Hi - After nearly 18 months I’m fat-adjusted and have lost 3 stone combining IF and LCHF but my weight loss has stalled recently with just stubborn fat around my waist remaining. I would like to lose another 5-8 pounds from by stomach/hips and bought a GKI blood meter to be certain I’m definitely still in ketosis (due to weight loss stalling rather than any change in diet). My Glucose ranges between 3.2-5.6 depending on how recently I’ve eaten, ketones range from 0.8-2.2 since I began adding MCT C8 C10. Without MCT my ketones sit at around 0.6 which I believe is because after 1+ years my body only produces as many Ketones as it needs, so I have the following questions…
Does elevating my ketone levels with MCT really have any benefit if I’m already in ketosis and fat-adjusted?
I’m not reading any ketones in my urine when taking MCT, so does this mean my body uses the additional ketones rather than just peeing them out?
Should I be taking more MCT in order to get higher Ketone readings?
Thanks
Diet is good, I swim and sauna daily, try to get enough sleep but the weight has plateaued. If there’s no benefit adding MCT then not sure what else to alter other than reduce calories.
How long has the “stall” lasted?
It’s extremely common/normal. Especially with those last few pounds. After all your success, I know it feels frustrating, but this too shall pass.
I lost 60 lbs in my first year, then probably 15 the next year, and the last 10 in my third year. And yep, it was in my waist/tummy area.
Slow is ok once you realize this is more than a weight loss diet. More than a number on the scale. Three years actually makes me realize this is something I can and will maintain. And that’s a big fat deal!
I agree with @Shortstuff. Invariably, if I eat more than I think I should, the weight loss increases. Less calories is rarely the answer.
BETTER calories is.
And I only use lard, beef dripping and olive oil. No processed seed oils.
PaulL
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?)
#13
The definition of nutritional ketosis is a serum β-hydroxybutyrate level of 0.5 mmol/dL or higher. As Dr. Stephen Phinney says, 1.0 may provide a bit more benefit that 0.5, but his research hasn’t shown any additional benefit from levels above 1.0. So don’t worry about chasing ketone levels. It is perfectly possible to lose fat with a serum β-hydroxybutyrate of 0.6 as with a serum β-hydroxybutyrate of 3.6. The real point of observing ketone bodies in the blood is that it means that our insulin has dropped low enough to permit us to switch from glucose metabolism to fatty-acid metabolism.
After we’ve been in ketosis for a while, the skeletal muscles have (re-)adapted to a ketogenic diet and start passing up glucose and ketones in favour of fatty acids. This is called adaptative glucose-sparing, and it allows the organs that require glucose and ketones to use them. At this point, the liver scales back its ketone production to better match the supply to the demand. Also, the kidneys get better at returning ketones to the bloodstream instead of excreting them.
There are some mental or neurophysiological problems that benefit from a higher circulating ketone level, and there can be some benefit from using exogenous ketones to bring the level up. But ordinarily it’s just a waste of money.
If you are feeling stuck, try lowering your carb intake and adding more fat to your diet. If we don’t eat enough to meet our body’s need for energy, then it goes into “famine mode” and starts conserving its resources, including body fat. So don’t stint on the calories. Given an abundance of food the body revs up our basal metabolic rate and can even increase the amount of fat it metabolises.
PaulL
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?)
#14
It also depends on how long you’ve been “stalled.” Some people believe that if the scale doesn’t drop each day, there is something wrong. But this is not so; the rate of fat loss is never linear, and sometimes there are pauses along the way. We don’t generally use the term “stall” until weight has been stable for at least a couple of months.
It is also possible to disagree with our body as to exactly how much fat we need to lose. It is also possible to add muscle and increase bone density, even while continuing to shed fat. As you can guess, this confuses our scale no end.
Lastly, please bear in mind that the last 6 kg come off much more slowly than the first 60 kg.
This all makes a lot of sense thanks. I have been putting on muscle since last year and I shouldn’t assume this steady muscle increase will remain in step with the (previously) steady fat loss. I’d struggle to reduce my carbs any further as previously weeded any remaining and they’re near zero already. Famine mode clearly should be avoided so I won’t begin calorie counting either. This might need starting a new thread for, but actually how relevant is GKI for somebody like myself who is 1+ years keto and clearly fat-adjusted already?
I have two teaspoons of MCT once a day (morning and afternoon). I eat one meal per day around 7:30pm. Lunch time I have a plant-based Protein shake with Coconut Milk. My Ketones have increased from the 1’s to 2-3.5 with the addition exorcise. 20 minutes of treadmill in the morning and 15 minutes after work. I make sure I break a sweat. I also do 2 sets of planks and hold it as long as I can. Minimize alcohol intake as well. Since April I have gone from 207 pounds to 176, much of it visceral fat. Hang in there… (by the way, Bodenvy has an outstanding Nutrition/weight loss program all based on Keto)
