Hey all!
A couple of years ago, I was around 95 kilos. Male, age 40 at the time. 182cm/6ft tall.
I started weighing myself every day, hoping to figure out some way to lose weight. I stopped drinking, started going to the gym 5x per week, lifting weights and doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
All of that was great, but didn't actually cause me to lose weight. Actually, due to the weightlifting (and consequent eating) I was up to 98kgs, from 93 at the beginning of summer.
My goal weight in all of this was 90 kilos (198 pounds). And back in September I heard Tim Ferriss talk about "sardine fasting" on his podcast. I like sardines so I decided to try it out, and felt great... but I got sick of sardines after about half a day, and decided instead to look into keto. I read the FAQ here and basically just started eating meat (or fish) and vegetables. Pretty clean keto diet.
Fast forward, I've been doing keto off and on for 4 months (I'm off it when I'm travelling or around holidays, and on it when I'm just doing my normal thing at home). I'm enjoying it a lot, I can go to the gym for 2 hours and come out and eat some chicken with bacon and feel absolutely amazing. And it's helping me lose weight, when other things didn't really work.
I also do some fasting (20 to 36 hours when I can fit it in) and that helps. This past week, I had a stomach flu that I decided to reframe as a "72-hour fast". And that finally pushed me down to my goal weight – 90 kgs, AKA 198 pounds, AKA Onederland!
As a result of the upset stomach, I've basically been eating one light meal a day for several days now, and that's certainly helped. Today I'm at 88.8kg and feeling very good.
So I wouldn't wish my stomach flu on anyone, but it seems to be what pushed me across the finish line.
Also, I've been doing waist measurements this whole time. At the beginning, I was around 105cm (which could be a sign of metabolic syndrome, from what I've read). The waist measurement was improving even if my weight wasn't, also on keto... today it's at 92cm which is a lot better.
So my new goal weight is 85kg and waist measurement of 90cm. Thanks to everyone in this group, especially whoever worked on the FAQ, for all the information and support.
Merry Christmas to all!
Congratulations, that's great news! Measurement wins were really underrated for me in the beginning, but that's sometimes where I see the biggest difference, and now they're a true motivator, besides weight and all other benefits of keto. Well done, and thanks for sharing it!
Yeah waist measurement is great because if you're lifting you might gain muscle while staying at the same weight. It's good to have a secondary indicator of your progress.
Nice, keep going! My story is last christmass 110kg 192cm tall (38yrs old). Since september doing keto, now at 96kg en feeling great. I can do exercise in high heartrate en not feel dead. I think I am starting to be adopted very well. After training i get 1.2-1.8 ketones in my blood. Grtz
14 kg in 3 or 4 months sounds great. Good work!
Congratulations. I am on the same boat as you are. I am 183cm tall, 42 years old and dropped my weight from 108 kilos to 90 through keto.
My next target is 85 and my ultimate target weight is 75 kilos. Still a long way to go but I am hopeful that I will get there eventually although the weight loss from here on will be a lot slower.
Great! Are you lifting weights at all? I think I'd probably be pretty skinny (not in a good way) at 75 but probably look better at 82 to 85kg. Then again, I won't know until I get there. How did you decide on the ultimate goal of 75kgs?
I used to lift weights, however after beginning my keto diet I stopped lifting coz I wanted to reach my target weight first and then start lifting again. I wanted to lose the fat first before I start building my muscles so that I have some reference on the things I lose and the things I gain (if that makes sense).
Yeah 75 is a bit too low and I totally would be happy around 85. My goal weight is purely for health reasons as I am diagnosed with hypertension and prediabetes (however I am no longer pre-diabetic since I started keto, which is pretty amazing). I figured that I get to the lowest healthy weight for my age and height while I can as I feel it will only get harder to lose weight as age goes up :)
Ok yeah, good point.
I'm new to weightlifting myself, so when I read about building strength vs building muscle vs getting lean I want to do all of them and have no idea what to prioritize. So for now I'm lifting semi-heavy and trying to get down to 85kgs and we'll see what happens from there.
Yup, that is exactly why I want to lower my body mass first and then build muscles on top of it coz it's less confusing for me and it helps me focus on one thing at a time. Not saying what you do won't work for you, just that I lose focus real quick. Keep doing what you are doing and am sure you will get there as you are on the right track already. My best wishes!
Congratulations, good work & merry Christmas! 🎉
Thanks, you too!
Congrats on hitting 90kg! I'm at a similar height and been hovering around 93-94 for months now. The travel thing kills me too, impossible to stay keto when you're eating hotel breakfast buffets and client dinners. Been using Welling to track when I'm home though and it helps me get back on track faster after trips.
85kg seems aggressive but if you're already at 88.8 why not. Just dont get too skinny on us tech guys need some mass to look authoritative in meetings lol
I definitely lost some strength in my lifts on keto, but presumably I'll get it back once I'm adapted. I've been taking it slow and lifting lighter in the meantime.
I've still got plenty of body fat at 88 or 89 so I'm guessing I'll be able to lose a bit more. Hopefully I'll put on some muscle as well... I have no desire to be skinny 😅