There is no doubt that keto is one of the most effective ways to lose weight. In some cases, though, you might have trouble seeing results despite your best efforts.
If you’re not losing weight on keto or have hit a keto weight loss plateau, there could be a few reasons why. This guide looks at why you may be having trouble meeting your weight loss goals with helpful tips to get you back on track.
1. Miscalculating Macros
The ketogenic diet is fundamentally structured around specific macronutrient ratios: approximately 70-75% of calories from fat, 15-20% from protein, and 5-10% from carbohydrates.
Getting these ratios right isn’t always easy for keto dieters. You might eat too much protein or too many carbs without realizing it, which can stop your body from staying in ketosis and slow down weight loss.
Not getting enough fat or consuming too many low-quality fats from heavily processed sources can also hinder your progress.
Calculating your macros correctly before you start keto is an easy fix to ensure you’re getting your ratios right.
Our Keto Calculator is a free, efficient way to help you identify the right grams of carbs, fats, and proteins you need to meet your goals.
2. Hidden Carbs
Carbs should only make up about 5-10% of your daily calories on keto. For some perspective, a single banana has about 20 grams of net carbs. That is 40% of the maximum daily allowance on keto.
Even lower-carb foods easily add up. A carrot has about 5 grams of net carbs, and a serving of peanut butter has 5.5 grams of net carbs.
A tracking app can help you keep carbs in check when you’re eating whole foods like veggies and fatty fish, but you need to watch out for hidden carbs, too.
Sometimes, you might unknowingly consume more carbs than you’d like due to hidden sugars and other additives. Checking labels becomes even more important in those cases, especially if you’re carb cycling. Here are a few foods to be extra cautious with if you’re watching carbs:
- Condiments, dressings, and sauces: Ketchup, barbecue sauce, salad dressings, and even some hot sauces contain added sugars and hidden carbs.
- Processed meats: Processed foods like deli meats, sausages, and even some bacon brands may have added sugars, starches, or fillers for flavor or preservation purposes.
- Nuts and seeds: Some nuts have higher total carb counts than you might expect, especially if they’re flavored. Stick to lower-carb options like almonds and walnuts.
- Sugar-free products: Some sugar-free or even low-carb foods like candies and bars contain sugar alcohol that can still spike your blood sugar and add to your carb count.
- Coffee creamers: Non-dairy creamers and flavored syrups can have added sugars or fillers that contribute to carbohydrate intake. Stick to unsweetened milk alternatives.
Dairy products: Milk, flavored yogurts, and some cheeses contain lactose, a natural sugar. Opt for unsweetened Greek yogurt, heavy cream, and certain hard cheeses, instead.
3. Not Reaching Ketosis
Reaching ketosis, a metabolic state where your body uses fat instead of carbs for energy, is the main goal of the ketogenic diet. Your body enters ketosis when you drastically reduce carb intake and increase your fat consumption.
If you’re having trouble losing weight, it may be that your body just isn’t reaching ketosis. To ensure you’re on the right track, testing for ketosis can help. Breath analyzers, blood ketone meters, and urine strips like our Ketone Test Strips can test for ketosis.
It’s important to note here that ketosis isn’t the only relevant predictor of weight loss on a low-carb, high-fat diet like keto. You can be in ketosis and still not lose weight if you’re sedentary, dealing with chronic stress, or eating too many calories.
4. Excessive Calorie Intake
While following the keto diet has been proven to support weight loss, you still need to maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight. (1) This is true even if you’re eating keto-friendly foods and snacks.
To lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume, so your body resorts to fat reserves for energy. (2)
Calorie tracking can be useful in helping you stay within your calorie needs, especially if you’re used to snacking. Snacking can be part of a healthy keto diet, but it’s also easy to overindulge if you’re not being mindful about your food habits.
This doesn’t only apply to non-keto snacks, either. Even keto-friendly sweets can hinder weight loss by delaying ketosis or increasing calorie intake. If you find yourself needing to snack more often, stock up on lower-calorie keto-friendly snacks like cucumbers, celery sticks, and eggs.
You may also benefit from calculating your calorie needs and how much you need to cut back to meet your weight loss goals.
5. Too Much Protein
Contrary to popular belief, keto isn’t a high-protein diet but rather a moderate-protein diet. If you consume too much protein on keto, the excess can be converted into glucose for energy in a process called gluconeogenesis. (3)
This can raise blood sugar levels, potentially kicking you out of ketosis and reducing fat burning. Excess protein can also increase insulin levels, which may slow body fat loss and affect your metabolism.
Studies show excessive protein intake is a burden on your kidneys, liver, and bones, all indirectly related to healthy weight management. (4)
To stay in ketosis, it’s important to balance protein intake with what your body needs. You want enough to maintain muscle mass but not so much that it disrupts ketosis. Aim for moderate protein, prioritizing fatty cuts of meat and whole foods over a high-protein diet.
6. High Stress Levels
Chronic stress can inhibit weight loss directly and indirectly. Directly, stress causes the release of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. Studies show excess cortisol hinders weight loss by encouraging fat storage, especially belly fat. (5)
Indirectly, stress might make it harder to follow healthy habits. Excess stress can lead to overeating as a response to increased cravings for sugars and carb-heavy snacks. (6) It can also discourage you from exercising and lead to bad sleep. A lack of movement and poor sleep can mess with your metabolism and hunger hormones.
Fortunately, there are many ways you can minimize stress. Try being more mindful of your triggers that affect your mental health. Introduce stress-mitigation techniques like meditation or journaling.
Stick to regular exercise, even when it feels hard, to induce the release of feel-good hormones like endorphins and dopamine that can combat cortisol. (7) Getting outside and spending time in nature is particularly beneficial when it comes to managing stress.
Finally, surrounding yourself with loved ones who support your goals can help reduce stress and fast-track your weight loss efforts.
7. Inadequate Sleep
A healthy adult needs about 7 to 9 hours of sleep every day for optimal health. For various reasons, you might be getting fewer hours of sleep, which can affect your weight loss progress in a few different ways.
Similar to stress, sleep can affect weight loss directly and indirectly. Directly, sleep can slow down your metabolism, reducing the number of calories the body burns. (8) Indirectly, a lack of sleep can stimulate cortisol, that stress hormone we talked about that supports fat storage.
Consistent sleep deprivation or chronic insomnia can also promote the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. (9) This can make it harder to navigate cravings and diet in your waking hours, leading to overeating and a general lack of satiety.
To improve your sleep, follow a regular schedule by going to bed at a similar time every day. Establishing a nightly routine can also help train your body to go to sleep faster.
Consider setting up your environment to support a healthy sleep pattern. This includes avoiding caffeine at bedtime, limiting screen time, and eliminating noise.
8. Insufficient Exercise
Not getting enough physical activity can slow keto weight loss by reducing the calories you’ve burned and metabolic rate. Exercise enhances fat burning, improves insulin sensitivity, and helps preserve lean muscle mass for long-term weight loss. (10)
Physical exercise increases the calories burned during workouts and at rest. Without movement, your body will burn fewer calories throughout the day, leading to slower progress.
You don’t have to dedicate large chunks of your day to the gym to increase your physical activity. Start with more physically demanding activities such as taking the stairs, walking instead of driving, and standing at your desk.
Once you have a routine going, introduce strength training to build muscle and boost your metabolism. Low-intensity, steady-state cardio like walking, cycling, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can train your body to burn fat more efficiently. (11)
It’s most important to find movement you enjoy. Choose a physical activity like yoga, pilates, dancing, or hiking that you look forward to doing to maximize your chances of success.
9. Alcohol
Certain types of alcohol, like hard liquor, dry wines, and light beer, may be suitable for a low-carb diet because they’re low in carbs, but they still add to your calorie count. One glass of wine, for example, is about 120 calories. If you were to have one every day for a week, that’s an extra 840 calories.
Alcohol can also affect your chances of staying in ketosis. Your body prioritizes metabolizing alcohol over fat, which can put a pause on fat burning. (12) Many alcoholic drinks contain hidden sugars and carbs that can spike insulin and kick you out of ketosis.
Alcohol also has a tendency to make it tougher to follow a diet. That could mean bad food choices and overeating after you’ve been drinking, leading to excess calories, carbs, and weight gain.
If you’re trying to lose weight, consider limiting alcohol to weekends or abstaining completely while you monitor for progress. Drink plenty of water if you do drink to keep your body hydrated, support liver function, and help you control your appetite.
If you cut alcohol out completely, animal studies show that the keto diet can be a helpful tool in managing withdrawal symptoms. (13) This may be due to keto’s effects on better blood sugar balance as a more stable energy source.
10. Underlying Medical Conditions
If you’ve stuck to keto but continue to gain weight, there might be an underlying medical condition affecting you. A common condition that causes this is hypothyroidism, a state in which your thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroxine, the hormone that regulates metabolism.
An underactive thyroid also slows down your metabolism, leading to fatigue, water retention, and difficulty losing weight. (14)
Here are a few other conditions known to affect weight:
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): This hormonal disorder affecting women can trigger insulin resistance and increased cravings, making fat loss harder. (15)
- Insulin resistance: When your body’s cells become resistant to insulin (prediabetes and type 2 diabetes), fat burning becomes less efficient, and blood sugar destabilizes. (16)
- Metabolic syndrome: High blood sugar, high blood pressure, and excess abdominal fat can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
- Sleep apnea: Poor sleep quality due to sleep apnea can lead to hormonal imbalances that increase your appetite and slow metabolism.
- Adrenal fatigue: Chronic stress and poor sleep elevate cortisol and cause adrenal insufficiency, promoting belly fat storage and increasing sugar cravings. (17)
- Cushing syndrome: This condition caused by excess cortisol production can lead to rapid weight gain, especially around the face and midsection. (18)
Your healthcare provider can help you mitigate the weight-related side effects of these conditions. While medications are often the first response to things like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, lifestyle and diet should always be part of a holistic approach to wellness.
The good news is that following keto consistently can have health benefits, such as a more efficient metabolism, better glucose control, and improved hormonal balance. That’s all good for weight loss and your overall health.
11. Certain Medications
Certain medications like antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers can increase appetite, causing you to eat more than usual.
Diabetes medications, including insulin and contraceptives that regulate hormones, can also cause weight gain or slow down weight loss.
If you suspect your medication is slowing down your weight loss journey, talk to your doctor. Don’t stop your medications cold turkey, as this could lead to additional side effects.
Talk to them about alternatives that may not come with weight gain, or work with a registered dietitian to redesign your diet plan with keto foods that take those meds into account.
The Takeaway
While keto is an effective strategy for weight loss and long-term weight management, there are things that can stand in the way of your progress. There could even be a combination of factors at play, especially if you’re dealing with a health condition.
To get back on track, you’ll need a holistic approach that may include lifestyle changes, progress checks, and discussing strategies with your doctor. Losing weight for good takes time and effort, but it can become easier once you remove some of the obstacles in your way.
FAQs
How can I speed up ketosis weight loss?
To speed up ketosis weight loss or break a keto plateau, focus on strict carb restriction by tracking your macros and monitoring ketosis. Increase your healthy fat intake of foods like avocadoes and olive oil to fuel fat burning. Maintain moderate protein intake and practice intermittent fasting for enhanced fat loss. Add strength training and cardio into your routine for a metabolism boost and a way to reduce stress and support quality sleep, two key predictors of long-term weight management.
Can intermittent fasting help me lose weight on keto?
Intermittent fasting can enhance weight loss on keto by boosting fat burning, lowering insulin levels, and increasing ketone production. Fasting extends ketosis, helping the body use stored fat for energy.
It also regulates hunger hormones, reducing cravings and calorie intake, making keto more effective for weight loss. We recommend trying it out to see how you feel. Start with a longer period without eating through the morning, as you’ve already fasted all night at that point.
What is the keto diet?
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein eating plan that shifts the body into ketosis, a state where fat is burned for fuel instead of carbs. While in ketosis, you begin to use glycogen before breaking down fat into ketones.