The keto diet is a great way to lose weight and improve your health. By restricting carbohydrates, and instead focussing on fats and protein, you’ll be able to enter the metabolic state of ketosis. Ketosis is the holy grail of the keto diet and results in numerous health benefits, including weight loss.
And while it’s possible to lose weight on many different diets, low carbohydrate diets (like keto) may produce greater results in a shorter period of time[1]. As a result, keto is often the go-to diet for people looking to lose weight.
But what if you’re not seeing weight loss results?
That’s right. Some people still struggle to lose weight on the keto diet. What’s worse, some people even gain weight, which can be really frustrating and demotivating.
So, if you’ve started keto and gained some weight, this is the article for you. We’ll cover some of the common reasons people gain weight on the keto diet, as well as some top tips to reverse the weight gain and reach your weight loss goals.
Table of contents
Can keto lead to weight gain?
The keto diet is well known for its weight loss results, with people often losing dozens of pounds within a few months. What’s more, restricting carbs can also lead to an improved metabolic profile and insulin sensitivity, making it easier to keep the weight off in the future[2].
For all its benefits however, the keto diet is no magic bullet. While it’s rarer to gain weight when sticking to a strict keto diet, eating too many calories can still cause you to gain weight.
At a fundamental level, weight gain or loss is the result of the body’s net energy balance over a period of time. This means that if you eat more calories than you expend (through normally metabolic activity and exercise), you’ll end up gaining weight.
The exact mechanism of weight gain is more complicated than this, but overall calorie balance is the most important factor in weight loss or gain. As a result, even while on a keto diet, eating too many calories can result in weight gain.
Is it normal to gain weight on keto, at first?
When you start the keto diet, your body undergoes a lot of changes. Water retention, glycogen storage and other factors can alter your body weight over short periods of time. These are generally unrelated to fat gain but can be concerning if you’re unaware of how they occur.
But is it normal to gain weight on the keto diet at first?
No, not really. Most people actually lose a significant amount of weight at the beginning of the keto diet, primarily due to decreased water retention. This is the result of carbohydrate restriction, which means the body no longer hangs on to excess water.
As a result, people can lose up to 2-5kg in their first week on the keto diet.
Some people can however ‘gain’ weight when they first start the keto diet, due to a change in the composition of their diet. For example, changes in your total salt intake can cause weight fluctuations.
While initiating keto is normally associated with losing water weight, excess salt intake can have the opposite effect. Increased salt leads to greater water retention, which can add pounds to the scale. This can happen if you’ve suddenly switched from low salt carbohydrates, to foods such as bacon and cheeses, which can be higher in salt.
Small amounts of weight gain on initiation of the keto diet may just be a response to your new diet. So it’s important to track if this weight gain continues past the first week, before making any radical changes to your diet.
Top 11 reasons why keto leads to weight gain
1. Eating too many carbs
Yes, you read that correctly. One of the main reasons people gain weight on the keto diet is that they’re eating too many carbohydrates. As the goal of keto is to maintain ketosis, you’ll want to restrict your daily carbohydrate intake to between 20-50g.
And if you’re new to the keto diet, that’s a lot less than you might realise. Many foods that are traditionally seen as healthy, actually contain quite a few carbs.
For example, many fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals, but also contain high amounts of sugar. For a medium-sized apple, that equates to around 25g of carbs[3].
Another challenge is that of hidden carbs. Many foods that seem keto on the surface actually contain a large amount of carbs. Sauces, marinades and salad dressings are common culprits and can easily contain extra sugar, which means extra calories.
2. Eating too many fats
Fats represent 70-75% of the calories on a traditional keto diet and can help you stay in ketosis. But while fats make up the majority of the keto diet, they can be too much of a good thing.
Fats are one of the 3 macronutrients (alongside proteins and carbohydrates) and are necessary for a whole host of bodily functions, including cell function and hormonal signalling. They do however also contain energy…and a lot of it.
Per gram, fats contain more calories than either proteins or carbohydrates. That’s 9 kcal per gram of fat compared to 4 kcal per gram of protein or carbohydrate. As a result, fats are much more energy dense and can easily be overeaten.
Over-consuming calories can quickly lead to weight gain, as the body needs to find a way to deal with the extra energy. This extra energy is converted to fats through lipogenesis, which means you gain weight…even while on the keto diet.
3. Not eating the right amount of protein
Eating the right amount of protein is important for maximising your overall health and weight loss on keto. Protein is required for muscle and tissue repair, cellular metabolism and appetite regulation. As a result, getting the right amount is essential.
Protein is also the most satiating macronutrient and therefore plays an important role in preventing high levels of hunger on the keto diet. By eating too little protein, you’re less likely to feel fully satisfied after a meal and therefore more likely to be hungry later on[4].
Eating too much protein on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. Excess protein intake leads to excess calories being consumed, which in turn leads to weight gain. That’s because protein cannot be stored in the body. Instead, excess protein is broken down and converted into glucose, before being stored as fat.
4. Snacking too frequently
Snacking itself won’t necessarily lead to weight gain, but it can increase the chances. This is because keto snacks are often especially high in calories, given their high proportion of fat.
For example, nuts such as almonds are commonly consumed snacks on the keto diet. Per 100g, almonds contain 579 kcal, which is more than enough to put you over your daily energy requirements[5].
While snacks can be integrated into a keto diet, snacking too frequently could potentially hamper ketosis. That’s because your body can only maintain optimum ketosis when insulin levels are low.
However, every time you eat a meal (even a snack with few carbs) your body produces small amounts of insulin. Therefore, constantly eating throughout the day means insulin levels are never truly suppressed for prolonged periods of time.
This can impact ketosis, interfering with hunger signalling and making weight loss more difficult.
5. Not tracking calories
Not tracking calories is a sure fire way to overeat on any diet. Like we’ve mentioned, eating too many calories, regardless of whether they are keto or not, will lead to weight gain. And what’s probably surprising is that small errors can quickly add up to hundreds of calories.
For example, if you’re pouring something like olive oil onto a salad, do you really know how many calories you’ve just added to your meal? Fats are extremely calorie-dense, which means overshooting on a portion size can make a big impact on your total caloric intake.
6. Drinking too much alcohol
Frequently drinking alcohol can cause weight gain for a number of reasons.
For example, although pure alcohol itself doesn’t contain any carbs, many commonly consumed alcoholic drinks do. Drinks such as beer, cocktails and cider are all packed with carbs, which can quickly knock you out of ketosis.
>> Best and worst alcoholic beverages for the keto diet
Alcohol can also temporarily stall ketosis, as it preferentially metabolised. While moderate amounts of alcohol won’t have a detrimental effect on your diet, having too much alcohol in your body can impair ketosis.
And finally, alcohol consumption impairs your judgement and decision making. This means that consuming alcohol comes with the side-effect of making poor food choices (e.g. fast food), which can easily pile on the pounds.
7. Neglecting exercise
Exercise is great for your health and helps to maintain strong joints and muscles. In addition, exercise can help maintain a caloric deficit by burning off excess calories.
However, forgoing exercise can lead to weight gain, even while on keto. Without regular exercise, you need to eat fewer calories in order to maintain your body weight. This also means you have a smaller margin for error, as you won’t be able to burn off any hidden calories you’ve accidentally consumed.
More importantly, exercise and a healthy diet go hand-in-hand. Following an exercise program can help to maintain your diet and vice versa. Being in that mindset is good for both your diet and exercise regimen, but removing one can often be detrimental to the other.
8. Cheating too often
Restricting carbs can be challenging, which means occasional cravings are quite common on the keto diet. Unfortunately, this often results in cheating on your diet. While cheating is not great for your overall progress, occasionally eating carbs won’t have a huge impact over the longer term. Cheating too regularly however, can lead to weight gain.
We’ve all been there. Working hard and sticking to your keto diet only to squander a week of progress with a carb-filled binge. Eating lots of carbs can add a large amount of calories and set your progress back by days. In fact, after a large binge, it can take up to a week to re-enter ketosis.
What’s worse is people often respond with crashing dieting, in order to undo the damage as quickly as possible. This leads to a vicious cycle of bingeing and starving, leading to weight gain even while on the keto diet.
9. Excluding nutrient-dense vegetables
As you’ll know, the core focus of the keto diet is high fat foods such as meats, cheeses and oils. However, a significant component of any diet are nutrient-dense vegetables.
Vegetables contain lots of fibre, which slows digestion and adds bulk to your meals. This can make you feel fuller after meals and therefore keep hunger levels in check.
Failing to incorporate vegetables into your keto diet can leave you feeling hungrier after meals, sending you back to the fridge for a snack. And as keto foods tend to be higher in calories, this can easily lead to weight gain.
In addition, leaving vegetables out of your keto diet can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies that can impact your overall health.
10. Experiencing high stress and poor sleep
There is a complex interplay between stress, sleep and diet. What’s clear however is that high levels of constant stress can lead to poorer sleep. In turn, poor sleep quality increases the chances of higher stress, leading to a continually negative cycle.
Why does this matter for weight gain? Well, poor sleep and high stress levels often lead to poor food choices, in both quality and quantity. By choosing higher calorie food options and eating greater volumes, you’re more likely to gain weight.
11. Having an underlying health condition
Many reasons for weight gain on the keto diet are due to factors within your control. Sometimes however, other factors may be at play.
Certain medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), hypothyroidism, metabolic syndrome and menopause can lead to insufficient (or excess) hormone production. This can upset the normal hormonal balance, leading to weight gain or difficulty losing weight[6].
In addition, if you’re taking certain medications, for example anti-depressants, you may be gaining weight for reasons other than caloric balance.
In this case, we recommend you discuss your symptoms with a medical professional.
What to do if you've gained weight on keto?
By now it should be clear that gaining weight on the keto diet is indeed possible. But by uncovering the main reasons for weight gain on keto, you’ll now know what to avoid.
However, if you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you’ve gained weight on the keto diet and are looking for what to do next. So, let’s dive into some of the steps to get you back on track!
Don't panic and crash diet
First things first. Take a breather and assess the situation. While it can be disheartening to find out you’ve gained weight on the keto diet, the last thing you want to do is take any drastic action.
That’s because the weight gain may be temporary, due to water retention. Even if the weight gain is due to fat, there’s a good chance that with a few small tweaks, you’ll be able to stay on the keto diet.
While it can be tempting to crash diet or starve yourself, this is the least recommended option. Crash dieting leads to a cycle of bingeing which may even lead to an eating disorder. So, approach the situation calmly and begin to plan out your next move.
Restart your diet with the keto essentials
So, you’ve gained weight. The next step is to figure out why. To start, you’ll need to commit to a healthy keto diet and minimise processed foods and sauces (which are often the culprits of hidden carbs).
In this step, you should focus on whole foods that provide the required fats and protein as well as nutritious, low carb vegetables. Take a look at the low carb pyramid to see what foods you should include.
Determine your baseline caloric requirements
Whatever you were eating before was clearly overdoing it on the calorie front. As a result, you’ll need to ensure you’re eating the right amount of calories. But how do you determine the right number of calories?
A good starting point is to use a calorie calculator. These calculators take some basic information such as your height, weight, age, gender and activity level and provide you with an estimate number of calories required to maintain or lose weight.
Track your calories
Now that you’ve got a calorie target in mind, you’ll want to make sure you stick with it. Record the calories and macronutrients in the foods you consume, to ensure you’re not overshooting the market. You can always use an app to make tracking your calories easier.
Take regular weight measurements
After choosing a calorie target and tracking your food intake, you’ll want to measure your results. Take a weight measurement every morning before eating or drinking and average it for the whole week.
It’s important to take an average as weight loss fluctuates day to day, which can result in inaccurate readings.
Now that you have your result, see how that compares to your starting weight. If you’re still gaining weight or there is no change, it’s time to slightly reduce your calorie intake further.
You’ll then repeat the above steps but at this new calorie target. By repeating this cycle you’ll eventually arrive at the right calorie intake for your body.
Start an exercise routine
Starting an exercise routine will help keep your body healthy and strong, in addition to facilitating weight loss. Exercise burns additional calories, meaning you don’t have to drop as many calories. It is also a great way to stay motivated as you see your numbers improve in the gym.
Stay consistent
Now you have the blueprint to lose weight on the keto diet. With this information, the most important next step is to stay consistent. Losing weight and transforming your body takes time and effort.
You won’t see results overnight, but sticking to your diet and exercise routine will pay off in the long run.
Conclusion
Gaining weight on the keto diet, while not typical, can result from small mistakes when first starting out. While some of this may be temporary, it’s important to identify if your diet is not working, so you can make any required adjustments.
By following the steps provided, you’ll be in a better position to spot the common keto mistakes, as well as implement steps to restart your weight loss.
