Zero weight loss, want to give up

(kilfli) #1

Today is two weeks on keto. I don’t like to obsess over my weight so i tend to stay away from the scale. I decided to wait one week to weigh myself. I weighed last Friday and had lost nothing, weighed today and it’s the same. I have not deviated one time from eating the correct foods, and staying within my macros.

My body does not feel any different. Nothing fits better. My stamina while exercising is still in the tank. I’m super bummed. I kept telling myself that even a few pounds would be encouraging, now I’m completely discouraged and kinda want to ditch this diet. The last few days I’ve been intermittent fasting. Mostly because I work nights, and I normally never eat past 10-11pm. So finishing eating by 8-10 pm, and not resuming eating until I wake up the next day isn’t a big stretch.

What do I do?

#2

You list everything you put in your mouth hole minus water for each meal the last couple days and we’ll probably see whats going on. Two weeks and nothing is not normal. Your most likely accidentally tanking yourself.

Which are what?

(Peter B Wilson) #3

I’m in the newby stage (17th day). I am lucky to be retired so I do not have the ‘disruption’ of working nights some days. From everything that I’ve read you may want to forget the fasting for now and focus on regular meals/snacks but stick to the plan. Keep on going and you will feel the change. Since my wife and I have started we may have lost a pound or 2 but both of us can say that is seems are clothes are not a tight. That for us is a welcome chage. Keep at i Kilfli

(kilfli) #4

20g carbs. 120g protein. 106g of fat. The carbs is what I have paid the most attention too. Then protein, then fat.

I don’t have issues repeating meals so for breakfast I have been eating the same thing.

2-3 egg omelet with sautéed mushroom, bell pepper (small amounts) a handful of spinach, and feta cheese.

2-4 pieces of bacon depending how hungry I am.

1/4 large avocado.

5 blackberries.

Dinner yesterday was chicken breast covered in salsa verde and Monterey Jack cheese. I never use preshredded cheese because it’s coated in flour.

1.5 cups cauliflower rice cooked with butter. soaked in 8 table spoons of the salsa verde.

4 cups spring mix with feta and 1/4 avocado. Dressing was Annie’s shiitake mushroom vinegar.

The day before was the same. Except for dinner I made fat head pizza crust. Measured out exactly what I put on so I could stay within goals.

Another day I made hamburgers topped mine with a few slices of bacon and had a small salad.

I’m not a stranger to eating healthy. With a few exceptions I have not eaten processed foods in 2 years. 90% of food I consume is organic. I didn’t eat much sugar. Occasionally we would bake cookies. I have never been a soda drinker. I love water. I literally drink gallons of it per day and always have. I’ve always taken my coffee black and only drink it in the morning. I do drink on occasion, but not since starting this. My drink of choice is vodka, club soda, and a lemon wedge. We don’t keep snacks in the house that I would eat. Kids have snacks, but not stuff I like. The only difference now is I am eating way more fat then I ever have, and less fruit. And I eat bacon regularly which I didn’t do before.

If I knew how to post a screen shot of my food logs I’d do it. Would be much easier. lol.

(Robert Hollinger) #5

I’m no expert and I’m not doing a whole lot better but if I had to guess I’d say you’ve got way too much protein or not enough fat. how did you arrive at those macros?

also I’d be very leary of the salsa verde. (8 tablespoons is a lot even if it’s not sugary)

also looking at the annie’s ingredients, i’d probably avoid it. primarily canola/soy/sunflower oil. probably not the problem but doesn’t seem like a great keto option.

also some people don’t tolerate dairy (unfortunately I may be one of them) and have to cut back in order to lose.

(kilfli) #6

I arrived at the macros with the calculators. Since absolutely none of them come up with the same numbers I did an average. Yesterday I ate 95 g of fat and 128 g protien.

I’m 6 foot tall
180
I’d describe myself as thin and in decent shape.
My happy place is between 170-175. So I’d really like to lose 10 pounds.

(Leslie) #7

I believe you are eating to much protein and not enough fat. Also, I believe you are consuming some hidden carbs and foods that are not keto-friendly. Two that jump off the screen at me are cauliflower rice and soy sauce(in the salad dressing).
Soy is contraindicated for nutritional ketosis
Cauliflower is higher in carbs than other cruciferous vegetables
I would suggest testing your urine or blood to determine whether you are in ketosis
I would also try tweaking your eating habits a little as suggested
I hope you find this helpful

Keep calm and keto on

(kilfli) #8

Each time i have tested my urine I’ve been in ketosis.

I’ll switch salad dressing. Didn’t realize about soy sauce or that the dressing had that in it.

I’ll try to eat more fat and less protien.

This might be the hardest diet to follow ever. Nothing is consistent. So frustrating.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

(Renee Slaughter) #9

Hi and welcome
It may be harder to lose the small amount you’re looking to lose. Its still early in your journey. And keto isn’t about fast weight loss. Its more about healing your issues so your body releases it fat stores. So listen to the other posts. Your protein looks high to me also. Keep calm and keto on.

(Pete A) #10

Your menu sounds fine and although you are using a calculator for your macros, it looks like the protein/fat should be reversed?

It looks unusual to have so many more grams of protein than fat.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #11

It will happen. Your not alone. Keep up your hard work.

(Robert Hollinger) #12

Yeah I just saw you are only looking to lose ten pounds. I looked over a calculator with some guesses and it looks like you are picking more aggressive values

I don’t think I’ve ever seen where fat is lower than protein especially before being fully fast adapted.

(Leslie) #13

I like to make my own salad dressings because everything available in a bottle comes with crap. Try googling keto salad dressing recipes and signing up for the recipes on a few keto websites. I have found it very helpful and my husband and kids love it!

(kilfli) #14

I did. Thanks. Avocado oil, vinegar, Dijon, chili flakes, salt and pepper and a clove of garlic.

I’m going to give it some more time. Adjust the protien and fat. And hope next Friday I’ll have some good news to report.

Thanks for the advice. It’s great.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

The question of how much protein to eat is a vexed one. You have to have some protein, or you will lose muscle mass and have other problems. Too much, and you will suffer from ammonia toxicity. However, the expert lectures I’ve been encountering on teh Interwebz lately are a bit contradictory, and it’s beginning to appear that the acceptable limits are fairly broad. The usual recommendation is between 0.8 and 1.0 grams daily per kilo of lean body mass, but I’ve recently come across recommendations as low as 0.65 and as high as 1.25 and even 1.5. And it appears that ammonia toxicity starts around 3.0. So don’t sweat the protein, though you might want to see whether more or less than your current target works for you.

The important things are to keep carbohydrate low, which you are doing, and to make up the missing calories by eating fat to satiety. You are currently eating 63% of your calories as fat, which is a respectable percentage, but don’t be afraid to push the percentage higher.

Of the three macronutrients, fat has the least effect on insulin secretion, so calories from fat are to be preferred. If you eat fat to satiety, you will find that a) you are no longer hungry between meals; b) your body will have enough energy to do all the things it needs to do, and will therefore c) feel free to raise your basal metabolic rate and metabolize its store of fat.

#16

Overall that’s pretty good, fat does seem a little low for a high fat diet but over all pretty good. Some may call the 120g protein high, but if you active/working out I wouldn’t worry about it. Remember fat isn’t a limit, don’t be afraid of it. If bringing up the fat doesn’t help maybe throttle the protein a little and see if that gets you going. Don’t let it get to you. Those of us that know our stupidity like clockwork only do from all the years of tinkering like this. You’ll get it!

#17

I think it may take a while to lose more weight, as you are already slim. Give it a few more weeks and evaluate how this way of eating makes you feel.

(Rob) #18

You are a tall woman, and big boned in the truest sense. You don’t want/need to lose much weight and keto is NOT some vanity diet plan. It is not about weight, it is about metabolic healing and letting your body decide what composition it wants and how much to weigh. Your body does not respond to some mental gremlins, a body image or pair of not-stretchy-enough pants :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: You can influence weight and composition at the margins but that comes with hard work in the gym AND with experimenting with macro levels, no just eating keto.

Even if this weren’t your situation, you are in very early days and your body is still totally adjusting to the weirdness you are putting it through. Weight loss is a symptom of this healing so give it time. As to what your are doing, your macros come out to 65/30/5 (by calories, which is how the macro % work). Perfectly keto but at the low end for fat and high end for protein. Your body reacts differently to protein and fat from an insulin POV which is the primary lever in keto. There are many current threads about that e.g. the Dr Bikman video. Your protein is probably about 1.6g+ per kg of LBM. Lots of people focus on 1g/kg and flex from there if things aren’t working for them. That would be near 65-70g/day.

The other thing is calories You are doing about 1500/day. We don’t generally believe in CICO BUT at your size, you are probably eating to a not insignificant deficit. If you are active then it’s much worse. Your body will be slowing down to accommodate the deficit rather than looking to burn fat. It sounds weird and counterintuitive but you will probably lose more weight by eating more fat. It’s your metabolism. Go figure.

TLDR - eat more food, mostly extra fat, play with the protein levels (though you could leave it where it is for now) and KCKO!!

Best of luck!

(kilfli) #19

Thanks for the info. I know it’s not popular but I always eat back most of the calories I exercise so I’m not in a huge deficit. I always have no matter what I am eating and that has always worked for me. Not sure that changes much of anything, but I don’t think I’m starving by any means. Going to eat more fat! Which is the hardest thing for me. 39 years of programming me that fat is bad. I’m a work in progress. :blush:

(Rob) #20

I’m sure you’re not by traditional standards but the body is a subtle engine… if you give it less, it won’t fight you, it will accommodate by lowering BMR so you won’t necessarily feel hungry but insidiously you may be hurting your BMR. Ironically exercise makes it worse not better, though eating your workout calories is actually a good idea (if you are doing it keto) :yum:

That said, 1500 is low if you are not adding extras. Moderately active with your stats should be over 2000kcal. Maybe have macadamias (high fat, low carb) on hand to feed the burn!! (though only if they aren’t your keto kryptonite - they are for me cough, binge, cough).