Help Im getting frustrated
So I've followed a low carb lifestyle for over a year but have been devout Keto for 24 days now. I'm 5'5" tall and currently weigh 163 lbs. (52 years old) Since starting I've lost five pounds and have been stuck for almost two weeks. I'm always below 20g of net carbs per day. Protein is below 80g and fat below 130g. Can anyone shed some light on what I might be doing wrong? Am I eating to many calories? Depending on what calculator you use the values are all over the place. I have been using the Keto sticks to test for Ketones and most of the time I'm neutral or just trace ketones. I've heard that these sticks are not very reliable for a number of reasons so I'm not to worried about those. Any advice would be appreciated.
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You say your fats are below 130g and your proteins below 80g. Are you getting fairly close to those numbers? It is important that we get enough fat in relation to carbs (protein matters, too, but as I understand it, less so) to get our bodies to see fat and their byproduct, ketones, as the abundant fuel source and start burning them. (Somebody correct me if my understanding is off.).
So the *ratio* is more important than the calorie totals, especially early on when trying to get into ketosis.
The first day or two I really wasn't that hungry and had to make myself eat more to get to the right percentages
Maybe it's cause I've never been a big eater of butter, sour cream, etc.--all those things people are excited to eat again on a keto diet--but I think of the carb grams as a limit and the fat grams as a goal to strive for and the protein usually falls into place (the goal being to not skew the percentages).
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One more thing: your goal is just to get the stick consistently pinkish-purple (anything above the barely pink indicating trace), not full-blast purple. The ketones in urine are the overflow, extra ketones not needed for energy. If told to fill a bucket absolutely full, it doesn't matter if there's a cup of overflow or a gallon.
Also, you may be in ketosis and it not show up in your urine, especially if you've been low-carbing for some time. A blood test might show you're full-up on one of the other ketones. After being fat-adjusted (body burning fat as primary fuel) for a while, the balance between the ketones may shift.
[Disclaimer: I am no expert; I have just read a lot, and if I have any of this wrong, I'd love for someone to set me straight. :-) ]
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Thank you for the reply. I was thinking the same thing about the keytones as I have done atkins on and off for over a year. I'm also wondering if because I only have about 15 pounds left to lose if that could be another factor along with the fact that I'm full on menopause. I do workout regularly and carry a lot of muscle. All of this makes sense and the more I read the more I'm understanding how the process works, its just still a little frustrating to not be losing.
When I look back at my food diary my fats are usually between 130 and 150 and my macros are about 70% fats, 22 - 24% protein and about 5 to 7% carbs. Does that sound right?
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I think your ratios are good. There is not one right ratio, or course, and you're close to what I've seen suggested.
Have you looked into intermittent fasting? I've seen it suggested for people who have plateaued. It can refer to the usual idea of fasting for a day or two occasionally (highly effective but difficult for many of us to fit into our daily lives), but more recently on keto diet blogs the term is applied to restricting eating to a time window. I often hear of 16:8 or 18:6, with the first number the fasting hours and the second the eating window (out of 24 hrs). Usually it means having, upon waking, only water--some folks do drink coffee/tea--until lunch, then eat only during the six (or 8 or whatever) hours of the eating window. With me this might mean eating from noon to six, then no more food that day. But most keto experts say not to attempt this if it's a big struggle for you; it can be counterproductive if you become so hungry you're tempted to cheat.
Maybe others will know of other approaches to keto plateaus.
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I have heard of fasting but not something I've tried. unfortunately I will not sleep if I'm starving and I need my sleep more than weight loss. lol. I wish I could do it, but hunger will wake me up if I have not consumed enough in a day. I think that is why the idea of Keto works so well for me. I'm never hungy and sleep great!
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salesgal Intermittent fasting (IF) is not intended to starve oneself. In fact, many people who use IF will eat their daily macro allowance within their eating window. For me personally, I can’t put that amount of food away within the shorter eating window so I usually end up with a calorie deficit and still feel super full. I generally have a bulletproof coffee in the morning then eat from noon to 6pm. I’m never hungry and I lose weight. Perhaps since you’ve lost weight you need to readjust your macros. Smaller body equals smaller macros. A slight calorie deficit might be your solution 🙂
