Ketosis & Weight Loss vs calorie consumption

[Banana]

Hi there,

This is my first time starting off a new thread and I must say a little scary, wondering if anyone will reply or think my questions daft or already answered somewhere!!!

I started off really well and lost 8 lbs in the first two weeks of my induction, actually most of that came off in the first week actually. I'm now at about week 6 and I have lost a total of 11-12 lbs, which I know is a lot but not when you take the first 8 lbs away from the beginning. I seem to be hovering between 10st2 and 10st3 for the past 2 weeks ( which I'm not knocking as I haven't be there for about 7 years! since having my three lovely kiddies actually!

I know I am still in ketosis as I've tried the strips twice, and seem to always have that tang in my mouth. But is it possible to be in ketosis and NOT loose weight because your overall calorie/fat consumption is too high? I thought ketosis meant automatic loss? Help me out, dispel any bad theories that I may have misunderstood from our mate Dr Atkins.

I don't really want to do the fat fast yet as I think the vits from the greens are very important and don't want to rattle from taking too many pills!!!!! :D

:wave:
Thanks all, hope to speak to someone soon!
(PS it's a great diet isn't it, all my friends can't believe it, and some actually disapprove, but that's because they don't really understand it I suppose)

[Daschnook]

Hi Banana

I cant really give you any answers as to the difference between ketosis and fat loss.

I do however, completely understand what it feels like to have people try to poke holes in the diet and make you feel as though you are somehow doing something wrong (even though you are looking/feeling better). I have had nearly everyone (except my husband who is a Dr of Psychology) try to tell me that Atkins is dangerous but when I look at Geri Halliwell, Rene Zelwegger and Jennifer Anniston I am inspired as they have done the diet and lost alot of weight and look fab.

I hope someone else can help you with the technical distinction between ketosis and fat loss. As far as I was concerned and aware, ketosis shows that your body is burning its own fat...the actual results may take longer to show up on the scales though.

Best wishes

Daschnook

[Banana]

Hi Daschnook,

Thanks for your reply. I've just looked into 'Low Carb Tips' in the orange header and found some info under 'Ketosis and Ketone Testing Strips' which was useful about whether I'm still burning fat in ketosis. It was interesting as there are scenarios where you COULD be in ketosis but not be burning your stored fat!!! urghhh that's not good news. :thdown:

I still need to know how much fat I can have so that the body used all that first before it starts on the stored fat!

Byee Have a good day
Banana :wave:

[LittleAnne]

Hi Banana

This fat loss and ketosis is confusing. It took me quite a while to realise that ketosis is just about burning fat, any fat, including what you eat.

Generally it is recommended that 70 to 80% of your food intake is fat, as only a portion of that is absorbed and used as energy.

I've not lost much over the last month or two, although my muscle tone appears to be improving through exercise. To help me I've decided to remove two of the high fat foods from my eating plan, brazil nuts and mayonnaise, for this week, substituting olive oil with my salad. And see if I can reduce my calorie intake by a further 200 a day, to around 1400 and see if this helps.

Do you keep a record of your food intake on Fitday.com. Although this is an American site, it can give some useful pointers. Don't forget its carb counter includes fibre, unlike our food labels.

Keep at it and I'm sure things will start off in the right direction again.

[Banana]

Hi Little Anne,

Nice to meet you (so to speak!)

Thanks for that. 70 - 80% fat seems high. Do you mean that the body only takes what it needs for energy? what does it do with the rest? It's getting more confusing as I look deeper into this! Nothing is every straight forward is it?

1400 calories, isn't that rather low for this diet, I thought we were meant to keep our calories up to keep our metabolic rate up :q: .

tt4now
Banana

PS has anyone tried out the 'real bread' recipe in the Low Carb in the UK website? It's proving right now, but I'm having problems trying to work out the carbs as they are not detailed so am having to work it all out 'manually' so to speak. Some aren't so easy to find like linseeds, gluten powder etc.

[LittleAnne]

Hi Banana

Good of you to reply. As you say, the more you look into this the more confusing it can appear. I've now read 3 different books, Atkins, Schwarzbein and Protein Power and athough they are all similar they fill me in on different parts of the saga.

Yes 1400 does seem a little low. Fitday says my requirement is around 2300, but on 1600 to 1800 a day I am seeing little happening. So I want to try a little lower to see if it does start things going again. This is one of the problems have being a yo-you dieter when I was younger. It makes it harder to loose weight each time you diet. We will see what happens. It may be that a higher portion of my fat is absorbed and metabolised rather than just passing through. Only time will tell.

[lastchance]

Just to add what I know....

How much water are you drinking? You need at least 2-3 litres every day. It helps the body process the weight loss. I have currently been trying the reduced calories but not really working. If is does work it will only be for a short time till your metabolism changes and goes into starvation mode. People on this forum have found that increasing cals has a great affect. There is a website called fitday.com which will caluclate all your carbs, cals, fats etc. Try there. Fat does need to be around 70-80% - add butter to everything, fry everything.

Are you doing any exercise? That will help if you are.

If you don't believe me about the weight going down when the cals go up visit a journal called 'the answer is 42'. On there KarenB did this and started losing again straight away. Strange but true. If you have been yo-yoing in the past your body is probably used to going into starvation mode - so beware!

Good luck

Last Chance

[Karen]

With low-carbing, you start to develop a different mindset regarding fats and calories.

I think one of the key points is not increasing the volume of food you eat, but increasing the fat.

Here are a few links that help explain why fat works.

Why 10 x calories? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=302541#post302541)

Fat and Keeping Calories Up (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28690&highlight=fat+is+good)

More on Fat and Keeping Calories Up (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28200&highlight=BMR)

Karen

[Banana]

:thup: Dear Karen,

Thank you so much for those three links, they were really helpful, and I think I understand a little better about calories, fat and protein %'s.

Banana :wave: