To ask how quickly I can expect to lose 8 stone on keto

[Imsosorryforanyoffencecaused]

Due to postnatal depression and comfort eating, as well as PCOS, I gained a lot of weight to the point I am now over 19st at 5’5.

I have finally decided to do something about it and am doing keto. I have done it in the past and it really worked for me and I felt great, and I lost a reasonable amount of weight on it. However I only needed to lose a stone at the time.

Before my pregnancy (my son is now 2.5) I was a size 12 and healthy. I’ve always sat between a 10-12 so being as big as I am makes me feel so ashamed.

I’ve decided that for my health, my appearance, and the fact I want to be around for my son, to finally do something about it. I’ve never felt as ready as I do now to sort it out. But it’s a long road ahead of me.

I started keto on Monday at 19st 12lbs and I am now at 19st 7lbs. I know it’s mainly water weight but it’s making me feel motivated.

However as the weight loss slows down, how long would I reasonably expect it to take to lose 8 stone if I’m starting at the weight I am now?

and does anyone have any tips for keeping motivation going/getting over bad days if I do slip up?

I don’t know but I want to follow!

There is a specific section on dieting and you may be better posting there. 8st is a lot to lose and you ought to plan to do that over a sensible length of time - a year to 18 months to ensure the weight stays off. Im not sure that's realistic to do on keto alone but I seriously wish you well.

In the early days of your diet you'll lose more - but as you near your target things will slow down.

When you say 'keto' though, what - specifically - do you mean? Are you following a specific plan? Are you restricting your carbs to a specific amount each day?

It took me a year and a half of keto to lose just under 2stones. Lots of weight loss in the beginning, then a few periods of plateauing before staying at a maintenance weight. I did lots of walking and some body pump classes too.

That said, if you’ve been eating unhealthily and have more to lose, it might be easier to lose more weight when you switch to better eating patterns than I did, if that makes sense.

Keto is, by some length, one of the hardest diets to stick to because it’s so restrictive

Ive got friends who have iron strong will power who can’t keep it up for more than a few weeks

so the chances of staying on keto for long enough to lose 8 stone is very low

Have a look at the Ozempic and Saxenda threads on here… it’s an injectable appetite suppressant which has apparently got amazing results
Youll have to pay for a private prescription but it will cost less than buying keto food

I haven't done keto, but have done @BIWI 's low carb bootcamp since May. In 4 months I've lost almost 2 stones. I wasn't high weight to start with, so didn't lose as quickly as some did. It might be worth a shot?

I’ve done @BIWI bootcamp at the beginning of the year and shifted a bit of weight.
First time I had to change my diet was after first pregnancy when I balooned a couple of sizes up a decade ago.

OP, go for it.Not sure how long it will take you but you will feel better physically and mentally. It’s not a diet but changing your eating habits.

Go for it,you’re worth it

Good luck 🙂

Does this mean you were very low carb all that time?

I would recommend the fast 800 rather than Keto as its low carb but good whole grains which makes it much easier to stick to. I lost 3.5 stone post baby with it and it's just become a habit now, I feel a hundred times better. Need to do what works for you though. Good luck, I'm sure you'll do well OP!

Incidentally @Imsosorryforanyoffencecaused, thinking about your question re maintaining motivation, a low carb diet is not just for weight loss - it's also very good for your health generally but PCOS specifically.

I was almost 19st and disgusted. I wanted a lifestyle change and not some unsustainable diet. I started walking everywhere and teaching myself good eating habits. I wasn’t too restrictive, I just made better choices and logged what I ate to make sure I wasn’t eating too much. I joined a gym and found an exercise routine that fit with my daily routine. I haven’t struggled at all and have really enjoyed learning about nutrition. The change I made is for life. Since February I have lost 3 and a half stone. I have had to go into maintenance as I am now pregnant but fully intend to step it back up once my baby is born. Good luck.

I don't agree that keto is too restrictive, once you get used to going without carbs. I lost 12 kg in a couple of months, and DH lost 15. Here's a sample of what we can eat on the diet:

Breakfast: frozen/fresh raspberries, Greek yoghurt
bacon and eggs,
spinach and poached eggs,
tuna fishcakes,
scrambled eggs with feta and parsley
smashed avocado and feta on keto toast,
one fresh apricot or plum, half an apple
OR
I go without breakfast, and fast through until 11.00-11.30, then have a substantial brunch, for example:
fried chicken (almond floured)/ fresh fish (olive oil and butter)/pork chop/ steak, large salad of lettuce, avo, tomato, feta or grated cheese, fried sliced almonds, cucumber, peppers, in an olive oil dressing
Chicken baked with olives, pesto and cream
meatloaf made with mince, almond flour, chilies, eggs, garlic, tomatoes
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
crack cabbage - cabbage and leek, fried in olive oil and butter, smothered in sour cream
Green bean salad - cooked whole beans, chilled, served with olive oil and parmesan
celery and carrot soup (very small amount of carrot) with coriander and sour cream
avocado soup with sour cream
fresh tomatoes fried in olive oil
zucchini spaghetti

I allow myself a small sweet potato every so often, as I grow them. I know this menu sounds expensive, and probably is, though I grow most of the veg and herbs myself, and have my own free-range eggs. But you will find you eat a lot less, as the fat fills you up really well. Two meals a day is all you need, specially if you do the 16:8, and you can make your own baked grated cheese crisps if you need a snack (which you probably won't).
Oh, and I never go without my glass of dry white wine every evening
My cholesterol readings have fallen dramatically, as have my blood lipids.

Keto/low-carb isn't hard or restrictive at all. But I guess it depends on the foods you like. If you don't like many green vegetables, you'll struggle. At the start, just spend some time figuring out what fats and veg you do like. Don't start "clean". Eat the cheese and bacon. Then, when you start to stall, you can start tweaking things. Intermittent fasting/OMAD work great with keto, but that's not beginner stuff. No one can tell you how long it will take to lose 8 stone and that's not what's important. You need to focus on doing it in a way that is sustainable.

In terms of timing, a 500 calorie deficit a day (which isn't easy whatsoever) would lose a pound a week. So that's approx 4lbs a month, or about 3.5st a year.

So at that rate, to lose 8st would be a little over 2 years.

Difficult to say as weight loss isn't linear. On Keto I lost almost a stone in a month then nothing, absolutely nothing for two more months, then a solid 2lb a week came off after that slowing down towards the end but my weight loss chart is up and down like a heartbeat! To lose 4lb one week and find 2 back on is disheartening but very very common. The general trajectory was down though.

Assuming 2lb a week loss, you have 112lb to lose so that's almost exactly a year to lose.

A friend did it. It took about a year and a half maybe? I’ve no idea how much weight she lost but it was dramatic. It’s all back on now though.

I was struggling to conceive and wanted to lose around 7 stone a couple of years ago. I found keto worked really well for me (I'm better at sticking to things if I just completely cut certain things from my diet). I lost 4.5 stone in about 8 months through keto and exercise. I started losing really quickly initially (which was a big motivator for me) and then it did start to tail off and become more difficult but I was still seeing the numbers go down slowly. It then stalled completely, but I happily discovered it was because I was pregnant.

I was advised not to continue with the diet whilst pregnant so reintroduced carbs. I did start to regain some but nowhere near what I lost. I sadly lost the baby, but the ability to get pregnant was a massive motivator to get back on with weight loss and so I started keto again, and got back down to where I had previously when I found out I was pregnant again. I sadly had another 3 miscarriages but went back to keto between each one to re-lose the weight I gained during the pregnancies.

I never got back below the 4.5 stone total lost as thankfully my last pregnancy stuck and I am now 36 weeks. I have regained some weight but am still significantly less than I was before I started keto. I'm planning to go back to keto to help lose the baby weight after he gets here.

I know some people stay it is hard to stick to and not a long-term diet, but I found the opposite to be true and found it much easier to stick to than any other diet I've ever done. It just works for me and I would have happily continued it long-term had it not been for the pregnancies. Best of luck with it.

Just control your calories and get more active. I assume you're 19 stone because you enjoy eating carbs like most people on the planet you do not have to cut them out to lose weight. Why saddle yourself with a diet you're not going to be able to stick with long term.

Change the way you eat not what you eat, you'll be far more likely to stick to it long term and you'll still enjoy yourself.

Just drop your calories to 1500 a day, do 10,000+ steps and 3 weight based work outs a week. You'll drop a stone a month if you're rigid. Honestly don't do keto. The minute you stop you'll balloon!

Dh has lost over 2 stone in 3 months by totally changing his diet. He’s cut all white bread and now eats only 2 slices of a homemade brown bread a day, has cut out fizzy drinks, sweets, crisps, coffee, eats 3 meals a day and doesn’t eats after 8 at night. Also drinks loads of water. He says that’s the crux of it-, that and get used to being a bit hungry sometimes. He eats salads, poached eggs, fish, healthy curries (turmeric and chillis are apparently very very good for you), but still steaks and bolognaises and homemade pizza too, he has smaller portions of carbs but doesn’t cut them. His day off he’s still not as unhealthy as the rest of us(!) He said the first 3 weeks were miserable but he feels better now than he’s ever been but was told by the doctor to make sure to keep the weight loss slow- he said to look at guidelines from the hse and nhs

I know this is trying to be helpful, but setting unrealistic expectations is counter productive. To lose a stone in a month is almost 0.5 pounds a day - which is a calorie deficit of 1750. That's two hours of intense exercise a day whilst maintaining no additional food, or an hour with say 800 calories a day. That just simply isn't possible outside of laboratory conditions - and you certainly couldn't live a healthy lifestyle at the same time eg go to work

This kind of stuff is verging on dangerous to suggest

Lol at the just do some exercise and eat less calories.

Not as quick as you will put it all back on when you go off plan.

I did Slimfast and went from 18 stone 6 to 8 stone 12. Took 14 months. But I was very strict and determined, and didn’t fall off the wagon.

Won’t lie though, maintenance is hard. As soon as I eat “normally” ie reintroduce carbs, I quickly start putting weight back on.

Oh and constipation is an issue when you get near your goal weight - plenty of fibre, psyllium and water required.