When following a ketogenic diet, you should reduce your carbohydrates intake. However, that does not mean eating fewer carbs will result in more weight loss.
In fact, many people still have difficulty achieving their ideal weight even if they’re following a very low-carb diet. Some people have been in a plateau for a long time and cannot breakthrough, while others increase their weight.
There are many reasons for these results. One of them is that everyone has a different physique. Therefore, only focusing on carbohydrates, while ignoring other nutrients and related factors can also affect weight loss.
1. Not eating adequate protein
Here are 10 common mistakes people make on a keto diet.
Protein is very important for fat loss and muscle gain. When following a low-carb diet, the right amount of protein can help your body release glucagon. This will counteract insulin, thereby increase satiety and suppress appetite.[*]
Why emphasize the right amount? Because eating too much protein will stimulate blood sugar.
When your protein intake exceeds the daily intake required by the body, the excess protein is converted to glucose through a metabolic process called gluconeogenesis. This causes blood sugar to rise.
As the effect of carbohydrates, your body will first use glucose as fuel and store the unused sugars as fat.
The appropriate amount of protein intake depends on gender, age and activity level.
- Men need more protein than women do.
- People who exercise regularly need more protein than those who are sedentary.
- Older people need to eat more protein to help prevent osteoporosis and muscle loss
You can use an online calculator that is provided by the US Department of Agriculture to check out the amount of protein and other nutrition you need.
The following are some good sources of protein:
| Food | protein (g) |
| 3 ounces of tuna, salmon, haddock or trout | 21 |
| 3 ounces of turkey or chicken | 19 |
| 6 ounces of plain Greek yogurt | 17 |
| ½ cup cottage cheese | 14 |
| 1 cup of milk | 8 |
| 1 ounce of nuts | 7 |
| 1 egg | 6 |
You can find more data on USDA National Nutrient Database.
2. Not eating the right fat
When following a ketogenic diet or a low-carb diet, you can only eat a small amount of carbohydrates and a moderate amount of protein. Thus, you need to adjust your energy intake through healthy fats.
You should get most of the fat from Omega-3 rich foods, including fatty fish and foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, such as avocados and extra virgin olive oil.
However, it should be noted that fat contains more calories which makes it easy for you to consume excessive calories.
In the early stage of a keto diet, in order to help your body enter a fat-burning metabolism mode faster, it is necessary to eat more fat.
However, when the body adapts to this new way of metabolism, you need to reduce your fat intake. Otherwise, your body will first use foreign fat as fuel instead of the fat stored in the body.
The best way to eat the right amount of fat is to use weight management software to track the food you eat and how many calories you ingest. If your goal is to lose weight, you need to make your daily calorie intake less than the number of calories your body needs.
Are you new to the keto diet and don’t know what you should eat? Please check out The Ultimate Ketogenic Diet Guide for Weight Loss.
3. Not eating enough vegetables
Dietary fiber is very important to your health. Adequate fiber can promote intestinal health and improve immunity.
A study has shown that the imbalance of intestinal flora is related to not only inflammation in the body, but also many chronic diseases including obesity and diabetes.
Non-starchy vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, contain a lot of dietary fiber. Eating enough vegetables can not only increase the number of probiotics in the intestines, which can improve the health of the digestive tract, but also help the breakdown and absorption of fat, which is conducive to weight loss.
4. Eating too many nuts
One common mistake in losing weight is to eat a lot of nuts. Many people think that nuts can fill their stomachs and can also reduce weight. The fact is, nuts are very high in calories which makes it easy for you to consume extra calories.
However, because the insoluble fiber content in nuts is extremely high, there is a benefit to eating them in moderation. As long as you don’t eat too many nuts, they can benefit your weight loss effort.
5. Eating too much dairy
Dairy products contain a specific type of protein, which is more likely to increase blood sugar than other protein sources.
If you find that your blood sugar level rises rapidly after eating dairy, you need to reduce your intake of high-protein dairy products such as cheese, whole milk and yogurt.
However, you can keep butter and heavy cream because they are relatively low in protein.
6. Eating too many low-carb treats
It is the nature of people and many other animals to eat sweets. After starting a ketogenic or low-carb diet, the biggest problem many people encounter is that they cannot control their sugar cravings.
To satisfy their sweet tooth, they like to make or buy low-carb snacks and sweets.
Although these low-carb treas use relatively healthy sweeteners, they can still increase your sugar cravings and appetite.
If you really crave sweets, you can try fat bombs. They contain very low carbs and healthy fats. Taking a few treats occasionally can help you overcome sugar cravings and burn fat.
7. Drinking too much bulletproof coffee
If you are following a ketogenic diet you may know about or even tried bulletproof coffee.
It is said that its founder Dave Asprey drank the local butter tea when he went to Tibet many years ago. It inspired him and invented bulletproof coffee.
After drinking bulletproof coffee in the morning many people feel more energetic, more focused and less hungry. Therefore, it became popular in the Silicon Valley of the United States. It was later developed for ketogenic weight loss.
Bulletproof coffee is a high-fat beverage that contains very few other nutrients.
Drinking bulletproof coffee in the early stage of a keto diet can help your body enter ketosis as soon as possible to start burning fat.
However, if your body has adapted to a keto diet or a low-carb diet and you continue to drink bulletproof coffee frequently, it can increase your caloric intake. This can affect weight loss and even lead to weight gain.
8. Drinking too many alcoholic beverages
For people who want to lose weight, alcohol is an absolute taboo.
Even if it does not contain sugar, your body must metabolize the alcohol first and burn fat later. As a result, it slows down the rate of fat burning.
Alcohol also increases appetite, reduces self-control and can dehydrate the body. None of these things help people with their weight loss efforts.
9. Not exercising right
No movement at all or too much exercise is not good for weight loss.
There are too many people who believe that a lot of exercise can burn fat and help people to lose weight. However, this method does not work in the long run.
Studies have shown that excessive exercise can increase the level of the stress hormone cortisol. This can increase your appetite, which may cause you to eat more.
According to your goals, choose the right exercise:
- Light aerobic exercise has been shown to have great health benefits, especially for the heart and brain.
- Strength training and HIIT are great tools for muscle growth and long-term weight loss.
Try to avoid high-fat foods after exercising, instead of choosing foods rich in protein.
10. Not getting enough sleep
Many people enter a plateau after eating a ketogenic low-carbon water diet for a period of time. No matter how hard they exercise or how little they eat, they do not make any progress. Insufficient sleep could be one of the main reasons.
Whether you have poor sleep quality due to insomnia, or staying up late to work, play games, or watch TV, the end result is the same., too little sleep.
This lack of high-quality sleep, causing an inadequate rest for your body, will directly affect the secretion of several major hormones. These hormones include insulin, leptin, the hunger hormone, growth hormone, cortisol (stress hormone) and melatonin.
Abnormal levels of these hormones can cause many health problems, including weight gain, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
For details, please refer to How Does A Lack Of Sleep Cause Weight Gain.
If you have sleep disorders, you can consider taking health care products (such as melatonin) to improve.
Health factors affect weight loss
If you are sure that everything you do is correct, but it is still difficult to lose weight or break through the weight plateau, then you may have a health problem that you don’t know about. The first and best thing to do is to consult your physician.
1. Hypothyroidism, or adrenal gland dysfunction
You can determine whether you have a thyroid or adrenal gland problem through a blood test or a saliva test. If the result is positive, you should consult your doctor before making any dietary changes and proceed under the doctor’s guidance.
2. Sex hormone reduction
sex hormones will also affect weight. For example, women can suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and with age, men can suffer from declining testosterone levels. These conditions also require you to consult a doctor.
3. Certain medications can cause weight gain
Certain drugs, such as insulin injections, cortisone and other hormone drugs, can cause weight gain.
Summary:
Some common mistakes on a keto diet can cause weight loss to fail or unable to break through the weight loss plateau for a long time.
Certain health problems and related factors, such as hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction and the effects of some medications, can also affect weight loss.
If you gain weight due to health reasons, it is best to receive treatment as soon as possible.
Only when you are healthy can you lose weight more effectively.
