Week 2 On Keto: What To Expect + Tips To Speed Things Up

Last week was a crucial one for you, you’ve finally decided to embark on the Keto journey. Things might or might not have been happening as you were expecting them to. And that’s OK. Most things in life are a different story when they actually become a reality.

As a medical doctor and as someone who has been where you are now some years ago, I’m here today to lay out for you what should be happening now and offer some tips on how to put yourself on the right track for more reliable success in the coming weeks.

Where You Should Be At During The Second Week Of Keto

Depending on how strict you were during the last week, you might already have lost some weight. The best-case scenario is you got into ketosis in the first two days and then were able to lose some weight (mostly water weight) during the rest of the week, which is great news and will play a big role in helping you believe in the diet more and thus be able to commit more easily.

But if you haven’t yet, don’t fret. Getting into Ketosis can take between a couple of days up to a week on average, and can sometimes take longer.

In a poll that I ran among keto dieters asking them how long it took them to get into ketosis, 66% said it took them 1-3 days, 26% of them had to wait 3-7 days, for 6% of them it took more than a week while 2% of them said they were in ketosis on the very first day.

How Much Weight Can You Lose In 2 Weeks On Keto?

Most people report losing 1-10 lbs. in the first week on Keto. It’s a big range because it depends on the water reserve in your body. In most cases, the larger you are, the more water you have, and the more weight you’ll lose in the early days of Keto. In the second week, though, you can expect to lose 2-4 lbs.

The results of the surveys I ran for how much weight people lost during the first two weeks were as follows:

Week One:

• 14.3% lost less 2 lbs.
• 47.9% lost 2-5 lbs.
• 35.5% lost 5-10 lbs.
• 2.3% lost more than 10 lbs.

Week Two:

• 26.1% lost less than 2 lbs.
• 63.8% lost 2-5 lbs.
• 7.7% lost 5-10 lbs.
• 2.4% lost more than 10 lbs.

Can It Take 2 Weeks To Get Into Ketosis?

It is possible to take two weeks or sometimes even more to get into ketosis. The reasons behind that can be slow metabolism, type II diabetes, or sometimes simply not committing enough to the diet on your end.

Weight Gain During The Second Week of Keto

It’s possible for you to notice that you have gained some weight in these past two weeks. This can be a result of thinking that once you’re doing Keto, you can forget about calories. But in reality, if you’re eating more calories than your body needs, you will gain weight, no matter what diet you’re on.

Pro Tip: Don’t neglect calories once you start doing Keto. This is a very misleading myth you hear all around the internet. While being in ketosis will make you significantly less hungry throughout the day, which should result in a decrease in caloric intake, you can still be binge-eating and getting over your caloric needs, which will lead to weight gain.

The answer to that is not to be obsessing over every calorie and a half that goes into your body, but it’s also not to forget all about calories and be eating non-stop. It’s finding the balance there, between knowing how much you need to achieve the results you need while also eating enough to secure all the macro- and micronutrients you need on a daily basis.

What I should also note though, is that some people do Keto with the main aim of gaining weight and building more muscle mass.

In fact, I have done a poll for a group of people doing keto, because I was wondering how many of them had gaining weight, muscle in particular, as their main goal. The results were quite interesting to see. 91% of the group I surveyed were aiming to burn fat, and only 9% of them had building muscle as their main objective.

Feeling Bloated on Keto Week 2

Feeling Bloated is a result of inserting new foods into your diet your body isn’t yet used to. In big amounts, they can lead to discomfort and bloating. You should decrease your intake of these foods, and ease your way slowly into them. The most common examples of these foods are broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and kale.

No Weight Loss / Plateau During Week 2 Of Keto

The weight you lose in the first week or two on Keto is water weight. After that, your body goes through the process of fat adaptation, as your hormone levels start to get balanced, and your body’s main source of energy changes. This process can take time, resulting in a plateau.

If you’ve already lost weight then that’s amazing, since it’s only been a week since you’ve started. Keep at it and challenge yourself more. You’re off to a great start!

Pro Tip: As you move further with Keto and feel that you’re stuck at the same phase for long periods of time, try using metrics other than the scale. Start taking photos and comparing them to old ones, focus on your waist when you look in the mirror and measure it, take pictures of your face, and compare it to how it used to look. The scale does not always tell the whole story.

This is especially true when you’re doing the healthy version of Keto. You might be losing fat and gaining some muscle mass at the same time. In that case, the scale will say you’re either stuck or you’ve gained weight! That’s why it’s a mistake to only rely on your scale to measure your progress.

Trying Egg Fast On The Second Week Of Keto

An egg fast is not recommended during the very first week on Keto. However, if you’re experiencing a plateau during the second week, it can be a good idea to try it. An egg fast is usually done for 3-5 days, where you’re only allowed to eat eggs, cheese, and butter.

Some caveats to it, don’t do it longer than recommended, because it can lead to health problems like nutrient deficiencies and constipation. It’s also recommended to stop intermittent fasting while you do the egg fast, and have small meals of eggs and cheese throughout the day, every 3-4 hours.

Is Keto Flu Still There In The Second Week Of Keto?

Keto Flu hits when you’re making the transition from your old diet into Keto. It can last anywhere between a few days and a few weeks. At this point, you might still be suffering from its effects, or you might have gone past it.

If it’s the latter, great! Either you have gone through keto or intermittent fasting before, your metabolism rate is great, or you’ve done some of the tips you read here on MasterMinding Perfection :).

If you’re still having the symptoms of Keto flu, what you can do now is add more fat at this early stage of your journey (make sure you’re getting it from healthy sources), especially Coconut and/or MCT oil, pay attention to electrolytes, drink enough water, and do not limit your caloric intake to an extreme, especially now when you’re just getting started.

If you love numbers as much as I do, you’ll appreciate the results of the poll I ran, in which I found that 62.4% of people are over their Keto flu during the second week, while 37.6% of them are still experiencing symptoms.

Having No Energy On Keto Week 2

Having no energy at this stage is sometimes counted as one of the symptoms of Keto Flu. You feel like you don’t have the energy to do the simplest things as your body is switching gears. It’s going from using glucose as the main energy fuel to using ketones. And right now, it probably has too little of both.

If you have gone past this, great! It’s one less thing to be worried about. You’re probably feeling OK, but not great. The great part comes just a little bit later, where you hit that climax of having full energy throughout the day, once you’re fully fat-adapted.

On the other hand, if you’re suffering from having little to no energy, it can be a good idea to increase your fat intake, try some MCT oil if you haven’t already, make sure you’re getting enough electrolytes, and prioritize getting enough sleep.

However, don’t increase your caffeine intake. One week of considerably increased caffeine intake can cause that new big amount of coffee to become the new minimum amount to get you through the day, and you’ll have a hard time focusing and having enough energy when you don’t meet it.

Note that this is a VERY common symptom of the Keto Flu. I ran another poll for a group of people who are now in ketosis, and 89.4% of those of them who experienced Keto Flu said they also experienced that lack of energy during the first couple of weeks.

Your Relationship With Sleep On Week Two Of Keto

At this early stage of the diet, Keto can worsen your sleep. You can suffer from interrupted sleep and insomnia. This will go away once you’re fully in ketosis.

Moreover, once in your ketosis, your sleep quality will get much better. You’ll get to sleep deeper, and get enough sleep with fewer hours than you used to need.

For your guide on sleep and insomnia and how they affect each other, make sure to read this article I wrote last month where I lay the ultimate solution for keto insomnia. Thank me later.

Are Sugar Cravings Normal During the Second Week of Keto?

After two weeks, cravings must have gone down. You might still be asking for food now and then, but your body is getting more and more fat-adapted and starting to get the energy needed from your fat cells. There are a few tips you can apply to help you with food cravings at this point, you can find them at the end of this article.

Is Constipation Normal At This Phase?

The number one reason constipation can become an issue at this point is the big amount of fat you have recently started to consume which your body isn’t used to yet. This also causes changes in your digestive tract that can either lead to diarrhea or constipation.

I was curious about that so I ran a survey about that exact point, and the results were close to what I had anticipated: 64.3% said they experienced constipation to some degree during the first couple of weeks on Keto, 6.9% said they experienced diarrhea, while 28.8% said they experienced neither of the two.

Vegetarian Keto During The Second Week

In week 2 of vegetarian Keto, you might still be finding it hard to find foods that are vegetarian, high in fats, and low in carbs. You’re getting better at knowing what and when to eat, to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis.

Knowing what options you have of foods that can fit into your diet is a smart thing now. It might be hard to figure out how to get enough protein after you have once relayed on many foods that are not keto-friendly. That’s why I’ve worked hard to collect 28 protein sources in one article that is sure to help you know what to eat next. You can read it by clicking here. I’ve written another one compiling 16 fat-rich foods you should add to your diet, I’ll link to it here. You’ll find awesome tables for the nutrition facts of each of these foods in both articles.

What you should keep also highlight within your mind, are the Keto-friendly foods that can be included in your diet since you’re a vegetarian and not a vegan. The most important of which are eggs and keto-friendly dairies, such as butter, cheese, and ghee.

Switching to Vegan On Keto Week 2

It’s hard doing two strict diets, vegan and keto, and only getting to eat what is allowed on both of them. But if you’ve been vegan for a long time, it’s not as hard. The most important step to take is figuring out the vegan, keto-friendly foods that you should be consuming to get you into ketosis and help you get the nutrients you need.

If you’ve been finding it hard to find vegan, protein-rich, keto-friendly foods, I’ve compiled a list that lays out the nutrition facts in each of them to make it easier for you to choose which can fit into your diet. You can read that article here.

If you’re about to ask me if there’s a similar list for fat-rich food, of course there is! I’ve compiled a list of fat-rich foods that are both keto- and vegan-friendly. If you’re having a problem getting enough fat, this article is for you.

Tips To Speed Up The Results In The Coming Weeks

1- Track Calories and Carbs

If you’ve been here at MasterMinding Perfection before, you know that I don’t recommend you obsess over the numbers, as calculating and doing keto math becomes a long, excruciating part of your day that makes you want to give up on the diet altogether.

However, if you’re looking for faster results, it might be a good idea to track the calories you’re consuming and know how much caloric deficit you need to apply in order to achieve the results you want.

Tracking carbs can, too, be beneficial to help you eat as little of them as possible if you’re looking to achieve faster results.

What I should emphasize here, is that this can be hard and dull in the first week you’re trying to get your head around the numbers, but soon enough, you’ll have the numbers of the foods you eat on a daily basis memorized in your head, and the process will be a lot smoother.

2- Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Protein

Getting enough protein is crucial to ensuring a healthy diet. It can also help you, alongside fats, to keep satiated for longer periods of time.

If you’re only eating fats and not eating enough protein, you’ll probably be getting seduced to eat more carbs.

Not getting enough protein can manifest in losing muscle mass, which in addition to making you look older and in a bad shape, it also means you can become weaker with less mobility.

3- Give Your Body Adequate Amount Of Sleep

If you know how important sleep is for exercise, it’s as important here if not more.

Aim for 7-8 hourse of good-quality sleep each night, and you’ll notice a major improvement in both the results you’re getting and how comfortable you are maintaining the diet.

For your guide on sleep and insomnia and how they affect each other, make sure to read this article I wrote it last month laying the ultimate solution for keto insomnia. Thank me later.

4- Add Intermittent Fasting To The Mix

Intermittent fasting is the greatest thing to add right now if you feel the symptoms of the Keto Flu are going away. I don’t recommend starting both keto and intermittent fasting together on day one, but since you’re in the second week now and want to speed up your progress, it can be a great thing to do now.

You can start with the 16:8 pattern, where you fast for 16 hours and have an eating window of 8 hours. Then, once you’re comfortable doing that, you can prolong your fasting window if you want.

You can also do OMAD at this point if you feel extra comfortable and you’re not getting hungry throughout the day. You can do it once or twice a week. OMAD stands for One Meal A Day, where you get to only eat, well… One meal a day. If you’re doing it for the first time, make sure you have a fat-rich meal, with a good amount of protein and lots of vegetables for the vitamins and minerals you need.

5-Try The Egg Fast

What can also be a smart thing to do at this point, especially if you feel like you’re starting to plateau, is doing an egg fast. It’s a fast where you’re only supposed to be eating eggs, cheese, and butter.

Go back to the egg fast section in this article for more.

6- Exercise More

Exercising is another way that can help you lose weight. Losing weight is either done by eating fewer calories than you need or by making your body need more calories. Keto is playing with the first part of the equation. Exercise can work on the second. And when you’re doing that.. when you’re working on both sides of the equation, your progress can skyrocket.

My favorite exercises to do when I’m doing Keto & IF to lose weight are: taking long walks, doing HIIT exercises, and some moderate weightlifting.

7- If You Know A Friend Doing Keto, Consider Doing It With Them

Adhering to a new diet is always hard. While doing keto is easier than many other diets that let you starve most of the day, you can still make it easier. Doing keto with a friend or a partner can benefit you a lot by having that accountability partner who makes giving up less seducing.

It has helped me personally doing Keto with a friend when I first started doing it because we could share recipes, and tips we discovered either through the internet or by making mistakes. We also were able to motivate each other when one of us was about to give up.

8- When You Reach You Weight Goal, Don’t Go Back To Your Old Lifestyle

Some of you might only be doing Keto for a couple of weeks, either you have an event you have to lose a few pounds for or you’re always after the new Shining Object and want to give everything new a shot.

You should already know if you’ve been here at MMP before, how much I advocate for keto and think it’s an amazing diet and a lifestyle. This article is not to sell you on it. What I need you to know now is that the biggest mistake people make when getting off keto is getting back to exactly how they were living and eating prior to keto.

What I always see, is for some reason, people gain even more weight than they lost with Keto because they went back to what caused the problem in the first place. Don’t do that.

Healthy Keto has been a turning point in the lives of millions of people around the world. It was able to give us mental clarity like no other diet could, helped heal countless diseases, and fixed our toxic, emotional relationship with food and so many other things.

So let’s keep that legacy of Keto for you as it has always been and how it should always be. Let it be the diet that changes your life and actually takes you to the point of no return.

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