Can't lose weight on Keto, help!

[legidud7]

Three weeks ago I decided to go on the Keto diet. In the first two weeks I went from 322 pounds to 315. Things were looking good, I was feeling great, my energy levels were up and I was never hungry. Now I'm in my third week and I'm stuck at 315 which is really frustrating. I didn't lose a single pound the entire week. I weighted myself yesterday and the scale showed 316, so I actually gained a pound.

I regularly test myself with the Keto stix and they consistently turn dark purple, which means I'm in great Ketosis between 80-160.

So the question is, what am I doing wrong and why aren't the pounds falling off?
Is it because I'm not consuming enough fat?

My average day on the diet looks like this.

Breakfast- 3 scrambled eggs with sausage (or two cans of tuna in oil with three tea spoons of mayo) and half of avocado

Lunch - I usually order Gyro with lettuce, onions, and half a tomato from a Turkish restaurant or Grilled chicken and steak with onions and peppers from a Mexican takeout.

Snack - few slices of cheddar cheese

Dinner - 12oz of grilled chicken or steak with mustard and broccoli or cucumber

I drink plenty of water and do cardio (slow walking uphill for about 45 mins) about 2-3 times a week.

Your help is really appreciated.

[Rog447]

Three weeks ago I decided to go on the Keto diet. In the first two weeks I went from 322 pounds to 315. Things were looking good, I was feeling great, my energy levels were up and I was never hungry. Now I'm in my third week and I'm stuck at 315 which is really frustrating. I didn't lose a single pound the entire week. I weighted myself yesterday and the scale showed 316, so I actually gained a pound.

I regularly test myself with the Keto stix and they consistently turn dark purple, which means I'm in great Ketosis between 80-160.

So the question is, what am I doing wrong and why aren't the pounds falling off?
Is it because I'm not consuming enough fat?

My average day on the diet looks like this.

Breakfast- 3 scrambled eggs with sausage (or two cans of tuna in oil with three tea spoons of mayo) and half of avocado

Lunch - I usually order Gyro with lettuce, onions, and half a tomato from a Turkish restaurant or Grilled chicken and steak with onions and peppers from a Mexican takeout.

Snack - few slices of cheddar cheese

Dinner - 12oz of grilled chicken or steak with mustard and broccoli or cucumber

I drink plenty of water and do cardio (slow walking uphill for about 45 mins) about 2-3 times a week.

Your help is really appreciated.

Are you lifting weights? Are you monitoring your heart rate during your cardio? (which you need to up the duration and intensity on)

[legidud7]

Are you lifting weights? Are you monitoring your heart rate during your cardio? (which you need to up the duration and intensity on)

Yes I'm lifting weights, I've been lifting for about a year now. My heart rate is usually around 130 during cardio.

[Galois27]

Three weeks ago I decided to go on the Keto diet. In the first two weeks I went from 322 pounds to 315. Things were looking good, I was feeling great, my energy levels were up and I was never hungry. Now I'm in my third week and I'm stuck at 315 which is really frustrating. I didn't lose a single pound the entire week. I weighted myself yesterday and the scale showed 316, so I actually gained a pound.

I regularly test myself with the Keto stix and they consistently turn dark purple, which means I'm in great Ketosis between 80-160.

So the question is, what am I doing wrong and why aren't the pounds falling off?
Is it because I'm not consuming enough fat?

My average day on the diet looks like this.

Breakfast- 3 scrambled eggs with sausage (or two cans of tuna in oil with three tea spoons of mayo) and half of avocado

Lunch - I usually order Gyro with lettuce, onions, and half a tomato from a Turkish restaurant or Grilled chicken and steak with onions and peppers from a Mexican takeout.

Snack - few slices of cheddar cheese

Dinner - 12oz of grilled chicken or steak with mustard and broccoli or cucumber

I drink plenty of water and do cardio (slow walking uphill for about 45 mins) about 2-3 times a week.

Your help is really appreciated.

How many calories are you taking in daily? I think your metabolic rate has slowed due to the calorie deficit. You should be taking in 10-12 calories per pound of body weight. What do your macros look like? Also, try incorporating olive oil, flax oil, and salmon into your diet.

[legidud7]

How many calories are you taking in daily? I think your metabolic rate has slowed due to the calorie deficit. You should be taking in 10-12 calories per pound of body weight. What do your macros look like? Also, try incorporating olive oil, flax oil, and salmon into your diet.

I don't think I'm anywhere near the required 3,700 calories for my body weight.
That's a lot of calories to eat. I'll work on it tomorrow, I'll eat 2 extra eggs throughout the day, add some olive oil, walnuts, and salmon.

[lvsteven]

I don't think I'm anywhere near the required 3,700 calories for my body weight.
That's a lot of calories to eat. I'll work on it tomorrow, I'll eat 2 extra eggs throughout the day, add some olive oil, walnuts, and salmon.

You realize that undereating is a way to not lose weight i would assume.
True that you should stop now for a moment, and go calculate your macros.

1. Go read this thread:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981
use the third option, 3/Katch-McArdle

2. From there you will know what your calories are (roughly) which will allow you to...

3. Take that and subtract from it 200-400 calories. I personally do 700 calories off my maintnence numbers, but some find that too much.

4. Change your diet to fit the calories you need.

If you do it right, you should be able to figure it out.
You will then want to read this thread here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=132598293

specifically read this exact post here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...13&postcount=4

That will help you redefine how much of each macronutrient you need.

If you get lost come back and ask questions, we are all here to help one another.

[legidud7]

So today I've added two extra eggs to my diet, one tablespoon of almond butter, one tablespoon of coconut oil, half a cup of full fat cottage cheese, and one can of sardines in oil.

I have to say I've never felt better on the diet, my energy levels were a lot better than normal at the gym today and I've spent one hour on the treadmill walking uphill with my heart rate around 130-140.

Just now I tested myself with ketostix and they turned the darkest purple I've seen so far.

I will stick with the diet and update this thread in a week to tell you guys if I lost any weight.

My biggest challenge will be figuring out the exact micro nutrients as I still don't know how many calories I'm consuming.

[Galois27]

So today I've added two extra eggs to my diet, one tablespoon of almond butter, one tablespoon of coconut oil, half a cup of full fat cottage cheese, and one can of sardines in oil.

I have to say I've never felt better on the diet, my energy levels were a lot better than normal at the gym today and I've spent one hour on the treadmill walking uphill with my heart rate around 130-140.

Just now I tested myself with ketostix and they turned the darkest purple I've seen so far.

I will stick with the diet and update this thread in a week to tell you guys if I lost any weight.

My biggest challenge will be figuring out the exact micro nutrients as I still don't know how many calories I'm consuming.

Investing in a good nutrition scale really helped me out. There are many that have the nutrition facts for 1000s of foods. Of course, you can always look up nutrition facts online. Good luck!

[DMurph51]

Check out nutritiondata.com for, what I find to be, the most complete nutritional info available on foods.

Typically, ill search for food info on google like so:

Search: "food name" nutrition data
(Ex. "Almond butter nutrition data" or "banana nutrition data"

Then select the link coming fro$m the self.nutritiondata.com domain

[alex2363]

Are you lifting weights? Are you monitoring your heart rate during your cardio? (which you need to up the duration and intensity on)

wat he said.....Rog447...reps 4 nice vascular on legs

[BlueRev]

A. Your sure your not gaining muscle and losing fat?
B. Keep track of bf% professionally or use a mirror not a scale
C. If you truly are stuck eat less calories.

[Forgotten18]

Give it time. The original weight loss was, although motivating, nothing but water weight most likely. Record everything so you can evaluate. You say you don't know how many calories you eat and there's no reason for that. There are dozens of popular Food Logging sites out there.

[DMurph51]

Keep track of bf% professionally or use a mirror not a scale

best piece of advice. repped.

let the mirror impact your judgements on your fat loss, as well as the diet's effectiveness

[BlueRev]

You realize that undereating is a way to not lose weight i would assume.

Where do you get this info?
Although im not advising undereating because frankly its unhealthy because you do not get the nutrition needed for your body.
But the evidence shows that undereating makes weight loss.

If its purly based on calories in vs calories out then under eating is what you do on a weight loss diet.
Zero calories is ideal for weight loss but not ideal for survival.
There was a study i saw a month or 2 ago where a very overweight man was put on a diet where he was given nothing but water and vitamins for like 6 or 8 months and lost hundreds of pounds.
Was he healthy? Hell no. But its still ideal for weight loss.

[Galois27]

Where do you get this info?
Although im not advising undereating because frankly its unhealthy because you do not get the nutrition needed for your body.
But the evidence shows that undereating makes weight loss.

If its purly based on calories in vs calories out then under eating is what you do on a weight loss diet.
Zero calories is ideal for weight loss but not ideal for survival.
There was a study i saw a month or 2 ago where a very overweight man was put on a diet where he was given nothing but water and vitamins for like 6 or 8 months and lost hundreds of pounds.
Was he healthy? Hell no. But its still ideal for weight loss.

If you do not have enough calories, your body will burn muscle before fat. If your goal is to lose a lot of muscle and some fat, then starve yourself. Did this study also talk about what happened to the gentleman after he started eating a balanced diet? I bet he gained a lot of fat quickly.

[staunchkg]

Where do you get this info?
Although im not advising undereating because frankly its unhealthy because you do not get the nutrition needed for your body.
But the evidence shows that undereating makes weight loss.

If its purly based on calories in vs calories out then under eating is what you do on a weight loss diet.
Zero calories is ideal for weight loss but not ideal for survival.
There was a study i saw a month or 2 ago where a very overweight man was put on a diet where he was given nothing but water and vitamins for like 6 or 8 months and lost hundreds of pounds.
Was he healthy? Hell no. But its still ideal for weight loss.

In theory that is correct, but in reality it is false. Especially when you are talking about an individual who is training/ active VS the obese non-active man.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...-fat-loss.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...o-much-qa.html

[BlueRev]

If you do not have enough calories, your body will burn muscle before fat. If your goal is to lose a lot of muscle and some fat, then starve yourself. Did this study also talk about what happened to the gentleman after he started eating a balanced diet? I bet he gained a lot of fat quickly.

Where do you get info that the body will burn muscle storage before fat?

Also Its PROVEN if you starve yourself you will lose weight...
The people who "stall" from starving themselves eventually die if done long enough.
This does not mean it hinders fat loss....
They go down to 3-5% bf....

[Galois27]

Where do you get info that the body will burn muscle storage before fat?

Also Its PROVEN if you starve yourself you will lose weight...
The people who "stall" from starving themselves eventually die if done long enough.
This does not mean it hinders fat loss....
They go down to 3-5% bf....

I am talking about fat loss with minimal muscle loss. Talk to any body builder and they will tell you that if you do not take in enough calories, your body will enter a catabolic state, i.e., your body will break down muscle (as opposed to an anabolic state). Of course, this is not proof; however, is suggests that it's true. Moreover, the body will use muscle for energy before fat because your body holds onto its fat reserves as long as possible. Why? Think about it.

Be careful saying that something has been "proven." The world of science is not exact, so your study might suggest that there's something there; however, more studies must be done on the starvation method. Remember this: your body wants to survive, so if you are starving yourself, your body will adjust and slow its metabolism to survive as long as possible. Hence, it's only logical to say that, all though starvation will guarantee "weight loss," it is not the optimal way to go about it. Now, where do you get your information from? The 3-5% body fat reduction is just absurd. This will vary from person to person depending on metabolic rate, initial body weight, and muscle mass.

[legidud7]

UPDATE:

I'm now down to 309. Friends are starting to ask if I lost any weight because my face looks different.

I did eat carbs once at a friend's birthday party and then ate a lot of fruits the next day, but I'm back on the diet again.

One really great product I discovered at my local supermarket is a zero carb whipped cream by Land o Lakes. It tastes really good and is as close to eating ice cream as you can get on the diet. I highly recommend it to everyone.

I have also switched my protein powder to Iso Pure Zero Carb, which contains only 3g of carbs in two scoops. I drink it post workout.

Thank you guys again.

I will update this thread again in the near future.

[DMurph51]

Good progress. Congrats. Gjdm

[rob2093124]

UPDATE:

I'm now down to 309. Friends are starting to ask if I lost any weight because my face looks different.

I did eat carbs once at a friend's birthday party and then ate a lot of fruits the next day, but I'm back on the diet again.

One really great product I discovered at my local supermarket is a zero carb whipped cream by Land o Lakes. It tastes really good and is as close to eating ice cream as you can get on the diet. I highly recommend it to everyone.

I have also switched my protein powder to Iso Pure Zero Carb, which contains only 3g of carbs in two scoops. I drink it post workout.

Thank you guys again.

I will update this thread again in the near future.

Very good job bud! If you stayed under your maintenance for the day you ate some carbs, you'd still lose weight

as for the heavy whipped cream, i tell everyone about it who needs something to satisfy that sweet tooth. also, just so you know, you don't need a protein shake after your workouts. i don't even take protein shakes anymore. i stick to food. but if that's what suits your day, stick with it.

[Imran5]

If you do not have enough calories, your body will burn muscle before fat. If your goal is to lose a lot of muscle and some fat, then starve yourself. Did this study also talk about what happened to the gentleman after he started eating a balanced diet? I bet he gained a lot of fat quickly.

Dude I don't know where you're getting your information from? But your body will always use up CARBOHYDRATES first, FAT second, and use MUSCLE third and last. Starting with Glycolysis moving to breaking FFA's moving to Gluconeogensis. It is very hard for the body to generate energy from breaking down MUSCLE MASS. It's that if you don't have any carbohydrates or fats in your body then of course your body will use up the muscle for metabolic processes and to keep your brain alive.

[rob2093124]

macros? you prolly just need to eat less

[FistMeetsFoam]

I thought the whole its not healthy to lose more than 2lbs (non water weight) a week thing was because your body will start breaking down muscles, is that not the truth? I know when you look at before and after pictures of massive weight loss like on biggest loser they seem to lose a lot of the extra muscle mass in their legs after they lose all the weight.

[Cumulonimbus]

Are you lifting weights? Are you monitoring your heart rate during your cardio? (which you need to up the duration and intensity on)

Like that's fukcing relevant..

[neginfluence04]

in for later

[BlueRev]

I am talking about fat loss with minimal muscle loss. Talk to any body builder and they will tell you that if you do not take in enough calories, your body will enter a catabolic state, i.e., your body will break down muscle (as opposed to an anabolic state). Of course, this is not proof; however, is suggests that it's true. Moreover, the body will use muscle for energy before fat because your body holds onto its fat reserves as long as possible. Why? Think about it.

Be careful saying that something has been "proven." The world of science is not exact, so your study might suggest that there's something there; however, more studies must be done on the starvation method. Remember this: your body wants to survive, so if you are starving yourself, your body will adjust and slow its metabolism to survive as long as possible. Hence, it's only logical to say that, all though starvation will guarantee "weight loss," it is not the optimal way to go about it. Now, where do you get your information from? The 3-5% body fat reduction is just absurd. This will vary from person to person depending on metabolic rate, initial body weight, and muscle mass.

Um...
Please show me anyplace you got any of that info?
Because im 100% sure and i can back with proof if needed that the body will burn fat before muscle.

How the heck do you think people go on cut diets?

I thought the whole its not healthy to lose more than 2lbs (non water weight) a week thing was because your body will start breaking down muscles, is that not the truth? I know when you look at before and after pictures of massive weight loss like on biggest loser they seem to lose a lot of the extra muscle mass in their legs after they lose all the weight.

No.
Its because its unhealthy because every pound is 3500 calories your not getting.

[hoopydink]

I regularly test myself with the Keto stix and they consistently turn dark purple, which means I'm in great Ketosis between 80-160.

*

Many people who are new to Keto get hung up on the colour of their ketostix (myself included when I first started Keto).

Do not get hung up on the colour of your ketostix!

There is no such thing as "great ketosis," or "deep ketosis" as it is sometimes referred to. Your body is either in ketosis or it isn't.

The ketostix simply measure the amount of excess ketones in one's body. However, it is an imperfect measurement, as it uses the amount of excess ketones that you are excreting through urination.

You can easily alter the amount of ketones in your urine by drinking more water, and thereby eliminating excess ketones more frequently and in smaller concentration. For example, if you drink five gallons of water per day, the ketostix will register a lower amount of ketones than if you drink one gallon of water per day.

If you're drinking five gallons of water per day will still excrete the same amount of excess ketones per day as the guy drinking one gallon, however you will be excreting ketones more often, as you'll be urinating more.

If that doesn't make sense, imagine that you will excrete 1,000 ketones per day (hypothetical number). If you drink five gallons of water per day, you'll be urinating 20 times a day and will likely excrete an average of 50 ketones per urination. So, when you use the ketostix, it will register your ketone concentration as such. Conversely, if you only drink one gallon of water per day, you might urinate 4 times per day and will be excreting 250 ketones per urination.

Put even more simply, I refer you to my first statement, which is don't get hung up on the colour of your ketostix!

If you stick with it, you'll be fine, and if you can provide your macros and a weekly food log, I'm sure that there are plenty of more knowledgeable people than me on this forum that will gladly help you tweak anything that might need tweaking (and I'd be happy to provide my own suggestions, though I am far from an expert). Good luck!

[lvsteven]

Like that's fukcing relevant..

^THIS...

I mean come on.
Who monitors heart rate during cardio.

I do an hour on a treadmill at 4.5mph, the fact is i will burn xxx amount of calories based on my bodyfat level, age, and weight.

--

btw, sorry for the ****storm with that previous post.

My point was that if you enter a starvation mode and fail to reintroduce calories you will find yourself having a harder time losing than if you constantly lost maybe 10-25% a day of your BMR through diet/exercise.

People do have success with IF, but*that's*different than just "i wont eat evar!" that some do.

Eat 1000 calories a day, see how good you feel and how slowly you lose weight.
Ive done experiments myself, and actually lost weight faster on a less*deficit... but that is just me.

[MagnumPeanut82]

You didn't lose weight for one week, ****ing BS. This is such fail. 3 weeks in you have no idea if you are stuck. I have 3-4 weeks in a row with little or nothing lost and then had a whoosh and 4 lbs magically gone. Just keep it going. Its not rocket science why your weight is the same. Could be water, could be poop.
Do yourself a favor and throw away your scale and pickup a tape measure.