Gaining Weight As a Way to Get Out of a Stall?

#1

March - December 2017 I lost 52 lbs and went from a 20 - 22X to a 14/16 regular. I mostly did keto/lazy keto and short and extended coffee fasts (5 days or so). I am still that size but in the last couple of months I seem to have gained about 12 lbs. Weight loss stopped in December 2017 and I never reached my goal which is another 50 lbs (I am not being crazy, I really still have plenty of fat).

I cannot remember the last time I fasted and honestly hate the idea of doing it but I know I could go back. Part of the problem is that since December 2017 I seem to be in homeostatsis and whenever I fast I lose weight temporarily and go right back to baseline a week or so later. So there seems to be no point in fasting.

I am over 50 and have always had a lot of trouble maintaining weight since my teens, I eat badly for a week and can gain 10 lbs. In the last year that does not seem to be the case until recently when I started gaining a little.

I am wondering if the weight gain means I am out of homeostatis and could actually lose if I fasted again or really stuck to OMAD or strict keto? I kinda am happy foodwise but I certainly do not want to gain and would like to lose more and go down some more sizes

#2

Give us an idea of what you eat on the regular.

#3

It does vary. Often I eat eggs in butter oil or coconut oil and cheese (I tried giving up dairy about a year ago made no difference) with some type of meat or vegetables. Coffee with HWC about 2 a day. I do snack on nuts (macadamia, pecans or walnuts and natual nothing added peanut butter) but ran out about 2 weeks ago and have not bothered buying more. I will have keto chili, meatballs, fried chicken or baked chicken steak for dinner. I will occassionally have smoked salmon with cream cheese wrapped in seaweed. Once every few weeks I will make a batch of Ruled Me Tortillas and eat them with cold cuts as a sandwich but that is not very often. They usually last me a week since I am the only one eating them and will sometimes go bad before I remember to eat them. Also will sometimes have the noatmeal made from chia seeds, hemp hearts, flaxseeds and almond flour. About once a week I have something with erthrytol but have gone weeks without it and it makes no difference.

Will eat cheese as a snack (real cheese such as cheddar nothing processed)

When I crave carbs I will have shiritaki pasta with tomato sauce (one of the lower carb brands with no added sugar) riccota cheese, mozzerella and parmeasan.

Will sometimes eat small amounts of raspberries and blackberries

Note I sometimes do only eat one meal a day because I forget to eat the second or forget to eat early. Not a fan of fish or vegetables in general but will eat cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms and brussel sprouts. I try to keep my eating window between 12 - 9 but am not always

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

It sounds like you already know what to to, go back to strict keto. Get back to really tracking every single carb and not going over whatever number you set for yourself. It’s so easy to say, that’s low carb so I’ll eat that, and that, and that and at the end of the day be way over 20 grams (example). I can go over 20 grams a day just eating meat and cheese if I gobble enough of it down.

Great job on your success so far, though!

(Bea ) #5

I was same then I red 2 books recently and everything s changed last 2 mnth. Hope it ll help u as well.
With Keto and IF a lot easier to follow these 2 books advise.
First Book: 800 Fast by Dr. Michael Mosley
2nd Book : Conquering Fat Logic by Nadja Hermann

(Ken) #6

Depending on what you’re eating, 10 pounds could be mostly, if not all glycogen. Unless you went back to chronic carb consumption, fat regain is unlikely, you just went into Maintenance. IMO, it’s the best answer for stalls, as long as you try fasting first to insure the stall is not caused by excess caloric intake. Once you eliminate the caloric possibility and fail to break your stall, the next likely cause becomes metabolic. Going on Maintenance for a couple of weeks can restore your normal metabolic function. You can then jump back into strict Keto during the week, but also consider eating some carbs on the Weekend for your metabolism.