How is the Fat Fast Different from Keto???

Options
kiknitwite
kiknitwite Posts: 36 Member
I started Keto with a 4 day fat fast where I lost 3.1 pounds and did a lot of research and wanted to try the lifestyle. I'm hoping to lost about 75 pounds, getting me to ONEderland and then go from there. After my 1st week of Keto, shark week came and I only lost about 2 pounds and this week I've lost NONE at all. I hear about pple lost like 15-20 pounds in the first month and then tapering off. It's been 3 weeks and I haven't lost anything like that. My birthday is in Hawaii in September and I would like to hit 45 pound by then (I'm at about 20 now). Either way, I'm not losing like I feel I should, at least no in the beginning. I'm not sure if it's due to how I'm eating or not. I've pretty much gotten recipes down and I've been trying things, no carbs, only from fruits and veggies, and I drink half my body weight in ounces in water which is about 127 ounces everyday - I slip some on the weekend. Any way can someone tell me the difference between the FAT FAST and how i'm doing Keto now? Maybe I don't have enough variety in my diet? I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong?!

Here are my Macros: 70% fat (86g), 25% protein 69g), and 5% carbs (14g). I shoot for 1,000 to 1,100 calories per day and that gives me about a 1,152 calorie deficit. So shouldn't I be losing by DEFAULT?!

Replies

  • Mylucia
    Mylucia Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    Hi. Congratulations on your successfully losing 20 pounds! I think you might want to lower your protein and you should be at 20 grams carbs. People react differently to protein maybe it raises your insulin even at 69 grams? Also you should try 1300 to 1400 calories perhaps your body is holding on to fat because it thinks it's starving.
  • MzSmythe
    MzSmythe Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Hi. Congratulations on your successfully losing 20 pounds! I think you might want to lower your protein and you should be at 20 grams carbs. People react differently to protein maybe it raises your insulin even at 69 grams? Also you should try 1300 to 1400 calories perhaps your body is holding on to fat because it thinks it's starving.

    ^
    This! Congratulations!

    Firstly - a fat fast is an Atkins concept where you do 3-5 days of getting 95% of your calories from fat, and having no more than 1000-1200 calories per day. It's not recommended as a long-term fix, more as a jump-start if your weight loss has stalled (FYI, yours hasn't! A stall is more like 4 weeks with no loss. So don't panic!).

    Keto is a more long-term way of eating, and allows a lot more variety of food. Macro's range from 70% fat up to 85% fat - it depends on the person as to how they feel best.


    I agree that your calories intake might be a little low. I know it's tempting to dial down the calories as far as possible, but it won't necessarily make you lose weight faster. It sounds like your body is just recalibrating itself after the initial big loss (doesn't want to give up that lovely fat!!) . Some people do lose a lot regularly, but only if they have a lot to lose in the first place. Everyone finds that they begin to taper off eventually, and a couple of pounds a week (on average) is nothing to be sniffed at!

    I think you should get rid of the fruit for a little while and just get your carbs from veg whilst you are still in the adjustment phase for keto. It's possible it could be still causing your insulin level to spike, which prevents fat being burned for fuel.

    Also, I'd highly recommend extra virgin coconut oil in your coffee and to cook with if you're not already doing so. It's like the carb of the high fat world for giving you extra energy and creating ketones.

    It can take between 3 weeks and 3 months for people to become properly adapted to keto. Lots of people can't stick with it if they reduce their calories too far, too fast. It worked best for me to concentrate on getting my macros right and not the calories to begin with... it just naturally worked out from there. I'm a bit of geek about testing stuff on myself, and an example is this last month - I 'overate' by 6.5 days this past month. I should have put on 2.5lbs. I actually lost 6.

    So in a nutshell, you aren't doing anything wrong, you just need to tweak around the edges to get the best fit for you. As long as you are eating around 0.8g protein for each kg of lean mass, you'll have sufficient protein to conserve your muscles, and prevent excess being converted into loads of glucose.

    Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing!
  • h2oladee
    h2oladee Posts: 15
    Options
    Hi. Congratulations on your successfully losing 20 pounds! I think you might want to lower your protein and you should be at 20 grams carbs. People react differently to protein maybe it raises your insulin even at 69 grams? Also you should try 1300 to 1400 calories perhaps your body is holding on to fat because it thinks it's starving.

    ^
    This! Congratulations!

    Firstly - a fat fast is an Atkins concept where you do 3-5 days of getting 95% of your calories from fat, and having no more than 1000-1200 calories per day. It's not recommended as a long-term fix, more as a jump-start if your weight loss has stalled (FYI, yours hasn't! A stall is more like 4 weeks with no loss. So don't panic!).

    Keto is a more long-term way of eating, and allows a lot more variety of food. Macro's range from 70% fat up to 85% fat - it depends on the person as to how they feel best.


    I agree that your calories intake might be a little low. I know it's tempting to dial down the calories as far as possible, but it won't necessarily make you lose weight faster. It sounds like your body is just recalibrating itself after the initial big loss (doesn't want to give up that lovely fat!!) . Some people do lose a lot regularly, but only if they have a lot to lose in the first place. Everyone finds that they begin to taper off eventually, and a couple of pounds a week (on average) is nothing to be sniffed at!

    I think you should get rid of the fruit for a little while and just get your carbs from veg whilst you are still in the adjustment phase for keto. It's possible it could be still causing your insulin level to spike, which prevents fat being burned for fuel.

    Also, I'd highly recommend extra virgin coconut oil in your coffee and to cook with if you're not already doing so. It's like the carb of the high fat world for giving you extra energy and creating ketones.

    It can take between 3 weeks and 3 months for people to become properly adapted to keto. Lots of people can't stick with it if they reduce their calories too far, too fast. It worked best for me to concentrate on getting my macros right and not the calories to begin with... it just naturally worked out from there. I'm a bit of geek about testing stuff on myself, and an example is this last month - I 'overate' by 6.5 days this past month. I should have put on 2.5lbs. I actually lost 6.

    So in a nutshell, you aren't doing anything wrong, you just need to tweak around the edges to get the best fit for you. As long as you are eating around 0.8g protein for each kg of lean mass, you'll have sufficient protein to conserve your muscles, and prevent excess being converted into loads of glucose.

    Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing!
  • h2oladee
    h2oladee Posts: 15
    Options
    Wow, that's some great info! My problem is getting fat & fiber! Any suggestions that don't involve a ton of carbs? I'm just 30 days in to keto and have found that so far this is the life for me, but need to increase the fat and fiber. Going to start trying the coconut oil, butter coffee (fat bomb coffee?) however the fiber has me stumped. Any help..... ?
  • MzSmythe
    MzSmythe Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Thanks!

    It can certainly be tough getting to the MFP recommended level of fibre if you're on keto without going way over on the carbs :)

    There is an interesting chain of thought that we don't need as much fibre as we are told to eat, as it's our gut bacteria that manages that sort of thing for us (i'm not agreeing or disagreeing we need it, just throwin' it out there - take a look around the internet - there's lots of interesting pieces about how much fibre we actually need...make your own conclusions based on how you feel with less than the minimum!)

    With my macros, I'm on 16g carbs a day, so get my fibre from things with low net carbs (i.e. total carbs - fibre = net carbs) such as:

    - broccoli
    -brussell sprouts
    -kale
    -spinach
    -pretty much anything that's green and leafy!

    I find this suits me perfectly and have had no negative effects from having a lower level of fibre.

    However, if you're really worried, and you just can't fit in enough fibre with your macros, you could consider supplementing with psyllium husk? It's a soluble fibre which when it mixes with water expands and 'makes it way out' and isn't absorbed by the body. Just make sure you drink a hella lot of water or you'll get, ahem, 'clogged'.

    If you have room in your macros for fruit and you can tolerate it, raspberries and blackberries also have a relatively high fibre content.

    I'm sure other people have other recommendations for how they manage it, which i'd be interested to hear!

    *Edited to add - if you take any medications or vitamin supplements, make sure you follow the instructions on your psyllium husk - it's very effective at clearing you out, and can interfere with the absorption of other stuff e.g. oral contraceptives, anti-biotics if you take them at the same time.
  • kiknitwite
    kiknitwite Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    Thanks!

    It can certainly be tough getting to the MFP recommended level of fibre if you're on keto without going way over on the carbs :)

    There is an interesting chain of thought that we don't need as much fibre as we are told to eat, as it's our gut bacteria that manages that sort of thing for us (i'm not agreeing or disagreeing we need it, just throwin' it out there - take a look around the internet - there's lots of interesting pieces about how much fibre we actually need...make your own conclusions based on how you feel with less than the minimum!)

    With my macros, I'm on 16g carbs a day, so get my fibre from things with low net carbs (i.e. total carbs - fibre = net carbs) such as:

    - broccoli
    -brussell sprouts
    -kale
    -spinach
    -pretty much anything that's green and leafy!

    I find this suits me perfectly and have had no negative effects from having a lower level of fibre.

    However, if you're really worried, and you just can't fit in enough fibre with your macros, you could consider supplementing with psyllium husk? It's a soluble fibre which when it mixes with water expands and 'makes it way out' and isn't absorbed by the body. Just make sure you drink a hella lot of water or you'll get, ahem, 'clogged'.

    If you have room in your macros for fruit and you can tolerate it, raspberries and blackberries also have a relatively high fibre content.

    I'm sure other people have other recommendations for how they manage it, which i'd be interested to hear!

    *Edited to add - if you take any medications or vitamin supplements, make sure you follow the instructions on your psyllium husk - it's very effective at clearing you out, and can interfere with the absorption of other stuff e.g. oral contraceptives, anti-biotics if you take them at the same time.

    Good morning ladies!!!!

    I take sugar free Fiber Choice Gummies! It's like a little treat and 4 gets you 10 grams of fiber. They are tasty and 10 calories for 2 and 0 net carbs. http://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Fiber-Gummies-90-Count-Bottle/dp/B002NPCMJC

    I was finding that I wasn't GOING often enough and felt bloated often. I drink half my body weight in water so it wasn't that. I was only getting like 4g of fiber a day, so with the supplements I can about 14-15 without trying and on good days, I can make my quota. I've tried psyllium husk. :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: EW! It's quite disgusting going down and thanks MzSmythe for mentioning the absorption issues. So far I'm happy with my supplements!
  • MzSmythe
    MzSmythe Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Good morning ladies!!!!

    I take sugar free Fiber Choice Gummies! It's like a little treat and 4 gets you 10 grams of fiber. They are tasty and 10 calories for 2 and 0 net carbs. http://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Fiber-Gummies-90-Count-Bottle/dp/B002NPCMJC

    I was finding that I wasn't GOING often enough and felt bloated often. I drink half my body weight in water so it wasn't that. I was only getting like 4g of fiber a day, so with the supplements I can about 14-15 without trying and on good days, I can make my quota. I've tried psyllium husk. :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: EW! It's quite disgusting going down and thanks MzSmythe for mentioning the absorption issues. So far I'm happy with my supplements!
    [/quote]

    Hahaha! Thanks for the suggestion! Good morning!
  • MzSmythe
    MzSmythe Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Good morning ladies!!!!

    I take sugar free Fiber Choice Gummies! It's like a little treat and 4 gets you 10 grams of fiber. They are tasty and 10 calories for 2 and 0 net carbs. http://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Fiber-Gummies-90-Count-Bottle/dp/B002NPCMJC

    I was finding that I wasn't GOING often enough and felt bloated often. I drink half my body weight in water so it wasn't that. I was only getting like 4g of fiber a day, so with the supplements I can about 14-15 without trying and on good days, I can make my quota. I've tried psyllium husk. :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: EW! It's quite disgusting going down and thanks MzSmythe for mentioning the absorption issues. So far I'm happy with my supplements!

    Hahaha! Thanks for the suggestion! Good morning!
    [/quote]
  • MzSmythe
    MzSmythe Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Obviously I found your disgust so funny I had to post twice!
  • h2oladee
    h2oladee Posts: 15
    Options
    You're funny :laugh: ! Thanks for all the good info!!