Alright guys I need some help I am female, 33 years old ,5’7", 168 lbs ,I’m a paramedic, my activity level varies . I started this keto diet 12 weeks ago where I was 192lbs and 30% bsi , and set out to lose 40 lb , everything was going great I lost 20 lb in 5 weeks… but now…nothing … I have plateaued , I haven’t changed anything , I have been eating 1490 calories (ket calculator)and staying 30 carbs or under. The past few weeks I have felt so hungry all the time,I’m satisfied for a few minutes and then within an hour or two I’m absolutely ravenous again, and the cravings…almost unbearable, like pregnancy cravings, you know have to have it or get irrationally depressed/upset …no I’m not pregnant ! it’s getting very frustrating I’m not sure what to do. Any ideas??
Help stalled , 12weeks in
Eat. If you’re hungry your body is asking for more food.
It can’t do what you want it to do without the necessary fuel…
1490 kCals seem low.
Follow these three basic Fung-isms
Eat when Hungry
Eat till satiety
Don’t eat when not hungry
These will help you reset your metabolism and let your body heal itself. Then it will continue to reset and relocate resources between fat muscles and organs as it has successfully done over millions of years of evolution
Oh yeah - eat fewer carbs and more fat! 30 carbs is high from my cheap 
. I target zero, probably average 10. And I do drink 
liberally
Have you considered fasting?
There’s physiological evidence that it suppresses cravings.
And psychologically it does wonders for self-control.
Or, just eat more.
Load up on low carb/cal veggies. Try being hungry after eating a pound of broccoli. Or a head of cabbage. Or a giant bag of spinach.
This is your body saying “I need fuel”. Obey it, eat until not hungry. Forget about calorie counting. Your body needs what you are craving. Indulge it and it will fix what it is trying to fix. Once it is fixed, you will stop being hungry, and it will start losing weight.
A couple of things…
If you had said that you lost 20lbs in 12 weeks, people would congratulate you on a job well done. You have lost 20lbs in 12 weeks and that is a job well done! Weight loss is rarely linear and periods of no weight loss or even a small gain are perfectly normal and to be expected.
If you are hungry then eat more at meal times - particularly fatty protein. I suspect though that something else is going on here. To go from being satisfied to having cravings usually indicates an uptick in carbs so I would take a look at what is going on there - is there some carb creep going on? Is your 30g count total or net? My advice would be to tighten up your carb intake and see if that improves the cravings.
Hi @Daisy,
as @Selina is a paramedic, could it also be stress related.
This aint the easiest job in the world and the stress levels are extreme, combined with shift work.
I am struggling with the same stuff (but havent lost 20 pounds).
Just wondering.
Great job, but we all go mad in the end 
Could be, yes. It could be a combination of things. Carb creep is probably the most common so a good place to start. Keeping a journal is helpful - to note what is going on plus what tweaks you have tried to what end. Looking back on such records can be really illuminating.
Thank you everyone, I have been frustrated, but yes I was leaning toward the I’m not eating enough side , it is hard for me at work to eat right , I usually carry Atkins products and quest bars to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out until I can get to the station to actually make something. my husband also suggested doing a reset . And eating whatever I craved for a couple days and then starting again to see if it helped . I have been worried my were to high because everything I read said even with keto if your calories are to high you wont lose . I will try eating more and not worrying about calories and see if it helps … to answer the other questions , my sleep is very irregular and I am always tired . And yes there are moments of extreme stress …highs and lows . Dieting while working 48hrs away from home has definitely not been the easiest, some days I’ll go all dya without eating because I cant find the right food at a gas stations we stop to fuel at.
I know for me, someone who wasn’t losing any weight on keto for the whole 5 months, what made me finally start losing was eating veggies with every meal. I often struggle with food cravings, but they seem to have disappeared with the veggies. Now I’m not even ‘needing’ my coffee/cream/stevia in the morning. I think food cravings are the body’s way of saying that you’re not getting something it needs. Maybe you’re not getting enough nutrients? Kind of like when chocolate cravings around my dot can signal me needing magnesium.
Maybe there’s some preservatives or something your body doesn’t like in the bars you’re eating? I’m a full time student/work full time, and I find it helpful to carry Ziplocs of nuts- mac nuts, almonds, etc., carry cheese snacks that are ok without refrigeration (when I was eating dairy), hard boiled eggs, cut veggies- carrots, celery, broccoli, etc. with a cup of ranch/nut butter, and maybe some bouillon to make on the go when my stomach is craving a hot ‘meal’ or salt. These foods would be ok without refrigeration on the go and are much healthier. I pack a week’s worth of Ziplocs so I can grab and go without having to stress about if I’m going to be able to eat or not. And I try to carry extra packs just in case I forget, at least I’ll always have a bag of nuts on me!
Blakjaxx makes a really good point about cravings and nutrient deficiencies.
FWIW, I started 10 months ago and had success initially like you, then stalled out. I was following the calculator macros/calories and was hungry and miserable, with no losses. I added intermittent fasting (3 days a week for 36 hours each) and ate MORE (until I felt full) on eat days. I started losing again.
I stalled when i stopped doing that during the holidays. This spring I switched to the approach @4dml uses: monitoring my blood glucose levels response to meals/eating. That made my life a lot simpler. I added some more fasting and I have lost weight steadily at my fastest rates ever and felt really good more consistently.
Good on you for asking for ideas. You’ll figure out what works for you. Great people and info on this forum!