Last 10 lbs

(Jeanine) #1

Scale not moving for month now. I’m in the home stretch. Any suggestions???

#2

Yes, my suggestion is to be patient. :slight_smile: It took me a year of keto to lose the last 10 (ended up being about 12), but it was worth the patience! There may be more suggestions, if you don’t mind sharing a little more detail about yourself (height/weight, and how you’re eating). Good job so far, being on the last 10!

(Jeanine) #3

Well… I am strict keto, faithfull to logging my food everyday and sticking to macros. IF 16/8 everyday. Drink plenty of water. Started my journey October 2018 at 189. CW 155. Strength train twice a week and pretty active. Should I be changing macros? Or keep pushing along I’m not complaining by any means… BUT would love to see scale move :joy:

#4

well you’ve done an awesome job so far, in a short amount of time! A month without the scale moving is no big deal, honestly. If you are eating enough during your eating windows and not feeling hungry during your fast, and you haven’t changed anything since October… then I would say just keep moving along and trust the process. The last 10 lbs are the hardest. They want to stay on for dear life. It’s going to go very slow from this point on, so just keep going and remember how much healthier you are, overall. It will happen. Even now that I’m 3-4 lbs below my goal weight, my scale fluctuates every single day. Your body is changing, even if you go a while without seeing that reflected on the scale. :slight_smile:

#5

oh yeah and from this point on you might want to try measurements and photos every week or so? That, plus the way your clothes fit, will be much more telling!

(Carl Keller) #6

You could try EF but I wouldn’t stress over the last 10. More than half the planet would love to be in your shoes right now. I hit my “normal weight” bracket seven weeks ago but I wouldn’t mind being about 10 pounds lighter. But I decided to just eat responsibly and not worry about the little pinch of pudge around my belly that is easy to hide by sucking it in or wearing clothes. I refer to it as my insurance policy (against starvation). :slight_smile:

(Robert C) #7

This is the first of 3 potential non-dietary hold-ups:

  1. Over exercising can be seen by the body as a stress - “you do that to me each day and I’ll need to hold some fat in reserve”. “Over exercising” will be different for everyone but, if you feel you are overly motivated (getting close to goal) and maybe feel a little too drained in parts of the day after strength training or being “pretty active” - you may want to moderate. Lower cortisol and let the weight go instead of trying to vigorously evict it.
  2. Sleep can cause stalls and really needs to be in a good place for the home stretch. Caffeine after 10 AM and any alcohol needs to go. Screens off an hour before bed - no exciting news, no political stuff (either from a newspaper or in discussion with the people around you), nothing loud, all lights dim or off (especially blue lights). Then 8 hours of sleep. Getting much less and you are looking for fat loss with hormonal regulation (Keto) while at the same time trying to dysregulate your hormones through sleep deprivation.
  3. Stress can cause stalls by remaining in a constant fight-or-flight mode - again, messing up hormones and keeping resources (fat) close for the perceived threat. Best thing for this is 20 minutes of meditation around the same time every day. There is a saying “If you don’t have 20 minutes for meditation - you need 2 hours”.

Finally, if all of those are dialed in, there is the potential dietary hold-up of being at your “Phinney” weight - simply the weight your body wants to sit. If that is the case, you may never go down in weight with your 16/8 consistent schedule (which I assume is actually 2 meals instead of any snacking - if you are snacking, that could be an issue also). One way to drop a bit (maybe enough) is to simply take a day off from eating each week - a full day - dinner Monday to breakfast Wednesday for example. You’ll go to a new plateau weight with that scheme and it may be enough for you. It is sort of guaranteed (if you eat normally - 16/8 - the other days and do not binge on your “last meal” before the day off or break the day off fast with a binge).

UK Newbie Losing Heart!
(Jeanine) #8

Thanks for the advice! I read so many things about changing protein macros, lowering fat, ugh. Everyone says something different. I better just stop reading😂. It really confuses me.

(Jeanine) #9

Thanks Carl I was thinking of trying EF. But your absolutely right, I’m going to not stress over it and trust the process

(Jeanine) #10

Interesting. Definitely NOT dialed in on the 8 hrs of sleep. Trying to work on that. I just discovered meditation and love it.

#11

Don’t stop reading. Listening to other peoples experiences can be really helpful.
Take some ideas that helped someone else… … … … … and try it for yourself. If it works, great. If not, ditch it, and move on to something else.

You will soon find out what works for you.

(Scott) #12

After a three month stall I first decreased my morning fat intake and it started the scale moving and my belly decreasing. I than added fasting though breakfast several times a week and have been pleased with the results.

(Jeanine) #13

I typically fast through breakfast and around 12:30 I have bulletproof coffee to break my fast. Try REAL hard to not snack. Then I eat dinner.

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #14

The fast they are talking about is 36 hours of fasting, one full day of not eating plus sleep time. I am no where near goal weight but I have read a lot of threads on this issue, most people have success with the 36 hours of fasting, but I suspect that if you just keep on doing what you are doing it will come off over the next year.

(Jay Patten) #15

Been there, done that!!

Just keep in mind, the thinner you get, the slower your body will let what it has left go!

As I’m sure you know, weight loss is a funny thing. You will lose weight-lose weight-lose weight and then Bam! Stall. That’s only because you have hit a new “set point” for your metabolism. These “set points” can last weeks or even months, but eventually, you will start to lose weight again. I have been through several “set points” over the last 15 months.

Your body is great at protecting itself. When we are fat, the weight comes off FAST because our bodies want the weight off. But once we lose a bunch of weight our bodies say “whoa… do we have a problem here? Better turn down the thermostat and conserve fuel here for a minute.”

It’s evolution at its finest. Or worst, lol. Depends on how you look at it.

The main thing is the cells in your body know what they doing. They have evolved over 100s of thousands of years to keep you healthy. It took decades to mess them up with a bad diet, so obviously it will also take some time to get them back to “normal.”

Don’t sweat it when you hit a new “set point.” It just means you’re getting metabolically prepared for another spurt of weight loss!! Eventually…

As far as manipulating your body into skipping a “set point” there are some differing opinions. Some say extended fasting, others say increasing food intake to trick your metabolism into “turning the heat back up.” I have tried both and found that I kept going back to that “set point.” So it seems that sometimes we have to just roll with it until our bodies are ready.

I hope this helps!

(Jeanine) #16

GREAT analysis!! I think I’ll extend my fast a little longer. I don’t think I can handle a 36 hour fast like some suggest. Do you think I need to reassess macros??

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #17

My advice to you is to keep going a bit longer, definitely be patient :blush: I am literally so close to my goal weight - but a few weeks back something in me changed…I decided to stop weighing myself and had accepted that maybe my body ‘needed’ those few extra pounds around my lower belly. Then something miraculous happened to me … I had a whoosh and lost another kg! Without even trying! I just kept calm, and ketoed on!
Definitely stay patient…it will happen!

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #18

I love this!!! Some times it’s best to just sit back and let everything take it’s course.

(Jeanine) #19

Did you change anything else? Macros?

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #20

Nothing at all :blush: the only thing I made sure to do was keep my carbs as low as possible, listen to my body and stop fretting. Good luck :blush: