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| Why am I not losing weight on low carb? What am I doing wrong? |
Whether you are new to a low carb diet, or you are a well-seasoned dieter, starting Keto can be an exciting time in your life!
Watching the pounds drop that very first week or two can put you in a better frame of mind and help you to keep going, but if you expect the pounds to continue coming off at a super-fast pace, you’ll soon be in for a surprise.
Once the weight loss slows down, questions begin to build up quickly:
- Am I doing Atkins correctly?
- Has my low-carb diet suddenly stopped working?
- If I’m exercising and eating on plan, why am I not losing weight?
- How can I be in ketosis and not lose weight?
- What can I do to break this stall?
1) Dehydration
One of the main reasons you might not be losing weight on keto is
due to dehydration or electrolyte imbalances.
When you first begin to restrict carbohydrates, a lack of carbohydrate in the diet forces the body to use its glycogen stores for fuel. Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrate that the body breaks down into glucose to keep your blood sugar steady.
For every molecule of glycogen you store, the body also stores four molecules of water. These four molecules are the amount of water needed to process the glycogen.
As glycogen is broken down by the liver, the body uses the water stored, so initial weight loss can be huge.
If you experienced large drops in weight during the first couple of weeks, the body will quickly become dehydrated. When that happens, the body will conserve most of the water it has left. Otherwise, your health would be adversely affected.
The body starts stuffing water into your emptied-out fat cells to keep them alive and plumped up for fat storage. You soon begin to think that your low-carb diet isn’t working.
This is why losing weight can be an erratic process. Weight loss isn't linear. You won't lose weight consistently on keto.
While the body must draw upon fat stores if you’re not eating at your maintenance level of calories, or drop metabolism, water retention can mask what’s actually going on.
[For further information, check out our article on the Whoosh Fairy.]
2) Past History of Yo-Yo Dieting
In addition to dehydration, water retention can also occur if
you have a past history of yo-yo dieting.
The body will assume you are going to quit your weight-loss diet, yet again, and it will prepare for the influx of carbohydrates it believes will be coming in soon. The body always takes the path of least resistance. It doesn't like breaking down fat cells if it doesn't have to.
When the body chooses to stuff water into your fat cells, you have no alternative other than to wait it out.
There is no way to force the body to shed the water.
Mind over matter doesn't work well here. And getting frustrated about it, only adds to the misery because the water retention phase can literally take several weeks before the body begins to feel secure enough to drop the water.
The body can't hold onto the water forever.
Eventually, it will break down the unused fat cells and empty out what it has stored in them, but this can take quite a long time to occur. Patience is definitely required if you've gone keto before.
The body will assume you are going to quit your weight-loss diet, yet again, and it will prepare for the influx of carbohydrates it believes will be coming in soon. The body always takes the path of least resistance. It doesn't like breaking down fat cells if it doesn't have to.
When the body chooses to stuff water into your fat cells, you have no alternative other than to wait it out.
There is no way to force the body to shed the water.
Mind over matter doesn't work well here. And getting frustrated about it, only adds to the misery because the water retention phase can literally take several weeks before the body begins to feel secure enough to drop the water.
The body can't hold onto the water forever.
Eventually, it will break down the unused fat cells and empty out what it has stored in them, but this can take quite a long time to occur. Patience is definitely required if you've gone keto before.
3) Ketones are Too High
In a person who does not have Type 1 Diabetes, the body has
built-in safety precautions to protect itself from going into a state called ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a very serious, life-threatening condition that affects diabetics.
One of my two nephews who have Type 1 Diabetes died from going into ketoacidosis.
Since Type 1's can't make their own insulin, the excess ketones that build up make the body extremely acidic, which is life threatening. However, ketoacidosis only occurs when an excessive amount of ketones build up in the blood coupled with a zero-point insulin level.
If you don’t have Type 1 Diabetes, and do make your own insulin, even if you're insulin resistant, the body will secrete insulin whenever your ketone level rises too high.
This is totally opposite of what you want your low-carb diet to do. Elevated insulin will store all the fats in your bloodstream and shut down ketone production until all of the extra ketones have been used by the brain or muscles.
The whole fad of getting your ketones up to a level that Dr. Phinney refers to as ketone starvation actually slows down fat loss. It does not speed it up.
For the truth about Nutritional Ketosis, check out our post on Low-Carb High-Fat Weight Loss. It clears up a lot of the myths surrounding high-fat diets by going directly to the source.
One of my two nephews who have Type 1 Diabetes died from going into ketoacidosis.
Since Type 1's can't make their own insulin, the excess ketones that build up make the body extremely acidic, which is life threatening. However, ketoacidosis only occurs when an excessive amount of ketones build up in the blood coupled with a zero-point insulin level.
If you don’t have Type 1 Diabetes, and do make your own insulin, even if you're insulin resistant, the body will secrete insulin whenever your ketone level rises too high.
This is totally opposite of what you want your low-carb diet to do. Elevated insulin will store all the fats in your bloodstream and shut down ketone production until all of the extra ketones have been used by the brain or muscles.
The whole fad of getting your ketones up to a level that Dr. Phinney refers to as ketone starvation actually slows down fat loss. It does not speed it up.
For the truth about Nutritional Ketosis, check out our post on Low-Carb High-Fat Weight Loss. It clears up a lot of the myths surrounding high-fat diets by going directly to the source.
4) Switching to Burning Fats Slows Down Weight Loss
Many people throw around the idea that there is a low-carb
metabolic advantage. Even Dr. Atkins believed that the state of ketosis sneaked calories out of the body, unused.
However, if the advantage exists, it is not as large and doesn't last as long as you might think.
In the latest scientific study done on low-carb diets, the rise in metabolic rate did not reach statistical significance and was gone by the end of the first week, once protein oxidation was replaced with fat burning.
Moving from a slightly reduced calorie diet to a low-carb diet slowed down fat loss.
When you begin restricting carbohydrates, stress hormones are excreted. The purpose of these stress hormones is to help the body find alternative methods of fuel
that will enable you to handle the famine conditions you have artificially created by dieting.
This happens with any weight loss diet. It's not particular to ketogenic approaches.
Initially, the body sees a weight-loss diet as a metabolic emergency. With low carb, however, you set up the same pathway the body uses when it goes into starvation. This pathway causes the body to make a few adaptions to the situation because it doesn't like the energy equation getting out of balance.
However, if the advantage exists, it is not as large and doesn't last as long as you might think.
In the latest scientific study done on low-carb diets, the rise in metabolic rate did not reach statistical significance and was gone by the end of the first week, once protein oxidation was replaced with fat burning.
Moving from a slightly reduced calorie diet to a low-carb diet slowed down fat loss.
This happens with any weight loss diet. It's not particular to ketogenic approaches.
Initially, the body sees a weight-loss diet as a metabolic emergency. With low carb, however, you set up the same pathway the body uses when it goes into starvation. This pathway causes the body to make a few adaptions to the situation because it doesn't like the energy equation getting out of balance.
The first adaption on low carb is a rise in amino acid oxidation.
The body will tear down and consume worn-out protein structures. When those are not available, the body uses some of the amino acids in the diet. It will also use muscle tissue to get the amino acids it needs, if you're not eating enough protein.
These amino acids are directly used for caloric energy. They are not turned into glucose.
The body has other alternatives for glucose that it uses first, before turning to dietary protein, such as the non-essential amino acid glutamine, pyruvate, lactic acid, or the glycerol backbone attached to triglyceride.
It can use protein for glucose, but only as a last resort.
Any glucose available in the salads, vegetables, and low-carb condiments will be saved for the brain. The 20-net carbs you eat on Induction cuts down on the amount of glucose the body needs to make.
If muscle burning continues at the same rate it does during the first week of keto, you'd die fairly quickly, so the body goes through another adaption called ketosis.
Body fat is pulled out of storage and used to fuel the muscles and body organs. The glycerol backbone of the triglycerides used to make ketones is used to make glucose, along with other glucose recycling systems, so the:
- brain
- liver
- kidneys
- red blood cells
- and a couple of others
As time passes, the brain will use more and more ketones to provide for its energy needs, making the need for glucose sources go way down. This saves muscle tissue, but it also shuts down any minor metabolic advantage you were getting from oxidizing amino acids directly for energy.
5) Too Much Cardio Stalls Weight Loss
The idea that sits at the heart of a low-carb diet is to correct
metabolic imbalances. This happens quickly when you begin to restrict
carbohydrates.
Basal insulin levels drop to below normal within only a few days, and for some people, the drop in insulin places the body into a stressful situation. If the body thinks you are starving or caught in a famine situation, it will slam on the brakes. Metabolism will slow way down.
Basal insulin levels drop to below normal within only a few days, and for some people, the drop in insulin places the body into a stressful situation. If the body thinks you are starving or caught in a famine situation, it will slam on the brakes. Metabolism will slow way down.
Exercise can contribute to the problem because cardio is
fueled by glucose, and not fatty acids.
As your blood sugar level drops, cortisol is released to prod the liver into using your glycogen stores for fuel. If your liver doesn’t have enough glycogen stored, which is what happens on a very low-carb diet, the presence of higher cortisol alerts the liver that immediate glucose is needed.
It is the presence of cortisol, and not the amount of sugar in your bloodstream, that signals the liver to break down glycogen into glucose and dump the glucose into the bloodstream because the presence of cortisol, especially coupled with a low basal insulin level, signals low blood sugar.
As your blood sugar level drops, cortisol is released to prod the liver into using your glycogen stores for fuel. If your liver doesn’t have enough glycogen stored, which is what happens on a very low-carb diet, the presence of higher cortisol alerts the liver that immediate glucose is needed.
It is the presence of cortisol, and not the amount of sugar in your bloodstream, that signals the liver to break down glycogen into glucose and dump the glucose into the bloodstream because the presence of cortisol, especially coupled with a low basal insulin level, signals low blood sugar.
Although fatty acids can be burned for fuel after the body
has adapted to your low-carb diet, for many people, fat stores cannot be
converted quick enough to fuel the body’s immediate needs during cardio.
This can cause gluconeogenesis to go into high production, where amino acids are used for energy instead of fat. As long as cortisol is around, gluconeogenesis won’t shut off because the elevated cortisol means your life is in danger.
The higher production of glucose causes higher insulin levels and makes fat burning less efficient.
On keto, you have to make sure that you are not doing too much heavy exercise, especially when your carbs are very low because a very low-carb diet keeps your blood glucose level higher than normal.
However, once the body has adapted to your low-carb diet, many dieters find HIIT to be quite beneficial.
This can cause gluconeogenesis to go into high production, where amino acids are used for energy instead of fat. As long as cortisol is around, gluconeogenesis won’t shut off because the elevated cortisol means your life is in danger.
The higher production of glucose causes higher insulin levels and makes fat burning less efficient.
On keto, you have to make sure that you are not doing too much heavy exercise, especially when your carbs are very low because a very low-carb diet keeps your blood glucose level higher than normal.
However, once the body has adapted to your low-carb diet, many dieters find HIIT to be quite beneficial.
The Truth About Low-Carb Weight Loss
The science behind keto has evolved over the
years. Initially, when Dr. Atkins came forward with his clinical
findings, many things involved in the metabolic weight-loss process were
unknown.
Dr. Atkins saw his diet work, but he didn’t always understand why.
His goal wasn’t to nail down the science behind his work.
His purpose was to help people lose weight without being hungry, people who hadn’t been able to trim the pounds by using a standard low-calorie diet.
He made assumptions and guessed as to why the diet worked, and sometimes, those assumptions and guesses turned out to be wrong.
But, that doesn’t make the diet less valuable.
Dr. Atkins saw his diet work, but he didn’t always understand why.
His goal wasn’t to nail down the science behind his work.
His purpose was to help people lose weight without being hungry, people who hadn’t been able to trim the pounds by using a standard low-calorie diet.
He made assumptions and guessed as to why the diet worked, and sometimes, those assumptions and guesses turned out to be wrong.
But, that doesn’t make the diet less valuable.
So far, scientific studies have found low-carb diets to be
comparable to low-calorie programs for weight loss – comparable, but not better.
Keto is not a crash diet.
Weight loss on keto vs a low-calorie diet has been about the same when food intake and exercise are controlled. It's only in self-regulated scientific studies where you see huge variations in study participants, mostly due to compliance issues. Ketogenic diets require you to adopt a complete lifestyle change.
This means that the initial drop in weight that you experience on a low-carb diet will eventually move into a similar rate of fat loss as those who have chosen to lower their portion sizes instead. This is because the body eventually adapts to whatever weight-loss diet you are using.
Keto is not a crash diet.
Weight loss on keto vs a low-calorie diet has been about the same when food intake and exercise are controlled. It's only in self-regulated scientific studies where you see huge variations in study participants, mostly due to compliance issues. Ketogenic diets require you to adopt a complete lifestyle change.
This means that the initial drop in weight that you experience on a low-carb diet will eventually move into a similar rate of fat loss as those who have chosen to lower their portion sizes instead. This is because the body eventually adapts to whatever weight-loss diet you are using.
As your low-carb diet continues, the body will continue to work on its purpose and continue adapting until the energy you use on a daily basis balances with what you eat.
At that point, you will have reached equilibrium.
If you are short of your weight-loss goal, you have two choices:
1) Agree to stay where you are, and be happy; or
2) tweak your diet to get the scales moving downward again.
A true plateau means you are eating at maintenance, no matter how much or how little food that might be.
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