Weight loss with the Keto diet is usually not very rapid, but it does provide a sense of security to many people who are able to maintain an effective routine. You typically have reports of significant weight loss when drastic behaviors are involved in the rest of your life such as calorie counting or excessive exercise.
Losing weight will be faster with more physical activity but that also tends to create a disproportionate number of possible side effects that can begin to pile up over time. The benefits gained from ketosis help balance out some of these tradeoffs in most cases, which may make it appealing for people looking for long-term health benefits in addition to weight loss.
The ketogenic diet doesn’t have a standard “definite” answer for how much weight you’ll lose on the diet, but most people follow this general rule of thumb: If your goal is to get leaner or more muscular, expect anywhere from one to three pounds lost per week. If your goal is just to lose weight, you’ll probably lose one to two pounds per week.
If there is one thing that people love about the keto diet, it’s that it is known for helping people lose a lot of weight, and in a short amount of time, without causing any health issues like some of the fad diets that are out there.
This type of diet puts your body into a state of ketosis, which basically means that your body uses stored fat for energy instead of glucose, so the fat is being burned off.
Add exercise to the equation, and you have a recipe for rapid and healthy weight loss.
As long as you are restricting your carbohydrate intake to 25 to 30 grams and mind your portions, you’ll see results. You’ll see an immediate drop in water weight, plus consistent fat loss as you progress. For people on the diet for athletic performance or cognitive benefits, it could take anywhere from a week to a couple of months to see those results, says Santos-Prowse.
But,Weight loss on keto varies depending on a number of factors.
More Fats, Fewer Carbs
The keto diet is low carb and high fat, which may seem wrong since we all know that fat is what we need to get rid of.
What many people don’t realize is that yes, there are unhealthy fats, but there are also healthy fats, and that is what the keto diet concentrates on.
When the body no longer converts glucose into fuel, it starts to produce ketones. These ketones are broken down by fat in the body and will start to burn the excess fat, in a process called ketosis.
This is a weight-loss method that works because it is not a diet. It is a lifestyle, and it is an eating plan you can easily stick to for the rest of your life.
Not only will you lose weight and keep it off, but there are also many other health benefits to eating this type of diet.
How Long Before You Start Noticing Weight Loss?
There is one thing that is not considered with most diets, and that is that everyone is different, and how much weight one can lose on any type of diet, including keto, depends on the person and not the diet itself.
You can say you lost 30 pounds, but someone else on the same keto diet may only lose 10 pounds in the same amount of time.
But, in most cases, people start to see weight loss in the first week of being on a ketogenic diet.
As with many diets, it is not uncommon to see a weight loss of up to 10 pounds or more in the first couple of weeks. This is not actual fat coming off, but water weight due to cutting back on carbohydrates.
This is the beginning of ketosis. After that first few weeks, your body will start to burn fat instead of carbohydrates and glucose, and the weight loss will start to be steadier, even though it is a bit slower.
Remember, it is not healthy to lose a lot of weight at once, and doing it this way helps you to healthily lose a couple of pounds each week.
Hitting Plateaus
The closer you get to your weight loss goal, the slower you are going to lose weight. But, your body is on the right track now.
There may be weeks when there is no weight loss at all, at least not when you look at the scales.
Just like with other diets, you are likely going to hit plateaus throughout the weight loss process. But, instead of looking at the numbers, look in the mirror.
You are going to notice the weight loss, and you will also see it when you put on your clothes and they are too large.
Conclusion
It is almost impossible to not lose weight on the keto diet. But, if you find yourself on a plateau for too long, there may be a few things you can do to start losing again.
For instance, stop eating a lot of dairies, which can help to stabilize ketosis. Cut back on legumes, because they are high in carbohydrates.