Girlfriend gains weight as I lose on keto?

[KetoMike88]

So I am 32, and have been off and on the Keto diet for about 14 years. I've successfully lost 50-60 pounds down to my goal weight twice now. So I am fairly familiar with the Keto diet.

My dilemma is not for myself, but my girlfriend. We both started keto 10 days ago, we both have about the same amount of weight to lose, and we live together so we have been eating all the same food that I prep. Since then I have lost around 10+ pounds and she claims to have gained around 5 pounds. (she tried keto once before for 2 weeks and had no problem losing weight then)

Now, she did wait to weigh herself until the second or 3rd day on the diet. Which might be a problem, but she said she was about the same weight she was the previous week. She eats a lot less than me, sometimes just one meal a day, the only difference in our diet is that she has had a glass of red wine about every other day.

Even if she was doing something wrong and not getting into ketosis. Her calorie intake is definitely low enough that she should be losing weight. I keep telling her to be patient and shell drop a ton of water weight one day, but it breaks my heart to see her work so hard only to see me constantly drop weight and her to go up. Is there any explanation or advice anyone has that I can relay to her to keep her spirits up? It would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[NicoleC1971]

So I am 32, and have been off and on the Keto diet for about 14 years. I've successfully lost 50-60 pounds down to my goal weight twice now. So I am fairly familiar with the Keto diet.

My dilemma is not for myself, but my girlfriend. We both started keto 10 days ago, we both have about the same amount of weight to lose, and we live together so we have been eating all the same food that I prep. Since then I have lost around 10+ pounds and she claims to have gained around 5 pounds. (she tried keto once before for 2 weeks and had no problem losing weight then)

Now, she did wait to weigh herself until the second or 3rd day on the diet. Which might be a problem, but she said she was about the same weight she was the previous week. She eats a lot less than me, sometimes just one meal a day, the only difference in our diet is that she has had a glass of red wine about every other day.

Even if she was doing something wrong and not getting into ketosis. Her calorie intake is definitely low enough that she should be losing weight. I keep telling her to be patient and shell drop a ton of water weight one day, but it breaks my heart to see her work so hard only to see me constantly drop weight and her to go up. Is there any explanation or advice anyone has that I can relay to her to keep her spirits up? It would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Congratulations on your own weight loss. I sympathise! It is hard to live with someone who isn't at the same stage with their weight loss as you are and I suppose it is either frustrating or irritating for her too.
1) She is female and won't lose at your impressive rate nor at a linear one given hormonal fluctuations across the month or she's taking longer to become a fat burner.
2) the initial big loss is water so by delaying the weigh in she has missed that morale boosting initial loss.
3) She may either be sneaking out to eat carbs or is falling prey to the idea that she can nibble nuts all day long or other keto fat bombs. If she's done this then it could be she hasn't dipped into her own fat stores and will maintain her weight. Does she need to eat more than 1 meal to avoid the urge to snack and raise insulin levels? Or is she drinking carbs via super grande lattes?
4) Encourage other measurements than the scales such as taking a photo or waist size since what you are both after is loss of fat.
5) If she's crashed her calories over the medium term the she will reduce her metabolic rate but the fact that she hasn't lost weight suggests 3) rather than this.
6) Check with doctor if none of these apply as being highly insulin resistant would also make it hard for her to lose weight e.g. high bp, high triglycerides, PCOS in females (irregular periods, facial hair) in which case low carb is still the way to go!

 

[bulkbiker]

Her calorie intake is definitely low enough that she should be losing weight. I

Too low maybe?
How much does she have to lose and has she been calorie restricting beforehand?
If so she may have damaged her metabolism and keto may be helping to repair it.