Reached a plateau seeking help

plateau
(Tom Dwan) #1

Hey everyone,

So I reached a point where I am having difficulty losing weight and am seeking advice / help. If you take the time to read this and respond thank you in advance! I started my Keto journey 10/23/2019 weighing 246 lbs. Today 1/16/2020 I currently weigh 210.6 lbs. Below are some before and after pictures. I have not been able to lose any weight the past two weeks hovering between 211 and 210. I have decreased my calories and fast everyday eating between 2 pm - 7 pm. I have no problem eating the same food everyday as a matter of fact I prefer it that way. As for my workouts I go 6 days a week start with 15 minutes on treadmill (10 incline, 3 speed) then I do a fairly hard weightlifting workout for 1 hour 15 mins - 1 hour 30 mins. End with 15 minutes on treadmill (10 incline, 3 speed). Sunday is an active rest day typically go on a 1 hour walk or play basketball. Abs at night 4 days a week.

My goal is to get to 185 hopefully see some abs but I also want to maintain muscle size which is why I keep protein at around 200 grams. Any advice on why my weight loss has slowed down and what I can do differently? Prior to this “plateau” I was averaging a 3 lbs loss a week on more calories.

Diet
2 pm:8 oz beef & 1/2 cup broccoli (2 table spoons olive oil) & 2 tablespoons sugar free bbq sauce

4pm: 10 oz Almond Milk Unsweetened (30 calories), 1.5 scoops Dramatize Protein low carb, (either a quest cookie or nuts)

6pm: 8 oz shredded chicken 1/2 cup broccoli (2 table spoons olive oil) & 2 tablespoons sugar free bbq sauce

Total Calories: 1882
Net Carbs: 19g
Fat: 107g
Protein: 191g

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(Tom Dwan) #2

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This is me now. 1/16/2020

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #3

A lot of stuff happens when you start keto. It’s not just weight loss. Sometimes other stuff takes precedence for a while and the weight stabilizes. Stay the course. What needs to happen is happening. Stay sub-20 grams of carbs per day. Others with more specific experience will be along soon to make specific suggestions. Best wishes.

(Tom Dwan) #4

Thank you!

(Susan) #5

Welcome to the forum Christopher and congrats on your progress so far =).

There are a few different things that I think might help.

The first is to eliminate all the sugar substitutes and processed foods --both can cause a lot of issues in stalls for many people -and you are using both of them, so if you can eliminate them both (at least for now) that might really help.

Personally I was not losing for a while, and eliminating them helped me, and I know that it has helped others. Now I only have either on a special occasion (like birthday’s, Christmas time, by example).

Your workouts might be slowing down your weight loss – but toning your body and developing muscle (and the muscle weighs more then the fat). You have made a great improvement already in your body from your photos!-big congrats on your progress thus far.

There are two more avenues that you might want to look at to do for a few days, and these are: either water/black tea/coffee/herbal tea (nothing added) fasting for 48-72 hours OR doing Zero Carb -carnivore eating for 5-7 days.

Many people on the forum have found these methods effective in breaking a stall.

Good luck, and let us know how it all goes!!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #6

BTW, 30 pounds in 3 months is nothing to be disappointed about!

(Tom Dwan) #7

Thank you Susan this is all great advice! My current net sugar intake is between 3-5 grams I can try to eliminate those for a few days see how it helps. I do drink black coffee in the morning and organic green tea (rarely). I will definitely throw a 48 hour fast in this weekend and incorporate a carnivore approach. Thank you once again!

(Susan) #8

You are welcome, and I wish you the best.

I agree with @amwassil --(Michael) above about 30 pounds in the 3 months is great though, you have done really well. I was just trying to throw in some ideas that might help to get the scale moving again. You should be very proud of your progress thus far though, the progress you have achieved thus far is really noticeable!

(Tom Dwan) #9

Thank you so much I appreciate that! I am one of those people more fixated on the scale so I tend to weight myself everyday at the same time. This stagnant portion of the journey is driving me a little crazy haha but the advice you gave is well noted and I can’t wait to incorporate this advice!

(Marianne) #10

Thirty six pounds in 2.5 months is great!

Sounds like you are exercising a lot. I would just make sure that you are eating enough food for true satiety and so that your body doesn’t reach a natural homeostatis because you are eating the same things all of the time. In addition, if you aren’t eating enough calories, your metabolism may be slowing to preserve calories and hold onto weight. Maybe you are doing everything right and are just at a temporary stall.

My husband and I eat a lot of the same things over and over and like you, we don’t mind it. In this case, however, you may want to switch it up a little so that your body isn’t anticipating so much what you are consuming.

Best.

(Tom Dwan) #11

That is exactly what I am afraid of the possibility that my metabolism is slowing down. I will make a few adjustments and see how the remainder of the week pans out. Maybe I do just have a temporary stall. Thank you for the response I appreciate the advice!

(Marianne) #12

Seems counterintuitive, however, if you eat enough calories, your metabolism won’t slow. I think this is the hardest concept for newbies to embrace. When I started, I believed what people reported here, so I ate three good sized meals a day and never thought about calories - and still lost weight steadily. Loved every minute of it! Now, we pretty much eat one meal a day or 20:4, but that is only because we’d be eating just to eat, otherwise. Sure was enjoyable in the beginning!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #13

Suggestions

If you’re eating the chicken for protein, you could do better with ham, tuna or salmon. Or mix it up day to day.

I think a better alternative to the bbq sauce is any ‘hot sauce’ with 0 macros. There are many options, Tabasco, Frank’s, Chipotle, Great Value. Probably local brands in your area.

Weigh the broccoli. Instead of olive oil, I suggest lard or butter/ghee. If you feel you must eat some veggies, my recommendation is bok choy. It’s as close to a ‘keto super food’ as you can get: loaded with micros and very low carb (1.18 gr per 100 gr), so you can eat lots if you need to ‘fill up’.

Drink whipping cream instead of almond milk. There’s next to zero nutrition in almond milk. You can always water down the whipping cream if you don’t like it straight.

Do you mean ‘Dymatize’ whey protein? If so, weigh it, don’t go by ‘scoops’. Also, flavoured whey contains some amount of carbs, whereas unflavoured generally does not. I’m not specifically acquainted with Dymatize. I use AllMax and ISO Gold.

You’re calorie numbers don’t add up to your total. Did you leave out something?
carbs 76 + fat 963 + protein 764 = 1803. Not 1882.

If you’re working out regularly, you probably need to eat more. FAT. I think you’re eating sufficient protein.

(Tom Dwan) #14

Hey thank you for all this information! I do mean Dymatize it states less than 1 gram of carbs per serving. I use the carb manager app and that’s the macros it gave me so it could be off a bit I’ll try adding in another meal during my eating window with a higher fat content.

(Paulene ) #15

Oh, wow, those photos are great! Well done, @Tom-Dwan.

I have been on keto only 2 weeks longer than you and have found that my weight loss has not been a linear path - it has ups and downs. I understand your concern that the scales are not moving - I find that very frustrating but it is not necessarily a stall.
Still, it’s a good time to try a kick start. My suggestion, for what it’s worth, would to switch to counting total carbs instead of net carbs. Further restriction of carbs, rather than restricting other macros (including calories) too much. @Momof5’s suggestion to go zero carb is also a good option.
Good luck and please let us know what works for you.

(Tom Dwan) #16

Thank you so much for the response Paulene. I got exactly what I was looking for out of this forum! Your suggestions are great as of yesterday I lowered carb intake and today will be going full carnivore and doing an additional 48 hour this weekend. As of this morning I started dropping real weight again as I went from 211.4 to 210.6.

Thank you everyone for the amazing advice!

(Ken) #17

A few weeks is not really a Stall. Be patient, at the end of a year you’ll have a better.feel, my loss at the end of both the first and second years.averaged out to slightly less than 1.5 lbs. per week, with periods of a few weeks of no scale loss being fairly frequent. Keep your scale use down to no more than once per week. You can’t track fat loss daily, there’s too much water fluctuation.

(Tom Dwan) #18

Thank you for this information Ken really puts a perspective on things

(Paulene ) #19

Great news!

#20

best answer right here :slight_smile:

Your body is changing. First and foremost if a bit heavier we can drop those big lbs. real fast. Your body lets it fly and we love it :slight_smile:
Then your body will start to repair itself internally. These are things you can not see at all and while your body puts its’ efforts into doing just that, heal internally and make you truly a healthier physical body, it won’t be giving up big lbs. all the time while it puts focus on other preferences. So this is actually ALL A GOOD THING!

Cause you got big weight loss as you loved to see and feel better, now your body is internally healing which is kinda a super more big thing than truly just seeing the waistline get smaller…….and in a while your body will rebalance the hormones, energize and heal more and your body will then truly let the lbs. drop again.

It really is a process of a natural course. You hold your plan well and don’t be concerned about a gram of this or that right now, eat clean like you are doing and I bet within no time your progress will move forward in good fashion.

You are doing well…congrats!