Gaining all your weight back on keto

Goal179

Hi Keto Pals:

I am new to keto. Just completed my first 30 days. I love this form of eating and this is my new life. The weight is coming off. Not as quickly as I would like but it's coming. My question is to keto lifers. Have any of you gained all of your weight back despite making keto a lifestyle? I'm not talking to those who used keto just to drop the pounds then went back to normal eating. I mean those of you who are hard core keto. Did you gain the weight back? If you did, do you know why? (Outside of medical issues/medications)

Sunny_Bunny_

I'm over 2 years in and have gained nothing back. I don't exercise and I just stay on plan and it's been effortless to maintain my weight.
I would like to see more bodyfat loss, about 5%, but I'm not really working at it at this point.
I lost all the weight within 4 months but have continued losing bodyfat since then even without scale weight loss.

Xerogs

Goal179 wrote: »

Hi Keto Pals:

I am new to keto. Just completed my first 30 days. I love this form of eating and this is my new life. The weight is coming off. Not as quickly as I would like but it's coming. My question is to keto lifers. Have any of you gained all of your weight back despite making keto a lifestyle? I'm not talking to those who used keto just to drop the pounds then went back to normal eating. I mean those of you who are hard core keto. Did you gain the weight back? If you did, do you know why? (Outside of medical issues/medications)

I wouldn't consider myself a keto lifer like Sunny Bunny but I have been following a low carb way of eating (WOE) for quite a while. I only gained back weight when I went back to eating foods like pasta, bread, and sweets. It's taken me a couple of starts and stops to realize eating low carb is more "normal" for me than the opposite. I have to remind myself just how badly I felt before I got serious about changing my diet and eating healthier options while cutting way back on refined sugar and other high carb foods. I had an honest look at what I ate in the past and how it made me gain weight plus cause all types of other issues with my health.

As with any diet I think you can always overeat and that is where I need to watch myself. In my opinion My Fitness Pal (MFP) helps me just keep an eye on what I am eating and how much of it in comparison to how much I exercise. It's not exact but if I keep within a certain zone I tend to lose weight and inches (sometimes more inches than weight and that is OK).

Most of the stories I hear are when people go back to the Standard American Diet (SAD) they begin to put back on weight. Even one of my friends lost a lot of weight via Atkins many years ago and then gained it all back plus some in the next year. I am convinced that this WOE is more beneficial to our biological systems than sugar laden heavily processed foods big Ag is pushing on us. There are some many options an different ways to go low carb it's not as limiting as many people think. I know vegans and vegetarians who are low carb and do quite well.

kpk54

I wouldn't consider myself a "keto-lifer" either. I've been maintaining my weight loss for over 3 years via some form of low carb when compared to SAD and MFP's default macro allocations. Only 1 of those maintenance years would I consider keto.

OP you have a long history of losing and gaining from what I read in your profile. Now you have the known complications of insulin resistance and prediabeties. (It's public. I'm just providing a response based on info you have provided). From what I have read, many folks have been helped with their medical complications via keto. I know from personal experience that keto helped me with the hunger I experienced during 2 years of non keto maintenance. It also helped me with the horrid cravings for sweets I previously had. Perhaps keto will be your key to long term maintenance and the roller coaster ride will end. I think I understand your interest in it.

What keto helped me with the most because of the diminished hunger: it allowed me to actually see that I had a habit of eating for many reasons other than hunger. I often caught myself standing, peering into the refrigerator or pantry to find something to eat, just to eat. I no longer eat during TV commercials. Hardee's billboards no longer entice me and cause me to exit the freeway. Ads in magazines for "XX" no longer prompt me to eat. I no longer eat as a transition from washing the windows to commence vacuuming the floor. You get the idea.

We live in a world of intentional inducements from food manufacturers. I don't fault them. I That's their good marketing department doing what they're suppose to do. I just don't succumb to their ploys. Food is a primary part of my social activities. I've had to learn to focus on the event and not the food. Keto helped with that. I can enjoy a football game or a movie without eating or over eating.

I currently don't focus on being in ketosis. I eat about ~50 total carbs per day. I might be in ketosis. I'm generally not hungry and generally don't crave. That's what I care about. Very low carb has made maintenance easier for me. I don't have to be in ketosis. YMMV especially with medical things involved.

If I continue to maintain, it will be because I pay attention to what I eat (macros), how much I eat (calories) and because I practice eating behaviors conducive to weight management (moderation)? I could waaaay over eat "keto foods" despite not being hungry.

Sorry so long. Many of my posts are. Gaining control over my excessive eating has been more than macros.

dorretstewart

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I'm over 2 years in and have gained nothing back. I don't exercise and I just stay on plan and it's been effortless to maintain my weight.
I would like to see more bodyfat loss, about 5%, but I'm not really working at it at this point.
I lost all the weight within 4 months but have continued losing bodyfat since then even without scale weight loss.

Well done