Three weeks in and gaining weight

#1

So I am only three weeks in,
Starting stats185cm (~6ft), 98kgs (~215lbs), ~20%bf.
Sedentary job but lift heavy weights 3 times a week and chase after a two year old at home.

I don’t have a scale but I have put 4cms on my waist so far and I am still hungry all the time.
I haven’t tested keytones and haven’t experienced the “keto flu” so I’m thinking I haven’t actually gone into ketosis.

I really upped my fat intake and cut out any obvious carbs (I didn’t really eat processed carbs before except for toast during weekend breakfasts).

I am tracking macros in my fitness pal app and finding it hard to keep carbs under 30g even just eating green vegetables.

Do I need to go full fat carnivore for a while to kick things off?
That won’t be sustainable long term for me as I really like vegetables and salads.

(Rob) #2

Tricky one… you are pretty lean (if not super buff), young-ish, starting from Low Carb and probably pretty healthy, lifting heavy… not the most common starting point.

By rights, you should adapt easily, avoid the flu and not need to get down to 20g to be in ketosis, but you would also probably not see the immediate benefits that more deranged people see. But adding inches? That’s odd. Do you feel bloated?

Unlikely to be fat, most likely new water retention. It might be due to electrolytes - are you doing the Na/K/Mg supplementation? Are you drinking enough (too little, ironically, can make you retain) or possibly too much (that would probably be a lot).
Possibly there is an allergy to a new food that is creating bloating/retention?

Shouldn’t be an issue with 30g of salad/veggies. That is NET carbs I assume.

Not much help but a few things to try?

#3

I found cutting down on veggies very helpful, I eat them as a garnish more than anything else now because I kept having “digestive issues” including bloating. I started about where you are, just shorter. I’m down to about 16% BF now. I’m still short.

Maybe do an elimination protocol and see if there is a particular veggie that is triggering problems for you.

(Alec) #4

Could you provide a typical days food intake so we can troubleshoot?
Cheers
Alec

#5

Bit more info, I am 35 and main goal isn’t to lose a ton of weight but to even out energy levels and not feel hungry all the time.
Although if I dropped 10cm off my waist and ended up at 90kgs that would be a huge bonus.

I haven’t been distinguishing between gross or net carbs, I guess I have to do more reading on that.
According to my log yesterday my biggest source of carbs was Avocado followed by fatty biltong.
Screenshots below, that was about 1000 more calories than usual because I was so hungry all day.

Not really sure what bloated feels like, I do feel like I have a little paunch and look noticeably softer with my shirt off.
I naturally drink a lot of water (6+ litres) and always have.
I haven’t been supplementing (apart from a Berocca a day), just being liberal with good salt on food. I will look into it.

Energy wise I have been OK, I took 3 months off lifting at the start of the year to sort out mobility/flexibility/poor movement patterns and now feel like I am getting close to where I was when I left off strength wise.
I have been sleeping worse than usual though.

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#6

Typical days food

Breakfast
-3 eggs cooked in olive oil
-Half an avocado

Lunch
-Fatty meat or can of tuna with lots of oil
-Green salad

Dinner
-Meat will add oil or mayo/sauce if it’s not particularly fatty
-Salad or Veggies

Snacks
-handful of nuts
-Fatty biltong
-2-3 coffees with butter
-miso or bone broth
-sauerkraut

It’s not a huge change from how I used to eat apart from removing starchy veggies and brown rice and upping fat content.
And removing wine :frowning:

(Rob) #7

Thanks for the info. Almost everyone uses NET carbs (deduct the fiber). Note, it you are not in the US, the labels are already NET, though your food logging app may not be (using US data).
Avocado (at least the California/Haas ones) are barely any net carbs due to the amount of fiber in them). Odds are you are under 20g net carbs, and even if you weren’t there are no bad carbs there and you are unlikely to need to be below 20g to be in ketosis anyway.

That is about 3500kcal on that page and while it is a bit over TDEE average for your weight/height, it isn’t much over if at all if you are active. Being hungry is typical for the start of keto while you are adapting. You need to feed the metabolism since its changes are stressful and require energy. Eat to the hunger and don’t stress about it, but make sure it it is largely fat e.g. handful of macadamias, more whipped cream since your protein is already pretty high by gram (though not too bad by %) - grams matter more.

Your appetite should fall precipitously when you are further adapted and it will feel a little surreal if it follows typical patterns. You are drinking a lot of water but without managing the electrolytes it could well account for the bloat etc. since keto is diuretic but things get screwy with electrolyte imbalance. For many, sodium is the main thing and often find that just salting is not enough since we are used to wanting a lot less to taste. 5-7000mg of NA is up to 10g of salt a day. Look into Keto-aid/ade - search for the big recipe thread for that on here.

You are doing pretty well over all, not hiding from fat, eating to hunger, etc. all typical rookie misses so work on electrolytes and keep on. Keto takes time to kick in due to the healing/adaptation but when it does you will know.

#8

Thanks for the reply, it is good reassurance I am on the right track.
I will persist and look into some electrolyte supplementation.

#9

So still plugging away and another cm added to the mid section and still hungry.
I also got some keto sticks and no keytones detected in my urine so far.
To be fair I did go out with my friends last weekend and drink a lot of wine, so thay set things back.

I have switched breakfast for bullet proof coffee and trying to supplement potentially missing electrolytes.

Below is a typical day’s intake, anything I am doing wrong or do I just need to keep going.
Is it unusual for it to take 4+ weeks for changes to be noticed?

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#10

Feeling like I am turning a corner, was less hungry yesterday and as a result did much better on my macros and saw keytones on the pee strip for the first time (~1.5mmol/Litre).

Now have to lose the weight I’ve put on over the last month getting here. Started with a relatively flat stomach and now look 5 months pregnant :rofl:

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(Emsa) #11

Keep us updated :slight_smile:

#12

Definitely turned the corner. I had to really cut down on vegetables/meat/eggs and increases butter/oil consumption but it worked. I’m thinking I was eating too much protein.

Hunger levels fell off a cliff. Last saturday I had a coffee at 6am then didn’t eat until 4pm which is crazy for me. I also get full much quicker.
And seeing sustained ketones levels on the pee strips.

Which has translated into 2kgs lost and 2 cms off the waist (still +3 since I started) over the last few days.

(Kerin ) #13

Hi. I’m new too! I found some great snack food to help me. Pork rinds and pumpkin seeds. No fruit but enjoy olive oil and vinegar dressing. And ‘no salt’ adds potassium. I’m loving meat but can’t stand ham and cheese anymore. I’m on week 3 today.
:blush:

#14

So I am still perservering and have some interesting observations.

The suppressed hunger didn’t last, I am constantly hungry again and have intense cravings for carbs which I have resisted so far.

I seem to be very sensitive to protein intake. If I eat too much meat (even fatty meat) I get kicked out of ketosis according to the pee strips.

Measurements are still where I started, but looking leaner and seem to be putting on muscle mass which was not my goal but not going to complain.

Weight fluctuates a lot, I started at 98kgs at the beginning of May, saw 94kgs this week then shot up to 99kgs less than 48 hours later for no discernible reason.

I will keep experimenting and stick at it for at least three months, but I’m not sure this is a viable long term lifestyle for me. The level of fat intake required often makes me queasy.
Sometimes I just want a lean cut of meat and a salad not drowning in oil or mayo.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #15

Weight will fluctuate more on Keto as it’s naturally diuretic and if your replenishing your electrolytes, it’s a constant back and forth with water weight gain and loss. And this can be 4-5 pounds at times.

It’s the overall trend you want to watch.

#16

My fluctuations are more like 15 pounds (94-100kgs).

Measurements still the same (+4cms on the waist since I started keto).
Still have a strong appetitie.
Always seeing ketones on the pee strips (between 1.5-4 mmol), apart from one cheat day but they were back within 48 hours.

Interestingly my lifting has been feeling really good and my upper body (especially shoulders) looks noticably more full.

I’ll keep at it at least until the end of August and see how things progress.

(Miranda ) #17

Does that go away the more you become fat adapted?

(LeeAnn Brooks) #18

I think it becomes easier to manage simply because you learn to listen to your body better, but it’s still a matter of continuously finding that balance.

#19

I was experiencing the same thing for weeks. Hungry all the time. I found that my hunger went away when I decreased my protein. Was definitely in the gluconeogenisis realm of too much protein per day/meal making me very hungry all day. Didn’t experience the Keto energetic rush until I decreased the protein and increased the fat and the hunger disappeared. Now I can actually go for much longer periods of time without being hungry. I stay on top of my electrolytes and it’s rather extraordinary how I feel so energetic.

(KKM) #20

I had the same problem, started in January, put on 4kg. Hindsight tells me it was probably due to previous low-cal diet. So my poor body got some serious calories in and was not about to let go. 3 weeks in my measurements started dropping, then 15cm came off. Currently, I am half a year in - waist down from 105cm to 79cm, weight down -2 (read: TWO) kg from starting weight. Go figure. (or rather, as I have read, its all muscle and bone now).
My weight shift started with the introduction of alternate day fasting, 5 weeks of ADF, not supposed to feel hungry. But I do! Lots of sparkling water, coffee and salt carries me through the fast days. If I get too desperate I will add some butter or have a cup of broth.
Eating pretty decent keto, all avocados, bacon, eggs and spinach. At least I see improvement but it´s supposed to be easier than that!