Stalled this week...with a little up and down and no change in my routine

(Catherine) #1

Hello! I’ve found your forum a week ago and I’ve been reading and going through it. I would like to say thank you and I love it! There has been alot of great questions and advice, tips, tricks, etc.

I am at a loss here for myself. I haven’t changed a thing about what I’ve been doing. I started keto about 2 1/2 months ago. Earlier this week I had lost 19 1/2 pounds and then I went up 2 pounds went down a pound it kept doing that and then this morning I was at a total of 18.4.

I normally always follow the 16/8 IF rule with an occasional fast of 24 hours (maybe once a week or once every other). I use the TotalKetoDiet App to track my Food and Macros.

I did tweak the numbers a little so that I stay under 20 carbs because it had me at 25 and I put my calorie deficit a little higher to give me weight loss because it had me greater a number.

Here is what it has my numbers set at for a day: Calories 1150, 86g fat, 76g Protein, and 17g carbs.
A typical day for me looks like:Calories 1030, 80g fat, 54g protein, and 15g carbs.
I do not eat sweets. I do not snack. I drink I’d say only water, occasionally I’ll have a green tea, this morning I did have black coffee (put a teaspoon or organic unrefined virgin coconut oil in it for my breakfast, give that a try).

I do not eat alot of dairy a little cheese here and there on my food and I do eat eggs. But I am lactose intolerant. I am trying to think of things that people have asked or commented on in other questions so that I give everyone enough information.

I work in IT so I am pretty sedentary. I do not get much exercise at all and I have a pretty high stress life.

I am still considered obese and have alot of weight to lose (50 pounds just to get into a normal range). But I would like to lose about 70 pounds to be happy, healthy and comfortable.

Anyway, any suggestions for my stall to get my kick started again? Or why I keep going up and down this 2 pounds this week? How to keep doing down instead of what I am doing?

I appreciate all feedback, suggestions, tips/tricks, etc. Thank you in advance. Catherine

(Scott) #2

I stalled at about three months in after losing 20 pounds. I gave it three months and recently decreased my morning fat intake slightly and have started losing again.

#3

Hi Catherine! It’s not even close to long enough to be a stall, and a few pounds up or down is normal daily fluctuation.

My suggestions:
make sure that you’re actually eating enough (those calories are low! if you’re accessing your fat stores, you’re probably supplementing with your own body fat and so it wouldn’t be a deficit but just make sure that you’re actually eating to satiety)

take measurements asap if you haven’t already. Loss is pounds is a proxy for what you want; the actual goal is to lose fat, right? Keto can sometimes result in dramatic recomposition, and in the absence of a DEXA scan, your measurements (and photos) will provide more accurate tracking

see what you can do about your stress levels. High stress will blunt your insulin sensitivity

Welcome and good luck! It sounds like you’re off to an excellent start.

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #4

If you continually eat calories at a deficit your body will interpret that as lower food availability and lower your BMR. I know people here say that oh it’s using your fat stores but at a certain point your body will do this. You have a very low calorie count.

I would also say that you are facing normal body weight fluctuations and you are not stalling.

(Jessica) #5

Weight loss isn’t linear. Going up and down a bit doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. So much affects body weight that you can’t assume going up a pound or 2 means you gained fat. You almost certainly didn’t.

Forget the calorie counting. Your job at first is to make your body switch fuel sources. After you do, your satiety signals should naturally limit your calorie intake. I’ll be back with @juice’s newbie guide.

ETA: Keto Is This Easy

(Don ) #6

I started about 2 months ago also. Last week I stopped losing weight and put 3 pounds back on. I didn’t change anything in my diet and just continued and now the weight is starting to fall off again. I am 6 feet and was 296 lbs. I am down to 267 now. woohoo. Just hang in there and keep doing what your doing. The body will take care of itself. We didn’t get this way overnight, we can’t fix it overnight. Your calorie count is very low though. I would step that up a little bit and boost that metabolism.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #7

Just my experience. I did not really start losing any fat until around the four or five month mark. And that was following keto strictly.

(Carl Keller) #8

Hello and welcome Catherine.

Probably the best advice I can offer is that you should listen to your hunger signals. The macros are worthless if you are constantly hungry and if what they are telling you to eat leaves you short of satiety. One of the keys to losing weight in a healthy manner is to understand and respond appropriately to our hunger signals.

IF and OMAD can be very useful but continuous patterns are something we should try to avoid. It can actually be a good thing to incoporate an occasional feasting day to reassure our body that starvation is not a real threat. Of course you should still be keeping carbs low but don’t be afraid of a little extra fat and protein every now and then.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #9

Hi Cathrine, just to help your perspective about up and down daily movements of your weight think about this,

It’s going to vary day to day as to how much the weight of food in your digestive tract and how much you’re hydrated.
1 liter of water = 1 kg
1 quart of water = 2 lbs.

If you drink a big glass of water you’ll weigh +1 lb. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Catherine) #10

I just wanted to say thank you so everyone for the input. I am still sticking with Keto its been about 3 months.

I still struggle with the same 2 pounds. UP 2 and DOWN 2, my total weight loss could be anywhere between 18 to 20 pounds. I can’t get past the 20.

I have read alot of the posts, where many of you state not to track your macros. I have to track. I’ve noticed that if my protein goes over my fat intake. I have a gain. And it helps me better keep track of my carb intake. And normally I never go over 10 which I set the limit at 20.

Everyone told me that my calories set at 1150 was low. I changed my macros. Calorie Intake 1303 Fat 102g, Protein 77g and carbs 20g. If I go over, so be it just as long as I have more fat than protein and less than 20 carbs.

I do fast normally once out of 7 days for a 24 hour period, this will start from whatever time I eat my last meal (and could vary - if I decide after a lunch or dinner). I don’t always but normally only eat in 8 hour window but I do eat 3 small meals a day that total my macros (or a bit smaller). The important thing is eating to being satisfied, not stuffed. I am getting satisfied alot faster.

So, although I have lost the 18 to 20 pounds, I didn’t really measure myself, I haven’t lost any clothing size yet but not to say my clothes may not feel a little more comfortable. I figured I’d state this for those people who state throw away the scales, your body is making changes even though the scale isn’t reflecting.

I am still pretty tired most of the time. I never got over that part. I thought well I will add a little more salt to my diet. When I did that, I wake up in the morning and my hands/fingers are very swollen. UGH…salt makes me retain water. This was probably a bad idea. Stopped this. Occasionally, I will have some beef bone broth but that didn’t make any difference, I was thinking maybe it was the infamous keto flu making me tired.

This is my update. Thank you! Catherine