SAME…also post-menopausal…seemingly (needs to be ‘doc-verified’) insulin resistant, leptin resistant, AND I combined keto with IF (four hour window…max) and 1 1/2 hours of running plus 45 minutes of abdo/fessiers (translated loosely from French…to crunches (?) and leg-lifting stretches). My legs seemed to enlarge with water & (hopefully?!) muscle…but was hoping for more leanness and less of an oedema-looking effect! Incredibly confused…I don’t know what I could be doing wrong either. Perhaps my cortisol is also skyrocketing? Perhaps stress and “any carb via veg”? I already am at 10-15 carb max per day…but I’m stumped as to what makes keto so very hard with our demographic (post-menopausal)! My heart and empathy go out to you…vicarious hugs all around!
What if Keto Just Doesn't Work for Everyone?
Apparently Keto is not for me! Gained weight the last three days!! Will have to find another way to lose the weight:(
By not eating much plant matter nor dairy. It is easy. Many here eat at zero carb and others are carnivores.
A healthy body fat percentage for women is 28%. Yours is 32. Maybe that’s the place for you.
28 is at the very top end of “healthy” and I have been at that % before and much happier with my body…I’m not asking for 15% body fat, but with the amount of effort I’m putting into working out and fasting, there’s clearly something wrong (hormones or something else) that’s causing my body to refuse to drop weight.
Speaking of fasting, I was about to post this another thread, but I’d love your thoughts on this since you’re working for IDM. I really respect your opinion and hope you have some insight.
Whenever I do extended fasting, I gain back the weight (plus some) almost immediately and my period completely disappears (currently 14 days late). I do practice feasting/fasting (around 2400-2600 calories on feasting days) when I do ADF, so I’m not sure what’s up. It seems like my body revolts when I fast - my sense of satiety is also completely off when I go back to eating. I also did DEXA scans before and after a period of time when I did a lot of extended fasting and I showed muscle loss (I waited a few days after completing a fast to make sure it wasn’t just showing glycogen loss). Have you experienced anything like this with your patients at IDM? My fasting insulin is under 2. What I find REALLY interesting is that amenorrhea is typically caused by body fat being super low…it’s like my body THINKS I have low body fat. Add to that, all my cholesterol and test results appear as if I’m a lean mass hyper-responder…again, it’s like my body THINKS I have low body fat. How do I signal differently to my body?
I trust Dr Fung’s work, but I started doing some research on female fasting and found this video by Thomas DeLauer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6kDAEiBW-Y
I also have the MTHFR mutation and take several vitamins to deal with it. Here’s everything I take:
Methylated B complex
Creatine
Mag/Potassium/Sodium
Glycine
Alpha GPC (choline)
Vit D3 (I was very low when tested)
DIM (150 mg to help with hormones)
DHEA
L-Glutamine after lifting
Do you have the C677T mutation? The best thing I read about it so far was here: http://mthfr.net/mthfr-c677t-mutation-basic-protocol/2012/02/24/
It changed for me the type of vitamins I was trying. Liver supplement was a game changer for sure.
Something else interesting in the 23&me data is find my inflammation is super high and I take x7 times more time to reduce inflammation (thanks body, lol) and that makes my weight hang on etc. etc.
If you haven’t already there is cool data using DNA export and promethease.com and codegen.eu for free.
I see you are taking D3. I am as well, as I was tested and found to be deficient. What I have learned since:
Do some research and consider taking Vitamin K2 with the D3. (Vitamin K and K2 are different.) K2 helps get the calcium from soft tissues to bones, as well as help with pulling calcium from arteries to reduce hardening of the arteries. You need a K2 with MK7. IMO, its better to supplement.
I don’t think it’s limited to women. I’m an obese male, but never had diabetes, nor an abnormal HbA1C. (Good genes, I guess.) I’ve lost a good amount of weight, but after losing ~40 lbs, I’ve been at the same weight for the last 5 months on keto. I’ve been slimming down in other ways, which I assume means that I’m gaining in muscle or bone density or something. I’m definitely healthier and fitter, since I’ve found climbing stairs and running much easier, even though I don’t do the latter often. I’m happy that I don’t have the demands of the glucose hunger cycle, but it would be nice to be losing weight alongside the other benefits. I believe, and hope, that this stage is temporary, that my body is getting a lot of things in order so that I can lose more weight in the future.
This has been my story as well at about 4 1/2 months in. I just recently paid to have a full thyroid panel as my doctor only checks TSH. I got my results back and they point to my having hypothyroidism. From all I have read, being hypo makes it almost impossible to lose weight without fixing the hormonal issue. I also have PCOS and have seen another thread here about PCOS slow losers. I cannot be more keto. I’ve tried different percentages of fat, protein and carbs. I’ve gained and lost and gained the same 5 pounds over the 4 months. There has to be something else going on. I feel ya. It’s super frustrating. I’m about 40 pounds over what a person of height and frame should be. Have you had your thyroid tested? A full panel, not just TSH.
Edit: my hba1c is 4.5. My glucose is always below 90,even after eating. All my numbers are great now and have always been. It would appear I’m not metabolically deranged.
Well I don’t have metabolic derangement and I’m a woman. I had only a small stall period, then added in fasting and bam, last stubborn lbs. gone.
I have been deep diving more into my genes, and I think the MTHFR must come into play somehow, mine is normal so I don’t get the issues others with mutations do. I do have several genes that lean me towards obesity, but I have a few others that finally now that I am eating right for my body are keeping me from getting obese again. If you have had your DNA run, in addition to Promethease, Dr. Rhonda Patrick has a report that is worth the $10 (to me even more, it is full of stuff I really wanted to know about) She also has some very good videos about genetics and your diet. I am going to be moving towards more of a balanced mono/poly/saturated fats WOE now that I know my body can not handle saturated fats as well as some can.
Yep I’ve had the whole label done. I’m going to get everything tested again shortly just in case.
@collaroygal I got mine done through Pathway genomics, they only give a PDF, not a raw data file. 
And @Carina, I’d recommend Alejandra Carrasco MD - an independent physician in Austin who is functional medicine trained, and is definitely informed about low-carb/keto benefits and metabolic panels & nutrients labs. She’s a graduate of the Integrative Medicine program at Univ. of Arizona.
THIS!!! I just got my tests back and these two are elevated!!! I’m trying to figure out how to lower them without going off keto. I’m adding in lots of vegetables (which I don’t love because I get SO bloated from eating heavy veg) and moving away from tallow/lard and more towards olive oil. What did you do to fix it?
Check out Dr berg’s you tube and search raised liver enzymes. My guess is because you rliver processes all the fat, some is getting left there, which can give you fatty liver. How high are you numbers? He recommends 7 - 10 CUPS of leafy green veggies a day. I do 4 cups in a smoothie and eat the other 4 