My turn to stall

[Clcrisler]

I think I’m hitting a wall. Three months of doing great (40 pounds) I’m struggling to even lose 2 now. I understand weight fluctuates. I’ll deal with that even though l’ll still get annoyed by it. What is bothering me is I’m starting to get hungry again whereas before I was able to fast 20/4. Now I get a hollow, noisy stomach if I don’t eat breakfast. Even if I do, same thing happens before lunch. I’ve also noticed my energy is less. I’m still eating low/no carb. I haven’t cheated even once. I’m trying to eat 2 meals for a time and then go back to IF but having little success. Wot’s…uh the deal?

[Elle79]

Do you have much still to lose? Are you actually hungry or is your stomach just “bored”?

[dave_3]

what do you estimate your fat percentage to be?

do you workout often

how many calories you on atm

[Q66]

Casey –

I am going through a similar situation. The first 40 pounds came off easy, then the weight loss slowed and my hunger returned.

I quit OMAD and started eating 2x day, and on weekends when I’m home all day I eat as much as I want, but keep it keto and up the fatty foods. I also do a mid week fast.

Don’t be afraid to up the calories and eat more, just keep it keto. You may likely up the carbs in the process, but you’ll be ok. I average 50g carbs/day.

I don’t know how diverse your diet is, but add some new foods to the mix. I was eating lots of cheese, but for some on keto that can slow down weight loss. I switched to cottage cheese and eating more eggs.

Changing it up helps as I think your body adapts to what is happening. So interrupt the pattern and try something else.

Good luck,
Q

[Callisto]

I second the vote to mix things up a little. This has definitely helped me at stall points. There was one time I had rice when we went out for Korean food that broke a 2-week stall for me, but I love the benefits of fat-adaptation too much to do this very often, that’s been my only carb-rich meal since starting. Mixing up the frequency of meals as previously suggested is also a good idea.

Also, @Clcrisler, how long has this increased hunger been going on? I’m just curious. I do EF up to 3 days, and I find that it’s hard to know ahead of time exactly which day I’m going to start, because some days my body just isn’t having any of it and I’m super hungry, while other days it feels like far less effort to get started. It seems to happen in waves, some weeks fine and other weeks not. I’ve been blaming it on my female hormones, but in reality I have no idea. My point (in case you’re wondering ) is that it might also just pass on its own, if it hasn’t been persistent for weeks and weeks already.

I will say I find EF of at least 48 hrs at a time, less frequently, to be far easier than more frequent IF of <24hrs. Even on the best of my fasting days, that first 24 hrs is the hungriest for me. Just in case you are considering a longer fast to break the stall, I think it’s worth trying.

[Clcrisler]

I still have about 30-35 to get before my goal. I feel hungry but there are times when I think it’s just bores eating

[Clcrisler]

BMI is around 29 and I hike or run nearly everyday. As for calories, I haven’t counted them at all. Even now I’m not tracking my carbs. Just keeping everything low. Pretty much how I’ve been doing it the whole time.

[Clcrisler]

Changing it up helps as I think your body adapts to what is happening. So interrupt the pattern and try something else.

I agree with what you said. I’m currently doing 2MAD with an occasional OMAD thrown in. My food choices are pretty diverse. One thing I’ve noticed is I eat past the point of being full just like pre-keto. But I am trying to change up things. The one constant is the eating time(s). Early morning and around 3pm.

[Clcrisler]

how long has this increased hunger been going on?

Probably a few weeks now. I can’t say for sure. It might have coincided with my getting off the Metformin. But I can’t say for sure.
As for EF, I don’t think I can do more than 24 hours. That has been my longest non-illness fast. I usually do 20/4 or 18/6. I’ve tried but just can’t do it. It could be 100% physiological since my mind thinks it must eat.

[Q66]

One thing I’ve noticed is I eat past the point of being full just like pre-keto.

I’ve been incorporating a 60 hour mid week fast instead of OMAD, and I’m very hungry the second day off the fast, so I’ll jack up the calories to 2500 to 3000 for a few days in a row. I think it helps keep the BMR higher, which is good for me long term.

Thing is, I’ve upped the calories, reduced the cardio and allocated that time to increased weight training, and am still losing. Not losing as much, but weight keeps trending down. That’s why I like to use Cronometer to log my weight, it creates a nice chart for you that plots the daily data points along with the trend line. It helps give you a different perspective about what is happening with your body and weight loss. I like to use every little psychological trick I can to keep me motivated

[Q66]

As for EF, I don’t think I can do more than 24 hours. That has been my longest non-illness fast. I usually do 20/4 or 18/6. I’ve tried but just can’t do it. It could be 100% physiological since my mind thinks it must eat.

I hear you. I discovered IF about five years ago and started out doing 16/8 and 20/4 for several years, then did OMAD once or twice a week. It wasn’t until I started keto in May that I did OMAD everyday, then tried the longer fasts. It can take a while to work your way up.

One of my fasting hacks is to do bulletproof coffee (BPC) if I am very hungry. BPC technically breaks your fast, but it can keep you in ketosis and help build your fasting confidence, especially if your goal is weight loss. I don’t go too crazy on the fats with the BPC. Some people do butter, cream and MCT. I usually just do butter and half and half, or lately just one or the other, as he whole point is just to take the hunger edge off. I also go to sleep earlier when I am doing a longer fast.

[Callisto]

As for EF, I don’t think I can do more than 24 hours. That has been my longest non-illness fast. I usually do 20/4 or 18/6. I’ve tried but just can’t do it. It could be 100% physiological since my mind thinks it must eat.

It’s very psychological for me, especially around dinnertime, so I know what you mean. Like @Q66 I also have coffee with a couple tbsp fat (heavy cream in my case) in the mornings, and that helps a lot. And because I have such strong emotional triggers for the flavor of food in the evenings, I’ll have a cup or two of bone broth, nice and salty, around 7 pm. The rest of day it’s just water and electrolytes, maybe some green tea, and I also go to bed early on fasting days like @Q66 said.

You might find that the big hurdle at hour 20 or 24 or whatever goes away and then it’s easier. Oh, one other thing you could try (if you haven’t already) is to not start the fast at dinnertime, but rather after breakfast or lunch one day, then go to bed early that night. By the time 20-24 hrs rolls around, it’ll be morning, maybe have some coffee with cream or whatever, and you may be good to go until the evening again. Not trying to pressure you into fasting longer if you don’t think it’ll work for you, just here to cheer you on if you try it (or even if you don’t)!

[Q66]

Oh, one other thing you could try (if you haven’t already) is to not start the fast at dinnertime, but rather after breakfast or lunch one day, then go to bed early that night. By the time 20-24 hrs rolls around, it’ll be morning, maybe have some coffee with cream or whatever, and you may be good to go until the evening again. Not trying to pressure you into fasting longer if you don’t think it’ll work for you, just here to cheer you on if you try it (or even if you don’t)!

That’s a great fast hack for noobs.