Zero appetite..help!

newbies
(Leighann) #1

Hello All! I’m brand new to keto…approx. 3 weeks. I am a registered dietitian and I have researched this topic extensively prior to starting it. I have found that it is very difficult for me to meet my caloric goals! I am a power lifter, I train 4-5 days per week. I have had no appetite at ALL, for about the whole 3 weeks. I have been forcing myself to eat because it is affecting my training. I am not even in ketosis per blood meter…0.1mmol. I feel fine other than my training taking a hit and no appetite. All of the suggestions say don’t eat unless hungry but this is getting ridiculous. Any tips or suggestions? Oh and I’ve lost about 7 lbs in the 3 weeks, which is not my goal.

(Robert C) #2

I am pretty sure competitive power lifting and keto are not good for each other.

Dr. Bubbs performance podcasts are my basis for writing that - well worth a listen for any highly glycolytic sport.

(Leighann) #3

I disagree but thank you for your input. There are quite a few professional power lifters that follow a keto diet. Also, only mentioned it because activity would increase my appetite, one would assume.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

Your weight lifting is not in conflict with keto in my opinion, but it might hinder your progress until you’re fat adapted. If might be best to take a break for a few weeks and resume when you’re burning fat for fuel. Let your body rest and focus on metabolic healing. If you don’t have any weight to lose you likely need to up your fat intake as you either need to consume carbs or fats for energy. You won’t last long if you’re living mostly on protein. And weight loss may end up being muscle reduction.

(Leighann) #5

I have lost 7 lbs in 3 weeks, strength has not declined too much…very minimal. Lost an inch in my waist. My problem is the lack of appetite. Wt loss is also not my goal. I agree with you maybe backing off training until I adapt. I don’t know what to do until then if I am unable to get adequate calories in. My main question is, “Is this normal?” If it is, how long will it last? I have been told my appetite should have returned by now from a medical doctor.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

Adequate calories is easy to hit, are you consuming fat rich foods like avocados, butter, cheese, HWC, adequate oils like coconut, evo, lard, bacon and bacon fat, salmon, dark meat poultry, fatty beef cuts like rib eyes, brisket, pot roast, 80/20 hamburger, pork butt, salami, pepperoni, and so on? Steamed veggies with generous butter is a good thing. Ham roll ups with cream cheese, homemade jalapeño poppers, white keto lasagna and if you’re really having a hard time some people eat fat bombs. You don’t have to eat a huge volume of food to hit your macros, just make sure to use fat rich ingredients. I hope this helps you to hit your caloric intake goals.

(Leighann) #7

I am aware of all these things but my appetite is literally ZERO! Eating just a few bites and I’m full, no matter what it is. Like I said I force myself to eat but its getting hard when food nauseates you. I’m hoping it will resolve but so far 3 weeks and counting. I can barely get in 1000 calories. Also, everything says “don’t eat if you aren’t hungry”. If that’s the case I will starve…lol

(Robert C) #8

Maybe add 30 minutes of cardio?

(Full Metal KETO AF) #9

So you had no problem with absence of appetite while you were eating more carbs? Were you on a standard eat all foods diet before you started keto, or were you eating what you considered a healthy unprocessed foods lifestyle. Low fat, whole grains fruits and vegetables. Eating carbs does cause rise and fall energy levels throughout your day. Meaning the urge to eat more often.

And you haven’t mentioned how you’re feeling energy wise. And how you arrived at the conclusion that you’re not hitting your caloric intake levels. Different apps and macros calculators differ on what they say to consume. Usually there’s a deficit setting as to how much you are willing to cut down eating to accelerate your weight loss goal. Since you’re not trying to lose weight your macros may not be correct if the app has the wrong setting. I don’t use apps or weight train and goals are easy to keep in focus in my case. I started for medical reasons.

(Leighann) #10

I am a registered dietitian. I keep track using an app to ensure I meet my goals as this type of eating is new to me. I am very precise when calculating my intake. I feel fine actually! I was previously following a whole food diet, low in fat and moderate carbs (approx. 150-200g daily). I never consume fast food and rarely sugar. I eat very healthy, all organic, all grass fed beef. Actually prior to about 2 months ago I was a lacto/ovo vegetarian for 9 years. My appetite prior to this was very good and I definitely had cravings when eating processed carbs like bread!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #11

I realize that you’re a dietitian. I was on a renal diet for many years and had my share of dietitians. I don’t know you so don’t take this wrong but I never really believed in the way of eating that any dietician has ever recommended. I think the whole system is faulty. And all the dieticians that I had were absolutely not shining examples of what they were taught. I’m talking extremely underweight and bad skin or overweight to a borderline obese body. It’s hard to take advice from an expert who doesn’t seem to be able to thrive on their own advice. Like you taking power lifting advice from a stick like person!

You sound like a true fitness conscious woman so again no judgement here. I assume something must have given you the impulse to try this but I am lost as to your goals with keto. It sounds like it must be your weight training goals. If you haven’t seen or heard of check out Thomas Delauer on YouTube. He’s a big keto weight training guy.

However I don’t think I have any advice other than what I gave you. If you’re having good energy, not hungry and all is well consider this, as you deplete your glycogen stores which are bonded with water and stored in liver and muscle tissue you loose some water weight. This is the quick weight loss people speak of. If you’re happy with your current weight and have no medical issues to fix you need to focus on maintenance with adequate fats or you might be one of those athletic types who benefit from carb cycling or some other hybrid of the keto lifestyle. My best wishes for your success. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Carl Keller) #12

It’s understandable to me that you feel great and have little appetite if your body has access to body fat to supplement caloric deficit. I spent probably 1-2 months of eating half to 75% of my RDA in carlories and the weight came off quickly without affecting my metabolism. But all the rapid weight loss made my hunger come back with a vengeance, for which I made adjustments and can easily manage now.

I believe the various stages of hunger are designed to do what’s best for our health, at least in a ketogenic diet. A carb-based diet completely screws up our hormones and we are hungry all the time. So I think at this point, your body is quite content using your fat stores but it should reach a point where it says “enough is enough” and the hunger should return.

In the meanwhile, you might try boosting your carbs up some since you don’t want to lose weight. The inclusion of something like very moderate starches might boost your appetite some.

On the other hand, if you weren’t trying to lose weight, this can be a problem. For an athlete going Paleo to improve the health, for example, a ketogenic diet can be a disaster: suddenly, they aren’t eating enough to fuel their workouts, and performance goes down the drain.

The fix for this is simple: try adding some more safe starches into your diet and see how you feel. You might find that your appetite comes back all on its own.

(Leighann) #13

Thank you for your advice! As far as your opinion on dietitians, I could not agree with you more!! Everything I learned in school was basically a lie! I am now educating myself on the appropriate ways to educate people. Low carb/keto seem to benefit my diabetics and obese patients the best.

I chose to do this as sort of an experiment on myself. I believe in practicing what you preach, so I wanted to experience what a ketogenic diet was like for myself. There are some good RDs out here that are fighting the system, which makes it hard to practice this philosophy. I will not give up, I will not continue to teach my patients the poor information that is not helping anyone that I was taught in school. Thank you again and best of luck to you!!

(Leighann) #14

Thank you very much! This is definitely helpful. I am just navigating to see if indeed this is the right choice for me. Don’t want my training to suffer but I also don’t want quit too soon! :slight_smile:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #15

I would give you more stars if I could, that is awesome. :sunglasses::star::star::star::star::star::star::star:

(Leighann) #16

:pray:thank you…

(Outi Paloahde) #17

I have the same problem, not hungry at all. This is only my sixth day so I wouldn’t be too worried yet… But long term I’m getting worried about getting the adequate nutrition. I’m half way to my calorie goal and especially eating protein makes me indisposed.

(Todd Batitis) #18

I don’t have any advice to you on the appetite situation but the above makes me believe you are very much like the Australian dietitian Feng-Yuan Liu and good for you! While it may not help your situation and I am sure others will have some suggestions that will, you might want to check her out for a kindred spirit. She has a couple good videos out there. This is the one from Low Carb Down Under…

(Leighann) #19

thank you!

(Jane) #20

I don’t have any advice for you but wanted to say how thrilled I am to see a registered dietitian balk at their training and experiment on themselves.

I look and feel 10 years younger on keto and it not only hasn’t cost me anything, but I’ve saved money on my food bill. No business profits from this WOE so the media backlash is not unexpected.

When I see brown age spots literally peeling off leaving pink skin underneath and my husband’s NUMEROUS skin tags shrink and disappear… no amount of media bad press and “studies” will ever convince me I am doing it all wrong.

Plus… I am eating the way my great-grandparents ate and they had NO chronic diseases like heat disease, diabetes or strokes. They tended to die in farm accidents, infectious diseases we treat with antibiotics or just plain old age dying in their sleep.