Once you hit ketosis, what was your weight loss like?

sciencenovice

I know everyone is different but I'm wondering about how people's bodies drop weight once in ketosis. Other than urine sticks and blood meters how do you know you're in ketosis? Any specific feeling? Even if it's specific to you?

I believe after a week of strict Ketogenic dieting with 5% carbs I believe I've hit ketosis. I feel it. Though it's so strange that I'm not hungry all the time. Every diet I've ever done, I'm always starving and my metabolism is going and my stomach is always growling even If I just eat. So to feel no hunger pains or feel light headed.... It's crazy! And I love it. I've lost 6lbs this week and my stomach went flat despite BACON!!!

nvmomketo

I feel less pain when in ketosis, minus the occasional headaches when I let my electrolytes get low. Some seem to need less salt as time goes by, but it isn't me... Yet.

I also feel more alert. My cognitive functions improved in a rather dramatic and disturbing way on this WOE. I was only 41 so that was a bit scary.

My skin cleared up and I had more energy. Plus no more energy dips during the day.

I am also less hungry and I don't get sugar cravings anymore. It really makes eating at a deficit much easier!

For weight loss, I was losing at about 2-3 lbs per week in the first 4 months. My losses started to slow, then my carbs crept up and so did my calories. I was still low carb (30-50g) but i was out of ketosis, or not deep enough in for the ketostix to show it. My losses stopped for a few weeks until I cut calories and severely cut carbs again. My carbs were under 10 g for a few days to get back into ketosis, with a few low calorie days thrown in for good measure. It resulted in a "whoosh" loss of about 4 lbs.

I am now about 10 lbs from goal, and I seem to be losing at a slower, but not unreasonable, rate of 0.5 to 1 lb per week. I should be there by early summer.

Congrats on your loss! That 6 lbs would be a great motivator to keep going... Besides the bacon that is.

nicintime

Seems the more weight you have to lose the faster it comes off.

Initially.

If you do full keto, 20 grams total or less.

I've averaged about 2 lbs per week since June.

I do expect that to slow down, but am hoping it won't.

nicintime

And I don't measure at all.

20 to 25 grams total carbs (not net, I count everything ), I KNOW I'm in ketosis.

Initially I can smell the ketones in my urine and pits, and my wife let's me know my breath is atrocious. Plus, I feel great. Way better than when eating carbage.

When I get near maintenance I will do the blood ketone monitoring because I want to stay in ketosis, will be incrementally increasing carbs and it will become critical then, IMO.

sciencenovice

nicintime wrote: »

And I don't measure at all.

20 to 25 grams total carbs (not net, I count everything ), I KNOW I'm in ketosis.

Initially I can smell the ketones in my urine and pits, and my wife let's me know my breath is atrocious. Plus, I feel great. Way better than when eating carbage.

When I get near maintenance I will do the blood ketone monitoring because I want to stay in ketosis, will be incrementally increasing carbs and it will become critical then, IMO.

I am doing 19-22g of carbs. Not net. The whole shabang. I figure this first week is mostly water. But it is motivational. I feel like I'm doing something wrong though. Usually when I cut out sugar or diet or anything, I'm starving and food is all I can think about. That's not the case with this Ketogenic diet. I've done zero sugar and carbs only coming from vegetables but never a high fat diet, and I swear I could have someone for some bread or a soda. I'm happy I found a sustainable WOE. I think that's why I've given up so easily since I had a problem with weight loss(thank you 30s) I was always miserable and hungry.

GaleHawkins

@sciencenovice I did not lose a pound for the first six weeks after going very low carb but I did lose inches of fat.

Remember keto is not for weight loss but as a way of managing one's calorie intake so weight loss occurs. One can gain weight while being in a state of nutritional ketosis. It was not easy for me to do but I proved that I could.

In my case to try and manage my pain I cut out all grains and most all sugars. Keto WOE works well to manage my pain. I do not crave carbs anyone longer but even if I keep carbs under 50 grams daily and protein under 70 grams a day and eat a pound of coconut oil every day (about 4000 calories in a pound of coconut oil) or I drink a quart of Heavy Whipping Cream (3200 calories) I am going to gain weight even if my blood ketone level is at 4.0 (very high).

Sciencenovice do you now understand living in a state of Nutritional Ketosis in no way will result in weight loss if your body absorbs/actually processes more calories than it burns day in and day out?

Now keto permitted my brain somehow to get back in charge of letting me know when I was hungry and when I was full. Keto is awesome but it does not CAUSE weight loss but can enable a obese person like I was to become not obese after my cravings went away.

sciencenovice

GaleHawkins wrote: »

@sciencenovice I did not lose a pound for the first six weeks after going very low carb but I did lose inches of fat.

Remember keto is not for weight loss but as a way of managing one's calorie intake so weight loss occurs. One can gain weight while being in a state of nutritional ketosis. It was not easy for me to do but I proved that I could.

In my case to try and manage my pain I cut out all grains and most all sugars. Keto WOE works well to manage my pain. I do not crave carbs anyone longer but even if I keep carbs under 50 grams daily and protein under 70 grams a day and eat a pound of coconut oil every day (about 4000 calories in a pound of coconut oil) or I drink a quart of Heavy Whipping Cream (3200 calories) I am going to gain weight even if my blood ketone level is at 4.0 (very high).

Sciencenovice do you now understand living in a state of Nutritional Ketosis in no way will result in weight loss if your body absorbs/actually processes more calories than it burns day in and day out?

Now keto permitted my brain somehow to get back in charge of letting me know when I was hungry and when I was full. Keto is awesome but it does not CAUSE weight loss but can enable a obese person like I was to become not obese after my cravings went away.

I am sticking to 1545 calories per day. That's a 20% cut from my TDEE. So I should consistently lose as long as I'm changing my intake as I lose. I'm just happy I'm not starving. I tried 1600 calories a day before and I was starving after a bowl of oatmeal or whatever salad with protein I ate.

Sunny_Bunny_

I was blood and urine testing very regularly in the beginning. I was getting a moderate reading by the end of my first day. I had done quite a bit of research before I started and supplemented sodium from day one and never had any of the common symptoms we hear about.
If you cut out all grains and sugar, don't go crazy on artificial sweeteners, don't make faux foods and restrict to 20g carbs, you no doubt started producing a good amount of ketones within the first 36 hours, if not sooner. Combine that with reduced overall food intake and you start getting some great results! That's my opinion.
Most people would have told me that I shouldn't expect to lose more than a pound a week with only 38 to lose, but I averaged 1.7 per week for the first 3 months. And .7 the following 3 months, at which point I started at only 19lbs to goal. I did have a 15-20% calorie deficit, which I didn't find challenging and I was only lightly active.
We won't discus this past month... No gain, no loss. I've definitely been eating more and less active, but have stayed at a moderate ketone production. I guess I should expect my next 3 month average to go down significantly again since I'm going into it with only 9 lbs left to goal. It makes sense.
Other suspected benefits of ketosis I've experienced are, increased energy, mental clarity (even as someone with ADHD and even on non medicated days, though not enough to forgo meds all the time), reduced facial cystic acne, better overall feeling of well being and happiness that I feel like I understand what my body needs and how to keep it healthy now. I'm confident that it will benefit me long term and I'll enjoy better health throughout my lifetime than if I had continued eating the way I was before. And to be honest, the only bad eating habit I had before by the common thinking was my overindulgence of candy. As far as ALL other eating, it would be considered healthy by SAD standards and would've probably been within a manageable calorie total too. It was literally just the large amounts of candy that I ate that would put me at a high calorie intake. I never drank full sugar sodas or ate chips and sweets otherwise. The only grains we ever ate were in whole wheat pasta and from occasional sandwiches on whole wheat and pizza a couple times a month. We as a family, didn't overdo the bread and pasta as a rule. So I really came from a "healthy SAD diet" aside from the high sugar.
Anyway, I'm going on and on again. I think it's an effect of the mental focus and ADHD. Lol

Christine_72

nicintime wrote: »

And I don't measure at all.

20 to 25 grams total carbs (not net, I count everything ), I KNOW I'm in ketosis.

Initially I can smell the ketones in my urine and pits, and my wife let's me know my breath is atrocious. Plus, I feel great. Way better than when eating carbage.

When I get near maintenance I will do the blood ketone monitoring because I want to stay in ketosis, will be incrementally increasing carbs and it will become critical then, IMO.

This is precisely why I didn't stick with keto. My husband stayed 10 feet away from me at all times, and i avoided talking to shop assistants etc etc. No amount of mints covered it up. It really truly sucks as I was enjoying it! Now I'm staying under 100g and all is good. I don't have any health issues so going full on keto wasn't imperative, but still...

GaleHawkins

One thing I wish I had understood from the start is a new way of eating is hard. If wanting to do keto and it takes one 90 days or longer to get the carbs under 50 grams daily so be it as long as one is on the road to better health by a better way of eating.

I do agree one should learn to eat <50 grams of carbs before trying for 20 or zero carbs. After over a year I do not think the tweaking every stops.

The type 2 diabetic who can cut carbs to 100-150 grams daily and reverse all diabetic issues and get off of all meds in my view is just as successful as a person that is eating <20 grams of carbs daily.

Folks eating low carb is NOT about how low we can go with a number but how can we develop an eating lifestyle for life that results in improving health markers year by year before disease makes managing diet almost impossible. I know I am mortal and will physically die one day and leave my family and friends. I just want to be walking and talking until that day comes.