Hey guys

I’m week 6 after restarting from a false start and a week ago decided to go a step further and reduce my carbs to between 30-40gms. I have ketostixs and have been pink/purple for 4 days now. My weight had stagnated for a week or so and has continued to stagnate whilst in Ketosis. The only times my weight has droped in the last few weeks has been after I have deviated from the plan. The first diviation was date night with hubby where I drank a few wines and the second was yesterday where I went to a bbq, i ate mostly meat and salad but couldnt resist a couple of homemade sauage rolls. On calculation in MFP i had stayed under 50gm carbs and was still in ketosis this morning but my cals was 1250 for the day. But today I am 800gms lighter. So I am questioning a million things. Is it that doing a calorie restrictive diet doesnt mix with a ketogenic diet? Is it “mixing your magics”? everything I read about ketogenic eating says you need to consume lots of fat but I struggle to eat fat and stay under 800. Since keeping my carbs low I find I crave fat and find myself snacking on full fat yogs, cheese and nuts. Is anyone else finding any of this or is further into it that can share their experiences?

I am on this to lose 20kgs of weight I gained having a baby and because on both sides of my family I have diabetes and pre diabetes. I can see the path before me. I want to make this a lifestyle but I want to understand what my “rule book” needs to be. Right now I’m confused!!

Morning Stacey. First of all, congratulations at getting back on board after a slip up. It’s been all too easy in the past for me to think ‘what the hell, I’ve blown it now” and give up. This is the first eating plan I have felt I can actually adapt for he rest of my life.
Secondly, I have found it helps me not to get too fixated on that days results. Sometimes I have been as good as gold and gained a few oz. Sometimes I have been cavalier and lost. But I reason that if I stick to the 800 calories, avoid any carbs that aren’t hidden in veg. then I cannot fail to continue to lose weight and (almost!) as importantly, feel well in myself. I’m on day 45 now and have lost 21lbs and am 3 lbs off target.
Stick with it and you will get there. I say this as much to myself as to you!
Pob lwc

Hi Stacey – well done on restarting. The level where we go into fat burning is individual. I lost 33kg on BSD on 60g carbs and I was in ketosis at that level of carbs. I don’t eat any refined carbs and am veggie so eat more pulses that are higher in ‘good’ carbs which may be why I needed the 60g. I still concentrated on 800 cals as that was to do with portion size, but if, after lunch, my carbs looked too low for the day then I would adjust my next meal to get as close to 60g as possible. Likewise if I spotted that I was going over the 60g, I adjusted the last meal to bring it down.
There are quite a few people only counting carbs and they tend to be setting limits as 50g and lower for the day. If you are good at managing portion sizes, then this is simpler. Bill (who you may have seen has reversed his diabetes) sticks to 50g a day and his calorie intake can be 900 a day.
Having finished the 8 weeks, I continued to a couple more then took a break as I have holidays and visitors. I have just restarted this last week and as part of moving to a longer term plan, I am monitoring my carbs only and trying not to panic when I see the calories at 950 for that day. I am in ketosis and lost weight this week on that approach. BTW – we have all seen the – I ate more one day and suddenly lost a lot the next day! Not sure why – maybe something kick-started the body which was worried about the low cals, may just be enough gut fill to push through and empty the bowels!
You don’t say why you decided to make the change in week 6? Did you think you had reached a plateau, or were you concerned you were not losing enough weight?
I made minor adjustments as I went through the 8 weeks, mainly in food intake to make sure I was getting rid of visceral fat. If 40g is not working for you, it may be too low. Honestly – if you were losing ok before, why jeopardise it by changing as it if you are having these cravings you may well be below what your body can deal with. Try 50g carb a day and see if you can keep that consistent. From one site I read, keeping it consistent is more important than the grams as you can move in and out of your fat-burning zone which leave the body ‘confused’.
Hope that helps and good luck.