gaining weight?

[u/LavenderArt138]

i started my keto journey about four months ago and have gotten a lot of mental benefits from it but i’m not not seeing any physical changes.

i’ve tracked calories for years and have frequently bulked/cut and know my maintenance lies around 2000 so on keto i’ve dropped to 1700 in an attempt to lose a little bit of weight i put on over the summer. however. . . it appears that not only am i not losing weight but i actually look like ive gained a little bit of fat. i walk an hour every morning and strength train 4x per week.

any ideas what might be causing this?

for reference, i haven’t struggled with losing weight in the past so this is a new development. any advice would be appreciated!!!

[u/swimminscared]

300 calories is a pretty small deficit. If you are wrong about your basal metabolic rate, or anything less than absolutely militant about 100% accuracy in your reporting and counting, it's extremely likely you're not actually eating in a deficit.

I know you're walking and strength training, but those also might not be burning as many additional calories as you think they are. The reality for most people is that exercise is not a reliable way to create a caloric deficit.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/swimminscared]

it could be because of tracking inaccuracies but i’m very confident that my TDEE is around 2000. i’d been maintaining on 2000 for about eight months before i started keto with no issues

[u/swimminscared → u/LavenderArt138]

What are you basing that calculation on?

The basal metabolic rate of someone your size is 1350 calories / day. We can say 1400 generously. This means for your TDEE to be 2000, you'd need to be burning an additional 600 calories through activity throughout the day, every single day of the week.

If you have ever trained with a heart rate monitor over a protracted period of time, you will know that it's not easy to burn 600 calories. You'd need to be running 6 miles or more per day, or weightlifting for literal hours. This number also goes down the more in shape and efficient your body is at the same effort levels.

All this is to say, OP, by our math and your subjective view of yourself, something isn't adding up here.

You can either accept that something is incorrect about the assumptions you've made in calculating your daily allotments, or you can believe that you are somehow exempt from CICO and that you are a metabolic unicorn who does not lose weight despite running a deficit.

[u/ReverseLazarus]

How do you know you’ve gained fat specifically?

Weight gain happens when you’re overeating. What are your stats and calories/macros in grams?

[u/InflationThink5171 → u/ReverseLazarus]

how much of that 1700 is fat? if you're eating a ton of fat and not a lot of protein your body will just burn the dietary fat instead of what's stored. people get weird about protein on keto thinking it'll kick them out of ketosis but it takes a ridiculous amount for that to happen

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/InflationThink5171]

in my current deficit i’m eating about 80g of protein

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/LavenderArt138]

If you’re actively lifting weights, you need much more protein than that. I’m pretty sedentary and I eat 140-160g protein a day.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

okay thank you. i’ll try eating closer to 150 and see what happens

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

my muscles look a lot less defined especially my abs. visited a family member last week i hadn’t seen in a month or two and they commented about how i looked like i gained a little bit of weight 😅

i’m currently eating 85g protein, 140g fat, and 20g carbs per day. i use my fitness pal to track macros and i also weigh my food so i’m pretty sure my tracking is accurate.

i’ve been testing my blood ketones and glucose with a keto mojo device and i’ve consistently stayed in ketosis for the past four months. i’m very confused where i could be going wrong

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/LavenderArt138]

That doesn’t mean you’ve gained fat, if anything it points to water weight more than fat.

What is your height, weight, age, and gender?

Ketosis doesn’t drive weight loss, a calorie deficit does, so testing for ketones is giving you no actionable data here.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

i’m a 5’ 6” female who currently weighs 130. i have been drinking a lot more water lately so that could explain it

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/LavenderArt138]

Oh, you are overeating then. By quite a bit. I’m a 5’5” 135lb woman and my maintenance calories are 1400.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

i live a very active lifestyle and have always maintained on 2000 calories though. i haven’t changed anything movement wise since starting keto

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/LavenderArt138]

So are you 130 now? Or is that the weight after the fat you think you’ve gained?

How long have you been at 1700? It’s only a 15% deficit, so it’s going to take awhile to actually see progress. It took me 6+ months to go from 155 to 135 with a 20% deficit. When you have VERY little to lose, it’s a painful slog with tons of fluctuations.

[u/swimminscared → u/ReverseLazarus]

Yeah just to add context here, I am a 6'0" woman at 165 and my TDEE is barely 1700. I know there are always variations between individuals but I would bet OP's TDEE is close to 1400 at 5'6" and 130.

[u/kimariesingsMD → u/ReverseLazarus]

You are already at a healthy weight. What is your goal?

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/kimariesingsMD]

I’m not OP. I’m happy with my weight. ☺️

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

i’m 130 now and i’ve been at 1700 since i started keto

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/LavenderArt138]

It’s not super pertinent to the discussion but I’m genuinely confused, why do you think you’ve gained body fat if the scale has stayed the same?

I’d recommend lowering your calories further honestly. How much weight do you want to lose? You’re already at a normal weight for your height.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/ReverseLazarus]

my measurements went up about an inch around my waist and 1/2 an inch around my hips. i know my weight is normal but i wanted a little more definition in my lower abs. only about five lbs less nothing crazy

[u/surfaholic15 → u/LavenderArt138]

Muscles do look different on keto regardless because less retained water and related things. Folks comment on that rather often. Beyond that, have your weight or measurements changed? Looking diffrrent doesn't mean weight gain of loss necessarily (outside of the normal few pounds day to day from water weight etc).

I have been slowly losing inches and changing shape several years with no meaningful weight gain or loss. And yes, at times i have looked skinny fat or pudgier as my weight redistributes and stuff.

Definitely more protein anyway. I am 5 foot 3, 135 and never eat less than 110g daily to support my muscles since i work a physically demanding job. Usually closer to 125g when i am really pushing it at work.

And i would suggest using cronometer to track, it is the best tracking app available.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/surfaholic15]

i’ve gained about an inch around my waist and 1/2 inch around my hips. i also use my fitness pal to track but maybe i’ll try chronometer and see if i notice any changes

[u/surfaholic15 → u/LavenderArt138]

Over a month or within a month that sounds more like water weight. I used to have that happen back when i had a monthly cycle myself.

I find i gain water weight/inches if i slack on my salt or my electrolytes are otherwise messed up also.

Cronometer uses only verified databases. I tried all the tracking apps when i strated keto almost 8 years ago, cronometer is most accurate and complete. And a food scale of course

[u/krissycole87]

For your height and weight, 1700 calories is too high. Thats more of a maintenance number.

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/krissycole87]

before i started keto, i was maintaining on 2000 for about eight months. i haven’t changed anything movement wise recently so i don’t think that would have changed

[u/krissycole87 → u/LavenderArt138]

You came here asking why you arent losing weight, the answer is very simple, your calorie intake is too high.

If you want to keep stalling, keep doing what youre doing.

[u/cupojoe4me]

if you've been at 1700 for four months, walking an hour a day and lifting 4x, and the scale hasn't moved, the deficit probably isn't real. on keto the leak is usually the fats that don't feel like food, cheese, nuts, cream, butter. weigh those for a week and see what the number actually is. the fatter look is likely water from the deficit plus training stress, not new fat

[u/BrenjustBren]

I had the same issue and just stopped keto because I got frustrated. I’m up a few pounds so I’m thinking about restarting again. I do notice it really affects my progress by having artificial sweeteners like in cold brew or even some desserts when it’s that time of the month. Keto friendly breads or tortillas stall me. Are you consuming any of that?

[u/LavenderArt138 → u/BrenjustBren]

i have a lot of dietary restrictions so i can’t eat store bought keto friendly products even if i wanted to unfortunately. i don’t consume any artificial sweeteners aside from liquid stevia in my morning matcha

[u/ChiffonEstellee → u/BrenjustBren]

same here, those keto breads trick me every time, do you track macros strictly?

[u/BrenjustBren → u/ChiffonEstellee]

No I’ve done it before it got so popular … so I knew what to do but then it got popular and things on the shelf sometimes were simpler for me to work with. But maybe I should track them when I start again.