The Top Reasons Keto Has Stopped Working For You – or it Won’t Even Start Working For You

This is a letter to everyone who has hit a wall with Keto.

Grab a cup of tea (hold the milk), this is a long one.

If I’ve linked you to this post, it’s because you’ve asked me why Keto has stopped working for you, or isn’t working for you, or isn’t getting the results you expected.

This is one of the most common questions I get, and by far the hardest to answer.

I wrote this for you because I know how frustrated you are.

At least once a day, I get a message, email or DM from someone who is a bit frustrated or a bit scared.

It usually goes something like this…

“I’ve been doing keto for 3 weeks, and I lost 2Kgs in the first week but now I haven’t lost anything/I have put on 400 grams… why is keto not working for me?

Or sometimes like this…

“I have been doing Keto for a year, and lost 20 kgs in the first 6 months. Since then my weight has been the same, with the same 1 – 3 kgs going up and down. Why is the keto diet not working for me like everyone else?”

I’m not writing these comments to poke fun at the people who have sent these messages, because I’ve asked myself the same questions.

Has Keto stopped working for me?

Is Keto sustainable long term?

Why isn’t Keto working for me?

Why am I not shedding the kilos like everyone else?

Is Keto Sustainable? How can I start Keto again?

The hardest part about answering these questions for the people who reach out to me is that… it depends.

No one seems to appreciate when I respond back with “it depends”, but it’s the only correct answer.

If anyone tries to tell you there is just ONE reason that Keto doesn’t work, they have greatly underestimated how complicated our bodies are.

So to work out why Keto diet is not working for YOU, we need to trouble shoot.

There are so many factors that go into our overall health, and when we expect miracles from just cutting out carbs, our expectations may not be aligned with reality.

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue saying it – Keto is not a weight loss diet.

Reducing carbs and focusing on fresh, whole foods while repairing your gut health is how we should all be eating – whether we have weight to lose or not.

Now that I have that out of the way, there are several things we can check off before you decide the Keto diet is not working for you, or if you’re wondering how to start Keto again.

I challenge anyone who thinks Keto doesn’t ‘work’ for them to review the list below, and hand to heart tell me they have considered/tried/changed all of these things and it’s still not working for them.

Use this list as a checklist.

Every time you start to wonder whether Keto works for everyone or if Keto stopped working, go through this list and give something new a go.

If you give up, and go back to your old way of eating, you will have the same problems you are trying to get away from.

There is no such thing as ‘finishing Keto and going back to eating normal’, if normal was carb-heavy, processed foods. You will go back to your old health problems, if this is your ‘normal’.

I write this post for you, because I want you to succeed. I want you to message me back in 6 months or 12 months and tell me YOU FIGURED IT OUT.

I am not perfect, and I have my fair share of stalls and frustrations, but I put this list together for you to try and nut out what is holding you back.

TRY THESE THINGS BEFORE QUITTING KETO

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Calories still matter – so reduce them.

Cut out a bit of cheese, a bit of oil, a bit of fat on your steak. It can be easy to overeat on calories when keeping carbs low. If you don’t have that much weight to lose, then it could be that your calorie needs a lower than you expect. Check the calculators in the “getting started” section of this website.

So if you’re worried about weight gain after stopping keto, this is the place to start.

Understand your calories and the rest fall sinto place.

If you’re struggling to work out calories and carbs and it’s all getting a bit overwhelming (I hear you!), I’ve got a 21 Day Keto Kick Start Meal Plan just for you. Everything checked, counted and tested to ensure it WORKS.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Meal plans and recipes are a place to start, but there are 7 billion people on this planet and our bodies are all pretty unique.

We respond differently to different foods, eating patterns and quantities so no one meal plan will work for everyone.

It’s about learning and adjusting, so if you are using a set meal plan, remember to adjust it to your body and continue evolving what you are eating until you nail it.

If you’re wondering is Keto sustainable, finding a way to fit into YOUR lifestyle is the only way to make it work long term.

Cut the processed crap

No more bars, shakes, replacement foods. Nothing you eat should need a label, because we don’t need labels on whole foods. The less processed, the better. This includes sweeteners. I use sweeteners very rarely now and they upset my stomach, even in small doses. Listen to your body to let it tell you how to make Keto work for you.

You don’t need to lose weight

Sometimes our expectations of the number on the scale are not aligned with reality. Sure, you used to weigh 60kgs when you were 17, but you might not be 17 anymore.

Your body requires and therefore produces more fat as you get older, and your natural healthy weight range will increase.

If this might be you, focus on body recomposition instead – take your measurements.

You are losing centimetres

I can’t emphasise this enough, take your measurements – not on the scales!

Our body holds onto weight for a variety of reasons and often we get depressed when we step on the scale every day only to find our weight has crept up.

Measure your body at various places (here’s a great guide on measuring yourself) and focus on changing your body shape, improving muscle tone, your waist size and you’ll see much more progress than the scales will ever give you.

Your gut is healing

This is a big one. If you’ve been eating a ‘normal’ diet full of processed grains and sugars your whole life, your body has a LOT of healing to be done before it is going to start letting go of excess fat.

If you are eating clean, homemade whole foods and eliminating inflammatory foods, your body will continue to heal and this is SO much more important than shedding 5kgs before summer.

This is particularly important to consider if Keto started working, then keto stopped working for you!

You are eating inflammatory foods

Inflammatory foods are different for everyone, but there are some that are without a doubt not good for us: sugar, wheat, alcohol, and for many people dairy.

The tricky thing is, this list extends for some people to include things like nuts, tomatoes, eggs, soy, and many others. If you’ve been wondering “why is keto not working for me”, when everyone around you is having success, inflammatory foods could be the key.

If you aren’t sure, see a nutritionist for a food allergy test or try an elimination diet.

Inflammation is the enemy of gut health and your body will have a hard time healing if you continue to put inflammatory foods into it.

Stress, sleep and hormones

I cover this one a fair bit in the 21 Day Challenges and you can read more about it here, but until you are sleeping well and managing your stress hormones, your body will constantly feel ‘under attack’.

Our bodies are all one big connected machine, and our diet and sleep play into everything.

Eating too often

Many of the common keto snack foods are very calorie dense and can add up very quickly.

Eating too frequently can also be taxing on your digestive system, and many people are reaping the benefits of fasting in its many different forms.

I see people eating 3 full meals a day and then snacking on calorie heavy foods in between. There are lots of benefits to fasting as well, Dr Jason Fung is a good place to start if you want to learn more.

Patience

It’s hard to know immediately that Keto is ‘working’ if your only goal is weight loss, and fast weight loss at that. If you shift your goals to something more realistic, you are more likely to notice your success.

For example, if your goal was to eat home cooked meals every night and left overs for lunch, that’s pretty easy to see if you’ve achieved it, isn’t it?

Compared to ‘lose 20 kgs’, which will have ups and downs and isn’t clear when it is ‘working’.

Set slow, realistic goals that YOU can actually control and achieve with your actions. If losing weight is your end game, make your goals the little steps that you need to achieve to get there.

Weight loss is not linear

Your weight naturally fluctuates depending on so many things including many of the above. You want a downwards trend if you have fat to lose, but this comes in the form of a zig zag line.

Going up on certain days means nothing.

Going up every day for 10 years is a problem.

If you are working out how to start Keto again, you’ll be familiar with the up and down but disconnecting your self worth from the scales is crucial to accepting your body!

Sneaky Carbs

They can sneak in when you least expect them – that extra bit of onion or tomato, a few garlic cloves.

The thing is, it’s pretty hard to overeat on the best carbs – those that come from green leafy vegetables. I would hazard a guess that no one became unhealthy from blowing out their spinach or zucchini carbs.

It pays to check your foods in a food tracker in the beginning, until you know for certain that your carbs are in a good place.

Sneaky carbs are a huge reason why the keto diet isn’t working for many people.

If you’re struggling to keep an eye on carbs, a set meal plan can be helpful like my 21 Day Keto Kick Start Challenge.

You have a medical issue that is affecting your diet

As mentioned before, there’s more to ‘diet’ than just what you eat.

Your body is all connected and many other issues affect how your body is going to digest food or hold on to weight.

Hypothyroidism, PCOS, Cushing’s syndrome, menopause, depression and high insulin levels are some of the issues that can cause weight gain and make it difficult to lose weight.

Medications can also make it harder for you to lose weight. It’s important to manage these medical conditions first, and in conjunction with your diet.

The great news is, many people find a cleaner diet can help reduce their symptoms of other, seemingly unrelated conditions.

If you’re trying everything on keto and it’s not working, chat to your doctor about what else might be going on.

Too much protein can spike blood sugar

It’s easy to add more protein to a meal to fill you up, but be careful adding too much.

While it doesn’t ‘convert to carbs’ as some people claim, it does spike your blood sugar which we now understand is the cause of weight gain (in a round about way, you can go down this youtube rabbit hole if you want to learn more).

A good rule of thumb for protein on Keto is around .8 – 1 grams per kg of body weight per day. So for a 75kg woman, this is 60g – 75g of protein a day (NOT of meat, but of the protein macro).

This is the equivalent of around 200 – 250 grams of chicken breast per day.

You usually need more protein if you’re exercising or a man, check out the calculators in the Getting Started section to understand this further.

Alcohol

Every time I run a 21 Day Challenge, I have people say to me “I am not cutting out my daily/weekly wine/beer/whatever.”

I have heard this quite a lot: I’ve been eating Keto for 3 weeks, but keto isnt working for me. I also drink every day.

That’s fine, but don’t kid yourself that it isn’t affecting your health and your weight.

You can read more in my article here about alcohol but basically it comes down to that alcohol actually does NOTHING good for you.

Even that feeling of ‘relaxing with a wine’ is feeding low-grade dependence because we should be able to relax without wine. Just give it some thought.

Yes it may be low carb, but NO it is not good for you.

It’s time to reconsider your relationship with alcohol if you think the keto diet isn’t working for you.

More Water

Pretty simple, drink more water! If we are dehydrated, our bodies will hold on to what it does get.

We also consume more salt and electrolytes on the Keto diet, and need to drink plenty of water to go with this.

For those that say they don’t like water, what would you say to a child who said they don’t want to eat their vegetables?

You’re not actually in Ketosis

If you think this may be you, keep reducing your carbs and you will get there. It’s pretty easy to eat chicken and broccoli for dinner, and quickly see whether this is a problem for you.

Eating simple meals is by far the easiest way to success – a small serve of protein and low carb vegetables, with some healthy fats like avocado or olive oil. That’s it.

If you’re struggling with how to start keto again after a break, this is the key to success – keeping it super simple to begin with!

The Weekend Treat/Cheat/Binge

We all fall trap to that old weekend cheat meal idea sometimes. The thing with Keto is that it doesn’t work that way. If you eat a strict, healthy keto diet from Monday – Friday and then return to carbs on the weekend, by the time you get back into ketosis next week, it will be almost the weekend again.

Keto is not a life sentence, a short term or a quick fix diet. It is a sustainable, healthy way of eating and enjoyable if you do it right.

Don’t blow your calories or carbs on the weekend because it’s not worth it.

One day of double carbs and calories will undo a whole week of maintenance. If you feel the need to binge as a reward, then you need to assess what is making this feeling – are you depriving yourself too much during the week? Are you eating enough?

If cravings are really getting to you, I unpack them indepth in my article 10 Tips for Cravings on Keto.

Think about Exercise

Do you have to exercise to lose weight? No

Do you have to exercise to optimise your health? Absolutely.

Exercise is not about burning calories, and if that’s the way you see it, you’re going to have an awful time punishing yourself.

Exercise is amazing for our bodies and our minds. I have always struggled sticking to a regular exercise regime unless I find something I actually enjoy – for me it was a team sport combined with yoga.

Keep trying things until you find some form of movement that makes you feel good, inside and out.

If you are doing high-intensity exercise, interval training or anything like Crossfit, you may need to introduce a small amount of carbs before exercising.

A banana or a small amount of sweet potato can help to give you the explosive energy needed for these workouts. See how you go – everyone is different in this arena.

You’re eating too much fat

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone offer the suggestion of eating more fat to someone who is not losing weight with Keto.

Yes, Keto is a relatively high fat diet BUT if you are trying to lose weight, your body should be relying on some of its stores of fat for energy. This means if you eat more fat, you will burn LESS body fat, because you are eating it instead. Make sense?

Fat is not a free for all food, it is very high calorie and needs to be balanced. This article from Ditch The Carbs summarises it perfectly:

“Assess how much fat you’re adding to your meals and beverages and try reducing the amount. See if it has any effect on your weight, and make sure to note any changes in your hunger levels. If you feel hungry, then you have probably reduced your fat intake too much. You’re looking for the level of fat intake where you’re not hungry, but your body is able to rely on its own body fat for energy.” Source

Keep it Simple

Go back to absolute basics. Here is a weekly meal plan for you, showing how simple this can be.

Breakfast: Fasting

Lunch: 1/2 of daily serving of Protein and green leafy salad

Dinner: 1/2 of daily serving of Protein and green vegetables

Drink: Water

If you start here, it is very easy to adjust things – protein, fats and carbs, without getting caught up in additives, snacks, baked goods and complicated recipes.

What about you?

I want to know what else you have found should be added to this list – what challenges have you overcome to get Keto working for you?

Comment below and I will include them in this list to keep this an ever-growing document for anyone feeling stuck or frustrated.

If you’re feeling really stuck, a guided meal plan might be right for you.

You can learn more about the 21 Day Kick Start Challenge that has helped over 4000 people successfully get on track with Keto.

FAQ – Why isn’t Keto Working For Me?

Q: Why is Keto Not Working For Me?

A: It depends! Read the above article, troubleshoot, trial and error to find out what’s going in your body and make keto work for you.

Q: Does Keto Work for everyone?

A: No, our bodies are hugely diverse. For example, those with gallbladder issues cannot eat as much fat as might be required to keep you full on Keto. If you have any serious medical conditions you should consult your doctor. However, just about everyone will benefit from a cleaner diet!

Q: Do you gain weight after stopping Keto?

A: If you return to your old diet, including old habits and quantities, then the same thing will happen as last time. If that was gaining weight, unfortunately this means it will come back. Keto can heal you – but going back to heaps of carbs is going to undo this healing. So you risk gaining weight back.

Q: How do I start Keto again?

A: If you’ve had a break from keto for any reason, it’s never too late to start again. If you know you felt great, why not try again and learn from any mistakes that came up last time? The simplest way to start is just like last time: start eating keto foods. Keep it simple, no shakes, pills or bars are necessary.

Q: Why does Keto work?

A: When we reduce our carbs, our body starts burning ketones and fat for fuel. So it works to tap into our fat stores for energy instead of relying on carbs to fuel us. There are a huge host of other health benefits to Keto as well!

Q: How do you know if keto is not working for you?

A: As you get used to what ketosis feels like, you’ll be able to feel when it’s not working for you. You won’t have the same energy levels, reduced hunger and reduced carb cravings. If you have body fat to lose, this will also slow down. That’s when it’s time to read the article above to see what might be the cause.

Q: Is it possible to be in ketosis and not lose weight?

A: Absolutely! Check the section above on calories – you can eat 0 carbs and still consume way too many calories, which is likely to stop your weight loss.

Q: How long does it take to see Keto results?

A: It’s usually pretty quick – many people lose water weight in the first week. Real results take 3 – 4 weeks as your body becomes fat adapted, your energy and sleep improve and cravings start to reduce.