Question about Ketogenic diet (1 Viewer)

[lombardi]

I'm on a Ketogenic ("Atkins"-type) diet. Three days of almost no carbs puts me in ketosis, then I eat only 15g of carbs per meal. This maintains ketogenic state and fat burns up. I've been on it for a little less than 3 months, down 43lbs. Not bad but still a ways to go. When I drop about 20-30 more lbs I'm going to transition into a more long term and healthier diet and ramp up the exercise so the weight loss is sustainable. I'm not sure what that is yet but I know from a past experience how quick low carb weight loss comes back and I want to make sure to move to something more about building muscle mass and healthier eating instead of just dropping quick weight. This first phase was just a "jump start" to drop lbs quickly, get encouraged, and get to a weight where it's easier to work out.

So I have a question about Ketosis. The one thing to be careful of on these low carb/atkins/ketosis diets is that you simply can't cheat. If you have a bad meal you pretty much blow it for a week. Body gains ridiculous weight and then drops it again when you get back on but you've basically burned a week of progress. I've been doing great with that so far, no deviation from the plan. However, I planned an off weekend 3 months ago for Thanksgiving. I knew I was going off for this weekend when I started. So I weigh myself Thursday morning then weigh myself again on Monday morning. In those 4 days I gained 14lbs. Then two days after the weekend I was back down 12lbs to almost the pre-Thanksgiving weight.

I definitely ate more than usual on Thanksgiving, like most people, and had some leftovers the next two days. Also ate a few snacks I can't normally eat when I'm "on the wagon". But I wasn't eating boxes of Krispy Kremes and sucking down Big Gulps full of lard. The question is, what in the world is happening to the body when you gain 14lbs in a 4 days and then drop 12lbs in 2 days back on the diet. Is this mostly a water thing? I'm not concerned because the lapse was planned, already almost back to where I was, and will continue going strong. I'm just curious what is actually happening in the body when you jump out of Ketosis and put that big chunk of weight on immediately. I'm guessing it must be hydration related but wondering if anyone knows for sure.

 

[Statcruncher]

Yes, it's water weight and it's typical.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I'm on a Ketogenic ("Atkins"-type) diet. Three days of almost no carbs puts me in ketosis, then I eat only 15g of carbs per meal. This maintains ketogenic state and fat burns up. I've been on it for a little less than 3 months, down 43lbs. Not bad but still a ways to go. When I drop about 20-30 more lbs I'm going to transition into a more long term and healthier diet and ramp up the exercise so the weight loss is sustainable. I'm not sure what that is yet but I know from a past experience how quick low carb weight loss comes back and I want to make sure to move to something more about building muscle mass and healthier eating instead of just dropping quick weight. This first phase was just a "jump start" to drop lbs quickly, get encouraged, and get to a weight where it's easier to work out.

So I have a question about Ketosis. The one thing to be careful of on these low carb/atkins/ketosis diets is that you simply can't cheat. If you have a bad meal you pretty much blow it for a week. Body gains ridiculous weight and then drops it again when you get back on but you've basically burned a week of progress. I've been doing great with that so far, no deviation from the plan. However, I planned an off weekend 3 months ago for Thanksgiving. I knew I was going off for this weekend when I started. So I weigh myself Thursday morning then weigh myself again on Monday morning. In those 4 days I gained 14lbs. Then two days after the weekend I was back down 12lbs to almost the pre-Thanksgiving weight.

I definitely ate more than usual on Thanksgiving, like most people, and had some leftovers the next two days. Also ate a few snacks I can't normally eat when I'm "on the wagon". But I wasn't eating boxes of Krispy Kremes and sucking down Big Gulps full of lard. The question is, what in the world is happening to the body when you gain 14lbs in a 4 days and then drop 12lbs in 2 days back on the diet. Is this mostly a water thing? I'm not concerned because the lapse was planned, already almost back to where I was, and will continue going strong. I'm just curious what is actually happening in the body when you jump out of Ketosis and put that big chunk of weight on immediately. I'm guessing it must be hydration related but wondering if anyone knows for sure.

It's entirely a water thing. Without carbs, your body doesn't produce glycogen. Glycogen bonds with water. So you eat carbs, your body produces glycogen and you retain water. It can be pretty dramatic. The water is pretty much why everybody achieves dramatic weight loss when they first start a ketogenic diet. They're not burning 10 lbs worth of fat in a week.

You're not undoing any progress with an occasional cheat day on a ketogenic diet. At least not if you define progress as losing fat.

 

[lombardi]

Thanks guys, that's what I thought it probably was. I've experienced it before but never knew the actual cause.

 

[mr roboto]

Weight gain or loss does not equal fat gain or loss. The posts above covered it. My wife went on a whole 30 eating plan. She was allowed fruit but no other carbs. She lost like 15 lbs (and she didn't really have that much body fat to lose). Her face became much slimmer. Same with upper arms. For her she stores fat in face and lower body.

Anyway, she transitioned to an 80/20 plan. She eats very cleanly 80% of the time. The other 20% is moderate (ie not 4 slices of pizza or a huge bowl of pasta). In 5 days she was up 8 lbs and her face rounded out ever so slightly.

It's amazing how quickly you can make things change.

 

[Quez]

Wow, 14lbs in 4 days! It sounds to me like you have been starving yourself to death.

 

[lombardi]

Actually I've been eating a lot, just all meat, eggs, salad, no starch veggies... low carbs. I don't think I've been starving at all although I would definitely say after the first couple weeks I definitely eat less than I did. I though maybe i just over did it on the weekend, but the dramatic drop afterwards made it feel more like a water thing to me.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Yup, water weight as others have mentioned. Each gram of glycogen that you store binds with 3-4 grams of water.

 

[glock]

I'm on a Ketogenic ("Atkins"-type) diet. Three days of almost no carbs puts me in ketosis, then I eat only 15g of carbs per meal. This maintains ketogenic state and fat burns up. I've been on it for a little less than 3 months, down 43lbs. Not bad but still a ways to go. When I drop about 20-30 more lbs I'm going to transition into a more long term and healthier diet and ramp up the exercise so the weight loss is sustainable. I'm not sure what that is yet but I know from a past experience how quick low carb weight loss comes back and I want to make sure to move to something more about building muscle mass and healthier eating instead of just dropping quick weight. This first phase was just a "jump start" to drop lbs quickly, get encouraged, and get to a weight where it's easier to work out.

So I have a question about Ketosis. The one thing to be careful of on these low carb/atkins/ketosis diets is that you simply can't cheat. If you have a bad meal you pretty much blow it for a week. Body gains ridiculous weight and then drops it again when you get back on but you've basically burned a week of progress. I've been doing great with that so far, no deviation from the plan. However, I planned an off weekend 3 months ago for Thanksgiving. I knew I was going off for this weekend when I started. So I weigh myself Thursday morning then weigh myself again on Monday morning. In those 4 days I gained 14lbs. Then two days after the weekend I was back down 12lbs to almost the pre-Thanksgiving weight.

I definitely ate more than usual on Thanksgiving, like most people, and had some leftovers the next two days. Also ate a few snacks I can't normally eat when I'm "on the wagon". But I wasn't eating boxes of Krispy Kremes and sucking down Big Gulps full of lard. The question is, what in the world is happening to the body when you gain 14lbs in a 4 days and then drop 12lbs in 2 days back on the diet. Is this mostly a water thing? I'm not concerned because the lapse was planned, already almost back to where I was, and will continue going strong. I'm just curious what is actually happening in the body when you jump out of Ketosis and put that big chunk of weight on immediately. I'm guessing it must be hydration related but wondering if anyone knows for sure.

It's entirely a water thing. Without carbs, your body doesn't produce glycogen. Glycogen bonds with water. So you eat carbs, your body produces glycogen and you retain water. It can be pretty dramatic. The water is pretty much why everybody achieves dramatic weight loss when they first start a ketogenic diet. They're not burning 10 lbs worth of fat in a week.

You're not undoing any progress with an occasional cheat day on a ketogenic diet. At least not if you define progress as losing fat.

This.