I’m looking forward to hearing the speaker from ketofest talking about plateaus or stalls.
I have been at keto since the end of January 2018. 2 months prior to that, I did IF 36 hours/feasting 24. I lost around 9-10 lbs pretty quickly. I am now down 15 pounds total, and yes, its 8 months later. (I have conservatively 30 more pounds to loose and lots of it abdominal fat) I did a fasting A1C 4.9 and insulin 4.3 in April. I have a cheapo breathometer blood alcohol and it had registered something the whole time I’ve been keto until I hit about 17 lbs down. Suddenly, the breath-o-meter hit zero and I spent weeks with it at zero doing the same thing, eating keto. yes, I changed the batteries, did tests to see if it zeros etc. So I did what you shouldn’t do, got fed up and have been IF 18 hours, 20 hours and sometimes 24 hours but not fully keto (nothing white but popcorn). My motivation is dwindling, can anyone tell me why I would be out of ketosis once I hit a certain weight? I wouldn’t think that my protein intake would need to change because its based on lean body mass. I was fully keto when the breath-o-meter went to zero and for up to 3 weeks not registering on the breath-o-meter. No further weight loss either. I’m the first one to be thankful that I found keto for the benefits (A1C was 5.7 and blood sugar 135). But seriously, it will be a year in a few months and I’m only 15 lbs lighter. This has been literally the hardest thing I have ever done because I have fasted several days per week up to a month ago and a fraction of a lb down each month. I have “changed it up” like Megan says. I am pretty sedentary, job sitting all day but it seems like Dr. Fung doesn’t really think exercise does much metabolically other than keep muscles toned. I just feel like I’m tired of this. Any suggestions?
Plateau, stall
My first thought is how much popcorn? One microwavable bag has 38g of carbs. Ans if your are snacking through-out the day, you are keeping insulin production going.
Hi Ron,
I only started eating popcorn after being out of ketosis for at least 3 weeks. I’m aware its not a good thing to do but I’m just loosing steam. When I have eaten keto and fasted 3 to 4 days a week and the results are just a fraction of a lb every month, its difficult. Popcorn for sure is my Achilles heal.
Do you have an idea on why I would pop out of ketosis when I got to a certain weight?
Thanks for responding!
I cannot see weight as being a reason to be kicked out. Something else would be my guess. You mentioned alcohol, has consumption increased? Has there been anything you have changed , sweeteners, etc?
And lastly, how are you determining you are being kicked out. You can still be in ketosis with a low reading and maybe your breathometer isn’t working properly anymore.
I was about to think my breathalyzer was broken also until I had a rum and diet cone and it registered.
Sometimes it reads a false zero but usually not the second time. It always seems to work if I hold my breath a bit before exhaling. Maybe that short time is enough to build up more acetone in my breath? I don’t know, but it works for me.
As for it reading zero - I was doing lazy keto and was lazy about tracking my carbs and it showed.
I’ve never not gotten a reading while fasting - especially after 24 hours. That’s when I use it the most and is fun to track the increase levels the longer I fast.
Perhaps you can post a couple of typical days menu here so the pros can take a look for hidden carbs or foods that commonly cause some people problems (like nuts and dairy)
I had same issue for a year and started doing blood glucose testing of everything I ate…and I mean EVERYTHING. Finally found a couple things were spiking insulin, especially Stevia, which I sipped all day. Elimated that, cleaned up the rest, STOPPED fasting, and started dropping again. Then started Slow Burn strength training.
I think you were fasting way too much… Are you eating enough? Eating a low carb/ketogenic diet should not be a struggle; if it is, then you’re probably not getting enough calories, ie. fat.
I would try and eat whenever you’re hungry for a week or so, don’t force yourself to fast, but only eat low carb, high fat foods. Again, if you’re naturally not hungry, don’t force yourself to eat. Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. If it tells you it’s hungry, respect that, and give yourself some nutrition. And you can try having some fruit and root vegetables every so often, to see how your body reacts.
Good luck, and don’t give up!!! Everyone is different, you just need to experiment and find what works for you!
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the idea of holding your breath before testing. I had thought about drinking to see if the thing worked but since I don’t typically drink, decided not to!
Yes, Ill have to measure and log food again. I typically in the past have to really work at getting enough fat ie. avacado, olives, bacon in my salad. I had found once I hit that low weight that I needed to put the salad down before finishing it which has never happened before. Maybe at my current weight, I need to refigure the numbers.
Thanks!
Hi Deb,
can you give me your favorite information on the slow burn strength training?
Thanks!
I will try the eating when I’m hungry for awhile and measuring everything, refiguring numbers. I’ve been doing OMAD which for me is definitely a maintenance method but its keeping me from gaining weight.
Thanks,
thanks all of you!
I’ll use this feedback to hold myself accountable and report back.
I typed it into the search bar here and just read through some threads dirst, then bought the Kindle book Body by Science. I like the science behind what I am doing. It made perfect logical sense and it is all I do now…except some occasional Zumba for stress relief!
I would try looking at some other non-food factors as well. Stress or sleep or something which can be keeping cortisol high can also cause you to remain stuck weight wise. I know I had my most success with weight loss when I was really focused on things like adequate sleep and getting in some yoga and stress lowering activities. Good luck
So I have been measuring, refigured macros and guess what, I realized that about the same time that I went zero ketones on my cheap alcohol breath tester, I had started eating avocado (half) every day. Does anyone know if some people react with blood sugar or insulin with avocado ? I’m cutting it out for a while, darn, I felt sooo good when I added it to my salad. I’ll report back…