Stalling on fat fast

(Lee Jones) #1

I’ve been on a Mon-Fri intermittent fat fast for the past 3 weeks or so and lost an impressive 12 pounds in the first 14 days. However since that initial loss I seem to have hit a stall again.

My protocol was:

07:30 Coffee with 100ml double cream
Water all day, until
17:30 Coffee with 100ml double cream
19:00 Tea with 50ml double cream
21:00 Tea with 50ml double cream

So all in all my macros were:

Fat: 144 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Carbs: 7.8 grams

This was roughly 1350 calories a day, 96% derived from fat.

Rinse and repeat through ‘til Friday evening and over the weekend where I was still having a similar amount of cream but also eating lots of bacon, burgers, steak etc

I’ve not been hungry at all doing this and my energy levels have been really good.

I’m just a little frustrated I seem to have hit a stall again.

Any ideas how I can break through this?

I’m so close (about 1.3kg) to getting under the 100kg point now which would be my lowest weight for over a decade.

Ketones have been consistent around the 1.4 range which is about as high as I ever seem to see now I’m a fat adapted veteran.

(Robert C) #2

(All just my opinion! Not in the healthcare industry.)

I think that, even though you are on a (rather aggressive) fat fast, you really have just been on a restricted calorie diet for 3 weeks (which would technically get you into ketosis I think). And, this would also result in the quick weight loss but, 1350 calories per day is probably not enough at your weight.

The important difference is that:

  • If you had been on keto for 6 to 8 weeks, driving your daily calorie intake up to say 2000 calories per day and becoming totally fat adapted (i.e. not gaining weight at 2000 calories per day).
  • Then, when you drop to 1350 on a day (not every day) - your body would have no trouble pulling the extra (2000-1350=) 650 calories from your midsection.

My advice:

  • Discontinue such a low calorie intake while not fat adapted as (I think) your metabolism is simply slowing down
  • Don’t do extra exercise to add stress
  • Don’t continue with low calories
  • Don’t try quick fixes that let you touch 99 KG only to bounce back to 110 KG in a couple of months
  • Do 6-8 weeks of raising calories on strict keto until you give yourself some room to remove calories periodically to get your body to burn local adipose tissue when you periodically restrict intake

I realize this advice goes against the number you want to hit near term on the scale - all I can say on that is where do you want to be in a year? Shooting for the short term may cause you to stumble irrecoverably in the long term (sorry about that sounding sort of cheesy).

(All just my opinion! Not in the healthcare industry.)

(Chris Robertson) #3

I wouldn’t worry about losing weight for the 1st few months. Some people become fat adapted in a few weeks but others need 2 or 3 months. Once you are fat adapted then focus on weight loss. If you are fat adapted and stall it’s easy to go on an extended water fast which will speed up your metabolism and help you start losing weight again.

If you are not fat adapted and you go on a fat fast your body is more likely to react like you are on a calorie restricted diet which isn’t what you want.

(Lee Jones) #4

Thanks for your thoughts on this Rob.

I’ve been Keto for coming up to 2 years now. When I first started I was seeing much higher ketone readings (3.0-5.0) but since becoming fat adapted I tend to hover around the 1.5 mark. I know I’m fat adapted because if I ever have a couple of days off and eat enough carbs to kick me out of ketosis I’m straight back in within 36-48 hours.

The problem I seem to have is that I’m just not hungry enough to eat 2000+ calories a day from food. I seem to able to manage around 1600 calories a day but then I literally can’t eat any more…and that includes bacon and steak which are my favourites!

The only time I managed to eat over 2,000 calories a day was when I bumped myself over with double cream. This resulted in no movements on the scales. Honestly it’s so frustrating :cry:

In addition to this I’ve also tried extended water fasts, intermittent fasting and eating omad. Nothing seems to be working.

Since following this woe I’ve probably lost around
75 pounds in total which I’m quite rightly totally chuffed with. It’s just so frustrating that despite strictly adhering to Keto macros I’m struggling to make any more progress. I’m only 8 pounds lighter now than I was exactly 12 months ago.

I mentioned this to my doctor and queried as to wether I had raised cortisol levels and this may be the problem. Unfortunately the NHS won’t run a test for this.

I feel as though I’m running out of options and it’s making me really sad.

(Lee Jones) #5

Thanks Chris. I’m definitely fat adapted and have tried water fasts; intermittent and extended and omad too. Nothing’s helping me break the 100kg barrier.

(Karen) #6

Give ADF a go . just tossing it out.

K

(Shelly G) #7

What’s ADF? I’m new here.

(Karen) #8

Alternate day fast. Eat dinner 6,pm fast all next day , eat breakfast second day, or lunch if you are game. Repeat.

K

(Robert C) #9

I was not aware that you had been keto for so long already.

If you haven’t already tried, maybe adding in exercise (strength training, not cardio) would help.
Scale might not go down as fast as you’d like but you might be happy with the body re-composition.

Not CICO thinking - still trying to affect hormones and add hungry muscle.
Giggle the handle vs. overdoing it.

#10

I honestly wouldn’t call that a fat fast, I mean it is, but your not eating real fatty foods, you’re living on cream. That absolutely CAN make a difference. I also personally wouldn’t intermix IF with a fat fast. Time restricted eating isn’t why fat fasts work. Your entire intake from dairy may or may not also be part of the equation.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #11

This might be a clue, try using a different fat as your source. It might be the dairy that has caused this, you have been consuming a lot of it. A keto coffee might be a good alternative with coconut oil instead of cream, some do bacon fasts with good success. Just look at the fat in a different light.

After losing that much weight your body might just be resetting its set point as well and after a while you might start seeing downward movements on the scale by just sticking to keto.

All the best on sorting it out and congrats on your success.

(Lee Jones) #12

Yeah you’re right. The only thing I haven’t changed is my reliance on double cream.

God that’d be difficult for me as I love the stuff :joy:

I think I’ll try and switch to an alternative fat source for my couple of daily coffees next week.

I’ll let you know if there’s any progress :+1:t2:

(Lee Jones) #13

It’s certainly worth a try :muscle:t2:

I think I’m gonna switch out the double cream for coconut oil and see if that helps too.

(Lee Jones) #14

Update time:

So for the last 2 weeks I’ve cut back on my double cream consumption. I now just have 50ml a day.

I’ve been consuming around 2000 calories a day, carbs still well under 20g.

I’ve not had any diet soft drinks, or artificial sweeteners.

Result: weight gain of almost 2 pounds.

I could scream.

As from Monday I’m cutting out all dairy and will track for another 2 weeks.

If I’ve not lost…or gained at the end of this period I think I’m gonna have to look at alternative ways of eating like lowish carb paleo.

(Karen) #15

I’m ZC this week to see if I can bend the needle.

K

(Empress of the Unexpected) #16

I haven’t had dairy in two weeks and have lost another three pounds. Keep us posted.

(Lee Jones) #17

So I’m one week in and finding it hard to ditch the double cream.

Over the 7 days since I last posted I managed one whole day without dc and and 3 days where I swapped out the dc in the morning for a coconut oil/butter/mct oil combo.

Friday morning I saw some movement on the scales. Down 2.5 pounds. Saturday morning another 3 down.

Today the scales were 2 pound up but given I can fluctuate 2-3 pounds on any given day I’m hopeful going forward that my new average will be 3 pounds down.

The whoosh effect is alive and well!

Ps

I’m now officially under 100kg for the first time in about 15 years…although I still don’t look as good as I did back then due to higher levels of body fat (mainly the dreaded belly).

This is still a huge milestone for me tho and one which I’m delighted to have achieved :muscle:t2:

KCKO :+1:t2:

(Karen) #18

Let us know if you hold the 3 lb down.

K

(Lee Jones) #19

Half way through the week and holding strong.

Fingers crossed that I can shift a few more pounds before my body tries to settle on a new set point.

Unrelated or not I don’t know but I thought I’d mention this all the same. Historically my weight used to fluctuate between 3-5 pounds during the course of 24 hours. Now it’s more like 1-2 pounds.

Any thoughts on this?

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #20

Your body is healing and becoming used to a new set point, just a guess. I used to vary up to 10 lbs. in 24 hrs sometimes, but now a days, 3 lbs is about my max flux. I’m so much healthier now, and I think that is why.