I too have been struggling for a couple of weeks with little to no progress after having lost 5lb in the first week. Have decided this week, to up my fluid intake and keep track of carbs as well as calories, in the hope of kick starting things again. It is important to count calories drunk as well as eaten – I know this from previous diets – so make sure to record the calories in your full fat milk Chrissie.

Hope we both have a better week this week!

Hi Chrissie,
The extra water can only help. Also add 100 mls of milk to your daily plan and keep it in a separate container in the fridge. Use this for your tea and coffee and you won’t go over your allowance. Milk is quite high in carbs and it’s so easy for your count to sneak up lol.
Hope to hear some great results soon 🙂

#sunnyB – fingers crossed for us both this week!

#cherrianne – thinking my milk intake is the likely culprit – so will try measuring each day’s allowance and sticking to it – thanks – will let you know how I get on – might also explain why my blood sugar readings aren’t changing/settling too🙂

Hi Chrissie
I had an extremely slow loss until I started monitoring my carbs on MyFitnessPal. You have to pay to do this £7.99 a month but worth it. You also have to put all the foods you eat in ‘my foods’ with all the cals, carbs, fats and protein, which you can get off Calorieking.com, which I ve found reliable. ( if you use the lists already on MFP there’s no guarantee they’re accurate as they’re put on by the public) this is a fair amount of work at first but once you ve done it you ve got it, and it will give you a pie chart of your Macros every day.
Hope this helps
Penny

Hi Chrissie
Re coffee etc-
I put my milk for the day in a separate container so I can monitor the amount (200 ml of soya milk ) and I also draw 5 glasses of water and 5 cups of tea in my notebook which I cross off through the day. This adds up to 2.8 litres.
Best of luck. A few tweaks and you ll be ok!
Penny
PS have a look at Jenny Ruhls book ‘low carb problems solved’ (£3 on kindle) which deals with just about everything.

Hi, I now also keep my milk measured out in a separate container. I did really well in the first week, but over the next few days I put back 300 grams. I realised that I wasn’t counting the milk at all, telling myself it was only a splash two or three times a day. Yes, 1/4 of a cup splashes when I measured it. Also the odd extra bite of this and that, saying it wasn’t much, would hardly count. Now I’m back to losing again and am just starting my third week 2.6 kilos down from when I began.

Really like the idea of drawing cups/glasses to cross off through the day, pmshrink – excellent idea! This would certainly help me to make sure my fluids are up, as it’s easy to forget if you’ve had three or four cups. Shall definitely be adopting this method – thanks!

Hi everyone
Eureka posted a link to another website;
ketogenic-diet-resource.com

This is a really useful website and might provide another piece of our puzzle of slow weight loss as it discusses how much protein you need for ketosis, and therefore, weight loss. I always thought protein should be kept high when dieting, but it turns out that too much protein can hinder weight loss. Maybe this explains why, when we know we are ‘being good’, we don’t lose much; perhaps we are getting just a little too much protein so ketosis doesn’t happen.

For instance, one of the possibilities for me at 5 foot 2 inches (shortass!) is that I only need around 16 ounces of protein per day. That’s just a bit more than two large eggs a day. I’m prepared to monitor my protein intake (along with everything else!) to see how it affects things for a few days. How did it all get so complicated!

Oh and also agree that Penny’s little glasses are a great idea. I just use bars and gates in my diary but I might have to channel the picasso a little bit!

Hi Janet1973

Sorry to contradict your protein weights referenced on your last posting, but 16 ounces is actually one pound – i.e. close to half a kilo – and therefore two large eggs could not possibly contain the equivalent in protein. My calculations show protein in two large eggs as around an ounce (26g). If it is 16g of protein, two large eggs would actually be in excess at approx. 26g. I haven’t looked at the site mentioned yet, but I’ll take a peek later, as I have heard in the past excess protein can hinder weight loss.

Ha ha, you’re quite right SunnyB. I had another look and I have been getting my grams and ounces all muddled up! The theory was good but my application was rubbish!

8 ounce eggs…they’d take some cracking!!!

Glad you weren’t offended I pointed it out Janet1973. I’m guessing that it is 16g of protein needed and not 16ounces then. That is very little and I’m certainly eating more than that – would think most of us are. Will see how I go for the rest of this week counting cals and carbs, before deciding if I need to be counting protein as well!

Thanks for all the advice – going to put it into practice and get back to you with the results!! Feeling very optimistic😀

No sunnyb, I’m not at all offended, my dyslexic maths is legendary! But no, it is sixteen ounces for someone of my height so I visualise that as a 16oz steak you would order in a restaurant and that’s what I should be having each day (except I don’t eat beef!). That’s a maximum amount apparently, some of the other boffins on that website say to have less. I think I certainly do have less than that really.

sorry for the question – but i am interested – what is it with this diet that causes constipation actuallY?

I’d say it could be any or all of the following; lack of veg for fibre, lack of water, lack of fat, or just simply lack of food – 800 cals isn’t a lot of food so people might notice they are not going as often but actually they have less to pass.

It could also be that the sugary starchy foods you were previously eating had a bit of a laxative effect. Other posters have noted that their frequent bowel actions ( up to 5 times a day ), have reduced since starting the diet.
Too much sugar can cause wind, bloating and diarrhoea, caused by something called dumping syndrome.
Some of the syrup type laxatives use this effect to relieve constipation.
So if you have been used to a sugary diet you might notice the change. Try adding some psyllium husk to your breakfast. Just a couple of teaspoons, plus a glass of water to drink. Take it each day whether you’ve ‘been.’ or not. If it doesn’t help after a few days add a second dose at night. This should do the trick without resorting to laxatives. Keep your fluid intake up while taking psyllium though.

Sunny b
😊
Penny

Hi Silver
Apparently when you start you first use up the glycogen In muscles including your bowel which is mostly muscle. The glycogen is stored in your muscles with water which is why you lose a lot of water at first. The loss of water in your bowel muscles causes it to be less efficient. This plus less bulk and fibre and especially if people eat a lot of dense foods causes constipation.
I think I got this from Jenny Ruhls book ”low carb problems solved’, which I recommend. (£3 on kindle)
Flax seed can help a lot.
Penny

So – great news😀After following everyone’s advice I lost 4 pounds last week!!! Milk, yoghurt and nuts were the culprits and now I am being very careful with these I am on the loss route again!! SunnyB how about you – how was your week??

Great to hear Chrissie
isn’t it good how this diet let’s you pick yourself up after you have a problem and rewards you accordingly.
The likes of you are proving to those who have little stutters, that just by persevering and watching those carbs, the whole thing will kick in again and the weight starts moving once more.
Congratulations on coming out the other side.

Thanks Bill😀 This week is likely to be much moe challenging as I am off to Paris for 4 days for Easter (Fri to Mon) 😀 I have decided that it would be setting myself up to fail to stick rigidly to the diet whilst away but will be interested to see how my response to carbs and sugars has changed over the last 4 weeks – I suspect that I will consume far less than I would have before I started this process!!

Hi ChrissieM
Great to hear your news. My results were better than I expected – 2.2lb lost when I weighed in this morning. Waist is a little trimmed and I can comfortably fit into a dress I was hoping to wear to a wedding this coming Friday, so all good!
Have a fab time in Paris, try to dodge the bread and pastries when you can, but whatever you do, make sure you enjoy yourself. I adore Paris and am just a tad jealous!

hmm – i seem to have hit a slow spot . I’m in week 6 now and lost 6lbs so far, I just need to loose one more to get to a 4stone loss in 2 years , but more disconcerting is my bs’s are going up. 12 this morning 🙁 I’m eating the same stuff and exercising alot so not sure what’s going on.
The good news is is that i’m booked in for a c-peptide test so hopefully be able to get to a definitive diagnosis!

Hi Charlieb, look at cherrieann’s and Bill1954’s post re this problem of blood sugars – it will bring you relief! 🙂

Yeah charliebee38
myself, cherrianne, and a few others experienced this typically in week 4.
the sugar readings seem to stay a little haywire for up to a fortnight before settling down but some have had a second lot of high readings.
It’s nothing to worry about too much, explained as your body getting rid of stored sugar.
Hang in there. the readings will come back down.

Ok thank you Bill1954 and hashimoto – that makes me feel a little bit more comforted!! 😀

OK now I’m getting worried. Week 4 and this is the second week that I have not lost a single pound. Last week I had that extra lamb chop but not this week. I don’t have dairy so there isn’t anything sneaking in under the radar. I’m running more now. How can I not be losing weight?

Mandy, get the tape measure out it may tell you more than the scales. My weight has been consistently the same this week ( increased my calories) but the ketostix show I am still fat burning and my waist has shrunk again. Don’t despair, check what you eat, check with your tape measure and if you haven’t bought some ketosticks I would recommend you get some as they will tell you if you are fat burning which will reassure you. I got mine from Amazon for just under £5 and they were P and P free.
🙂

Mandy, you say you don’t have dairy
Are you sure you’re getting enough fat into your daily allowance ? 2 weeks is at the extreme end of having no weight loss so maybe Have another look at what you’re eating and see if you can cut a few more carb calories and replace them with fat.

Hi Hashimoto – Thanks for the advice. I have lost 1/4″ off my waist line both weeks so maybe something is happening. I’ve never heard of those ketosticks but I’ll get some – what do they tell me? Thanks again I will stick at it – though I’m away this weekend so it’s going to be a bit tricky this weekend. M x

Hi bill1954 – I fry vegetables in oil and I drizzle oil on everything so I think I’m getting enough oil. And I do eat the occasional fatty lamb chop. Don’t know what else to do.

Hi Mandy, they come in a tub of 50 sticks. The tub has a colour code on the outside. Dip a stick in your first urine of the day and compare the colour at the end of the stick with the chart on the tub. It tells you if you are burning fat. The ones I got are called ketostix 🙂

Judith, I’m wondering if I have a dodgy batch of Ketostix
The first couple of tests I did showed ketosis but since then I have absolutely no colour change at all (over a week now)
The tip of the stick is way paler than the chart says for 0 ketosis so it’s the only thing I can think of.
Not too bothered as I’m still losing weight and I know I’m keeping the carbs down but it is a PITA when I went to the bother and expense of buying them.

Well 6 weeks (7 on Saturday) since I started this diet and although the loss has been slow and I had a fortnight of stagnation. I am now 4lbs off my goal weight with a loss off a stone in total. Total loss since the begining of the year on another diet 19.6lb. I found my stagnation was the worst and in the end I took drastic steps Fasting for a period, only eating when hungry, no nuts and down to 500cals for 2 days. Since then it has been coming steadily off and people are noticing. None of my clothes fit even my shoes are now too big.

Great news merseychic
You will soon be at your target weight so well done on that
Are you planning a retail therapy session ? You’re gonna need new outfits for the warmer weather 🙂
Come join us on the 8 weeks and over thread next week.

That does sound as if they are dodgy Bill. I know it’s a shame but if I were you I would be tempted to buy a new tub. If the new sticks work better you could always complain to the manufacturer

Lol, merseychic, even your shoes are too big! You must have achieved more than you realised. I have had an experimental week of eating more calories but sticking to the principles, weight appeared to stay the same but I noticed my clothes were looser, the ketostix were showing I was still fat burning, then the other day my jeans nearly fell off in the middle of town!! I was trying to carry my shopping with my elbows tucked in trying to hold on to my jeans – I must have looked like a crazy duck waddling around. :0

LOL Judith. If I’d have been there I’d have given you a hand. Are you buying a belt?

Don’t worry if your ketostix aren’t showing the colour you would like. It can be for various reasons such as the time of day that you take the test (later in the day supposedly has better results). The important thing to remember about them, and why so many ketogenic diets tell you that their usefulness is very limited (but encouraging in the early stages) is that ketostix measure EXCESS ketones- if your body has used up all the ketones that it makes then there will be nothing to show up. Good luck and don’t worry- I know I’m one of those that only ever shows up very mild pink if at all 🙂