Keto, discouraged

Ajirvin

Ok so I started keto/IF JAN 2nd. I lost like 8 pounds the first week and 2 more a couple of weeks ago. Other than that, nothing. Last time I did keto, I lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks—-and I ate WAY more. I barely eat anything now (I eat till I’m full but that’s it).
Now I will say, during the Super Bowl weekend, we took a mini vacation and I cheated for 4 days but still stayed under calories. Is it possible that this cheat vaca reset me completely?
I’m frustrated with myself bc I ate way more and unhealthier when I did it before but lost more weight then. That was only Ike a year or so ago.

angelexperiment

Try doing an egg day. See if that kickstarts anything. If you’ve lost maybe you need to adjust calories to make sure you are in correct deficit. Or sometimes you need to eat more! And maybe you need to adjust your carb intake and lower it a little and see if that’s helpful.

tinkerbellang83

So you've lost 10lbs in 6 weeks, not really sure why you think this is a problem?

A healthy rate of loss for people who are losing more than vanity weight is 1-2 pounds per week.

Weight loss isn't linear.

The initial weight drop with Keto comes from water released from the body from reduction in carbs, if you were already lower carb this time, then you won't see as big a drop.

Ajirvin

Tinker- I understand how keto works and about the initial weight loss. The point of my post was to say the first time I tried this I lost 3x what I did this time and I am eating healthier this time. I’m discouraged that I’m trying to do better and losing less.

magnusthenerd

Ajirvin wrote: »

Ok so I started keto/IF JAN 2nd. I lost like 8 pounds the first week and 2 more a couple of weeks ago. Other than that, nothing. Last time I did keto, I lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks—-and I ate WAY more. I barely eat anything now (I eat till I’m full but that’s it).
Now I will say, during the Super Bowl weekend, we took a mini vacation and I cheated for 4 days but still stayed under calories. Is it possible that this cheat vaca reset me completely?
I’m frustrated with myself bc I ate way more and unhealthier when I did it before but lost more weight then. That was only Ike a year or so ago.

If by cheated and stayed under calories you mean you reintroduced carbs, then generally you'd have refilled at least some of your glycogen and the associated water weight.

You could have had more water weight the last time you did keto. If by healther keto, you mean you're actually getting in vegetables, you might not be shedding water weight from glycogen depletion as much this time.

If you understand most of the initial loss is water weight, I don't see why be bothered that it is so variable between losses. Focus on counting calories accurately if you want to consistently lose fat.

cheryldumais

You are likely looking at a water weight gain from going out of ketosis. I lost my weight counting calories but before that I had a long history of trying other diets. People on low carb/keto diets have a tendency to drop weight fast the first few weeks because your body is losing water used to process the carbs. Once you go into ketosis the body is supposed to be burning fat. When you reintroduce carbs the water comes back no matter what your calories are. So the short answer is you gained water weight not fat weight. Give it time to come back off.

tinkerbellang83

Ajirvin wrote: »

Tinker- I understand how keto works and about the initial weight loss. The point of my post was to say the first time I tried this I lost 3x what I did this time and I am eating healthier this time. I’m discouraged that I’m trying to do better and losing less.

The first time you did it, you would have had far more water to lose, because you would have been eating more carb prior to weight loss. A big portion of what you would have lost the first time around would have been that water weight. Then Keto like all other diets evens out to a rate of 1-2 pounds per week, which is what you're currently losing.

Be patient! Fat gain doesn't happen overnight, neither does fat loss.

kimny72

I would add that it has been shown in research time and again that human beings are kind of awful at judging how much they are eating without weighing and measuring portions. Just because it seems to you like you are eating the same amount as you were, doesn't mean that's 100% true. And you might have been slightly more active last time, and that caused you to burn a few more calories then than now. Add the water weight differences @tinkerbellang83 is talking about, and there's your difference.

Weight loss is not linear or easy to predict pace or timeline for. You don't always get results exactly proportional to the effort you feel you are putting in. That's just real life. The body is a complicated machine, and there are dozens of variables, many of which we have little control or visibility to. If you continue to see long term trends over weeks of losing 1-2 lbs per week, that is successful weight loss. It is not unusual to go 2-3 weeks with no weight loss, even if you do everything perfectly, regardless of what diet you follow. Hang in there!

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1

angelexperiment

Maybe you are out of keto sis and not fat adapted bc of football week. I’d check with ketone strips

magnusthenerd

angelexperiment wrote: »

Maybe you are out of keto sis and not fat adapted bc of football week. I’d check with ketone strips

Strips aren't particularly reliable, and there's not much point to trying that strict to be in ketosis if it isn't for treating a medical condition like epilepsy.

Ajirvin

Thanks for all of your replies!

57momagain

I'm having the same exact problem. I totally understand what you're going through. Ugh!