LCHF Way of Life frustrations

kandyflower wrote: »

I'm new to this LCHF eating. I keep gaining weight as I try and figure this out. Anyone else having these issues? I'm now trying to drink a ton of water. I'm also drinking Ketones (Pruvit brand) in the morning....
What's the key?

Fewer calories...

Are you logging your food? It's still about calories.

kandyflower wrote: »

Yes I'm loving my food on MFP premium and not hitting my fat target of macros and going over my carbs. Those two are hard to meet for me. Remember, I'm new to this although I had lost 64 pounds on Ideal Protien and gained 50 back.

Need great ideas on how to hit the carb and fat targets.

Thanks for all the replies!

But are you at or under your calorie goal? The macro numbers matter less for weight loss than the total calories. If you are gaining (and not just short term fluctuations) then you aren't in a calorie deficit.

First off, stop taking artificial ketones. They do nothing for you and will just make ketone sticks show up positive despite that the ketones are artificial and doing nothing for you.

Second, lower your carb intake. You've mentioned you are going over carb goals. What are your carb goals? How much are you going over?

ETA after looking at your diary: Start logging everything every day so you know what/how much you are eating.

Last July I started a ketogenic diet. I dropped 55 pounds in 2 and a half months. I was amazed how it well it worked for me. My daughter on the other hand dropped a total of 17. I can only speak for my diet but I never saw someone work out and watch their diet so closely as she did. I kept my self in ketosis for several months without a carb reload or even a cheat day. We were out of town over Thanksgiving and I figured it would be ok afterward to just return to my carb restricted diet. Well fast forward to last Saturday. I gained every bit of what I had lost back. Not just by consuming carbs but by returning to bad habits. I was eating an average of 6800 calories a day. My cholesterol went up 30 points and I feel lethargic and lazy. June 29th I decided to restart developing better habits. I fasted for 3 days and actually grocery shopped. I had a really bad habit of drive thru shopping. Jack in the box, Wendys, burritos, you name it. It was easy to shop that way. Every place I would pass has something that appeals to me and I had favorites at all of them. To make matters worse, it is summer in Phoenix and I had really gotten heavily into Blizzards! Even if they are DQ, they make the heat a bit more tolerable. So, it took 4 days to begin the keto transition. Eggs help alot. Butter, bacon, avocados, olive oil, MCT etc. all work in propping my fat intake. My Macros are steady at 70% fats, 20% proteins, and 10% carbohydrates. More importantly than that however is my calorie intake is 1530 +- a couple either way per day. This requires me to list everything I put in my mouth. And it requires me to think about sugar and where it may be hiding. I don't get shaky as though my blood sugar is out of whack. I am barely using it. I did get a b-12 shot for some energy during the transition to ketosis. I believe 80 percent or more is related to what you put in your mouth and the rest is getting up and doing stuff even when I don't feel like it. The food tracker on MFP is great but you need to decide ahead of time what calculates your preferred macros and then eat to the tracker rather than logging what you have already eaten. Kind of hard to give it back if something is out of balance. ( I once had to eat an avocado with ranch dressing and 2 tablespoons of MCT to keep from knocking my self out of ketosis because I ate too much low calorie (high protein) chicken breast because it tasted good. I was over my calories but I stayed safely in ketosis. It is a daily thing. I do eat a lot of the same things over and over because I know they are already calculated. I measure and weigh. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes patience.

I wish you great success in your challenge. You are the boss. Set your macro percentages and more importantly your calorie target and the rest will sort itself out. A tweak here and a tweak there and you will find the groove. In LCHF, remember proteins can be almost as bad as carbs if you are trying to reach ketosis. Best wishes!