Week 2 – 10 Week Keto Challenge

One week under your belt … and less inches under your belt, too!

Week 2 - 10 Week Keto Challenge

This week’s meal plan

Following a strict keto diet, you will track everything that goes into your mouth. Focus on consuming whole foods only; no processed foods or treats.

I encourage you to try doing a 9-hour eating window on your strict keto / macro tracking days. Not necessary, just beneficial! Refer to the Intermittent Fasting post for more information.

If you need access to the weekly eating plan, click here.

Refer to the Recipes – Week 2 post for some great keto-friendly recipes.

Weekly Information

This week, the following topics will be addressed:

Scales lie
Weight versus inches
Fluctuations in weight
Net carbs versus total carbs

Scales Lie

When I first started keto, I was scale-obsessed. I weighed myself multiple times a day. (This is how I know that weight can fluctuate 2-5 lbs throughout the day). Now, I weigh myself once a day; every morning as soon as I wake up. (Even doing a once-a-day-weigh, fluctuations can occur).

All of our lives, we’ve been conditioned to believe that the numbers on the scale indicate if we are losing fat or not. What we need to realize is that the scale doesn’t show us all of the other positive changes occurring in our bodies. Additionally, fat loss is definitely not a nice, smooth linear process; particularly when following the ketogenic lifestyle. That aside, why shouldn’t we always rely on the scale?

Many people lose a fair bit of weight when they first start keto. For the most part, this is water weight; water being exerted from your body as you restrict carbohydrate intake. Every gram of glycogen (coming from carbs) is stored in our bodies with water. As you introduce more fats to your body and remove the carbohydrates, you will experience water loss and this causes your weight to drop quickly.

When following a ketogenic lifestyle, it is very common to see the numbers on the scale drop very quickly and then come to a complete stop. Keto people call this a plateau. This is totally normal. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t losing fat. In fact, as your body adjusts to this new way of eating, you may even gain some weight. But, this doesn’t mean that you’re gaining fat.

As an example, here is a screen shot of my first month on keto. Look how quickly the weight dropped. Also look at the fluctuations.

Here are a few more reasons as to why we shouldn’t measure our success by numbers on the scale:

Muscle adds weight – if you exercise often, you may start gaining weight from muscle. This is particularly true for beginners who often experience fast muscle gain during their first months of exercising.

Bone density increases with exercise – when you eat healthy and exercise more, your bones become more dense. This is a good thing!!

The capacity of your body to hold water – if you drink a lot of water before stepping on the scale, the numbers may be higher. Why? Two litres of water is the equivalent of approximately 4 lbs. Once you get into deep ketosis and your body exerts the water, the numbers on the scale will be lower.

Water retention from exercise – when you exercise, your muscles not only grow, they also retain more water and glycogen.

Too many carbohydrates cause water retention – if you consume too many carbs, you may retain more water, causing the scale numbers to creep upward.

Hormonal fluctuations – these can cause changes in our water weight.

Full digestive system – if undigested food hasn’t been released, or if you are constipated, the scale may reflect a higher weight.

The key takeaway message here is not rely too much on the scale!!!

Weight Versus Inches

There is a good reason that I asked you to take ‘before’ photos. There is also a good reason for you to take your measurements each week. In many cases, your clothes may fit better but the numbers on the scale haven’t moved. This is where photos and measurements become extremely important. Don’t rely solely on the scale.

If yu notice that your clothes are fitting better, maybe getting a little loose, yet the scale still isn’t moving, this is fabulous news!!! It means that your body composition is changing; you’re losing fat and building muscle at the same time. 5 lbs is 5 lbs, whether it be feathers, bricks, or – in this case – fat or muscle. The difference is due to density.

Notice the photo below (from Enlightened Health and Fitness). 5 lbs of fat on one side of the scale and 5 lbs of muscle on the other. They weigh the same – 5 lbs. But notice how the fat takes up more space than muscle. This accounts for why your clothes might be fitting differently, but your weight has remained this same. If you find this happening to you, don’t get frustrated. This is the ideal situation – celebrate!

Fluctuations In Weight

Do not give up if the scale isn’t going down every day … or is staying the same … or even going up. If I had given up every time my weight plateaued or if the numbers went up, I’d still be back at square one. I did enough research to know that plateaus and small gains are common, so I persevered. As an example, here is a screen shot of my weight 7 months into my keto journey.

Net Carbs Versus Total Carbs

Rather than rehash that which I have already written, please make sure that you read the following post: The Difference Between Total Carbs & Net Carbs

To Do:

Complete your week 2 tracking sheet.
Plan your menu for week 3. Check out the Recipes – Week 3
Purchase your groceries and try to prepare your meals in advance.
Decide if you will calculate total or net carbs and set your tracking app to reflect this.
Make sure that you are getting in 10,000 steps each day.
Consider logging your fasting hours in the LIFE fasting app.
If cauliflower can somehow become pizza, you, too, can do anything.

Next Week:

More = faster
Low carb / zero carb snacks
Fat bombs
Reading labels
Product bar codes and tracking apps

The menu for next week is anything that falls under the strict keto umbrella. You will carefully log and monitor all of your macros and calories. You can follow an optional 10-hour eating window, fasting for 14 hours each day. Remember, fasting is recommended, but optional.

See the post entitled: What Is Intermittent Fasting? How To Do It?

Thanks to The Real Jill’s Blog for another great meme.