Keto didn't work

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  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    try2again wrote: »
    if you've been doing keto and your not losing weight, your doing it wrong.

    Ket is all about extreme diet, ive done it before and if you do it right it gives amazing results. I've noticed however when you do not follow it strictly, it tends to lose a lot of it's effectiveness.

    If you can post here what you ate during that time (honestly), and how much people can give advice

    Along with what @janejellyroll said, if a person doesn't "follow it strictly" by going over on their carbs some days, they are likely to experience large water weight swings that can give the impression that it's not working. Actually, if a person is in a calorie deficit, they are still losing fat, but it is being masked by big shifts in water weight. Each gram of carbs holds something like 3g of water, so when you slash your carbs, you lose a lot of extra water, and when you have a sudden spike in carbs, you have a sudden spike in water. This is why many on a low-carb diet are under the impression that carbs make them fat- because the scale responds rather aggressively when they increase their carbs.

    I find it very hard not to create a deficit when no longer eating carbs, i wouldn't know what i could eat in a day to exceed my calorie intake, but maybe that's just me.

    High fat foods, like nuts (although those will bring some carbs), olives, cheese, fattier meats, added fats like salad dressings, oil or butter used in cooking.

    Mostly I think it's often a period of adjustment -- extreme dietary changes leave you not knowing what you can eat and so you eat way less (I went 100% plant-based for Lent one time and lost a bunch of weight without intending to, since I just cut out foods it was easy to overeat, but had I stayed plant-based I would have found alternatives and upped my calories again). I suspect the same thing happens if you are keto longer term for many.

    Many people choose keto as a lifestyle and eat it at maintenance or when bulking, so for them clearly it doesn't mean weight loss.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    Keto worked great for me with ketomist spray that kept my hunger in check. I lost massive amounts in no time flat, about 40 pounds in two months, but as soon as I finished the diet the weight came back on over the next four months. So frustrating. This week I signed up to work with a naturopath who will look at many factors, my gut health, my dna with insulin resistance, etc. to help me find a permanent solution. I don't want to be on a diet for my whole life like my Mom. I want to understand my body better and know what patterns of eating and exercising are right for me to live long and healthy. I wish the same for you.

    ask yourself this: for what reason do you expect that your body will keep off the weight once you stop dieting to lose the excess?

    consider this: check out the posts in the forum "maintaining weight" for some tips on what to do once you have reached your goal.

    good luck
  • FarmerCarla
    FarmerCarla Posts: 470 Member
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    @paree0808 I haven't seen another post from you. There have been a lot of posts/opinions. What did you decide to do? Are you successfully losing weight?

    For my update, I've lost 24 lb. in 11 weeks (16 lb. to go). Since the 2nd week of keto, I haven't experienced the arthritis pain I had before keto, which makes me wonder if excess carbs contributed to my pain (and farting, which quickly ended). For me, I think the keto WOE will be sustainable. Sometimes, I miss my cookies and ice cream, but the benefits outweigh the extra carbs I've given up. Occasionally, like at Thanksgiving, I had a few bites of my favorite sweets, so I don't completely deprive myself. I'll have a little more leeway when I reach maintenance and don't have to maintain a deficit, but I learned from my last weight-loss experience (not keto) that I will still need to diligently track what I eat.
  • Ahanaz
    Ahanaz Posts: 353 Member
    edited December 2018
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    Ahanaz wrote: »

    ...

    I believe the what is just as important as when. I've been on MFP and been at a 1200-1400cals per day (with logging either here on MFP or spreadsheets, or sticking to same portions/foods prepped meals) and I've gained... in my case it was not helping to eat only less than what I burned. In my case it was also When I ate.

    ...

    If you're losing weight, you're in a deficit.

    What we think a deficit "should" be for us, isn't always what it is. Some people find they have to adjust their calorie goal upward because they are using more calories than they initially thought. Others find they have to adjust it downward because they use fewer.

    The fact that it can be difficult for some people to initially estimate how many calories their body needs (and therefore, what a deficit is for them) doesn't mean that weight loss isn't created by a calorie deficit. It just means there are some variables involved (how we measure what we eat, how we measure how many calories we're using each day) and some people need a bit of trial and error to get it figured out.

    If you're losing weight at 1,800 calories a day, then 1,800 calories is a deficit for you.

    Then please explain how 1800 calories is a deficit, but 1200-1400 calories isn't.
  • ThierryVerhaegen
    ThierryVerhaegen Posts: 169 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    but the water holding will discourage people who expect the advertised fast results and might drop out, so it does impact the fat loss on the long term :)

    To be fair, perhaps this applies to you. But women with hormonal cycles can have rather dramatic water weight losses and gains throughout the month, regardless of what diet they are on. A woman who gets discouraged by water weight fluctuations to the point she stops trying to lose weight, will never get to her goal weight, regardless of how she eats! Better to educate people about how their body works and let them pick the way of eating they are most comfortable with IMHO.

    I've lost 25kg doing keto, and i have had periods where i did not visibly lose any weight on the scale. I can see through this as i realize i'm still doing it right so the results on the scale will also follow, if not today then tomorrow and so on. But sadly when i see my mother trying to lose weight, this does apply. "Oh my god i gained 0.25 pounds and i did my diet perfectly yesterday", or even worse "Oh my god I lost weight and i cheated yesterday". I tried to explain it multiple times and althought she says she understands, it never seems to really sink in. And as a result she cannot see it through.

    So thank you for thinking you know me but it doesn't apply to me :)
  • RovP6
    RovP6 Posts: 108 Member
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    The thing is that ANY diet will work because the math all adds up to CALORIES.

    1g of protein equals 4 calories
    1g of carbs equals 4 calories
    1g of fat equals 9 calories
    1g of alcohol equals 7 calories.

    We all need .9 to 1.2g of protein per lean body mass no matter what the diet style.

    We all need a minimum amount of healthy fat to function properly.

    And so we can play with fat and carbs up to a calorie level.

    If the fat and protein are too high for fat loss on keto, then of course you won't lose weight. The same applies to any other diet.

    These numbers right here are the key to healthy nutrient and calorie intake.

    Start by tracking everything every day and weighing yourself every day. Do that for 2 weeks then take an average of your calories and weight for those two weeks. If you've gained weight reduce daily calorie intake by 500, if you've maintained at least you know your maintenance calories and if you've lost weight continue at that level if you want to lose more weight. Keep tracking and weighing yourself daily. I have a small spreadsheet that I can just plug the numbers into and it works out my average calories and weight for the two weeks. Once you know the number of calories then you can start working on the macros. Work out your protein first, then your fats @ 25% of total calories and the rest is carbs. Drink at least a litre of water per 1000 calories, preferably more, make sure you get around 30g of fibre and start from there.

    Watch out for metabolic adaptation, ie the longer you stay at a set calorie level the more your body gets used to that level and adapts. This can lead to further unhealthy calorie level drops and ultimate malnutrition as you chase the weight loss. Give yourself a refeed day once a week when you perhaps take in 1000 more calories than normal, your body will thank you for it. If you plateau and stop losing weight try a reverse diet where you actually increase your calorie intake for a period to avoid the metabolic adaptation. Stick with whatever plan you end up on and don't hop around when things don't look like they're working. These things take time.

    There is lots of great nutritional advice out there. If you're on Instagram try following these people:

    @cody.boomboom
    @drbeckycampbell
    @evan_demarco (fish oil man)
    @stanefferding
    @al_kavadlo

    It's also worth bearing in mind that your BMR is responsible for burning 90% of your total daily calories so if you can raise that and keep it high you're on to a winner. Daily cardio of the level that most of us can manage has very little effect on your total daily calorie burn. Aim to build muscle as this burns more calories. A basic strength training regime will help, with all the usual caveats about taking it easy if you're not used to strength training etc.

    I speak from personal experience having lost 10kg over the course of a year and kept it off for a further year (95% of people who lose weight put it, and more, back on in less than three years!). I've also altered my body composition from 25+% body fat down to less than 15% and built more lean muscle. I've done this by prioritising strength training 3-4 times per week and tracking calories.

    Ultimately, it's all about finding what works for you. Someone asked me what sort of exercise they should do to lose weight? My reply was the only thing you need to exercise is restraint!

    Last comment from me...don't track on Christmas Day, just eat and enjoy yourself. It doesn't take one day to make progress so you won't undo all your progress in one day either.

    Good luck everyone.

    Dave
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Keto doesn't help but a healthy meal plan does. And a little exercise, if possible.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    sfstegall wrote: »
    This means that you must eat a strictly keto diet for at least one month before you can expect to see a change. Not ten days, not two weeks, but at least thirty days. If you've been eating a relatively low-carb diet, this MIGHT happen sooner. Maybe. But if you've been eating a carb-heavy diet, it may take up to three months.

    This doesn't mean you won't lose in the meantime, though -- among other things, you'd get the water weight drop. It's more about exercise and energy (and maybe the keto flu).

    When I tried keto I avoided the flu by following the advice to up my salt, but could tell my energy was lagging when running up stairs (I used to live in a fourth floor walk-up) or when working out. That problem went away in about 2 weeks. (I was already low carb, around 100-120 g, before.)
    Transitioning to a keto diet also means you can't cheat. Ever. It would be like asking all those newly trained doll makers to go back to making trucks, which they've forgotten how to do. Your body will scramble to dump all the ketone-body digestive enzymes and re-load the old carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, which is like writing over a computer file. You've just wiped out ALL YOUR PROGRESS with one cookie. You have to start all over to get into ketosis, starting with a minimum of thirty days to transition back to ketosis.

    I don't think this is true at all.

    First, it has nothing to do with weight loss.

    Second, one you are in ketosis, it's not that hard to get back in upon briefly going out, and you don't lose the adaptation and so suffer keto flu/loss of energy anyway. This was my experience, and many people in the low carb group didn't worry about being in or out, and many seemed to bounce in and out.

    Here's a rant from a keto/low carb advocate on the topic: http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2016/01/dont-be-a-ketard1.html

    This is also interesting: https://peterattiamd.com/actually-eat-part-iii-circa-q1-2014/