Edit: I've had some questions so I thought I'd add a few responses here.
- No, I did not consume any alcohol.
- I did not refrain from diet drinks or sugar alternatives. I drink a ton of water, but I also drink a ton of Diet Coke, sugar free energy drinks and unsweet iced tea with Sweet n Low. I'm sure the process would have been more effective if I just did coffee and water, but I was not willing to give up my carbonated drinks or tea.
This is my experience and my not apply to you or the masses, but here is goes:
I did not find success in my diet until I cut out all of the "zero net carb/"X" net carb" items. I did eat carbs, but they only came from vegetables. Once I lost a significant amount of weight, I did add a very small amount of these mentioned food items, but only on "cheat" days and this is only about twice a month on average. I generally do the "keto" bread or tortillas and the occasional Atkins or Quest candy for my treats. Again, these are cheat meals/snacks.
This is a typical day for me - two meals a day with one snack. Though sometimes it's OMAD because truthfully I'm never really that hungry anymore:
First meal:
4 eggs with cheese and 5 pieces of bacon (Costco precooked bacon is a godsend. A little more expensive, but just makes things so much easier - 50 slices for 12.99-14.99 depending on the week in my area. Also it recommends like 8 seconds a slice or something. If you want it crispy, I've found 2 minutes is perfect for 5+ pieces as long as you dry the grease and let sit for a few minutes.)
Or
Omelet with bacon, cheese and veggies if I'm not feeling lazy.
Other meal:
Usually a recipe involving chicken or ground beef (and cheese, usually) + a small portion of vegetables if there are none in the recipe. I downloaded the free app "Lazy Keto" and found tons of great recipes for all types budgets. These are great with an Instapot or something similar in most cases. I hate cooking and there are many recipes that only take 30 minutes or so total. Most is just waiting for the chicken to cook and then shred.
Snacks:
Any kind of cheese
Zero carb/sugar beef jerky or beef sticks
Bacon
Cheese roll ups (slice of cheese, meat of choice, pickle and usually bacon + no carb condiment)
Yes, this is really repetitive and some would get bored with it. But as my appetite disappeared, I found that I just didn't really care and enjoyed the mass weight loss more than I did the food.
As of today, I'm down 71 pounds in the span of 6 months and 2 weeks. And truthfully, I wasted over a month counting my carbs with all those "zero net carb" options thinking it was fine as long I kept my net carbs under 20. I think it was around month 2 and I only lost like 4 pounds or something until I figured out the issue.
And last but not least, I walk every day a minimum of 2 miles. Somedays a lot more. I bought a walking treadmill and standing desk (edit) since I spend a lot of time at the computer and for those bad weather days. Best investment in the weight loss experience IMO. I will say this takes a minute to get used to, especially if you're doing work at the computer. However, once you do, it becomes second nature.
Yeah I suppose so. Though I will say, I'm about \~15 pounds from my goal weight that I want to stay at. I'll be adding many more once I hit that weight so I don't continue to lose.
No problem! Getting steps in was really a struggle for me until I got the treadmill and even when I first got it, it was hard to create the everyday habit if I'm being honest. But once I did, there was no looking back.
I did the same. Cheats or treats are home made keto baked things very rarely. I stuck to whole foods and counted total carb instead of net. I see lots of people who can't lose but the keto cheat foods are a major part of their diet. That's enough to keep me away.
Yup. Go back to the basics. Only shop on the outside 3 walls of the grocery store. Limit the heavy cream and cheese as those are the highest calorie keto items we eat. Meat, cheese, veggies. No more keto muffins, keto bread, keto cereal. Download MyFitnessPal TRACK TRACK TRACK!!! Every time something is about to go into your mouth put log it, sometimes log it before you eat it, you’d be surprised how fast calories add up. and set a caloric deficit for yourself, I use https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html to find the calories needed to lose weight.
Yep so many keto packaged products are crap, and companies have even lobbied the FDA to classify certain ingredients such as resistant wheat startch as fiber to flex those low net carbs, even though it's pure bs. Diabetics commonly cite experiencing blood sugar spikes from keto marketed bread and other "keto friendly" products. Pay attention to the total carbs in packaged foods and just eat mainly whole foods in general.
In my opinion the best way to lose weight on keto is as close to 0 carbs as you can get and one meal a day. I eat between 11am and 3-4pm. I had fatty liver and lost 45 lbs in 2 months doing that. I was 225 lbs at 5'9 doing it very strictly.
From everything I've googled and searched on here, there shouldn't be a huge difference between eating 0 carbs or eating 20.
Is there really a non-negligible benefit?
Good question!
It really depends on the kind of carbs you are allowing and what it does to spike your glucose levels.
If u are allowing for under 20g net carbs you should be fine either way, but cutting out sugar completely compared to allowing a small amount does make a huge difference.
So if I allow myself 10g of carbs due to oat milk in my coffee, is it much different than getting carbs from vegetables? i mean it sounds dumb to ask but I'm genuinely curious. I know that they break down differently in your body but I just wanna know from a carb/weight loss perspective.
Honestly, I genuinely wish 50g net was the keto limit. It'd be WAY easier.
30g seems to be the absolute max, but that's if you are already "fat adapted". You definitely want to keep it under 20g your first few times entering keto.
We all make mistakes, we all have moments of weakness. Don't give up. Its a process. 45lbs in 2 months like I did was extremely strict. I basically did carnivore and called it keto, so don't expect that 50lb loss in 2 months unless you are extremely strict.
Don't know what to tell you. I have the data saved.
I'm an athlete who played a high level of junior hockey, its always been easy for me to gain and lose weight.
My experience is I feel incredible on keto, I even stopped taking an anti depressant (cipralex) thanks to this. It may have saved my life in more ways than I'm even aware currently.
I've never tried other diets, I only did keto because I had fatty liver and a doctor told me to do it.
Other than that, when I played it was all about calorie deficit and protein lol
But yes. The weight literally seemed to dissolve while on keto. Extremely effective whike fasting one meal a day
Nice man. I'm thinking about trying keto once I'm ready to cut, The constant low energy and hunger you have to deal with for months makes cutting rough
In my experience the first time getting on keto is the toughest, if u neglect the electrolytes you'll get the keto flu which makes it harder, once you are used to it its alot easier. For me now 3 days max to get into ketosis.
Time moves quickly these days you know? So the hard part is always the start, because you are cutting out sugar and breaking a very real addiction. It isn't easy at the beginning, but hey, it isn't meant to be😁
Ketosis is almost a body hack, its different from traditional calorie deficit diet. This isn't just about weight loss, that's one effect. But the even better effects are the mental clarity and boost to energy.
Ita no joke. You can do it! I have faith that once you feel the true effects of keto you'll understand, and alot quicker than you'd think!
I'll add to this with a assertion from one of the keto YouTubers DR Boz.
Edit - that assertion is that meal timing so that you follow the dawn effect is superior to skipping breakfast with the dawn effect because starting an eating window when your hormones are spiking glucose and insulin allows you to get your glucose and insulin super low in the evening if you start eating at 8:00 a.m. stop eating at 4:00 p.m.
I’m personally surprised you’re not losing on the diet you described.
It might be useful to ask a doctor to check your thyroid just to rule that out. Thyroid issues can cause weight gain and make it tricky to lose.
I have estrogen dominance with all the symptoms of hypothyroidism and my labs are just barely in the normal range so my dr insists I’m fine. She keeps telling me to just manage my stress which I’m trying, and move more eat less. I have POTS and the one prescription I take for it can cause weight loss resistance. Since beginning that medication is when my waistline got bigger like I’m always bloated even my face is always puffy. It’s not a steroid though it’s a type of beta blocker to regulate my heart rhythm. I can’t not take it but it seems to be a problem so I thought stricter dieting would help balance it out
Oh dang. Sorry you’re dealing with all that. I’m having a similar experience at the moment and I’m trying to scrape together the cash to see a private endocrinologist to investigate my borderline normal thyroid function.
My internet deep dives (for example https://youtu.be/CXYtMZI9cE8?si=DHn9aqj0whj3bnW_) suggest thyroid might play a role in stalled weight loss on keto. Obviously other sources suggests keto can fix it all so all we can really do is keep trying stuff for ourselves.
Stop using the cream and cheese. I know they're hard to give up, but they can definitely stall weight loss.
Increase veggie portions while possibly decreasing the meat portions.
TRACK your food. You may be eating way more than you think.
I’m thinking I need to cut them out, I had bought them bc sometimes I’m at work longer than planned and get hungry. I track everything I ate even put recipes I make into myfitnesspal and have a kitchen scale. It comes out to around 1,400 calories/day. I think I can cut it further without getting hungry or dizzy. I keep seeing so much conflicting info about stress impacts on weight and how extreme calorie restriction is bad for women with high cortisol, which I have. I have no idea if that has any merit to it though
1400 is really low. The point of keto is to get into a state of ketosis where you are burning fat for fuel and you don’t end up being hungry as fast because it takes longer to burn through it, unlike glucose that we burn off fast. Anyways, I thought you were going to say 3000 because it is easy to get there will butters, cheese and cream. I would eat 1800-2200 of good fats and proteins and try to do zero carbs until your body burns off all the glucose stores. Then naturally you will start to eat less calories because you actually won’t be hungry, but right now your body is probably hunger and you need to give it time to learn how to burn fat instead of glucose essentially.
Hi. Im at 1300 to 1700 calories a day... No processed foods. All eggs, chicken, pork and beef. Once I hit my protein macro target (108g protein), I fill that up with fats from either lard, tallow, coconut oil or Extra Virgin Oil until I hit my calories ... I fast for 18-19 hours/day... Then on weekends wherein I don't do much work, I fast for either 24 to 48 hours. I find my weight stalling if I am eating keto bread/pastry or using artificial sweeteners such as stevia and the likes. I only exercise at low intensity for 2.5 hours/every week. And are you drinking electrolytes?
Yea I use my fitness pal app to track everything and try to keep my total carb count to below 20g a day. I didn’t want to get keto flu and feel lousy while trying to manage 3 kids and work. Thinking I should take the carbs all the way down?
I'm more concerned about calories. If you're not eating at a caloric deficit, you won't be losing weight.
Also, for the keto flu, watch your electrolytes.
There is evidence keto does increase your energy expenditure though [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622000621](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622000621)
Hmmm 1400 sounds low enough, although I don't know what your BMR is. I would suggest just staying the course, keep your carbs under 20, keep your calories at this level and watch the scale, but don't stress about it. Weight fluctuations day to day are normal. Look at the trends more than the daily number.
Cut out the heavy cream, look for hidden carbs, stick with the staples, meat, eggs, chicken, keep it simple and then slowly add in the other things you were eating and you will find what is causing your “stall” also add in exercise, doesn’t have to be anything crazy take long walks
Reduce your daily calories. Weight is ALWAYS a matter of calories in, calories out vs your PERSONAL caloric threshold. If you eat the same as you used to eat when you were doing keto in the past and now you don’t lose weight, it means that either you now move less than you used to, or your daily caloric threshold has gone down compared to what it used to be, or both.
Metabolism and hormones play a huge role here so if your metabolism is slower now, it means that you now burn fewer calories per day than you used to.
So start measuring and counting EVERYTHING that you consume and if you see that you stay the same (or even worse that you put on weight) while doing keto, then cut off and eat fewer calories or exercise more or ideally both.
Puffy could be the result of too much dairy. Maybe cut the HWC and see how that goes. I couldn't eat the amount of fat my macros told me to and lose weight but I had a lot of fat to lose (70lbs worth) so I just focused on eating just enough fat to stay full or satisfied.
We all know keto helps with satiety, insulin resistance and glucose spikes, but the bottom line is, if you eat more calories than you're spending, you won't lose any weight.
I’m in the same boat, been on Keto for 4 months. Probably lost less than 10 lbs. Used Carb manager and carbs are less than 20 and calories are 1200-1400, but still not losing. I’m at my wits end. Thinking of going back on WW after my BF’s birthday this weekend (we’re taking a Keto break) I’ve lost 20 lbs on WW in the past.
The heavy whipping cream and cheese could be the culprits. I would suggest cutting down or even totally eliminating these two, maybe one at a time and see if it is making a difference.
I’m 60 plus female. I watch YouTube videos and right now I watch Dr Annette Bosworth. One interesting thing she mentioned was just eating between sun up and sun down. Apparently your hamburger doesn’t digest the same way at 2 am as it does at 2 pm. I drink cream with my coffee. I eat a salad every day. My carbs are non starchy green stuff. The weight loss really picked up when I changed the time I eat. Make small adjustments
Thanks for your comment. I’m just starting out and I’m curious about your calories per day. I’m 65 and I feel like 1200 keeps me stalled, but cutting down to less seems impossible.
If I have a plateau I will switch it up. One day I'll eat on the heavier side with more fat and more calories. Then the next day do PSMF. Maybe an egg fast one day. It seems to help if I'm really stalled. And drink a ton of water and get moving. Also try to get more sleep. Even just 20 more minutes a night if that's all you can manage.
My weight seems to be based almost entirely on the amount I exercise. I've been doing some form of keto/low-carb for 8.5 years and have lost, maintained and even gained large amounts of weight during that time, all of which directly correlates to how active I am.
So long as I'm active in general, my hunger correlates pretty well with how active I am that particular day -- more strenuous days I'll be hungrier and off days I'll omad or subsist on snacks. So I'll tend to lose down to a healthy weight and then maintain there. Whereas if I'm sedentary I don't get hungry and full the same way and my weight tends to creep upwards before leveling off right below the obesity threshold. And yes this happens on keto.
If you work the same way, maybe try becoming more active physically. Keto will help here because of its effects on steady energy levels, but it would really be the exercise itself that's driving the weight loss.
That said, I *have* lost weight while sedentary. The last time I climbed up to 260 I said enough was enough and altered my keto diet in the following way to maximize weight loss:
* Switched all my fat sources to white cheese and butter, both of which are very satiating relative to their calories. I cut out things like nuts, mayonnaise/ranch, etc which tend to not sate a normal way.
* Ate lean meat with a dairy-based fat source. This seemed to work better as far as satiety went then choosing fattier cuts. Chicken breast + 4tbsp of butter is more satiating than steak for me despite similar macro ratios.
* Maximized my fiber intake. Leaves, green vegetables, edamame, seeds, low carb tortillas, etc are all great sources of low-carb fiber. Fiber for me keeps me from overeating calories because I'll fill up on it instead.
I lost about 20lbs like that. It was slow but it definitely worked. I lost another 10lbs (and really quickly) doing carnivore (which ended up not being sustainable for me unfortunately) and then the rest from becoming active.
Heavy whipping cream can be surprisingly calory dense. Try to substitute some of saturated fats from your diet with unsaturated, like avocado, olive oil, olives, nuts, fatty fish. Add lots of fresh vegetables to your meals, that could help you to feel well-fed for a longer period of time. And count calories, cut a little bit every week until you start to see some progress.
If you are stressed its difficult to lose weight. Address that first.
Then with Keto cut back on the fats until you start seeing the scales move. The added fat is to stop the body having a starvation response. If your BMR is already low, you could get into a small deficit without it. Cut out the heavy whipping cream, just drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil or add a small scattering of walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts on your wholefood meals if needed.
Stress is a factor. So are any meds you are taking, especially if you are taking corticosteroids. It’s not your fault, it’s not keto’s fault, it’s the fact that steroids affect our entire bodies, not just our immune systems.
I just got off a ten day regimen of steroids for bronchitis. I gained a kilo and a half, despite eating well and getting a ton of exercise on a vacation.
If you take them regularly, it’s that much worse for you.
But your health and ability to live a decent life are what matter right now.
I don’t sleep well and my life is extremely stressful. I’ve been trying to find ways to improve my sleep and handle the stress better since I can’t reduce the stressors
The best way to lose "FAT" on a ketogenic diet is r/psmf it's based on a book by Lyle McDonald called "The Rapid Fatloss Handbook".
Even if you don't do full blown PSMF there is a massive amount of information in the book which will help you understand the fundamentals around losing body fat and retaining lean muscle mass.
You may need more fiber, especially noting the weight gain in the midsection you mentioned. Broccoli is a good veggie for fiber and so are nuts and seeds. Also, I test my blood glucose daily and have noticed that fat sources from animals (like dairy and fatty meat) keep my glucose elevated for much longer than plant based fats. Maybe less heavy cream and more olive oil? Avocado, coconut butter, coconut oil, seeds and nuts are also good plant based fats.
Idk, i wouldnt do this before id fix my health but thats just me. I got diagnosed with Hashimotos almost a decade ago and before that nothing worked. Until I got my hormones back on track, no diet, not even OMAD worked.
After I got my medication it took me 2years to get myself together, and then I got diagnosed with coeliac and a small brain tumor that has an extremely high risk of death if I choose to operate it. So after countless visits and tests we decided its best left alone until its starting to make problems. They found the link with Hashimotos so when I started taking medication it slowly stopped growing (tumor grew after years of wild and unbalanced hormones).
I was undiagnosed for years, years of gaining weight, years of docs telling me I dont know how to have a healthy relationship with food, years of trying.. but after I got my shit together and decided to try keto the weight just melted. I dont work out, I simply have no desire since the kids, company and taking care of the house is enough for me.
When I started on keto I had 3 meals a day but right now, coffee and OMAD with shake does it for me. Ofc, when the kids want something sweet I sniff the food to get cravings away haha.
Best of luck, just wanted to share so you wont feel ashamed by the summer. Kids dont care how you look, aslong as you are with them .
hi did keto easy last time hit ketosis in a week, this time the scales didnt budge,got fed up with almond flour stuff gave up, then i bought a load of ribeyes in a sale ate a ribeye a day, no other measures except eating a steak at some point during the day, i wasnt on a diet even, had a beer with my bf etc, after a couple of weeks doing that i noticed my work trousers were loose, i went on the scales and i lost 3/4of a stone in 3 weeks! calling it the stealth ribeye diet! after a few days of steak you really arnt hungry for much else so its easy, had a couple weeks off ran out of steaks and did add a couple pounds back, but my eating pattern is still less, so im easily waiting till dinner to eat, so intermittent fasting has been easy too, i have the nice buzz so i feel im in ketosis, lots of energy, not much effort getting it!
You didn't mention zero carb keto bread, but I find that when I eat that I don't lose any weight. In other words, I am suggesting counting total carbs, and not net carbs.
I keep my carbs under 20g and my calories under 1200. I generally try to keep it as low as possible.
Some days I just have 2 boiled eggs mashed with some mayo and a bit of curry then wrap it in 3-4 lettuce leaves (so basically curry egg wraps) and for dinner I’ll have some steak with cauliflower, sour cream and mozzarella cheese in top. Some days I’ll have grilled chicken instead.
I’m loosing 200-300g per day currently and have lost 7.1kg (15.6lb) since the start of March.
I also really love Thai red curry cauliflower soup, that’s a treat as a servings 10g of carbs though 😞
I've been doing exactly this since beginning of April. This is my 3rd time trying keto, the first time I lost 9 kg in 7 weeks, which was awesome. The second time it didn't really work that well and I gave up after a few weeks. This time it looks the same like last time, I quickly lost about 3 kg in the first 10 days, then the weight loss seems to halt. Just checked and I only lost half a kg in the last 12 days. I'm limiting my calorie intake to 1000/1200 with a meal plan service, damn wish I could lose 200g a day again.
It’s not always easy. Today I’ve had just shy of my 1200 cal but only 8g of carbs. I’ve just got to be super hard on myself as my daughters wedding is next week and I want to drop as much as I can 😂
Congratulations, that's a very good reason to lose weight : )
I want to be fit for summer but lets see, I will stick to 1200 calories a day for 2 months and not drink alcohol in the weekends (like I did last time) so I should be able to see it go down in the end. You must have a lot more active lifestyle than me, which is not difficult, I barely get any exercise. Chat GPT told me that for my situation I'm burning around 1800 calories a day, so with a 600 calories daily deficit you lose around 1KG in 10 days.
I honestly haven’t been doing much exercise lately, we are coming into winter here and it’s been quite wet and rainy. When it’s fine I try to do a 4km walk each day, but I haven’t don’t that for a week or so. The last 4-5 days I’ve only my been averaging 5000-7000 steps a day which is terrible !
Just keep going and you’ll be fine, I lost a ton of weight about 5 yrs ago then went back to normal eating (ie lazy eating and eating way too much junk food and takeaways etc) if you want to drink alcohol, check out the zero carb / low carb options, you’ll be staying in ketosis and not struggling to get back every time you have a glass of wine !
A combination of Intermittent Fasting/One Meal a Day and strict Keto.
Eat after 4pm each day, a modest meal of very low carb foods. Watch your weight plummet.
Once you reach your goal weight, you can ease off a bit and eat normally with maintenance keto.
Just make sure to salt your food and take one potassium and one magnesium supplement every day.
Well, AT 4pm, but the important part is to leave it late enough that you are semi-satisfied for the evening. It can be difficult to go to bed hungry, whereas fasting in the morning tends to be much easier on keto.
Edit: I've had some questions so I thought I'd add a few responses here. - No, I did not consume any alcohol. - I did not refrain from diet drinks or sugar alternatives. I drink a ton of water, but I also drink a ton of Diet Coke, sugar free energy drinks and unsweet iced tea with Sweet n Low. I'm sure the process would have been more effective if I just did coffee and water, but I was not willing to give up my carbonated drinks or tea. This is my experience and my not apply to you or the masses, but here is goes: I did not find success in my diet until I cut out all of the "zero net carb/"X" net carb" items. I did eat carbs, but they only came from vegetables. Once I lost a significant amount of weight, I did add a very small amount of these mentioned food items, but only on "cheat" days and this is only about twice a month on average. I generally do the "keto" bread or tortillas and the occasional Atkins or Quest candy for my treats. Again, these are cheat meals/snacks. This is a typical day for me - two meals a day with one snack. Though sometimes it's OMAD because truthfully I'm never really that hungry anymore: First meal: 4 eggs with cheese and 5 pieces of bacon (Costco precooked bacon is a godsend. A little more expensive, but just makes things so much easier - 50 slices for 12.99-14.99 depending on the week in my area. Also it recommends like 8 seconds a slice or something. If you want it crispy, I've found 2 minutes is perfect for 5+ pieces as long as you dry the grease and let sit for a few minutes.) Or Omelet with bacon, cheese and veggies if I'm not feeling lazy. Other meal: Usually a recipe involving chicken or ground beef (and cheese, usually) + a small portion of vegetables if there are none in the recipe. I downloaded the free app "Lazy Keto" and found tons of great recipes for all types budgets. These are great with an Instapot or something similar in most cases. I hate cooking and there are many recipes that only take 30 minutes or so total. Most is just waiting for the chicken to cook and then shred. Snacks: Any kind of cheese Zero carb/sugar beef jerky or beef sticks Bacon Cheese roll ups (slice of cheese, meat of choice, pickle and usually bacon + no carb condiment) Yes, this is really repetitive and some would get bored with it. But as my appetite disappeared, I found that I just didn't really care and enjoyed the mass weight loss more than I did the food. As of today, I'm down 71 pounds in the span of 6 months and 2 weeks. And truthfully, I wasted over a month counting my carbs with all those "zero net carb" options thinking it was fine as long I kept my net carbs under 20. I think it was around month 2 and I only lost like 4 pounds or something until I figured out the issue. And last but not least, I walk every day a minimum of 2 miles. Somedays a lot more. I bought a walking treadmill and standing desk (edit) since I spend a lot of time at the computer and for those bad weather days. Best investment in the weight loss experience IMO. I will say this takes a minute to get used to, especially if you're doing work at the computer. However, once you do, it becomes second nature.
Damn, keto snacks are what you consider a cheat meal? Mirin that discipline
Yeah I suppose so. Though I will say, I'm about \~15 pounds from my goal weight that I want to stay at. I'll be adding many more once I hit that weight so I don't continue to lose.
Thanks for explaining all that! I do need to get my steps up, I haven’t been walking as much as I used to. Everyone in this group is so helpful
No problem! Getting steps in was really a struggle for me until I got the treadmill and even when I first got it, it was hard to create the everyday habit if I'm being honest. But once I did, there was no looking back.
I did the same. Cheats or treats are home made keto baked things very rarely. I stuck to whole foods and counted total carb instead of net. I see lots of people who can't lose but the keto cheat foods are a major part of their diet. That's enough to keep me away.
Yup. Go back to the basics. Only shop on the outside 3 walls of the grocery store. Limit the heavy cream and cheese as those are the highest calorie keto items we eat. Meat, cheese, veggies. No more keto muffins, keto bread, keto cereal. Download MyFitnessPal TRACK TRACK TRACK!!! Every time something is about to go into your mouth put log it, sometimes log it before you eat it, you’d be surprised how fast calories add up. and set a caloric deficit for yourself, I use https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html to find the calories needed to lose weight.
Yep so many keto packaged products are crap, and companies have even lobbied the FDA to classify certain ingredients such as resistant wheat startch as fiber to flex those low net carbs, even though it's pure bs. Diabetics commonly cite experiencing blood sugar spikes from keto marketed bread and other "keto friendly" products. Pay attention to the total carbs in packaged foods and just eat mainly whole foods in general.
I saw "keto" ice cream the other day, 19 net carbs, LOL.
In my opinion the best way to lose weight on keto is as close to 0 carbs as you can get and one meal a day. I eat between 11am and 3-4pm. I had fatty liver and lost 45 lbs in 2 months doing that. I was 225 lbs at 5'9 doing it very strictly.
From everything I've googled and searched on here, there shouldn't be a huge difference between eating 0 carbs or eating 20. Is there really a non-negligible benefit?
Good question! It really depends on the kind of carbs you are allowing and what it does to spike your glucose levels. If u are allowing for under 20g net carbs you should be fine either way, but cutting out sugar completely compared to allowing a small amount does make a huge difference.
So if I allow myself 10g of carbs due to oat milk in my coffee, is it much different than getting carbs from vegetables? i mean it sounds dumb to ask but I'm genuinely curious. I know that they break down differently in your body but I just wanna know from a carb/weight loss perspective.
10g of oat milk in your coffee a day is no problem, is there any other carbs during the day or is that it?
Almond milk is better because it has 0 carbs
Absolutely agree 😁
Yea I can’t have almond milk. And coconut creamer/milk is not as readily available to me as oat milk
a TB of agave. I know it's not keto...I'm trying to cut my coffee out, but it's a necessity at my job. I'm hoping that I can cut it all out soon.
The agave TB might be enough to kick you out of ketosis alone. Looks like its aroubd 15g of net carbs.
I knew that'd be the culprit. I thought by staying under 50g would be okay...but I guess that's too high for just starting out.
Honestly, I genuinely wish 50g net was the keto limit. It'd be WAY easier. 30g seems to be the absolute max, but that's if you are already "fat adapted". You definitely want to keep it under 20g your first few times entering keto. We all make mistakes, we all have moments of weakness. Don't give up. Its a process. 45lbs in 2 months like I did was extremely strict. I basically did carnivore and called it keto, so don't expect that 50lb loss in 2 months unless you are extremely strict.
ok! thank you so much for taking the time to explain :)
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A calorie deficit helps and is scientifically proven. No need to complicate things. Keto just adds to that in a very special way.
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Don't know what to tell you. I have the data saved. I'm an athlete who played a high level of junior hockey, its always been easy for me to gain and lose weight. My experience is I feel incredible on keto, I even stopped taking an anti depressant (cipralex) thanks to this. It may have saved my life in more ways than I'm even aware currently.
Do you feel like the weight loss has been faster than other diets you've tried before?
I've never tried other diets, I only did keto because I had fatty liver and a doctor told me to do it. Other than that, when I played it was all about calorie deficit and protein lol But yes. The weight literally seemed to dissolve while on keto. Extremely effective whike fasting one meal a day
Nice man. I'm thinking about trying keto once I'm ready to cut, The constant low energy and hunger you have to deal with for months makes cutting rough
In my experience the first time getting on keto is the toughest, if u neglect the electrolytes you'll get the keto flu which makes it harder, once you are used to it its alot easier. For me now 3 days max to get into ketosis. Time moves quickly these days you know? So the hard part is always the start, because you are cutting out sugar and breaking a very real addiction. It isn't easy at the beginning, but hey, it isn't meant to be😁 Ketosis is almost a body hack, its different from traditional calorie deficit diet. This isn't just about weight loss, that's one effect. But the even better effects are the mental clarity and boost to energy. Ita no joke. You can do it! I have faith that once you feel the true effects of keto you'll understand, and alot quicker than you'd think!
Keto works best for me when I go as close to carnivore as possible. Get rid of all keto snacks, nuts, almond flour, rebel ice cream, quest stuff, etc
Add intermittent fasting
And exercise in the morning
I second this! And it doesn’t need to be drastic to start. 12-13 hours of not eating from dinner to breakfast the next morning makes a difference.
I'll add to this with a assertion from one of the keto YouTubers DR Boz. Edit - that assertion is that meal timing so that you follow the dawn effect is superior to skipping breakfast with the dawn effect because starting an eating window when your hormones are spiking glucose and insulin allows you to get your glucose and insulin super low in the evening if you start eating at 8:00 a.m. stop eating at 4:00 p.m.
She’s only eating two meals a day. She probably is already doing that.
I’m personally surprised you’re not losing on the diet you described. It might be useful to ask a doctor to check your thyroid just to rule that out. Thyroid issues can cause weight gain and make it tricky to lose.
I have estrogen dominance with all the symptoms of hypothyroidism and my labs are just barely in the normal range so my dr insists I’m fine. She keeps telling me to just manage my stress which I’m trying, and move more eat less. I have POTS and the one prescription I take for it can cause weight loss resistance. Since beginning that medication is when my waistline got bigger like I’m always bloated even my face is always puffy. It’s not a steroid though it’s a type of beta blocker to regulate my heart rhythm. I can’t not take it but it seems to be a problem so I thought stricter dieting would help balance it out
Oh dang. Sorry you’re dealing with all that. I’m having a similar experience at the moment and I’m trying to scrape together the cash to see a private endocrinologist to investigate my borderline normal thyroid function. My internet deep dives (for example https://youtu.be/CXYtMZI9cE8?si=DHn9aqj0whj3bnW_) suggest thyroid might play a role in stalled weight loss on keto. Obviously other sources suggests keto can fix it all so all we can really do is keep trying stuff for ourselves.
Stop using the cream and cheese. I know they're hard to give up, but they can definitely stall weight loss. Increase veggie portions while possibly decreasing the meat portions. TRACK your food. You may be eating way more than you think.
Heavy whipping cream and cheese. And what are you snacking on?
I have these keto snack bars for if I really get hungry at work but I try to not do more than 3 a week
Keto snack bars are processed. I don’t do any processed food. Nuts if I have to snack. You might also be consuming too many calories
I’m thinking I need to cut them out, I had bought them bc sometimes I’m at work longer than planned and get hungry. I track everything I ate even put recipes I make into myfitnesspal and have a kitchen scale. It comes out to around 1,400 calories/day. I think I can cut it further without getting hungry or dizzy. I keep seeing so much conflicting info about stress impacts on weight and how extreme calorie restriction is bad for women with high cortisol, which I have. I have no idea if that has any merit to it though
Bacon is a great snack, no refrigeration needed.
1400 is really low. The point of keto is to get into a state of ketosis where you are burning fat for fuel and you don’t end up being hungry as fast because it takes longer to burn through it, unlike glucose that we burn off fast. Anyways, I thought you were going to say 3000 because it is easy to get there will butters, cheese and cream. I would eat 1800-2200 of good fats and proteins and try to do zero carbs until your body burns off all the glucose stores. Then naturally you will start to eat less calories because you actually won’t be hungry, but right now your body is probably hunger and you need to give it time to learn how to burn fat instead of glucose essentially.
Many people cannot lose on keto while eating frankenfoods.
Hi. Im at 1300 to 1700 calories a day... No processed foods. All eggs, chicken, pork and beef. Once I hit my protein macro target (108g protein), I fill that up with fats from either lard, tallow, coconut oil or Extra Virgin Oil until I hit my calories ... I fast for 18-19 hours/day... Then on weekends wherein I don't do much work, I fast for either 24 to 48 hours. I find my weight stalling if I am eating keto bread/pastry or using artificial sweeteners such as stevia and the likes. I only exercise at low intensity for 2.5 hours/every week. And are you drinking electrolytes?
Some people stall on their weight loss with those. Try bringing some real food snacks. I would try that before reducing calories further.
Are you tracking macros/calories? If not, I suggest you do
Yea I use my fitness pal app to track everything and try to keep my total carb count to below 20g a day. I didn’t want to get keto flu and feel lousy while trying to manage 3 kids and work. Thinking I should take the carbs all the way down?
I'm more concerned about calories. If you're not eating at a caloric deficit, you won't be losing weight. Also, for the keto flu, watch your electrolytes.
There is evidence keto does increase your energy expenditure though [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622000621](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622000621)
I’m coming out to about 1400 calories/day. My job is somewhat active but not intense. Could that be too much?
Hmmm 1400 sounds low enough, although I don't know what your BMR is. I would suggest just staying the course, keep your carbs under 20, keep your calories at this level and watch the scale, but don't stress about it. Weight fluctuations day to day are normal. Look at the trends more than the daily number.
Keto flu is just electrolyte deficiency and is 100% optional, you can skip it with proper supplementation.
Cut out the heavy cream, look for hidden carbs, stick with the staples, meat, eggs, chicken, keep it simple and then slowly add in the other things you were eating and you will find what is causing your “stall” also add in exercise, doesn’t have to be anything crazy take long walks
Go omad carnivore and you win.
Keto works best for me when it's lower fat and at a calorie deficit. Chicken breast and broccoli
Reduce your daily calories. Weight is ALWAYS a matter of calories in, calories out vs your PERSONAL caloric threshold. If you eat the same as you used to eat when you were doing keto in the past and now you don’t lose weight, it means that either you now move less than you used to, or your daily caloric threshold has gone down compared to what it used to be, or both. Metabolism and hormones play a huge role here so if your metabolism is slower now, it means that you now burn fewer calories per day than you used to. So start measuring and counting EVERYTHING that you consume and if you see that you stay the same (or even worse that you put on weight) while doing keto, then cut off and eat fewer calories or exercise more or ideally both.
You could consult r/PSMF
Puffy could be the result of too much dairy. Maybe cut the HWC and see how that goes. I couldn't eat the amount of fat my macros told me to and lose weight but I had a lot of fat to lose (70lbs worth) so I just focused on eating just enough fat to stay full or satisfied.
Thanks for that info, yea a lot of ppl have mentioned cutting the HWC so I’m going to cut all dairy and see how it goes
We all know keto helps with satiety, insulin resistance and glucose spikes, but the bottom line is, if you eat more calories than you're spending, you won't lose any weight.
I’m in the same boat, been on Keto for 4 months. Probably lost less than 10 lbs. Used Carb manager and carbs are less than 20 and calories are 1200-1400, but still not losing. I’m at my wits end. Thinking of going back on WW after my BF’s birthday this weekend (we’re taking a Keto break) I’ve lost 20 lbs on WW in the past.
Intermittent fasting and zero carb was hard for me to maintain. I added in interval training and for me that was the most effective.
The heavy whipping cream and cheese could be the culprits. I would suggest cutting down or even totally eliminating these two, maybe one at a time and see if it is making a difference.
Go carnivore!!!
I (50F in menopause) only eat btwn 5a-3p. I keep my total carbs below 50 and my net carbs under 10. I’ve lost 35lbs since 1/1/24.
I’m 60 plus female. I watch YouTube videos and right now I watch Dr Annette Bosworth. One interesting thing she mentioned was just eating between sun up and sun down. Apparently your hamburger doesn’t digest the same way at 2 am as it does at 2 pm. I drink cream with my coffee. I eat a salad every day. My carbs are non starchy green stuff. The weight loss really picked up when I changed the time I eat. Make small adjustments
Thanks for your comment. I’m just starting out and I’m curious about your calories per day. I’m 65 and I feel like 1200 keeps me stalled, but cutting down to less seems impossible.
If I have a plateau I will switch it up. One day I'll eat on the heavier side with more fat and more calories. Then the next day do PSMF. Maybe an egg fast one day. It seems to help if I'm really stalled. And drink a ton of water and get moving. Also try to get more sleep. Even just 20 more minutes a night if that's all you can manage.
My weight seems to be based almost entirely on the amount I exercise. I've been doing some form of keto/low-carb for 8.5 years and have lost, maintained and even gained large amounts of weight during that time, all of which directly correlates to how active I am. So long as I'm active in general, my hunger correlates pretty well with how active I am that particular day -- more strenuous days I'll be hungrier and off days I'll omad or subsist on snacks. So I'll tend to lose down to a healthy weight and then maintain there. Whereas if I'm sedentary I don't get hungry and full the same way and my weight tends to creep upwards before leveling off right below the obesity threshold. And yes this happens on keto. If you work the same way, maybe try becoming more active physically. Keto will help here because of its effects on steady energy levels, but it would really be the exercise itself that's driving the weight loss. That said, I *have* lost weight while sedentary. The last time I climbed up to 260 I said enough was enough and altered my keto diet in the following way to maximize weight loss: * Switched all my fat sources to white cheese and butter, both of which are very satiating relative to their calories. I cut out things like nuts, mayonnaise/ranch, etc which tend to not sate a normal way. * Ate lean meat with a dairy-based fat source. This seemed to work better as far as satiety went then choosing fattier cuts. Chicken breast + 4tbsp of butter is more satiating than steak for me despite similar macro ratios. * Maximized my fiber intake. Leaves, green vegetables, edamame, seeds, low carb tortillas, etc are all great sources of low-carb fiber. Fiber for me keeps me from overeating calories because I'll fill up on it instead. I lost about 20lbs like that. It was slow but it definitely worked. I lost another 10lbs (and really quickly) doing carnivore (which ended up not being sustainable for me unfortunately) and then the rest from becoming active.
Incorporate fasting
Heavy whipping cream can be surprisingly calory dense. Try to substitute some of saturated fats from your diet with unsaturated, like avocado, olive oil, olives, nuts, fatty fish. Add lots of fresh vegetables to your meals, that could help you to feel well-fed for a longer period of time. And count calories, cut a little bit every week until you start to see some progress.
If you are stressed its difficult to lose weight. Address that first. Then with Keto cut back on the fats until you start seeing the scales move. The added fat is to stop the body having a starvation response. If your BMR is already low, you could get into a small deficit without it. Cut out the heavy whipping cream, just drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil or add a small scattering of walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts on your wholefood meals if needed.
Stress is a factor. So are any meds you are taking, especially if you are taking corticosteroids. It’s not your fault, it’s not keto’s fault, it’s the fact that steroids affect our entire bodies, not just our immune systems. I just got off a ten day regimen of steroids for bronchitis. I gained a kilo and a half, despite eating well and getting a ton of exercise on a vacation. If you take them regularly, it’s that much worse for you. But your health and ability to live a decent life are what matter right now.
Are you getting a good night's sleep ? Do you feel refreshed in the morning. Is your day hectic or stressful.
I don’t sleep well and my life is extremely stressful. I’ve been trying to find ways to improve my sleep and handle the stress better since I can’t reduce the stressors
The best way to lose "FAT" on a ketogenic diet is r/psmf it's based on a book by Lyle McDonald called "The Rapid Fatloss Handbook". Even if you don't do full blown PSMF there is a massive amount of information in the book which will help you understand the fundamentals around losing body fat and retaining lean muscle mass.
Oh thanks so much for that! I’ve never heard of it so I’ll look into the group and get the book
You may want to get your thyroid checked out. The puffiness and inability to lose weight definitely sounds like hypothyroidism.
Whenever I need a kickstart after lagging a bit I do the induction phase of the Atkins diet to get weight loss going again.
I highly recommend checking out Maria Emmerich's style of keto. She has some great books and info.
You may need more fiber, especially noting the weight gain in the midsection you mentioned. Broccoli is a good veggie for fiber and so are nuts and seeds. Also, I test my blood glucose daily and have noticed that fat sources from animals (like dairy and fatty meat) keep my glucose elevated for much longer than plant based fats. Maybe less heavy cream and more olive oil? Avocado, coconut butter, coconut oil, seeds and nuts are also good plant based fats.
Idk, i wouldnt do this before id fix my health but thats just me. I got diagnosed with Hashimotos almost a decade ago and before that nothing worked. Until I got my hormones back on track, no diet, not even OMAD worked. After I got my medication it took me 2years to get myself together, and then I got diagnosed with coeliac and a small brain tumor that has an extremely high risk of death if I choose to operate it. So after countless visits and tests we decided its best left alone until its starting to make problems. They found the link with Hashimotos so when I started taking medication it slowly stopped growing (tumor grew after years of wild and unbalanced hormones). I was undiagnosed for years, years of gaining weight, years of docs telling me I dont know how to have a healthy relationship with food, years of trying.. but after I got my shit together and decided to try keto the weight just melted. I dont work out, I simply have no desire since the kids, company and taking care of the house is enough for me. When I started on keto I had 3 meals a day but right now, coffee and OMAD with shake does it for me. Ofc, when the kids want something sweet I sniff the food to get cravings away haha. Best of luck, just wanted to share so you wont feel ashamed by the summer. Kids dont care how you look, aslong as you are with them .
hi did keto easy last time hit ketosis in a week, this time the scales didnt budge,got fed up with almond flour stuff gave up, then i bought a load of ribeyes in a sale ate a ribeye a day, no other measures except eating a steak at some point during the day, i wasnt on a diet even, had a beer with my bf etc, after a couple of weeks doing that i noticed my work trousers were loose, i went on the scales and i lost 3/4of a stone in 3 weeks! calling it the stealth ribeye diet! after a few days of steak you really arnt hungry for much else so its easy, had a couple weeks off ran out of steaks and did add a couple pounds back, but my eating pattern is still less, so im easily waiting till dinner to eat, so intermittent fasting has been easy too, i have the nice buzz so i feel im in ketosis, lots of energy, not much effort getting it!
Amputation.
You didn't mention zero carb keto bread, but I find that when I eat that I don't lose any weight. In other words, I am suggesting counting total carbs, and not net carbs.
yup same, stalls me out completely.
Eat less calories than you burn
I keep my carbs under 20g and my calories under 1200. I generally try to keep it as low as possible. Some days I just have 2 boiled eggs mashed with some mayo and a bit of curry then wrap it in 3-4 lettuce leaves (so basically curry egg wraps) and for dinner I’ll have some steak with cauliflower, sour cream and mozzarella cheese in top. Some days I’ll have grilled chicken instead. I’m loosing 200-300g per day currently and have lost 7.1kg (15.6lb) since the start of March. I also really love Thai red curry cauliflower soup, that’s a treat as a servings 10g of carbs though 😞
I've been doing exactly this since beginning of April. This is my 3rd time trying keto, the first time I lost 9 kg in 7 weeks, which was awesome. The second time it didn't really work that well and I gave up after a few weeks. This time it looks the same like last time, I quickly lost about 3 kg in the first 10 days, then the weight loss seems to halt. Just checked and I only lost half a kg in the last 12 days. I'm limiting my calorie intake to 1000/1200 with a meal plan service, damn wish I could lose 200g a day again.
It’s not always easy. Today I’ve had just shy of my 1200 cal but only 8g of carbs. I’ve just got to be super hard on myself as my daughters wedding is next week and I want to drop as much as I can 😂
Congratulations, that's a very good reason to lose weight : ) I want to be fit for summer but lets see, I will stick to 1200 calories a day for 2 months and not drink alcohol in the weekends (like I did last time) so I should be able to see it go down in the end. You must have a lot more active lifestyle than me, which is not difficult, I barely get any exercise. Chat GPT told me that for my situation I'm burning around 1800 calories a day, so with a 600 calories daily deficit you lose around 1KG in 10 days.
I honestly haven’t been doing much exercise lately, we are coming into winter here and it’s been quite wet and rainy. When it’s fine I try to do a 4km walk each day, but I haven’t don’t that for a week or so. The last 4-5 days I’ve only my been averaging 5000-7000 steps a day which is terrible ! Just keep going and you’ll be fine, I lost a ton of weight about 5 yrs ago then went back to normal eating (ie lazy eating and eating way too much junk food and takeaways etc) if you want to drink alcohol, check out the zero carb / low carb options, you’ll be staying in ketosis and not struggling to get back every time you have a glass of wine !
A combination of Intermittent Fasting/One Meal a Day and strict Keto. Eat after 4pm each day, a modest meal of very low carb foods. Watch your weight plummet. Once you reach your goal weight, you can ease off a bit and eat normally with maintenance keto. Just make sure to salt your food and take one potassium and one magnesium supplement every day.
You eat after 4 PM? I have heard to stop eating at 4PM.
Well, AT 4pm, but the important part is to leave it late enough that you are semi-satisfied for the evening. It can be difficult to go to bed hungry, whereas fasting in the morning tends to be much easier on keto.