So, I’ve been doing keto for a while now and initially lost 17, or 18 pounds… and now for the past like 3 weeks… I’m not losing anything at all.
I haven’t done anything different. I’m only eating keto friendly twice a day with a keto friendly health bar mid-day if I get hungry.
Is this normal, or do I need to start fasting for 3 days in a row or something and only drink water?
Just wanted to get some thoughts and ideas on where to go from here…
Yes it is definitely possible you have hit a plateau, or more than likely possible that your body is changing measurements wise. Be patient it happens to everyone depending on the amount of fat you need to lose. My advice is not to put your mind on that scale and be mindful of any and all body changes, that is what is most important.
First of all, it depends on how long your weight has been stable. For example, if it’s been a week, that’s not a stall. If it’s been three months, that qualifies. But even then, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing anything wrong.
Some things to consider:
First, there is what we call “carb creep,” especially if you are still eating manufactured foods. A food that used to be safe can be reformulated without notice by the manufacturer. Also, the quantity of healthy carbs in our diet can increase without our realising it.
Second, the first 200 lbs./100 kg come off much more easily than the last 20/10.
Third, people fall into the trap of cutting calories, and the body responds by using less energy. Make sure you are eating enough.
Dr. Phinney says that in his studies they typically see a fat loss equivalent to 25% of starting body weight. The loss may continue later, but the body is conservative and needs time to adjust.
Also, it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. As you can imagine, this confuses the scale. After my initial 80 lb./36kg loss, there was a period of twelve months during which my weight was stable, but my waist shrank by another couple of inches/around 5 cm. Be sure to use the fit of your clothing as an additional indicator of progress.
Dr. Phinney advises two things to try when we feel stuck: first, cut the carbs even further. Second, add more fat to the diet. Under no circumstances, he says, is it wise to increase the carb intake.
Normal. Weight loss is not linear.
The complexities of weight loss are vast. I found that concentrating on all the other benefits of a keto way of eating was important during these periods of no scale movement. Now into my fifteenth year and have not reached my goal yet but have improved so much about my general health and in the meantime continue to lose albeit very slowly. If I had thrown in the towel - well… would have lost a lot but not lbs.
3 week isn’t such a long time yet, it happens to some people who loses fat just fine before and after.
Of course, it’s possible you just don’t have a calorie deficit now so no reason to use up fat reserves. I have that case ALL the time even on keto 
I have a bit better chances on carnivore as carbs make me hungrier, no matter if I am in ketosis. But I still need to be careful as it’s VERY easy for me to overeat on carnivore too. Certain items are easy to overeat according to many of us. It’s individual but nuts and cheese are common items for that… I need to be careful with dairy in general, eggs and really fatty meats too (the latters are pretty good for most I guess but I can overeat them especially if I have both and too many meals) but timing matters a lot as well.
There may be sleep or stress or some other, not dietary factor too… Or just you lose fat slowly and not right now but it will continue later. Who knows?
I would look at my actual food consumption and wonder if I overdo something…
I’m in only my 10th year and am the same. I can fit into all my 34s (pant waist size), even the very “thin” ones. But I’ll probably not get into 32s, which I wore in my teens/early 20s.
My take on all of this is simple, our bodies knows best. We can come up with all the goals we want where our bodies are concerned, but our bodies are going to make the final decisions on what are right for our bodies. The main reason we have hormones is to keep our bodies healthy. We as humans can either listen to our bodies and eat the what our bodies need and require or we can bullheadedly stuff our bodies with garbage that screws our bodies’ hormones over and causes all types of illnesses and other health issues. The biggest thing we do wrong is worshipping the almighty scales. So many make themselves sick trying to reach some magical weight and in doing so they destroy their bodies harmones, their metabolism, and even cause muscle loss.
The key is eat properly for your body’s sake, stay away from junk food, highly processed, highly refined food, and fast food. Eat real food and eat enough for your body’s requirements and your body will end up in it’s due time to its idea weight. That idea weight more than likely will not agree with your minds made up goal but it will be what makes your body as healthy as possible.
To me, “STUCK” is not defined by the scale.
It’s very likely your body is still at work and changes are happening.
When I quit focusing on the darn numbers, I realized everything else was trending the right direction.
@Jimmy_the_Lock To highlight Paul’s assertions, here is my complete Dexascans from start to now. I will have another March 7th just before heading out to Feldman’s COSCI fundraiser.
Interesting highlights, the first dip and then increase of bodyfat was just after Ketofest 2018. On the flight home after hearing so many inspirational stories and people telling me that “mine” was just as powerful I said “I can do better” and I threw away my tin of chew. That loss of nicotine caused a change in insulin sensitivity and I wrote about that here: Nicotine aids lipolysis. What to do when you quit nicotine?
The second great increase in body fat was dual in nature. Covid restrictions which forced me into lfting at home and 11 pulmonary embolisms in 4 of 5 lobes. Oops. Still Keep calm and carry on.
What I did was alternate from Carniove Animal Fats ( Carny AF) to fasting , whether ADF or EF. Both work well for me. Adding more fat to my diet after 6 years went no where for me. But that makes since if fat cells have a 10% annual turnover rate then at least 60% of my body fat had never experienced insulin resitance. Indeed, these days I seem to enjoy the occaisional bread or potato. I get a big kick of energy, my ketones sky rocket via blood ( because I am not using them) and the next day everything is back to normal, BG, BHB, BRace ( acetone in the breath)
Finally let’s consider the BHB, BG daily readings, averaged monthly and then averaged annually. Keep in mind I do resistance weight training and last year lifted over 11 million poounds and that was with a major rotator cuff surgery ( as an aside, I am 3 months ahead of rehab and have been lifting HEAVY since the fisrt of the year). You can see my overall bodyweight went up but that is lean mass. My body fat percentage came down and my GKI slowly rises, in part I beleive that my body knows how much BHB I need daily and that my red blood cells live longer than 90 days.
Mark, you don’t need DEXA scans to show how lean you are. You are so ripped, it’s not funny. Anyone who looks at you sighs in envy. . . . (sigh). 
OK, thanks for the replies and all the information.
Since the original post, I have lost an additional 5 pounds so I guess I’m back on track.
I started at 325 and now I’m down to 296… my target weight is 200 which was a high school football playing weight.
Aye, aye, I do! (Okay, I’ll just show myself out, shall I? 
)
