seeking Keto advice. Not losing.

[tokay71]

OK, new to keto. On it for a month. Met two colleagues recently (both younger than I) who lost a ton of weight on keto. Been thinking about trying it for the past few months. I’ve lost around 20 pounds by lots of exercise and eating healthy over a year or two but then stalled out and now bored. First two weeks of the pandemic, I sat around and stress-ate lots of carbs. Could not work out, but started running again thinking I better keep moving before I go backwards. Realized, perhaps now is a good time to try keto!

I’m 48, 6’1, was 203lb a few months ago. I once got an InBody scan at my gym (supposedly highly accurate) that told me I need 1960 calories per day to survive. That has been my calorie intake for the last year that I try not to exceed and very slowly I’ve been losing through exercise and a low fat, low carb, high protein diet.

I have been treated for depression for years, but as best I know the meds do not cause me weight gain. I am not aware of any large changes due to medication changes (which can be common).

First two weeks on keto I was not using a keto app to track. I was using a different one that I had used to track calories before keto, and wanted to transition into keto anyway. After two weeks of transitioning (learning what to eat etc) I switched to a keto specific app called KetoDiet. It’s a much better app for calories tracking. But setting up that app, assuming it’s using averages, it tells me that my calorie intake should be 2474 daily. I was thinking that might not be correct for me, only that the InBody numbers were measured using electrical Impedence, not averages. That’s a 500 calorie difference!! In the course of a week, that’s a whole pound. Once using this app, I noticed how different the macro numbers between the apps were: less protein and less carbs on KetoApp. Obviously more fat than the previous app.

Been tracking everything I eat. (For Gods sake I’m weighing iceberg lettuce!) I try to be very exact. I love eating cheese, but of course keeping my protein intake in mind. I find it very easy to max out on protein. Lately been less worried on this as I see it’s not as crucial as the carb max. For the last two weeks, my average calorie intake is 1920, since I’ve been using 2000 as my max, not 2474. My macros have averaged 6% carbs, 21% protein, and 74% fats (app’s target goals for me are 5%, 15%, 80%).

I run 45-60 minutes around 5 days a week. I have morning coffee (with heavy cream) then go running on an empty stomach. I am not very active while at work since I’m sitting most of the time.

I have not owned a scale for many years, and used to weigh myself at the gym every Monday morning. Since I can’t go to the gym while it’s closed, I can’t monitor my weight, so I bought a scale. First weigh in on new scale was 209. Massive disappointment. Realizing many things at work here–different scales give different weights, sooo hoping that’s a factor. My 203 weight was in early April: I was 208 fully clothed at the doctor for a checkup. I came home and weighted my clothes and shoes at 5 lbs. (That was on a food scale, so accuracy may not be great)

I have been using Keto urine strips for two weeks. (Yes, I know they are not the most accurate.) I’ve never been much into ketosis according to them. The most Ive seen is maybe “small” at 1.5 mmol/l perhaps once or twice, but usually register myself at “trace” of 0.5. Most of my “trace” readings are first thing in the morning. Most of my readings other times are negative, though usually later in the day.

I have not been aware of the keto flu. Several times have had periods when I’ve felt bad, it seemed more like my periodic depression. Was not what I’d call flu-like symptoms.

Through reading posts and seeing a number of Keto youtube videos, I see lots of conflicting info. So confused as to what I’m doing right and wrong. I’ve seen things that make me think I"m not eating enough fat, but according to the app, I’m maxing out on protein and carbs almost daily, and should be eating another 500 cal in fats. But I do feel like I’m barely eating any protein (95 gram goal). Overall I often feel like I’m not eating enough since I often don’t feel full. Fat being calorie dense I also think I’m getting my calories in on less volume of food. But confused on how many calories I should eat and what should I increase IF not eating enough.

Stepping on the scale and weighing in at 209 was a real heartbreaker after all the running I’ve been doing.

[Nicksosure1]

Well, the reason you're not losing weight is simple - not in a calorie deficit (or big enough deficit to see movement on the scale).

However, if you've had great success in the past using a more traditional dieting approach, why don't you go back to that? You also say that the keto diet isn't leaving you full or satisfied, which is what the diet is mainly used for - minimizing hunger in a deficit due to the fats you are eating. The diet may not be for you. You will have the same rate of fat loss - maybe not weight loss (due to more water weight with carbohydrate intake) - with a traditional diet that includes carbs vs. a keto diet, assuming calories are matched.

Sounds like you are getting discouraged as well because of this. If I were you, I would find my TDEE using a traditional dieting method that includes all macronutrient groups, by picking a calorie range and weighing yourself daily in the morning and taking a weekly average. From there, stick with that calorie range until weight loss slows or stops, then subtract 100-200 calories or up your exercise.

There's not much to it. Less calories going in than being burner = fat loss. You may be overcomplicating things for yourself by taking the approach you are taking.

Edit: Not bashing keto at all btw. I've used it in the past with a lot of success. But there's 1000 ways to skin a cat, and skinning that cat is a calorie deficit. It's up to us as individuals to find out the best way of going about achieving this when looking to lose weight.

[tokay71]

Honestly I would like to bulk up. I've been trying to lose weight for the last year by doing a lot of cardio, a combination of HITT and LISS, separate from my my weight regime. Now with the pandemic I'm unable to lift. So thought it would be a good time to just lose fat. I'm quite confused on what's going on, since I was running so much, felt like I was not eating a lot at least by volume. And now weight seems to have gone way up while running so much. I'm also questioning the last weight of 203, since I've not been eating enough calories to gain that many pounds. Thinking I've wrecked my metabolism too. After eating so much protein to try and gain muscle, now eating 95g of protein (amount recommended by keto app) seems like I'm avoiding it all costs. Feel like I need to eat more of it to maintain muscle I have and worry less about converting to sugars if I overeat protein. Trying to keep to the diet, as I've read a lot about how people give up too soon, but not being in ketosis after this long baffles me.

[WolfRose7]

Honestly I would like to bulk up. I've been trying to lose weight for the last year by doing a lot of cardio, a combination of HITT and LISS, separate from my my weight regime. Now with the pandemic I'm unable to lift. So thought it would be a good time to just lose fat. I'm quite confused on what's going on, since I was running so much, felt like I was not eating a lot at least by volume. And now weight seems to have gone way up while running so much. I'm also questioning the last weight of 203, since I've not been eating enough calories to gain that many pounds. Thinking I've wrecked my metabolism too. After eating so much protein to try and gain muscle, now eating 95g of protein (amount recommended by keto app) seems like I'm avoiding it all costs. Feel like I need to eat more of it to maintain muscle I have and worry less about converting to sugars if I overeat protein. Trying to keep to the diet, as I've read a lot about how people give up too soon, but not being in ketosis after this long baffles me.

You haven't wrecked you metabolism, catastrophizing wont help.

95g of protein is very low for a cut.

ketosis is irrelevant to your goals of weight loss, track weight weekly using rolling average, if it doesn't trend down as you want then reduce calories.