Not losing weight.

[Takingontheworld]

Started keto on the 19th may.
Lost 10lbs in 10 days.... then nothing. Not a bean. Well, i went up 0.5lbs and down again, no idea why. 5 days of no loss. I don't understand.

Ive got keto strips coming today so i can check ketosis but I'm sticking to it religiously. Any ideas?

Always under 20g carbs, rarely up to 25g. Usually around 80gish protien and around 100 fat.. both below what a friend calc'd my macros at but i just can't get it up higher. Hover around 1200-1400 kcals. Am 5'3 and currently 15st 3.

I don't want to give up and I was so hopeful 😪

Excessive protein, especially from dairy can raise insulin which will inhibits weightloss . Can you try switching some of the protein to leafy green (kale).

Look for insulin index not only net carbs.

Don’t give up. It’s normal to get a plateau for a week or so before you get another loss. Just stick with it. Up your fat a bit.

Legrand I am eating alot of cheese as I was struggling to get the fat up.. how else do i get the fat up without lots of dairy?

Whenever I did low carb I would lose 9-10lb then stop. People encouraged me to continue saying it was a plateau but Even with continuing for several weeks it just stuck.
I think low carb is essentially a calorie deficit diet which works because you don't get hungry eating such high fat and protein food. For me, I think my calories levelled off quite quickly and I was just eating maintenance calories after that. I was vegetarian at the time so ate a lot of dairy where others would have eaten meat or fish so obviously smashed in quite a few calories that way.

Sorry I missed that you're calorie counting too. Is there a reason why you're doing Keto AND calorie counting? Is it to manage appetite? It's very strange if you're not losing on such low calories. I'm a similar weight to you and losing on 1800 calories.

Have a look at the Woosh effect . This might help explain it .All to do with fat cells and water I believe when low carbing .

@Takingontheworld you can get your fat from extra virgin oil on salads, dressings, sauces, mayo. Use veggies as a carrier for fat. So asparagus with mayo, Celery with a thick dressing and so on.
IT is not enough to be low carb or keto. There is difference between cheap sausages + industrial grated cheese and vegetables and nutritious oils.
Think also about nuts.
What types of carbs are you eating? If you combine your carbs with protein or fat, the insulin response will be higher. So unless the carbs come from veggies, you should really have them on their own, so avoid processed low carb snack.

Oil, avocado, nuts for upping fats without dairy. Choose fattier cuts of meat such as 15% beef/lamb mince, sirloin is better than rump etc. Make some crackling crisps...

Your protein intake should be roughly what you want to want to weigh or reduced in 10g (10kg) increments if you have lots to lose.

So 80g would suggest you want to weigh 80kg which is 12.5st... is that right?

Your fat intake in relation to your protein is too low.

Download the Keto Macro Calculator (it's got a pic of a smiley avocado). It's easy to use and will give you much more accurate macros as it factors in your age and activity level.

I would recommended tracking macros (carb manager is a good app) if you're new to keto. Some ppl don't and still lose weight successfully but I have bad portion control plus insulin resistance so I like to track everything. I've lost 4 stone in a year and that's after plateauing for weeks at a time more than once.

Am mainly surviving on eggs, avocados, olive oil, nuts, expensive nut butter, cheeses: manchego and halloumi mainly (and cheese strings cos so easy) salad- mixed leaves, cucumber and tomatoes, salmon, sea bass, tuna, steak, beef mince...

I'm also drinking shed loads of water

Maybe join the current bootcamp (we’re on week two).

You’ll get lots of help and support there, lots of inspiration for meals and a lot of knowledge about the science behind it.

First thing, dairy impedes a lot of people’s weight Loss.

If you don’t drink enough water you will struggle to lose the weight (and if you’re drinking enough water keto sticks won’t work so they’re rather pointless, just so you know).

Make sure you’re eating lots of vegetables, and a good range too.

Don’t count calories.

You need to keep your nut intake on the low side too.

Salad veg isn’t really enough. You need to eat a wider variety.

Not counting but aware as mfp tracks them automatically.

I'm struggling with the veg. Usually i absolutely love veg but even when i forced myself to eat courgette because pinterest poster told me they were keto friendly, i busted a shed load of carb on them. (Wtf!) I actually hate courgette.

I miss eating loads of roasted root veg

I can't work out how to make meals. Salads are getting so old and honestly the amount of meat is making me feel ick as I was 80% veggie before.

When you lose weight quickly, sometimes your body reacts to it and stores fat more and tries to burn less calories. If you keep up your diet during this time, you will start losing again.

Join the bootcamp thread. It’ll really help. There is at least one other vegetarian on there. There is also a whole recipe thread for veggie foods.

No need to eat huge amounts of meat if it doesn’t suit you. Nor to force yourself to eat vegetables that you hate. That is not going to be sustainable long term, and I personally think it puts you in a mindset where your body is more likely to rebel against what you’re doing to it.

Here you go

Be aware, too, that it is very, very common for weight loss to plateau for a week or two here and there.

Here is the veggie recipe thread

And

Here is the fish/seafood recipe thread

And if you are ok with poultry there’s a thread for that too:

Here

I’ve not linked to the meats thread, as I guess you’d not necessarily be interested.

Is this a way of eating that actually works for you then?
If you want to eat less meat and more starchy vegetables why not do that and calorie count?

I've always done slimming world and never anything else so I guess its a period of adjustment learning how to make keto family friendly.

It works for me in that i really enjoy aspects, I like the lack of hunger and cravings.

But it is right now quite an effort, and so to not see movement on the scales in 5 days is so disheartening.

Thank you for the links above, I'll start looking

It's a typical pattern of weight loss for your weight to stay the same for a period then suddenly drop seemingly overnight, it's known as the whoosh. I would give it another week or so and then if there's still no change try increasing your calorie intake as yours is low enough to be messing with your metabolism. As a rule of thumb I'd aim for a minimum of 1400 calories per day.

@StuntNun we miss you on bootcamp! I always think your explanations of the science are so detailed and clear for newbies, and hence, extremely helpful.

Are you taking a bc break this time? Wouldn’t surprise me if you’re suffering bc fatigue after running the last one...(I lurked a bit).

Oh halp I hope I haven’t missed a tag! I’ve been reading the threads but there are a LOT of posts.

No, no tags as far as I know. 🙂

Feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Getting super strong period pains, which is weird because I'd already had an unexpected period a week into this (never have them due to contraception!)

Kids being giant twats and work is upsetting me.

I really needed a boost on the scales today.

I feel very close to breaking. Dreaming of a giant pizza and a tub of icecream but i want this so bad. I will stick with and weigh in 2 weeks and hope for the best.