As far as frequently asked questions go this one is near the top. People take our advice or learn about keto and get started. Soon after we will often hear, “why am I not losing weight on keto?” Right away before we even get a chance to respond we hear, “I’m doing everything right,” or “I haven’t cheated once.” I must be getting old because people asking me a question and answering it themselves drives me. However, this is a better forum to answer this FAQ in anyway.
2 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight on Keto
The great part and worst part about keto is the lifestyle is very unforgiving when you first get started. If we break it down, there is only really two reasons you won’t lose weight on keto. Every other possible reason you see listed on the multiple websites like ours feed off these two main points.
The first is you’re not really in ketosis, but think you are. The second is much more controversial and something we have talked about in the past. You’re taking in too many calories. We will explore this a little later in greater detail, but if you’ve read you can eat as much as you want on keto. Put that book down.
The 1st Reason You’re Not Losing Weight on Keto
This is the first reason and likely the most common. It encompasses a lot as the whole goal of keto is to get your body into ketosis and becomes the fat burning machine you hear so much about. Taking away carbohydrates as your energy sources forces your body to begin burning fat. That fat burning process is ketosis and one of the reasons people lose so much weight on keto.
The flip side of that is, if you’re eating a keto diet, but not in ketosis you will more than likely gain weight. Fat rich foods are much higher in calories so if your body isn’t burning those off your body is going to store them away like a squirrel with winter nuts.
Why Am I Not in Ketosis?
This is a whole blog, but the main reason is people think they are “doing everything right,” but are taking in many hidden carbs. Reading labels and keeping your macros in check with under 20-carbs a day is the key to ketosis. We can talk about fat numbers, dirty keto, and all that, but if you get your carb count to under 20-grams a day your body will go into ketosis.
Another major reason people don’t enter ketosis is “treats.” It can take up to a couple of weeks to get your body in a fat burning state and if in that time you “treat” yourself with some high carb food you may have to start the process all over again. Ultimately this comes down to educating yourself. If you put in the work to learn about keto, you will know what you can and cannot do to reach ketosis.
The 2nd Reason You’re Not Losing Weight on Keto
My keto friends and online peers will not like us bringing this one up. Often the second reason you’re not losing weight is because you are eating too much. Keto is not an excuse to eat a pound of bacon a day and top that off with a cup of hollandaise sauce. If you gorge yourself on rich fatty foods, the weight will stay on no matter how fat adapted you are. Portion your food properly.
Before people jump me about calories in and calories out all I can do is speak from personal experience. Last year my weight was lower than I wanted. I wasn’t comfortable in the mid 170s (weird for a former 350-pound guy to say). In order to feel better I knew I had to put some weight back on. The only thing I did different was eat more. I stayed in ketosis and weight came back on. Sorry, but speaking from experience… calories matter.
One Last Reason
We have come up with two reasons, but both come down to properly learning about the journey you’re on. This last reason could also fall in that category. A lot of people that come to us with this question are losing weight. It’s just not as fast as they want it to be.
The people close to me that do keto all experienced this. They were only losing two to five pounds a week and asking why they weren’t losing weight on keto. They were losing tons of weight, they just had unrealistic expectations of how much it should be. To counteract this, I just do a little math for them. If you’re losing even 2-pounds a week, that works out to 8-pounds a month or a whopping 96-pounds in a year. Picture yourself 100-pounds lighter this time next year.
You’re losing, keep that in perspective.
Bill
