We have all been there. We start on this shiny new diet we just heard about and have seen people shedding weight like someone (me) who lost their hair after pregnancy, or like toddlers losing their crayons or number of socks lost in my washer. Anyways, ketosis all seems so magical like you’re a 3 year old at Disney world who sees Tinker Bell flying for the first time. I’ll stop with my analogies but you get my point, right?

However, after 2 months of constant struggle, which not only includes cooking creative dishes but also doing some complicated math (haven’t used this much math, statistics and probability since college) you realize you have not really budged on the scale. You get a new fancy weighing scale, change the already new batteries on it, take off all your clothes and hold your breath. Oh no, its the same as last week! You curse people like me who made you believe in yourself and told you the impossible can happen.

I did some research on it and found out why ketogenic diet doesn’t work for everyone. Here are some of the reasons:

You are not in ketosis yet

We believe we will kick start our ketosis but it takes a while, at least 3 days of low carbs high protein and moderate fat intake to get your body into ketosis. You need to check your macros and follow them religiously. Following your macros is the holy grail of being in ketosis.

You are not taking enough calories

I cannot say this enough. Follow your required calorie intake. I use fitness pal app to find that out. If you consume less calories your body will start storing up the fat because it isnt getting the required amount.

Too little or too much fat intake

Again follow your macros. Keep on recalculating how much your fat protein and carbs intake should be. Do not starve yourself. I feel for me and my husband this was the easiest thing to do. Keep your meal simple so that it’s easy for you to record your calorie intake

Not all condiments are sugar free even if they say so

Okay, this was a revelation for me too. Whatever is written on the back of the packet or bottle is not always true. Seriously? It gets so frustrating when you see zero sugar in the nutrition section of some products but they are not keto friendly. So, how do we detect that. Use the ketosis testing tools. The most convenient for us has been these keto strips which will tell you when you have been kicked out of keto.

Your family not being supportive

Stop listening to your loved ones. If you are living in a closely knit family system like South Asian families (yes I am a South Asian), you will be overly loved by all of them. They will keep on telling you to try that kheer (sweetest rice pudding ever) or their halwas they made especially for you or giving you a lecture on the advantages of fruits, bananas mailnly. Also they will tell you a spoonful or half a spoon won’t matter. Here’s the deal, even a teeny weeny, little bit of sugar can kick you out of ketosis and it takes at least 3 days to get your body back into it. Support of your partner is a must in my opinion. You need everyone who you interact with on a daily basis to understand how serious you are and to push you back whenever you are feeling low. It’s basically like following any dream or a goal in life. Your loved ones must believe in you and give you a pep talk whenever its required. Encouragement and love from family and friends makes it so much easier to do this.

This was my idea on why its not happening for some of us. Do you have any other reason to add to this list? Or if you agree or disagree please feel free to comment below.