Advice please - Stall!

stall
(Rachael ) #1

Hi everyone!
So, I have been doing keto since last August. It was hard at first, then I found the 2ketodudes podcast (thanks guys!) and I sorted out my electrolytes and water intake and everything went swimmingly from there. I went down from around 110kg to around 90kg before Christmas. Hitting Onederland was amazing! My fiance joined me in keto around October, and he did well too (I do most of the cooking! Ha). He had less to lose than me and he’s found it easier (damn hormones) to lose consistently. He’s within 5lb of his goal weight. At Christmas, we had two days off keto and ate what we wanted. It was pretty easy to get back on, and I lost some more. We had another “cheat” on my birthday in January.

I have lost a bit more weight, but I struggled. I kept losing a pound or two and then gaining it again. The week before my period, and most of the week of my period, I don’t lose. So it was very frustrating. I sat back and reassessed my diet and realised I hadn’t been counting my calories for a while, carb creep had been happening (darn keto sweet goodies) and also I hadn’t realised how many carbs were in leeks (god knows why I didn’t realise) - and we ate them a lot.

So, I’ve gone back to basics. I am strictly under 20g carbs, apart from the occasional Saturday when it may go to 23 or 24g. I’ve cut out dessert (because it makes me crave), and chocolate is strictly 85% or higher in small quantities that hit my macros. I’m eating between 100g and 120g protein depending on the day. The rest is fat. I sometimes do IF, depending on the day and how I feel (when I do, I fast from dinner the night before -around 9pm) until dinner the following night.

I have really got back into exercise the last couple of weeks too. My schedule averages at three nights per week - 30 to 40 minutes on the treadmill plus weights. I also walk 30 minutes per day (total) to and from work.

So…I’m struggling, guys, and I am not sure what else to change to help me. Weight was falling off so well before and now it seems to have blocked. I am at 87kg currently. I am getting married in January and the dress is a little too tight (doesn’t zip all the way) and I am DETERMINED to get into it.

Can anyone else? For info, here are my stats:
Female, 35. 5ft8, 87kg. I don’t have any diagnosed metabolic disorders or diabetes. I am on hormonal contraception and keppra (epilepsy).

Sample diet:
Work week day:
Morning: BPC (100ml unsweetened almond milk, 2T double cream (I’m in the UK), 1T coconut oil, hot water and coffee granules)
Lunch: Chicken salad (lettuce, peppers, cucumber, half a chicken breast diced, 1T mayo, 1t olive oil), 1 small bar of 85% chocolate (3.5 carbs), Alpro Go On yogurt (low carb) 100ml with five or six blackberries. Sometimes a snack size bag of pork rinds if I am really hungry.
Dinner: Varies, but as an example: 250g belly pork, small portion baked radishes, spinach OR a gammon steak, an egg, portion of spinach, OR salmon steak, flat mushroom with 2T cream cheese (baked in oven), spinach OR home-cooked curry (low carb curry paste, chicken, peppers, green beans, slim rice (no carb) OR couple of slices of fathead pizza.

Weekends sample food:
Breakfast: 3 bacon slices, 2 sausages, 1 egg OR protein pancakes with some berries or dark chocolate sprinkled in)
Lunch: Nothing if I had the grilled breakfast, or some ham with some cheese and lettuce if I had the pancakes since they are low calorie
Dinner: As above.

I drink a lot of water in addition (2-3 litres a day).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am trying to be patient but I haven’t “properly” lost in a good few months.

Thanks in advance

(Allan Misner) #2

Are you taking body measurements? Weight can fluctuate for many reasons, which you touched on. Measuring your neck, chest, stomach, waist, hips, upper legs, and upper arms will give you a good idea when you’re losing fat despite what the scale says.

Additionally, I wonder about your sleep and stress levels. Sleep is important for managing hormone levels and high stress can cause weight loss issues (cortisol).

(Rachael ) #3

Thank you for replying. I haven’t been taking measurements, no - I have mostly been relying on clothes. I haven’t lost in clothes size for a while, but it’s funny you mentioned it because I have just sold a pair of boots that are now too large for my calves. So perhaps I am currently losing inches in that area.

My sleep is much better than it used to be - around 7 hours on a work night and more on the weekend. I naturally tend to wake up between 7 - 8 hours and can’t get back to sleep. I’d say I was busy but not horrendously stressed. Definitely calmer and less stressed than this time a year ago.

(Allan Misner) #4

I know there are plenty of folks on here that can give you advice on how they broke plateaus. Some do IF, some incorporate exercise, and others just stay the course. It will likely be an N=1. You’ve got this!

(Rachael ) #5

Thank you for the encouragement, it’s appreciated. :slight_smile:

(Hunter Hankley) #6

I believe we are all different. That said, if I ate that much protein in a day I would probably be gaining weight. I am male 6’1" 175lbs. I consume 50 to 70 grams a day. When I go above 70-80 my glucose goes up and ketones go down. I would try playing with your macros, and seeing if you can find what is holding you back. Also when I get lax about tracking my food I notice my weight starts to creep. I am also on keppra, and haven’t noticed any weight gain associated with taking it.

(Rachael ) #7

Thanks. I am quite surprised at the protein aspect though, because I eat protein following the macros recommended on the keto calculator. 50-70 seems really low to me. Thanks though, for the advice, and I will look into it.

(betsy.rome) #8

I spend months on a plateau this winter/spring. I even tried IF’ing, OMAD, nada. What did the trick this week was a 64-hr fat-supplemented fast, followed by 2 days of IF’ing with 16:8 feeding window. result: 2.5 lbs gone, stall broken. IF seems to help maintain the weight loss from fasting.

I’m at the 20 lbs or less to lose spot in my journey, which makes it harder to make the scale move. For my fast, I ate butter, coconut oil or chicken fat (broth) several times a day. I took @Brenda’s advice and added calcium citrate to avoid leg cramps, plus I drank a shot of pickle juice before bed every night. - no cramps! :blush:

(Rachael ) #9

Thank you, that’s definitely something I could try. I really appreciate the advice. How much of the fat did you eat during the fast?

(betsy.rome) #10

Forgot to add - keep a small baggie of himalayan salt with you, take a lick every couple hours, esp. when hunger pangs strike (they will pass).

Fat: I drank 1 or 2 large BPC’s in the morning, each with 1 T coconut oil and 2 tsp kerrygold butter & some cinnamon. I did not add sweetener. I ate a 1/2 tsp butter to take medication in the morning & evening. I drank chicken bone broth in small amounts, like 1/2 c., with added salt, 2-3 times a day. I did not count macros, just had fat if I felt hungry.

For the coconut oil, I liquified a jar of it, and poured it into ice cube trays & froze it. Cut them in 1/2 so each was 1 tablespoon, then put them back in jars for storage on the shelf. Helps to just reach for a cube of it for BPC or frying.

#11

Thank you for sharing your story, Rachel. And thank you for letting us know what you eat, as this certainly helps provide feedback.

I’m guessing that you doing the ketogenic way of eating not only helps with weight loss, but also epilepsy. It has been shown to help in both aspects. And congratulations on hitting Onederland!

I see you do a lot of exercising, both weights and aerobics. You need to be aware that putting on muscle weight cancels fat loss weight - so, it may look discouraging, but your body is changing. Do you clothes feel tighter or more loose? This can be a better gauge sometimes.

When you count carbs, is it total carbs or net carbs? Some people can get away with 20 grams net carbs. Others (like me) need to stick with 20 grams total.

Something that does work for some people is introducing intermittent fasting in their regimen. For instance, skipping one meal (like breakfast or dinner), and making sure they don’t eat anything (no snacks) during the meal they skipped. This usually has the ability to restart the weightloss and breakthrough stalls. I would like to caution though that you don’t dial down caloric intake when you do this, and make sure you eat fat to satiety, keeping within the moderate protein levels. Just because you skip a meal, doesn’t mean you eat less during the day. The idea is to create a “fasting window” that forces your body to burn stored fat.

I hope you keep in touch and let us know how your journey is going. And congrats on the wedding!! :grinning:

(Ernest) #12

You can stall on scale and still lose a bunch of inches. A stall is part of the process. Weight loss is never a linear process.
This is why a scale is a bad way to judge progress.
Use some old tight clothes, get in and see if they fit “looser”.
Focus on health and well being, weight loss will follow naturally.
Don’t be too quick to drop “calories”

Keto on!

#13

Try cutting back on the BPC. Just make it an occasional treat instead of a daily meal replacement. Some people don’t properly register calories they drink. Also, there aren’t actually any nutrients in BPC.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #14

See @Donna??!
You have helped many!