Not losing

joan1

wow, I am struggling! I'm 57 yrs old, 200lbs need to lose 60 or so. I am just not losing any weight. The only time the scale moves is when I fast but fasting is so hard for me right now. I am just hungry all the time. I keep the fats high and I just don't get how people are keeping the carbs below 20 net per day. I'm trying to get the protein down as low as possible. Yesterday was 58 g protein, 27 grams carbs and 125 g fat and 1500 calories, which is pretty typical for a day. I am not hungry until lunch then dinner at 6 and don't eat again until lunch the next day. I'm not sure I can cut down any more. but I'm not losing anything.

mander

Do you weigh your food on a food scale or are you guessing at portion sizes?

Vickie

There are so many possibilities why you aren't losing weight!

How long ago did you start eating at a deficit?
How often do you weigh yourself?
Have you ruled out medical issues, such as hypothyroidism?
Do you do any exercises, where you might be building muscle mass and losing body fat, and that's why the scale doesn't reflect the changes?
Do you do any exercises? Even slow walking for half an hour a day makes a difference.

Also, maybe keto/high fat low carb just isn't the right diet for you. Keto fanatics will swear you're not losing because you're Not Doing It Right^TM, but some people are just genetically better with other diets.

Thoughts from others?

joan1

I ride my bicycle about 8 miles per day or try and go for a walk. It's not much but I figure its something. I used to do hard intense workouts, body pump with heavy weights or step classes, I stopped doing all that recently because I was just overdoing and putting my body into stress mode. Never lost doing that either. I feel better on keto, just this body will not give up it's weight. I'm going to try and cut down the protein more and see if that will help. My fasting blood glucose is still like 115 when I wake up in the morning, so I'll try cutting protein.

joan1

the lower protein is working, I dropped 3 lbs in 8 days.

Susan_RD_101

Awesome answer @Vickie !

I wrote a blog on weight plateaus that you may find beneficial: https://cronometer.com/blog/why-is-my-weight-plateauing/

One question I have is how often are you weighing yourself? True weight loss does not occur week-to-week, but rather month-to-month. And the slower the weight loss, the better, since your metabolism is less likely to be compromised.

Lowering your protein would have worked since your calories would have lowered in tandem; at the end of the day, this is what matters most with weight loss. I'd personally not recommend going less than 1 g of protein per kg given that muscle loss is common on keto diets. You may want to keep the protein around 60 grams, but lower the fat slightly so your total kcal are closer to 1400 kcal.

Kind regards,

anubhuti08

I started Keto diet from 28th feb but cheated on 8th March so I feel I have started on 8th March only ; am loosing weight but some days my Kcal is very less will it effect me gain weight in a long run? (it very important to tell that I am a vegetarian and I don't eat egg of any kind of meat)

joan1

I'm not sure, I'm still struggling with keeping my calories down. It's so easy for me to overeat.

Susan_RD_101

@anubhuti08

I would suggest not eating below your BMR, which is the purple bar that contributes to your total calorie expenditure. Eating below this can have a negative impact on your metabolism long term and makes it challenging to meet your nutrient needs and have the energy to do anything active. If you are vegetarian, it's important that you consume ample soy protein to ensure that you are meeting your protein needs.

Kind regards,

Susan_RD_101

@joan1

The key to losing weight is not being hungry. A few things to consider:

1) Are you overeating foods that were raised/grown or are you overeating foods that were manufactured by a company? Generally, we are less likely to overeat unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, etc. compared to processed foods like chips, crackers, cookies, etc. This is because foods like chips and ice cream reward the pleasure centre in your brain and make it much more likely for you to want to keep eating. Plus, they lack protein and fibre, which are two nutrients that help with fullness.

2) Have you made the healthy choice the easy choice (or only choice)? If you find it difficult to keep chips in the house without overeating, then don't keep them in the house. This doesn't mean you can't eat them, but it's better to buy 1 small bag, eat, enjoy, and move on, then go through a family-sized bag.

3) Are you eating often enough in the day and eating enough protein/fibre? Don't go longer than 3 hours without eating as undereating almost always leads to overeating.

Lastly, look for hidden calories in your diet, which tend to be:

• Sauces
• Oils
• Butter
• Nuts/nut butter
• Sugar
• Liquid calories (alcohol, creamers, flavored milk)
• Frequency of going out to eat

Also, remember that weight change happens month-to-month, not week-to-week. Take a look at your 4 week trends in weight to see if you really have plateaued or if you are still losing, just at a lower rate.

Hope this helps!

anubhuti08

@Susan_RD_101 Thanks you ! It helps ...figures out it was my period cycle that caused a bit of spike ...now back to track again. Though feeling horrible this time with tiredness and headache (keto flue) need to have electrolyte.

jenzak

125 grams of FAT? I'm not sure what kind of diet you are trying to follow, but that would be the reason I would guess!

chunky

Just curious... 27g carbs or net carbs? Some folks seem to have better results with limiting total carbs as net carbs can be deceiving for certain sugar alcohols, such as malitol, which are have a blood sugar response much larger than fiber. The result of limiting total carbs might be to consume more vegetables and eat fewer or no prepackaged "diet" foods.

joan1

27 net carbs. I'm keeping under 20 net now. I have been coming to realize that I will probably have to weigh and measure food for the rest of my life. The minute i relax I start overeating. The scale is moving, just very slowly and I can live with that since i feel so much better.

kkrafa

Just started, want to lose 40 pounds. Sort of doing the Dukan diet - check youtube videos. But not only eating lots of protein, but vegetables as well. If you want to kick start your weight loss, do the attack phase for 7 days. All protein including eggs and 1 and 1/2 tbs oat bran daily. Can also have fat free yogurt. I have lost 4 pounds in 6 days. Plan on losing 10 a month. Good luck to all!

mander

kkrafa I'm afraid you're kick starting weight loss by depleting glycogen and the water required to store it. You'll see a nice drop on the scale but thermodynamically speaking you've lost no more bodyfat than had you included foods you gave up. Calories in v calories out again.

kkrafa

Hmmm, well I have lost an inch in my waist and half an inch in my hips so far, plus down 8.5 pounds. I feel great!