Troubleshooting Keto: What To Do If It's Not Working

The ketogenic, or keto, diet is a low-carb, high-fat eating plan that has gained popularity for its weight loss and health benefits. However, there are several reasons why some people may not experience the desired results on a keto diet. Here are some common reasons why keto may not be working for you:

- Not Achieving Ketosis: Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose. To reach and maintain ketosis, you need to drastically reduce your carbohydrate intake, typically to 20-50 grams per day.

- Eating Too Many Carbs: Even if you are on a keto diet, consuming too many carbs can prevent you from achieving and maintaining ketosis. Make sure to track your carb intake and choose low-carb options.

- Eating Too Much Protein: A common misconception is that keto is a high-protein diet. However, too much protein can kick you out of ketosis as excess protein can be converted into sugar.

- Not Eating Enough Calories: While it's important to create a calorie deficit for weight loss, eating too few calories can put your body into starvation mode, slowing down your metabolism and weight loss.

- Not Eating Nutritious Foods: Consuming processed and convenience foods, even if they are keto-friendly, can hinder weight loss. Focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods like avocados, olive oil, full-fat dairy, nuts, and non-starchy vegetables.

- Constant Snacking: Frequent snacking on high-calorie keto snacks can lead to a calorie surplus and weight gain. Choose lower-calorie options like non-starchy vegetables or proteins for snacks.

- Lack of Exercise: Incorporating physical activity is crucial for weight loss on a keto diet. Exercise helps burn calories, build muscle, and boost metabolism.

- Stress and Lack of Sleep: Chronic stress and inadequate sleep can negatively impact weight loss by disrupting hormones and increasing appetite. Reducing stress and improving sleep hygiene can help.

- Undiagnosed Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, PCOS, Cushing's syndrome, or depression, can contribute to weight gain or difficulty losing weight. Consult a doctor to rule out any underlying medical issues.

- Food Intolerances: Food intolerances can cause gut imbalances and inflammation, affecting weight loss. If you suspect food intolerances, speak to a healthcare professional for testing and guidance.

Not tracking carbohydrates

Not tracking your carbohydrate intake can be a significant pitfall when it comes to the keto diet. Here are some detailed explanations and tips to help you stay on track with your carbohydrate consumption:

Understand the Keto Diet

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that aims to force your body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose. This is achieved by drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, with carbs making up only around 5-10% of your total calories. On a 2000-calorie diet, this usually means consuming between 20 and 50 grams of carbs per day.

Track Your Carb Intake

Use a food tracker app, such as MyFitnessPal, to monitor your carbohydrate intake. These apps allow you to input the foods you eat and will help you stay within your desired carb range. Additionally, consider using a home testing kit or a ketone breath analyzer to check for ketones in your urine or breath, respectively. These tools can confirm whether your body has entered ketosis, the desired metabolic state for the keto diet.

Be Mindful of Hidden Carbs

Carbohydrates can be found in many unexpected foods, such as cruciferous vegetables, green beans, dairy, and nuts. Even if you think you're reducing your carb intake, these hidden carbs can add up and prevent you from reaching ketosis. Be mindful of your portion sizes and always check nutrition labels to ensure you're not consuming more carbs than intended.

Choose Low-Carb Vegetables

When it comes to vegetables, opt for low-carb options like leafy greens, cucumbers, asparagus, and zucchini. Fill your plate with these at every meal. Be cautious with higher-carb veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower, as they can quickly add up your carb count.

Limit Acceptable Carbs

On the keto diet, some carbohydrates are considered acceptable, such as nuts and dairy. While these foods are nutrient-dense and high in fat, they still contain carbohydrates. Eating too many of these can hinder your progress in achieving and maintaining ketosis.

Understand the Impact of Carbs on Ketosis

Even a small increase in carbohydrate intake can affect ketosis. Factors such as the types of carbs you eat, your overall lifestyle, and your metabolic history can influence how your body uses carbs. Therefore, it's crucial to be mindful of your carb intake and make adjustments as needed to ensure you stay in ketosis.

Not eating enough calories

If you're not losing weight on the keto diet, it could be because you're not eating enough calories. Eating too few calories can be detrimental over time, as chronically low calorie intake can put your body into starvation mode. This means your body will hold on to stored body fat, and it can also negatively affect your hormones and other bodily functions, especially in women.

To ensure you're eating enough calories, it's a good idea to track your calories, at least in the short term, to get a sense of how many you need and how much you're eating each day. There are many apps available that can help with this, such as MyFitnessPal.

It's important to remember that the keto diet is not just about eating fewer carbs and more fat. To stay in a state of ketosis, you need to make sure you're also eating the right amount of calories.

In addition to tracking your calories, it's crucial to focus on eating nutrient-dense, whole foods. This includes high-quality fats and proteins, as well as lots of vegetables, to ensure you're getting a nutrient-dense plate of food at every meal.

• Use a calorie calculator to estimate how many calories your body needs to lose one pound per week, and stick within that range.
• Reach your macronutrient goals by consuming high-quality keto fats like MCT oil, avocados, grass-fed butter and ghee, grass-fed meats, and eggs from pasture-raised chickens.
• Include healthy, high-quality fats such as fatty, grass-fed meats; cold-pressed unrefined oils (especially organic coconut oil, MCT oil, olive oil, and avocado oil); wild-caught fish (for those omega-3s); nuts (ideally organic); and whole, organic olives.
• If you're struggling to eat enough calories, consider adding healthy fats to your diet, such as those mentioned above.
• If you're still having trouble reaching your calorie goals, you may want to consider adding in some healthy, minimally processed carbs. Just be sure to stick to the recommended range of 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day on a 2000-calorie diet.

Remember, it's important to listen to your body and make adjustments as needed. If you feel like you're not eating enough, gradually increase your calorie intake and see how your body responds. It's all about finding the right balance for your individual needs.

Not testing blood ketone levels

Not testing your blood ketone levels can be a significant oversight if your keto diet is not working. Testing ketone levels is important to ensure you are genuinely entering and staying in ketosis after your meals. There are three ways to test ketone levels, but blood testing is the best method for the highest accuracy.

Blood testing provides a specific reading at any time, allowing you to see how ketone levels change before and after meals or other activities during the day. Testing consistently is crucial to understanding how different factors affect your ketone levels. For instance, you might discover that certain foods or exercises cause your ketone levels to fluctuate.

To test your blood ketone levels, you can prick your finger, draw blood, and use a blood meter to get a reading. While blood meters are highly accurate, they tend to be more expensive than other testing methods.

If you are unsure whether you are in ketosis, there are some signs you can look out for. These include strong metallic or fruity-smelling breath (also known as "keto breath"), increased energy and focus, fewer hunger or sugar cravings, and an easier time losing weight. Additionally, you may experience temporary keto flu symptoms, such as muscle cramps and cravings.

By regularly testing your blood ketone levels, you can ensure that you are in ketosis and make any necessary adjustments to your diet or lifestyle to optimize your results.

Not considering nutrition

If you're not getting the results you want from the keto diet, it could be because you're not considering nutrition. Here are some tips to help you get back on track:

Eat High-Quality Fats

• Fatty, grass-fed meats
• Cold-pressed unrefined oils (especially organic coconut oil, MCT oil, olive oil, and avocado oil)
• Wild-caught fish (those omega-3s are key)
• Nuts (ideally organic)
• Whole, organic olives

Include Plenty of Vegetables

You might be afraid to eat too many veggies since some of them can have lots of carbs. However, those micronutrients are still important for your overall health. Here are some ideas for keeping your meals nutrient-dense while still keeping your net carbs low:

• Focus on low-carb vegetables (leafy greens of all kinds are excellent options), and include healthy fat when you eat them. This will keep the proportion of fat high in your meal while also giving you a good boost of veggies.
• Eat your veggies steamed. They’ll shrink down, which allows you to eat a lot at once.
• Make a fat-centric smoothie that includes vegetables like kale and spinach.
• If you’re still concerned about the carbs from too many veggies, make sure you’re also eating nutrient-dense animal products like organ meats.

Include Fiber in Your Diet

Fiber is incredibly important for gut health and for moving things along comfortably. If you’re not eating vegetables, you might be lacking in this area. Use the advice above to get more veggies into your diet, and don’t forget to have them with a high-quality fat source. There’s a chance you may need to proactively add a fiber source to your eating plan, like flax meal, chia seeds, or psyllium husk to keep your gut happy and avoid side effects like diarrhea. These work great in smoothies, keto-friendly oatmeal, and baked goods.

Include Fermented Foods

Fermented foods are another way to make sure your health and digestion are chugging along properly. If you’re new to fermented foods, start experimenting with different types and try to have two to three servings each day. Here are some options:

• Full-fat yogurt or kefir
• Raw pickles (no sugar added)

Not eating nutritious foods

No matter what dietary plan you follow, the key to healthy weight loss is to consume nutritious, whole foods. Relying on processed foods can set back your weight loss, even if they are keto-friendly. Adding in foods like snack bars, keto desserts, and other packaged foods between meals can slow down your weight loss efforts due to the extra calories they provide.

These convenience-type foods are nutrient-poor, meaning they are high in calories but low in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. To optimize your nutrient intake while losing weight on the keto diet, stick to unprocessed, whole foods. For example, full-fat dairy products, eggs, fish, pastured meats, poultry, and healthy fats like avocado and olive oil are all great choices.

Be sure to add non-starchy vegetables like greens, broccoli, peppers, and mushrooms to dishes to add nutrients and fiber. Eating a lot of processed foods like bacon, packaged sausages, and cheese products is not a good idea.

You might be afraid to eat too many veggies since some of them can have lots of carbs. This is understandable, but those micronutrients are still important for your overall health. Here are some ideas for keeping your meals nutrient-dense while still keeping your net carbs low:

• Focus on low-carb vegetables (leafy greens of all kinds are excellent options), and include healthy fats when you eat them. This will keep the proportion of fat high in your meal while also giving you a good boost of veggies. Plus, fat helps with nutrient absorption, especially fat-soluble vitamins.
• Eat your veggies steamed. They'll shrink down, which allows you to eat a lot at once.
• Make a fat-centric smoothie that includes vegetables like kale and spinach.
• If you're still concerned about the carbs from too many veggies, make sure you're also eating nutrient-dense animal products like organ meats.
• Include fermented foods like full-fat yogurt or kefir and raw pickles (no sugar added).

Frequently asked questions