Plateau but carb manager says all is great

[danett27]

Ive been doing keto for 3 months. Ive lost 9 pounds down from 274. I have not lost any weight for four weeks. It is the exact same down to the tenth. Carb manager says everything is great. Macros are great. Swim an hour daily but have been doing that for 1.5 years. Drink tons of water. Still pee a lot. Keto sticks say in ketosis still. What am I doing wrong…

Do I not eat enough? Carb manager says i eat roughly 1500 calories per day… minus swimming that is 500 net calories.

Due to a medical condition I cannot do IF.

Thanks. Feeling lost.

[Momof5]

I would try to do 3 meals a day, with no snacks, so that your body has time to burn fat between meals and if you can try to do atleast 12 hours not eating from supper to breakfast. That is still a type of IF -would your medical condition allow that? Since you would be sleeping most of that time? You still have a period of time nightly where you are sleeping so not eating, if you can try to lengthen that it to 12 hours, that would be good.

If you cannot due to your medical condition, then ignore that =). I would stop counting calories for now, this video is good explaining this:

Just focus on keeping to the 20 grams of carbs or less, no sugar (and if you are using artificial sweeteners they may impede weight loss for some people as well, so consider reducing or eliminating them), eat adequate proteins and healthy fats, drink enough water when thirsty, and keep your electrolytes up =).

This video is also great:

Good luck in breaking your stall, and on your Keto journey, and if you have any more questions, please ask, as we are wanting you to succeed and to help you =).

[golfpsycho]

I would consider slowing down the frequency of swimming. May not be as inflammatory as heavy lifting, but I was pushing heavy weights 4 days or more per week. And I would gain weight (Im sure it was water but still discouraging) all week. I noticed laying off 2 days would drop me right down, so I reduced the frequency of workouts. I’m sure i don’t look as good when I’m doing my Mr Olympia routine for the dog… but the scale is moving…so…onward

[Polly1]

Hi @danett27 am sorry to hear that you have stopped losing. I think you probably need to eat more. You do not say how tall you are but 1500 kcal is simply calorie deficit and will slow your metabolism. You should be able to eat more food and lose. I would keep up with the swimming as it seems to suit you well.

[amwassil]

A lot of things happen when you start eating keto: hormones and enzymes readjust, cells and organs readjust, overall metabolism resets, accumulated crap goes out, and many other things. All at the same time. You need to eat enough fuel to accomplish it.

I suggest you eat more. It seems contra-intuitive, but on keto eating more fat burns more fat. The most important thing is to keep your carbs sub-20 grams per day. Up your daily fat so your calories are 2000.

[danett27]

Thanks everyone. Im a 44 year old woman btw.

5’5"

I can go back to eating dinner by 630 so that I have a 12 hour window of not eating. It is very important that I do not fast though.

I use swimming for emotional regulation and relaxation. It is my favorite activity. Been doing it off and on since I was a kid. It’s great after a long day at work. Maybe I’ll think about reducing the hour.

I have carbs at under 30, not under 20. Maybe that’s the problem. I love spinach and my leafy vegetables. Struggling to get calories up. But then some say calories aren’t important.

I loved the Dr. Berry videos btw.

[amwassil]

Struggling to get calories up. But then some say calories aren’t important.

Calories are not important in the CICO sense of ‘all calories are the same and all that matters is how many you eat, etc’. ‘Eat less move more’ is a recipe for failure. Many folks on this forum are here precisely because they failed on CICO, some many times over.

Calories are, however, a convenient measure as long as you understand that carbs, fats and proteins are processed differently and have different effects on metabolism. Reducing carb intake low enough allows many metabolic processes to proceed that are blocked in the presence of high levels of glucose and/or insulin. Keeping glucose and insulin consistently low enables the body to repair the damage caused by years of eating high dietary carbs. The process of ‘normalization’ eventually includes a trend towards your ‘ideal’ body weight as well. Depending on how much damage and how severe, this can take a long time overall. But most folks experience beneficial changes quite soon.

One of the beneficial effects of keto for many is that their hunger signal (ghrelin) and satiety signal (leptin) return to normal function. They can then simply eat when hungry, stop when full. If that works for you fine. Others might not feel hungry and/or full reliably and use other signals instead. For instance, I hardly ever feel hungry but know it’s past time to eat when I start feeling cold and/or weak. I don’t like to get to that point simply because I’ve been distracted and forgot to eat when needed, so I have to structure my eating accordingly. That includes eating to a set of macros and a daily total calorie target.

US Gov. Dietary Guidelines