Weight won’t go down

#1

I’m stuck with my weight… haven’t lost any weight in 6 weeks now. I was on a low card diet first for 8 weeks and lost 9kg. Now on Keto nothing happens.
My macros are 25g carbs, 85g protein and 145g fat 1745 calories.
I’m 45year old male, 177cm and now my weight is 81kg.
What am I doing wrong?
I do go to the gym twice a week and have a standing job.
All help is appreciated :slight_smile:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Welcome to the forums!

A stall at about this time is a common experience for many people. You are also fairly close to a healthy weight for your height, so further weight loss will be slower.

Some points to consider:

A healthy diet, such as a well-formulated ketogenic diet, can add muscle tissue and improve bone density while still permitting fat loss, so you might still be getting fitter, even though the scale is not registering the changes. Perhaps you are losing inches, even though kilograms are stable?

Twenty-five grams of carbohydrate might be a bit too high for your body. Perhaps it would help to cut back a bit.

You might want to experiment with varying your protein and fat intake. Some people do better with more protein, some with a bit less; some people find that they lose more fat when they increase their calories by adding fat. (Even on low-carb/keto, the body hangs on to its fat reserve when we don’t give it enough calories. Be sure to eat to satisfy your hunger, and try not to eat unless you are hungry. Trust your body.)

If you would like a critique of the food you’re eating, feel free to post a typical day’s menu, and we’ll see if we can spot any potential problems.

#3

Okay so I will cut back carbs and protein a bit and eat more good fats. I’ll try this first. I wonder if my calorie intake is okay or should be higher?

(Robert C) #4

Other reasons your body might hold on to body fat (which it thinks it needs for survival at different levels depending on these kinds of things):

  • Are you getting enough sleep? Too little sleep will make your body hold on to fat.
  • Are you stressed at work, at home, generally? Another threat the body will opt to prepare for by holding on to resources (fat).
  • Are you under eating? 1745 calories per day might be low - so caused an initial impressive (20 pounds in 8 weeks) loss but now, you haven’t given your metabolism the higher calorie count that the Keto fat adaptation needs. So, your body (to preserve itself) might be lowering metabolism to meet this new perceived more scarce food environment. You could up calories but in a staggered way. Some 2500 days some 1500 days - just stay away from consistent low daily calories.
  • Another one is over exercise - which gets the body to preserve fat given the constant high new stress - your OP makes this one seem unlikely.
(Barbara Schibly) #5

I’ve also seen weight go down when dairy was eliminated.

#6

Maybe my main problem is that I don’t get enough calories from fat.
Thank you for very interesting points.

#7

I only use dairy like cheese (not even every day) and milk with my morning coffee (lactose free), sometimes unsweetened almond or soy milk.

#8

I wonder if my macros would be okay 20g carbs 60g protein and 170g fat starting tomorrow? Then have few times a week “extra” day so more calories from fat and protein?

(Robert C) #9

1850 calories daily might still be a bit low.

Eating to satiety means you will have some days going significantly over and some significantly under.

Counting calories and making up for some when you are not hungry at the end of the day OR avoiding calories when you are hungry in the evening because you are already at your calorie target are not really activities of a person with a Keto mindset.

Your numbers mean %13 protein and %83 fat - those levels are very hard to hit.
%20 protein and %76 fat might be more attainable and appropriate.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #10

I agree with @RobC, your protein seems low at 60 grams per day. I’m a 74 year old male in maintenance for a couple of years. I work a moderately active job and life style. I consume 90 grams of protein per day. That is 1.38 gr /kg total body weight.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #11

Your macros seem a bit low on fat and protein, especiallt if you are working out.
I’m 5’2, 116lbs and I eat under 20g of carbs, sum for around 66g protein, and at least 150g fat.

(Katie) #12

I also had a start that was no weight loss. I dropped my level of protein. My weight loss was really slow at first.

I later learned that I was Insulin Resistance. Meaning the insulin in my blood was high enough to prevent my body from burning fat.

The big thing that help me get down was when I started eating only meal a day.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

I second Rob’s point about eating to satiety. If you are eating 1745 calories because that’s what your body told you to eat that day, that’s one thing. But if you are eating that number of calories because some app told you to, you are likely to get into trouble. The point is that the body has mechanisms to make sure that we eat enough but not too much, mechanisms that control our hunger and appetite.

So the idea is to eat when you become hungry, stop eating when you stop being hungry, and don’t eat again until you become hungry again. If you have excess stored fat to lose, your body will set your appetite at a level that will allow it to use some of that excess energy (at a safe rate) to fuel your activities. By listening to your body, you allow it to set the terms, and some days you will automatically eat more food, and other days you will automatically eat less food. In this way, your body will regulate your food intake to an appropriate level. Trying to dictate to the body often leads to problems, by causing it to think there may be a famine going on, and so it needs to hoard every available calorie of energy.

#14

So wise words! Thanks! :blush:
I will continue eating healthy but not stress about loosing weight and only eat when I’m hungry.

(Mr Self Destruct) #15

Wolle, I’m in a kind of similar boat to you in terms of we may be of a similar body type with kind of similar goals. I’m 180cm, 81kg, 25% body fat. In May I was 85kg with 27% bodyfat.

Since may I have done the following: Regular exercise, intermittent fasting and over the last 6 weeks: keto.

My goal is 17%-20% body fat before I change my lifestyle again to incorporate a new goal (weight gain), this is where we may differ.

The changes I have seen are small because my goal compared to a lot of others to be fair is small at the moment losing 7-10% body fat total. This can be frustrating as progress is difficult to see or even register on a scale.

What I would suggest, other than following the advice from others above is: persevere. Don’t weigh yourself too often (I do this at the most once a month on a bodystat machine at the gym), look for changes in other ways like the fit of your clothes, and alter your exercise if needed as sometimes you need to switch things to the unfamiliar to be effective (train smart not hard).

Other than that I also take HMB which promotes fat burning rather than muscle breakdown, so may be worth a shot if you’re active.