Steady loss, on any woe, almost never happens (men, and very few women will have a ski slope type of weight loss). Mine has been a rollercoaster ride (not even the stair step type loss I've heard described)! It's not fun to see this, but it happens, even when you're doing everything right! Remember, it's not a true stall until you don't see weight loss for four weeks (with some increases on the scale too!)!

I consider these to be "Healing Pauses", because I always feel better physically after its done! Imo, this is a time when the body pauses to fix something, thereby holding on to water to do it with, showing scale increases (that really mess with our heads!!!)! They're part of the process!

Try to hang in there! Continuing to do what you know to be right will lead to success!

It is extremely typical for someone to experience a stall or slight gain a week or two after starting. This is so common it even has its own name "PISS" (Post-Induction Stall Syndrome). You are right in the window for this to happen.

But, you should also remember that this won't be a steady weight loss. There's no such thing. I have a graph, somewhere, of my first year on low-carb. If you look at the year, it looks very steady and like I was constantly losing. When you zoom in on any week, you'll see ups and down and stalls. Even on 2-3 week blocks, you'll see times when it looks like nothing is happening at all. And, I am a man. So, my weight loss is 10 times steadier than most women's loss.

This happened to me about ten days in and it turned out it was that time of the month. Once that was over, I was back to losing as expected. Also, I figured out my scale was weighing a little bit different depending on where on the floor it sits, and that it also weighs a little higher the first time I step on it (for some strange reason).

You know, it's honestly too early to say, but some of us seem to have more consistency at 30g total or less. With that said, that's what I do and I still have all the fluctuations you see. There's sooooooooooooooooooooo much more than body fat that affects your daily weight. As a matter of fact, daily weight is significantly less affected by actual body fat than anything else. Even when you see a nice loss one day, the amount of it that's actually from fat loss is less than you think. So the same would be true for any "gain" too. It's the long term and trends that will reveal fat loss.
And as we like to say here,
Keep calm and Keto on!

I was so relieved to find this discussion! I joined this group today as having stepped on the scales this morning on day 15 of a keto diet, I find I haven't lost any weight at all in the last week. I know I lost quite a bit of weight in the first, as I was back to my pre-Christmas weight as of last Monday (I don't know how much exactly).
My calorie count is set to 1400. I aim for less than 20g of carbs per day (not always successful, but I'm still learning!), with the goal to get 75% of my calories from fat. I am also training for a marathon, so my protein is set to the highest recommended level (by Dr. Volek et al) at 1g per lb of lean body mass. Given all of the above I was really disheartened to see no change on the scales this morning, but learning about PISS (what an unfortunate acronym) has given me hope again.
Thank you to the original poster and all of the guys who commented

MerryOne00 wrote: »

I have a similar story. Week 1, I lost 8 lbs. Weeks 2&3 were stable-no loss but no gains! That was my monthly visit during that time too. My calories were up so I am thrilled to just maintain! I am hopeful to see some loss this week. I am cutting out the cheese for a while. I think I eat too much but I need to find some fat to balance my macros.

Keep in mind, your body will use YOUR fat if it needs some, so not really necessary to go out of your way to add it (unless you need the calories).

Tanya1551 wrote: »

I was hoping some seasoned ketoers can provide some insight here.
I started jan 4 and am down 10 lbs.
Im in ketosis everyday and eat around 1000-1300 cals/ around 40-50 carb grams (not net) .
The scale has actually gone up in the past few days by 2 lbs.
Im one that needs to see the numbers go down to stay on track and encouraged so this is frustrating.
I have approx 80 left to lose and am feeling great so far, no cravings after the first week.
The only changes ive made in the last few days was adding in avocadoes, chicken sausage and turkey bacon - i also switched to whipping cream
For my coffee rather than half and half.

Sorry for the long winded vent here!
I would really appreciate what worked for you to continue the steady loss.
Thank you!!!

I was about to come in here and post something very similar. On Wednesday I was down 2.5 pounds and on Saturday I hopped on the scale hoping to see a downward movement and I went up 3 pounds. I got discouraged, because I've been on point with my eating/tracking and walking 4 days a week for 2.5 miles. Normally, this would upset me and make me say forget it and stop, but I decided to keep going in hopes of some progress. I'm only 2 weeks in and I have around 80 to lose. It is frustrating.

I lost 8 lbs in the first 2 weeks (started Nov. 2, 18 lbs from goal) and then stalled for almost a month. During that time the scale would go up and down a little. I was getting antsy b/c I had never plateaued that early and then went on to start losing again. But it worked and I'm now down 17 lbs. Weight loss has been up and down, sometimes a plateau for a while and then it starts dropping every day for a week. Funny how it works but with the encouragement of the others here I've gotten more patient with the process.

I aim for 1350 cals/day (sometimes higher, sometimes lower) and similar carb level to you (I try to stay under 20-30 net; total is usually mid-20s to mid-40s).

I would consider not exercising too much either. Going overboard ends up being counter productive. It creates stress, which produces cortisol, and a while chain reaction of hormones that can set you back. Think of the exercise as an enhancement and not what actually created the weight loss. You also get inflammation and water retention from sore muscles and too much time spent each day can really trigger hunger that negates any benefit you would've gotten in the first place.
I think it's generally suggested to do a HIIT type workout that only takes like 10-15 minutes a couple times a week. Like twice.. Not 4 or 5 times. Or cardio in 20-30 minute sessions 2-3 times a week. Of course, anyone that is more fit and has been at it longer can generally do more if they want to.

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I would consider not exercising too much either. Going overboard ends up being counter productive. It creates stress, which produces cortisol, and a while chain reaction of hormones that can set you back. Think of the exercise as an enhancement and not what actually created the weight loss. You also get inflammation and water retention from sore muscles and too much time spent each day can really trigger hunger that negates any benefit you would've gotten in the first place.
I think it's generally suggested to do a HIIT type workout that only takes like 10-15 minutes a couple times a week. Like twice.. Not 4 or 5 times. Or cardio in 20-30 minute sessions 2-3 times a week. Of course, anyone that is more fit and has been at it longer can generally do more if they want to.

Yep the excess exercise is true for me. Every single time I've cut my exercise in half I've lost weight that week. And the only exercise I do is walking lol Usually over 20,000 steps a day. I would assume weight lifting or intense exercise would affect the scale even more.

I listened to a Fat Burning Man podcast over the weekend in which he interviews Denise Minger (of Death by Food Pyramid fame). One of the topics addressed was "why some women gain weight on Paleo." Granted, LCHF is not necessarily Paleo, but it may still apply. The answer, in a nutshell, was that some people - women in particular - need more carbohydrate for proper hormone function. And that there could be gut issues. The link to the podcast is here: http://fatburningman.com/denise-minger-raw-vegan-vs-paleo-ditching-dietary-dogma-and-how-to-spot-a-fraud/

I also read a book called "No Fail Fat Burning For Women" by Skye St. John. She definitely advocates a LCHF, Bulletproof-style diet. She also recommends "carb re-feeds" every 10 days using "safe starches" such as sweet potato, plantain, butternut squash, and white rice. Interesting concept. I haven't tried it myself, as I have been eating fruit and starch after running so I'm not super-low carb (try to stick between 50-100g). and for the record, I am restarting after a lot of holiday cheating and a couple pounds gained

Tanya1551 wrote: »

The gain has now turned into a 0.2 loss .... So from 268.8 to 271.0.yesterday back down to 268.6 this am - only change is that i ate a ton of bacon and avo for dinner and bumped up my calories.
Your support on this post truly helped me not to fall off the wagon completely yesterday - i now trust the process!!

I lost mine this morning too. I made the decision to work at this 10 pounds at a time. So my goal is always to lose ten then when I meet that I'll reset my goal to the next ten.