In this video Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, answers a viewer’s question about why weight loss can stall after an initial drop when starting a ketogenic diet. She explains that the first week’s rapid loss is mostly water released as stored glycogen (which holds about 3 g of water per gram) is burned. After glycogen is depleted, the body must learn to oxidize fat, a process called becoming “fat‑adapted” that can take several weeks. During this transition electrolyte balance shifts, often causing the “keto flu,” which further influences water weight. McColgan stresses that weight‑loss rates vary: people with larger excess weight may see dramatic early drops, while those with modest goals may experience slower changes. She highlights keto’s advantages—high satiety, stable blood sugars, reduced cravings—and notes that once fat‑adapted, appetite often decreases. Finally, she advises giving the body 6–8 weeks to adjust, then evaluating factors such as hormones, stress, sleep, and possible dietary tweaks if progress stalls, and offers her contact information for further help.
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Hi everyone, I'm Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, and today I wanted to do a video to answer a question that I had recently on keto. So this is a person I've known for a few years, not super well, but we've stayed in touch on Facebook, and she was inspired to start the keto diet. When she wrote to me, she said she'd started about 2 weeks ago, and she was 2 things: she was very excited and very frustrated. So she was excited because the first week she lost 6 pounds, which is amazing. The second week though, she went up half a pound. And so she reached out to me to let me know, like, she was frustrated and she wanted to know if this was normal. So I'm not going to name her name, but yes, the answer to the question is that is completely normal. And so what I'd like to do is explain to you a little bit about how things work when you first start on keto so that you can understand these sort of weight fluctuations in the beginning. So when you stop eating carbs— a carb is sugar, so sugar is sugar, a carb is sugar— these are things that some people get confused. It's hard to believe that there's still people out here that don't know about this stuff, but there are. And so it's always good to just kind of visit the basics first. So sugar is sugar. Carbs eventually turn into sugar in your body, which is glucose. Okay? And glucose is your body's first thing it's going to burn through always. So if you have glucose in your body, your body will burn that. So when you first start on keto, you quit eating carbs. And so your body will start to, you know, go through all the carbs that you were eating, all the sugar that you were eating, and then it will switch to stored glycogen in your body. So glycogen stored in your muscles and your liver, and when it's stored in your muscles, it holds on to 3 grams of water with it. So this glycogen, once you start to burn through that, that water goes away too. So that's quite often when people first start keto, the first week or two, they'll lose a bunch of weight because all this water is coming out of your body when you go through those stored glycogen. After that, your body starts to learn to more efficiently utilize fat, and it'll do this because It has to because it doesn't have these carbs around anymore, but you are still feeding it fuel, so it's gonna— burning that, but it's slowly learning to become what we call fat adapted. And so it takes a few weeks for your body to upregulate all these processes in your body that allow you to more efficiently utilize fat. So during that time of transition, give your body some grace. Your body's learning how to do this new metabolic process that's going to allow you to become a fat burner rather than a sugar burner. And so there will be some fluctuations. There's also some fluctuations due to figuring out your electrolytes. So one of the things that people commonly experience when they switch over to keto is keto flu. And really all keto flu is, is an imbalance of electrolytes. So when your body is losing those water stores that are usually stored with their glycogen, along with that it's losing some sodium, potassium, magnesium. And when your body's figuring out how to regulate those, that's what makes your water balance fluctuate. So to answer her question, that what she experienced is completely normal. What is also completely normal that you might experience is maybe you don't lose any weight the first couple weeks. Maybe you're just learning to switch over to not eating sugar. So whatever it is that you're eating, you might be eating a few more calories. You might not lose weight right away, but you've got to give your body some time to adjust. So I know it's not popular. Everybody wants to hear these stories of people losing 20, 30, 40 pounds the first month on keto, and that does happen. But these are typically people that have a whole lot of weight to lose. If you're like a person that has maybe 10 or 20 pounds to lose, things aren't going to be that dramatic. It's going to be slower. And you know, again, nobody wants to hear this, but you didn't gain the weight overnight. You're not going to lose it overnight. Keto is not a magic bullet, but what I do feel like it is, is it's something that's very sustainable. It allows you to eat delicious foods. It gives you a lot more fat in your diet, which is not only very satiating, but super healthy for your brain. And when you feel fuller, when you feel more satisfied, then you don't go snacking and eating all those extra things. So that is what I feel is one of the main advantages of keto is this is such a very palatable diet that keeps you satisfied and it keeps you from, you know, snacking and eating those foods that aren't as bad. In addition, after you become fat adapted, people find that they're quite often not as hungry anymore because you don't have those blood sugar ups and downs. So typically when you eat something with carbs, your body releases a bunch of, bunch of insulin to deal with that sugar, and then you come crashing down afterwards. And then your body says, oh, you're hungry, and then you eat again, and you eat more carbs, and then the same cycle. So once you go keto, all the blood sugars even all the time, you'll find that you're less hungry over time and naturally eat less. So that was kind of a long-winded answer to her question, but totally normal what she experienced. Let your body figure it out. Give it some time. If after, you know, 6 to 8 weeks you're still struggling, you're not losing, then after your body has become fat adapted, then it's time to start considering, are there things that you need to tweak? Are there things that you could be doing better to more easily promote weight loss? And this is all, you know, depending on the fact that your hormones are where they should be, that you're not overly stressed, that you're sleeping well. There's, there's a number of factors why you may or may not easily lose weight. So don't get discouraged. There's plenty of information out there. If you have any questions or need any clarifications on these points, I'm happy to help as much as I can. You reach out to me at healnourishgrow.com. Again, I'm Cheryl McColgan, and I hope this was helpful for you today.
