Maybe a 2 -3 weeks ago, I made 2 posts because I had been stuck in a plateau for like 6 months. Many people from this community gave me suggestions and just listen/read and support me so I just want to say thanks to all of them for taking the time. I really appreciate you all. I also want to share what I discovered and learned from this.
First, I was eating less and less and thinking that eating less would help since it made sense to me less calories would mean losing weight. NOPE! I made my body think it was in a state of starvation which lower my metabolism.
Secondly, I was not paying attention to labels and trusting “keto friendly labels”. I found many things in my pantry with maltodextrin.
Thirdly, since I started tracking my macros more consistently, adding more protein and lowering my carbs I starting noticing my blood ketones ALL DAY! I only saw them in the afternoon and though it was the dawn phenomenon.
Lastly, I lost 5 pounds and went lower than I have been in 6 months.
So really guys, thank you for all your help!!!
Thanking this community and sharing my plateau
I often think about you nowadays, about how you are doing… Yay for more protein, your intake really seemed low, it’s hard to say what is definitely too low to someone but it doesn’t hurt to be safe…
Grats for losing but it was still little time so be patient 
Main thing you eat properly, whatever that means. Did you add fat too?
And yep, we need CI<CO to lose but it’s definitely not nearly as simple that you just lower your calories when fat-loss doesn’t happen. Even simple CICOer on the forum I use to track know they shouldn’t go too low and they don’t even know other intricacies just that starvation slows down metabolism, even the type where one eats just little (and that type even triggers stalls in unfortunate people. others lose fat quickly BUT their metabolism get affected eventually, the body wants to ensure survival. maybe some people don’t have this, I don’t know, never heard about that but as some people are UNABLE to gain muscles or even ANY fat due to some super rare condition, it’s probably a thing too. but it must be rare). Even a complete fast is better (as long as one doesn’t overdo it…), fat-loss is unavoidable unless the body breaks down (but that’s some rarity again) as the energy MUST come from somewhere and no, the body isn’t an idiot to get it exclusively from muscles (but depending on various things, muscles may get affected). And there is autophagy, the body is left in peace instead of teasing with tiny food… But for most people fasting isn’t needed to lose fat. And even with fasting, a good sustainable woe is quite important so that’s the first step, fasting is just something optional extra.
But IDK why I wrote about this here now, you definitely need to eat well know, find your sweet spot and focus on health, fat-loss is second though connected to the former… But eat well, enough protein, fat, nutrients!
Hey, congratulations on being one of the few who are able to process that eating more can lead to weight loss. Now you got this!
Liz, I applaud you. Many of us, myself included, were pretty tough on you. And you never took it as hurtful or as an attack. You hung in there. And you are making it happen. Isn’t it mind blowing to eat more and lose weight? just wait… this will get better and better.
And if you hang around here long enough, you will one day be sharing your own success story and advice to newbies.
Way to go…
You got this!
I cannot tell you how many posts I see (here and at Reddit) along the lines of “I’m 6 foot 2 inches tall, male, work out with weights 5 days a week and bike 3 days a week, and I’m eating 1,200 calories a day. Why aren’t I losing weight?” Saw a post from a woman eating 800 calories a day, who was larger, and couldn’t lose weight.
What. I am used to it from women (the eating 1200 kcal, not the not losing part though that happens too) but from tall men who even exercise? Oh it’s so painful when someone lifts and doesn’t know the basics about eating, ouch.
It must be something very wrong with such a man if they don’t lose fat like crazy at 1200 kcal… How on earth does his body works? We are big mammals, we NEED a lot of energy and yes, a starving body gets very creative but shouldn’t be some limits there?!
My SO quickly slimmed down while starving (no idea about the calories but it was little food) and working at night. Okay, I know he may be a bit special but most people loses fat when starving, it’s quite logical too, they just gain it back and they may not lose so quickly due to metabolism slowing. But if one’s metabolism goes from 3500 kcal to 2500 kcal, oh even 1800, they still lose fat at 1200. How someone can uses only 1200 while being an active tall man? And at that point so many things must barely work, isn’t it obvious something is wrong? I don’t know stories like this with details, I am curious. Never understood how on earth a body slows down that much. It usually doesn’t go quickly or else starving people wouldn’t lose weight rapidly for many weeks… In the end of starvation they probably need little energy but before…? But I can’t imagine how people survive in North Korean death camps for decades so there is something amazing about the human body, at least in some cases…
I know some people do such crazy things, I just can’t imagine it be common. I knew a woman who couldn’t lose fat at 800 kcal but she had several tricky health problems and tried many things (keto too, by the way and made a site with information and good, simple recipes), she wasn’t stupid or ignorant (she ate way more and still couldn’t lose fat, certain bodies consider every deficit starvation, there is no win with them unless something fundamental changes), her body was faulty. Poor one. That was baffling too. But the active male… That’s even more crazy.
Well, I’m always the outlier. People start asking about macros and the like, and I just say “You need to eat more”.
Well, I can’t find the posts on Reddit where these came from.
I always like hearing stories of support and success! That is fabulous! Great work!
I still have some “sugarless” “with stevia” sweetener I bought because I thought it was a steal at $4. Only later to realize it was just coated maltodextrin. Ugh. Now it just sits there, because I really cannot use it on keto. Allowing maltodextrin to not be listed as a carb is really a travesty, and is just another example of another manufactured filler used because it is cheap.
What a great post! So glad you discovered what was contributing to your stall. Keto is the only “diet” I’ve ever been on where I can eat delicious food - until I’m satisfied. What a Godsend. I wish more people would trust and try it. Many just immediately put up their walls and say “I could never do that (meaning eat this way).” Instead, they’ll try starvation diets, purging by exercise, diet stimulants and medications, and all these other crazy things.
I feel the same way. If I’d had to count calories or go hungry, I’d never have been able to lose the fat.
I ate great food and was satiated on every woe (except my rare Insatiable Hunger days. they happen on every woe, until these days).
(Probably seriously) overate on high-carb.
Lost fat then stalled on low-carb.
Stalled on keto.
And I wish to figure out what happens on carnivore longer term (if I keep my eating window as small as comfortably possible while getting enough food as well).
Timing and good food choice is key for me, just keeping the carbs low isn’t enough to get satiated without overeating. But extreme low-carb definitely seems a good idea for me, everything important considered.
me too, I have been 2 Years and would not go back to eat sugar or try anything else. I have lost 10 pounds since I found all of these and so excited!!!
First, Kudos for Sticking in there.
Second, Yeah, the Labels… Like Dr. Berry Says… If it says KETO on the Label… It’s NOT!
Use the 2 Ingredient Rule instead.
Third, HUGE Yeah… For Measuring your Ketones. The truth is that we get pulled into questionable habits… And the ones we lean on the most are the worst ones. (My liking flavored drinks). Your body then expects calories… When it doesn’t get it, it gets confused, and you either crave stuff to get them, or slip into starvation mode (don’t lie to your metabolism!)…
Finally… THANK YOU for sharing. The goal of these forums for me is that we have this “living history” of what we went through in the moment, and various things that worked.
While we nudged you in these directions, I am sure… You had to DO THEM and get the results.
CONGRATS!
I was at the grocery store yesterday and saw they had keto cereal. It had 15 grams of carbs per serving. I would not call that keto, that’s for sure. And who eats only one serving of cereal at a time?
I think the manufacturers put a keto label on something if it has less than 20 grams of carbs per serving, but you eat several of those types of things and you are well over the carb limit for the day. Keto manufactured food, definitely a farce.
As a child I learned that a box that said “16 servings” actually only held one or two. 
I do!
What? A couple of hundred grams is still only one serving! 