Since I am currently eating my first meal of each day at 4:00 p.m., I am not calling my first meal “breakfast” and my second meal “lunch”. My fantastic husband and I ask each other things like, “which shake is that?” or “how many shakes do you have left?” to communicate which “meal” of the day we are eating or anticipating. I do refer to my last shake of the day as “dessert” though and probably always will. That last shake of the day is always warmed in a big mug, and I always look forward to it.
So… you can see… I have not lost any weight in over five weeks. In fact, I am up six pounds from my lowest weight. This morning, the scales said 124.8 (down 10.8 pounds since January 2). The first time I saw 124 was on February 17 (more than five weeks ago!). My lowest weight was 118.8 on March 18 (down 16.8 pounds since January 2). That was 9 days ago! This can be flat-out discouraging and is a perfect example of why I do not normally weigh myself every day. Those scale numbers can sometimes even affect my mood though I try to tell myself they do not matter.
But let’s look at this again. Literally as I am writing this post, I am looking at the chart above my words and am seeing (being reminded) that I essentially lost no weight the first five weeks of this journey – so this recent five weeks of essentially no weight loss is really the same as that. Right? Hmm, that gives me a slightly new outlook.
Since I eat exactly the same thing every single day, there is certainly no direct connection between my morning scale weight and my daily caloric intake or food choices. Times like these are when we dig in our heels and remind ourselves to KCKO (Keep Calm, Keto On). I wanted that weight loss trend of Weeks 6 to 8 to continue on at the same rate. I was excited by it! But that is not the reality of my journey. And I am overall still trending in the right direction so I should be encouraged by that reality and stay the course.
And I can now know/show that higher ketones for me do not equate to greater weight loss. I am maintaining/gaining weight yet my ketones are higher now (especially after adding MCT oil) than they have EVER been. Higher ketones do not mean faster weight loss. Good to know!
AVERAGE DAILY KETONE LEVEL
First six weeks of challenge with heavy cream: 2.0
Week 1 of science with heavy cream: 2.5
Week 2 of science with heavy cream: 2.7
Week 1 of science with avocado oil: 2.5
Week 2 of science with avocado oil: 2.8
Week 1 of science with avocado oil & MCT oil: 3.2
Week 2 of science with avocado oil & MCT oil: 3.1
The butter phase of this challenge is going to be so much easier now that Chris has discovered that butter will not separate after being emulsified into a shake made with warm water. With this information, I know I can pre-mix my shakes just like I have done all along. And since Chris is sending me a bag of the Creamy Tomato Basil soup, I am excitedly planning to incorporate that flavor into my rotation!
There are only 15 days remaining on this 100 day journey!! Can you believe it???
All I can say is this: I am ready to EAT MEAT!
p.s. If you are someone who likes charts or who is interested in the cholesterol results of the science phase, please visit Chris’ spreadsheet. (I am “Female 3”. The “100 Days of Keto Charts” tab is super interesting!)
You are not alone with the scale numbers affecting mood. I feel your pain on that one! I heard on a 2ketodudes podcast that our bodies re-create 10% of our skin and fat cells every year, and they do get re-created leaner. So by just maintaining a lower body weight for a long period of time, you’re literally re-creating a leaner you for the long-term. So maintaining a lower weight is still a huge win!
You are a wealth of knowledge, Johnny, and always so encouraging. Thank you!
Your chart near its end resembles mine, right now – I’ve been hovering around the same few pounds on the scale. I’ve recently seen a slight bit of body re-composition, which is encouraging, but the weight loss aspect of the journey has slowed quite a lot and I am not a patient person. Still, the health benefits are undeniable, so I’m trying to keep health as the primary goal and not be too distracted by any lesser objectives like pounds lost and dress size.
Robert Sikes @ Keto Savage made a video on YouTube recently where he describes the coaching process he uses for his clients related to macro adjustments over time. In it, he mentioned that it’s common among his clients who are ‘middle aged women’ (as he said it, I cringed when I realized this described me,) to see a slowing or reversing of weight loss at a certain point in their keto timeline. Adjusting macros/calories very slowly is his recommendation for affecting a change in metabolism that can help the fat loss process resume. Pretty interesting stuff.
Good advice and perspective!