Reached a plateau

food
(Keith) #1

Hello everyone,

I have now lost 56lbs of weight over the last 4 and a half months I seemed to have plateaued!
I have been doing the 16/8 fast for about 2 weeks and that triggered a response but nothing over the last week now :neutral_face: any ideas or tips?
My daily routine is:

  1. Early morning tend to the animals (feeding pigs,sheep and mucking out etc. 300 active calories

  2. have a keto/bulletproof coffee at 11am and then take the dogs for a walk (min 2 miles up and down hills) 380 Av active calories

  3. lunch followed by stationery bike + weights(not every day) 600 active calories.
    Protein shake with added double cream.

  4. general farm work ( can be anything up to 700 to 800 calories)

  5. evening animal feeding etc so again 300 calories

So my active calories for the day can be around 2000+ plus my resting calories are around 2500
I tend/try not to go over 2000 calories a day in food so there is a big deficit but weight loss has stopped for a good 7 days now :thinking:

Any other ideas or has anyone had the same?

Thanks,
Keith

(Edith) #2

I would suggest searching the forum. There are many posts about plateaus.

With that being said, congratulations on your weight loss. That is fantastic. Fifty-six pounds in four months is incredible! But, eventually that rate slows down to a pound or two per week.

Besides weight loss, keto heals. Frequently, they don’t happen at the same time. Also, your body could still be losing fat but gaining muscle. Many people see that happen. The scale doesn’t change, but their clothing becomes looser.

I really don’t think two weeks is something to be worried about. Search the forum on plateaus. You will find tons of words of wisdom on that topic.

(Jack Bennett) #3

The only thing that stands out is added double cream. It’s a very high-fat, high-energy food. It might help if you trim back on the added fats. Replace with protein and less energy-dense foods if you notice hunger increase.

(Keith) #4

Not excessive cream just about a 20ml spoon! I was under the impression that keto was a fat heavy to protein ratio diet?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

A well-formulated ketogenic diet is low in carbohydrate, moderate in protein, and enough fat to satisfy hunger. Fat becomes the energy source to replace the carbohydrate we are no longer eating.

The reason for the low carbohydrate is to reduce the chronically elevated insulin levels that result from too much carbohydrate. The effect of protein on insulin is mitigated on a low-carbohydrate diet. Fat, has virtually no effect on insulin and is therefore the safest source of energy.

Some people appear to have the misconception that fat is magical, so they stuff themselves with it, but we really only need just enough to satisfy our hunger. Since fat contains over twice the number of calories per gram as carbohydrate, it takes less of it to fully satisfy us.

The primary benefit of a ketogenic diet is metabolic health. This is partly because lowering blood sugar and insulin are inherently good things for the body (excess blood sugar causes serious damage, and the insulin response—which is intended to drive the glucose out of the blood—also causes damage over time), but also partly because a well-formulated ketogenic diet tends to avoid most packaged foods and to rely on whole, real, fresh food instead (which even people who don’t believe in keto think is a good thing!).

Fat loss on a ketogenic diet is never a linear process. A couple of weeks of no change on the scale is unimportant over the long haul. Also, as @VirginiaEdie posted, it is possible to add lean mass simultaneously with shedding excess fat, so the scale is not the most reliable of guides to progress.

A ketogenic diet is much closer to the proper human diet than the standard government recommendations, so even if you were never to lose another pound of fat, you’d still be better off eating this way, in my opinion.

(Jack Bennett) #6

Probably not enough to make a difference then.

Typically in keto you will have carb as close to zero as possible, protein making up 20-50% of calories, and fat making up the rest of your daily energy.

The reason I ask is that some people talk about adding fat to “hit their fat macro” (get “enough” fat grams) when they aren’t hungry. This isn’t necessary.

(If you’re hungry, definitely eat!)

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #7

How are you determining these numbers?

(Robin) #8

It’s been my experience that plateaus are nothing to stress about. I have hit several, just kept chugging along. Invariably, my body would shows signs that changes are still happening. I have come to look at plateaus as part of the natural landscape. I hit one about the same time as you, also after significant weight loss. I also quit stepping on scale more than once every month or two. That way I don’t start the head games that begin when the scale disappoints. If you are doing everything right, just keep it up.

ALSO… keep checking to see what adjustments you need due to your weight loss. You’ll need fewer calories and fewer carbs now compared to when you began. But I aSSUME YOU already know that. And simply have a plateau. Think of it as a resting place for your body, before you continue on your journey. You got this.

(Keith) #9

Regarding the numbers, count the calories (even with a handful of nuts)
The calorie expenditure is through my apple watch and through training (weights, cycling, walking and heavy farm work)
:+1:

(Keith) #10

Thanks! Yes it plays on your mind and I have decided not to jump on the scales for about 4 weeks.
I’ve noticed the fitter/healthier I’ve got the more I can and want to do, however I have noticed my appetite for protein has gone up n accordance :grimacing:

(Keith) #11

Thanks Paul, I check my blood glucose quite recently and it’s on the low end of healthy levels so happy with that (no insulin resistance)
Think I’ll just keep on doing that worked over the last 4 months and not stress about it too much…

(Jack Bennett) #13

Another common bit of advice for a plateau is to shift away from energy-dense foods like nuts, cheese, avocados, coconut, and added fats and oils, and add in keto-friendly filler foods like leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli.

Research suggests that keto can offer a metabolic advantage, but it’s not huge, so it could be swamped by a couple of tablespoons of added fat (~300 kcal).

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

Given that a ketogenic diet increases the rate of fatty-acid metabolism (per Dr. Phinney, at least), and given Prof. Bikman’s research into metabolic uncoupling by adipose tissue (in which the fat cells essentially waste energy), I wonder how valid a concern this is. The body has ways of wasting energy as well as conserving it.

(Jack Bennett) #15

Yeah, there are examples of that - wasn’t there that well-documented N=1 experiment of the guy from PHC-UK who ate 5000 kcal/day of fat and lost a few pounds?

Edit: found it http://live.smashthefat.com/why-i-didnt-get-fat/

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #16

He gained a bit of weight, but the gain was muscle, and he lost a bit of fat. From where, I don’t know, because he looked pretty thin at the beginning of the experiment.

Thanks for posting the link. I had it once, but lost it when a computer died.

#17

It would be huge for me (the fact having the benefit, at least), it’s about the biggest deficit I ever could do long term (counted from fat-loss, my body is simple like that. I surely didn’t lose much muscle)! I was very happy with that.
But it’s not for everyone. I experienced absolutely nothing. I ate the same on keto and stalled the same (and I knew for a fact that I can’t keep my body with less energy. I mentioned my body being simple regarding these things, it’s helpful). When I started to eat about 200 kcal less and much more carbs, I immediately started to lose fat after not losing any on keto and it continued for long. Later I went back to the original intake on keto and never lost fat, not even when my weight became the same again.
It’s very difficult and I have little data and only one not always exactly the same body but as far as I can tell, my energy need is the same when I am in or out of ketosis (my activity is usually the same, my weight is usually the same and my body loves its fixed numbers). I have little info about me on extremely low-carb but it seems it is the same. But I will need stable fat-loss to figure it out, hopefully it will happen in the near future (but as I am not the same person as in the past, I would need to lose off keto too). Oh whatever, I am not even sure I will keep tracking.

My body does waste energy when I overeat (I’ve read it’s genetic, not super uncommon but most people don’t have that. maybe it’s different on keto, the genetic thing works on any diet. it definitely did on high-calorie HCHF for me), that’s why I ate a ton on high-carb and very very slowly gained. Once I tried it out, I raised my calories by 1000 kcal for a month (not intentionally, I was hungrier then), well it’s a short time but nothing (and no more activity or diet change). It’s nice but it can’t help me at fat-loss, sadly. And I suspect it changed its policy lately and I gained when I went a bit off, nothing like in the past when I gained nothing. Oh well, human bodies, all are different and subject to change!

Sorry if I got carried away or if it’s not for this topic, I can’t even decide it now.

#18

Returning to the original question. I reached my current/last plateau in September and was stable until this week. I was extremely stressed and ended up unexpectedly in about a 20 hour fast. It dropped quite a bit of weight and only a few of the pounds have returned. I don’t know if I am able to plan and carry out a fast without the overwhelming work load I was under but I would like to try again in a month or so.

#19

This is absolutely normal and necessary, even. You have lost a lot of weight very quickly. It is recommended that you lose no more than 2 lbs/ wk, and you have out paced that. If you want the weight to really stay off, a slow and steady loss is best. Remember, you didn’t put the weight on that quickly (no one does) and so losing it too quickly can cause problems, too.

Just keep doing what you are doing and don’t weigh yourself more than 1x per week - 1x per month is actually better, but most of us perpetual dieters can’t do that.

If you seem to be hitting a real plateau - one where the scale doesn’t move for weeks or even months - just check to make sure you’re not eating too many carbs and that you’re getting in enough fat. Then just relax and feel good about the weight loss you’ve already had. Have faith in the process.

(Keith) #20

I did exactly the same as you… ended up doing day fasting :blush: it seems to have done the trick!

(Keith) #21

Thanks! Just not weighing myself and that feels quite liberating.