carbs? Eat fat.
- Youāre likely hungry after giving up BPC because it has fat in it and that was keeping you full, plus caffeine is an appetite suppressant. As far as I know the only concern with caffeine (unless youāre sensitive to it) is that it causes you to flush out salts faster. Perhaps just keep it to the morning (BPC definitely!) and switch to decaf after that.
- Keep Calm and Keto On. You may not need to give up cheese, artificial sweeteners (as long as they are keto-approved. e.g. erythritol, stevia, sucralose, monk fruit extract, aspartame [for some]), and coffee. You are very early on, although I understand the frustration of nothing appearing to happen for a while, so just keep doing what youāre doing and if you remain stalled after sayā¦ 4 months (because youāre still in the ābecoming fat adaptedā stage) consider switching things up.
- The weight you gained from excess protein is water weight, because extra protein you donāt need is converted into sugar for storage or energy (because protein canāt be stored āas isā). It will likely come off in a few days. Donāt worry about it.
- The cramping is likely from one of the following: low potassium (be careful increasing this, too much is an issue too), low sodium (salt everything, put salt directly on the tongue and then a sip of water, drink mildly salty water if you can handle it), low magnesium (take epsom salt baths), low calcium (get from food).
Here are some guidelines and quick things for you:
- <20g of carbs per day
- 1-1.5g of protein per kg of lean body mass
- Fat to satiety. Satiety is the important part. If you are hungry, then EAT. Donāt worry about calories, donāt worry about āeating too muchā, just eat until youāre satiated. Real physical hunger is a sign. Listen to it!
- Try not to snack. This may seem to conflict with #3, but if you are desperately hungry between meals, add more fat at meal time. This can take some time to adjust to, so if hungry between meals at first go for something as close to all fat as possible to prevent insulin response. Fat bombs, BPC, etc are perfectly fine.
- Keep Calm and Keto On. Your body is adjusting to running off of an entirely different fuel than its used to (from glucose to ketones). It is going to take an adjustment period, but this is completely normal. Follow the above, and trust that youāre doing okay unless there is some sign youāre notā¦ in which case ask questions or use the search function on the forum to see what the fix is. What youāre experiencing is SUPER common. The key here is that yes many people experience amazing changes on ketoā¦ but that is after whatever amount of time. I experienced stalls and muscle twitches/cramping, as did my mom, as did my dad. Itās common. Itās a process.
Hopefully thatās not too long, and you probably know most of it already, but it can help to have it as a checklist. It is important to know that youāre likely doing most things right except things a lot of people overlook at first (like electrolyte levels).
We are here to help (plus your doctor!), and we all want you to succeed!
P.S. The scale is a filthy, filthy, filthy, filthy liar. It doesnāt account for increase in muscle. It doesnāt account for anything youāve put in your mouth (e.g. if you drink a liter of water, youāll gain two pounds. Does it tell you that? Nope). It doesnāt account for water weight. It doesnāt account for fat cells filling with water after they empty until you can finally flush it out when stress, etc, is low.
I would suggest: Taking progress pictures (face and full body), taking measurements (tape measureā¦ waist, chest, hips, arm, thigh, you can include as many or few as you want), tracking blood glucose (if usually high), are all things that can help because one thing may change while the rest stays the same.
That plus NSVs (Non-Scale Victories) can help a lot too. Sleeping better? Clearer/smoother skin? Face looks smaller/less puffy? Shinier/less frizzy hair? Less ache-y joints? Make note of it if you notice it, it will work as a reminder that all is well even if the scale doesnāt move.
Hope any bit of this helps!
