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Originally Posted by MaPetiteChoux
It looks like all of the FAQ pages about this issue are from several years ago, and I didn't find a useful answer from reading old threads so I hope it's okay to post a new one here. Please let me know if there's an active thread that I didn't find that I should move this to.
I successfully did IP 2 years ago and sailed into ketosis easily. I lost 6.6 in my first week, and thereafter had no cravings, great energy, and no appetite. Now I'm re-booting and I only lost 0.8 in week 1 and as I approach my second weigh in tomorrow morning, I'm almost certain I'm still not in ketosis. My (brand new) keto-sticks are reading totally negative, I'm still incredibly hungry and irritable, and my home scale has hardly budged. I'd love some guidance if anybody else has had this issue.
During week 1 of my reboot, I was pretty strict, but didn't quite get all my water in and had 1 too many cups of the occasional veggies. After the very low loss last week, I slipped up by eating some strawberries on day 1 of week 2, but then buckled down this week and have had all my water, supplements, and select veggies, and have focused on eating lower carb un-restricted items like shakes and soups, and I'm not exercising. The strawberries certainly didn't help, but I can't imagine they'd have stalled me this much.
I guess tomorrow morning will be the true test, but based on my home scale, I'm essentially not losing. I am desperate to make some progress and get out of this intermediate zone where I feel cranky and hungry, so would greatly appreciate some advice on what I might be doing wrong. Thank you!!
I have had the opposite as you. My first time doing IP, I was very disappointed in what I lost my first 3 weeks. I only lost like a total of 6 pounds. In subsequent reboots, I have lost as much as 18 pounds in first 2 weeks (this is now more typically what happens after purging the bloat from drinking diet pop and carb load, etc).
Regardless of the first few weeks, my average losses were consistent of about 3.3 pounds per week when doing the protocol for 3-6 months - this is based upon doing this about 4 times now as I cycle on and off.
My advice to you is to just stick with it. What you will not find here is anyone that followed the protocol that did not lose lots of weight and lots of inches over an extended period of time.
My biggest losses the first time around came in months 3 and month 4. I was in a pattern of 1st 2 weeks of the month, I would lose 9 lbs and then 2nd two I would lose 4-6 pounds. So, I just say stick with it and don't obsess and follow the protocol 100%.
Btw, I see people set mini weight loss goals and I have done it myself, but you don't control the rate at which you lose if you follow the protocol 100% - you will get the inches and weight off in time so I have mostly seen this as a set up for disappointment.
One other note, from your data of losing 42 pounds from Nov - May (not sure when you started in Nov or ended in May) but best case (in terms of weight loss average) to worst case is you did 5-7 months which puts you at an average of 1.5 - 2.1 pounds per week. I would track this over say 8 weeks vs being concerned after almost 2 with a protocol deviation or 2 thrown in.
I have read countless times that it can take some people up to 3 weeks to get keto-adapted which could explain how you are feeling. I don't put any credence in the keto strips - they are not accurate. If you want to do accurate ketosis testing, get a blood ketone reader and strips. I got mine from Amazon.