Why is it going so wrong this time?
Latse
Posts: 61 Member
I have been doing low carb for 3 years, I had bariatric surgery 3 years ago and kept carbs under 40g and protien around 100-120g a day for 2 years after surgery. In the last year have geared my macros to a LCHF.
Recent back story, between Thanksgiving and New Years was a free for all, gained 15lbs or so back. Freaked out and went back to LCHF, first keto calculator had me at about 1600 calories a day 5%C20%P75%F did that for 2 weeks (was in Ketosis) and GAINED 5 more pounds ?!?!?!?
Went to a different keto calculator suggested in these forums and adjusted total calories to 1050 same % values and have been following that for the last 2 weeks. I have seen that new 5lbs come off (yay) but have had horrible night cravings/binging. The last bought knocked me out of ketosis because I was half asleep rummaging though the fridge and cupboards.
I just can't find a happy middle 1600 is too much 1000 is causing mid-night binging and 1200-1400 is my maintenance range. Any suggestions would be great!
Recent back story, between Thanksgiving and New Years was a free for all, gained 15lbs or so back. Freaked out and went back to LCHF, first keto calculator had me at about 1600 calories a day 5%C20%P75%F did that for 2 weeks (was in Ketosis) and GAINED 5 more pounds ?!?!?!?
Went to a different keto calculator suggested in these forums and adjusted total calories to 1050 same % values and have been following that for the last 2 weeks. I have seen that new 5lbs come off (yay) but have had horrible night cravings/binging. The last bought knocked me out of ketosis because I was half asleep rummaging though the fridge and cupboards.
I just can't find a happy middle 1600 is too much 1000 is causing mid-night binging and 1200-1400 is my maintenance range. Any suggestions would be great!
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I agree with you that 1000 is definitely too little and probably will never satisfy you throughout the day, and if 1600 made you gain, the answer is probably somewhere in between. I believe in 5/20/75 with my whole heart, but everyone is (supposedly) different when it comes to macros. I started at 275 so I set my calories to 1895 and have lost doing that. I just adjusted them down to 1837, BUT I usually am happy and full from around 1500. I'm also 5'7, so that factors in as well. I and most others will say unless you have a ton to lose, like hundreds of pounds, you probably should stay above at or above 1200. Just try it for a week, maybe even 2 at those macros and see what happens. You never know, you may gain or seem to but then lose.0
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You might try water fasting to get you back into ketosis, then severely limiting your carbs. Like under 10! I haven't been able to do the under 10 thing, but I am gonna try in the next few weeks.
Also, you might open your diary up to the public so some expert Keto people, on this group, can look at it (I'm not an expert and don't look at my diary...)
I am definitely NOT a good example for weight loss. NicsFlyingCircus (on this group) is the expert for eating lo-carb. She has lost 134 lbs!) Look at her diary. When you look up "LCHF diet" in the dictionary, her picture and name is next to it. 
Lately, I think I have perfected "maintenance" on Keto, I don't gain and I don't lose... (and I don't call it "stall" anymore)....
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
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Sorry my diary is set to friends only because I tend to follow a lower calorie diet and didn't want all the judgment, starvation mode, it's unhealthy blah blah blah..... For the first 2 years after surgery I was going to regular dietitian appointments and having multiple labs drawn every several months to make sure I wasn't deficient in anything important and didn't want to listen to others berate my 600 calorie MD supervised meal plan that was gradually increased to 1000 calories in the last year.
Following this plan I went from 340 to 194lb, gradual gain over the last 7months back to 200lb (carb creep), then the 20lb gain between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Other numbers used for keto calculator: weight this AM 213lb, height 5.6, age 37, BMI of 34-35, last Bod-Pod test had me at 42% body fat, mostly sedentary work, but hectic family life so I used the light activity selections, I also swim twice a week.
Most days carbs don't go over 15 and if you minus the 3-7 fiber carbs it's even less!
Not familiar with the water fasting, will have to google it
More then willing to accept friend invites! Suggestions welcomed, judgment not.
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No judgement here....I eat like a freak...lol. The most common question in my house lately is "Did you eat the last of that bacon?"
Do you by chance have a blood glucose / ketone monitor? that would help some in seeing whats happening on the inside. I'm diabetic, so i have one that does both and watch for trends. For me, when my glucose is up, my ketones are down. but thats me.
I also have a hard time getting back into a ketogenic state if i wander out. it takes me 3 - 4 weeks of self induced suffering to get keto adapted. ketosis is one thing. keto adaptation is another, and until I'm the latter, i feel kind of meh. I can tell when I'm there....its almost like I feel a switch flip. Mood, well-being, energy is all better...including cravings, although I am always more hungry after exercise. Not the day I do it, but the next day.
The lower calorie range coupled with the super low carb might just be too much for you until you hit your keto-adapty sweet spot. Maybe give it a littler more time, concentrate on hitting protein requirements, being under on carbs (which it seems you are great at already), and filling in with fat to keep you from rummaging about the cupboards like a wolverine
Best of luck!! 0 -
Sorry my diary is set to friends only because I tend to follow a lower calorie diet and didn't want all the judgment, starvation mode, it's unhealthy blah blah blah..... For the first 2 years after surgery I was going to regular dietitian appointments and having multiple labs drawn every several months to make sure I wasn't deficient in anything important and didn't want to listen to others berate my 600 calorie MD supervised meal plan that was gradually increased to 1000 calories in the last year.
Following this plan I went from 340 to 194lb, gradual gain over the last 7months back to 200lb (carb creep), then the 20lb gain between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Other numbers used for keto calculator: weight this AM 213lb, height 5.6, age 37, BMI of 34-35, last Bod-Pod test had me at 42% body fat, mostly sedentary work, but hectic family life so I used the light activity selections, I also swim twice a week.
Most days carbs don't go over 15 and if you minus the 3-7 fiber carbs it's even less!
Not familiar with the water fasting, will have to google it
More then willing to accept friend invites! Suggestions welcomed, judgment not.
Latse,
I looked at your diary. Going by the numbers, it looks marvelous.
Water fasting is where you only drink water for 1-4 days. Maybe take electrolytes, minerals and vitamins. No food that has calories. Fasting has many healthful effects to a person's health. Yea, I know, some will say its starvation and will slow your metabolism down. I usually lose a good amount and gain some back when I start to eat again. Its like, take five steps forward and two steps back, but it will, for sure, break a self-induced "maintenance". Of which I am currently in, so I am fasting now.
There are some "fasting" websites on my Keto Blog. Look under the "Fasting" section:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/DittoDan?month=201409
I know that there are a lot of women that get PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome) that have a really hard time losing weight ~ even Ketogenically and/or low calorie).
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
(P.S. I almost had bariatric surgery, but discovered this Keto diet, I'm going to give it a try.)
P.S.S. Did you get the vertical sleeve or lap band or roux-en-Y? I was on the path for a sleeve.
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I had the sleeve done and love the restriction it gives me in those weak moments where I'm not in control of my portions. At one point I looked into intermittent fasting but due to the restrictive property's of the VSG couldn't do just the one to two large meals a day.
I did a quick look into water fasting and don't think I could pull that off. I have a hard enough time getting 8-10 cups of water a day and use a lot of tea bags and/or flavor packets to get it all down. And I get grumpy w/o food LoL.
No PCOS. Just decades of yoyo diets had a CO2 max and Resting Metabalic rate tested last summer and have a stupidly low caloric need.
Back to the drawing board to play with macros / or put locks on my pantry and fridge!0 -
Just using ketostix to monitor I have kept an eye out for a blood monitor at Wal-Mart/Walgreen ( I just have an aversion to ordering on online for some reason)
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I get nighttime hunger even when I keep my carbs under 20. I combat this by having coconut oil coffee in the morning (it's really good blended up into a frothy coffee) and then waiting to eat as long as I can. Then I have one big meat meal in the afternoon/evening.
Careful for those who don't regularly eat coconut oil, though. Start off with a teaspoon here and there. The stuff has a wonderful laxative effect at first, but it's not so nice if you don't need a laxative!0 -
Just using ketostix to monitor I have kept an eye out for a blood monitor at Wal-Mart/Walgreen ( I just have an aversion to ordering on online for some reason)
You can get the meters for free online. I got the Nova Max Plus: https://storefront.novacares.com/storefront/
The REAL cost is in the strips, but mine came with a couple free ones...had it for a year+, still haven't used it yet. ;-)
I was wondering though, whether a "pre-diabetes" diagnosis might justify your health insurance company to cover the testing strips? Any one know?
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At 213lb, even 1600 calories would be a deficit. What's your height?
Gaining 5lbs in 2 weeks makes me wonder about a variety of factors like water retention, accuracy of labels, accuracy of your weighing/measuring. A legit 5lbs in 2 weeks would mean every single day you were eating an average of 1250 calories OVER your TDEE.0 -
I cannot verify this, but my doctor told me some insurance companies will not pay for ketone strips. Their reasoning is that these were designed for diabetics that get ketoacidosis. They will pay for the glucose strips (of course). But, with that said, I would just call your insurance and find out for sure. My doctor did prescribe a meter and strips to me, but I never used the Rx because I got a Ketonix.Just using ketostix to monitor I have kept an eye out for a blood monitor at Wal-Mart/Walgreen ( I just have an aversion to ordering on online for some reason)
You can get the meters for free online. I got the Nova Max Plus: https://storefront.novacares.com/storefront/
The REAL cost is in the strips, but mine came with a couple free ones...had it for a year+, still haven't used it yet. ;-)
I was wondering though, whether a "pre-diabetes" diagnosis might justify your health insurance company to cover the testing strips? Any one know?
Dan the Man from Michigan
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Perhaps think about eating on the lower end of your calories, working out, and then eating those calories back. That way you are too tired to wake up for cravings, and a walk on a treadmill at 30 minutes with an incline will burn *about* 200 calories. That could be an extra snack.0
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At 213lb, even 1600 calories would be a deficit. What's your height?
Gaining 5lbs in 2 weeks makes me wonder about a variety of factors like water retention, accuracy of labels, accuracy of your weighing/measuring. A legit 5lbs in 2 weeks would mean every single day you were eating an average of 1250 calories OVER your TDEE.
Remember I said I had a VO2 Max and Resting Metabolic Rate test done, the "normal" mathematical formulas are WAY off from the actual test results (for me). If I remember right the formulas put me somewhere around 2200, but the test put me at 1500-1600, this is why I started at the 1600 range, figured I could at least be able to stop the gain and adjust to returning my carbs to >20g. If you want to figure it out: height 5'6", weight 213lb, age 36, rough BF% 42, sedentary to light activity.
Food measurements shouldn't be too far off, I use a scale on most proteins unless pre-packages. The only thing I eyeball is my spinach or mixed greens, they are so low calorie it doesn't matter too much if it's 1.5 cups or 2 cups or 2.5 cups. The dietitians have kinda trained me to be a stickler for making sure everything is counted / measured.
Jolinia - I do have BPC every morning, but due to the VSG I can't do one large meal in the evening, so I have a small lunch and dinner. Love the laxative like benefit of coconut oil, when following a low carb diet
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I have some experience with stupidly low caloric needs, it runs in my family, all the women have it myself included. What we've found is that there are certain that go along with it.
1) MEGA water retention, all the time. This actually increases for us when we super-hydrate but then it goes down dramatically when our bodies get used to the idea of always having plenty of water. Low-cal needs are often matched with low thirst, which you said you have some trouble with drinking enough.
2) Body type: we're all hourglass shaped in my family. Not sure if you are or not....but if you are you may consider that this body type naturally wants to hold onto weight and gain it. It's something to know about yourself.
3) Fasting isn't practical/possible. When you have such low cal needs your body doesn't seem to be good at pulling things out of storage, only putting them in.
Above all, it's gonna suck trying to lose weight, but creating a new set point/maintaining it is often easier once you get there than for people with higher cal needs.0
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