What is the #1 thing that made the scale move for you?

(Sue ) #1

I’ve been low-carb for 6 weeks now, 3 weeks of that was @net 40 carbs a day and the last 3 @net 20.

I do feel like my clothes fit a bit differently and my tummy is flatter, but the scale has not budged. I’m in it for the long haul and weight loss is not my only goal, but heck, it would sure be nice to see that number move a bit! Been hovering at 166-168 for 6 weeks now!

I’ve been faithful with staying within my carb count, other than one dinner out that involved too many (and throwing up later!). That said, I have had some iffy stuff along the way like alcohol - a few glasses of dry white wine - and heavy whipped cream with a 1/4 cup of blueberries. I also think I’ve overdone it some weeks with keto-friendly sweet stuff like fat bombs.

So I’m going to try cutting out one thing at a time, starting with keto sweets, to see if that has an impact.

If your weight loss was stubborn, what did you tweak in your eating plan that made the most difference? Was it cutting booze? Stopping sweeteners? Adding IF? This girl wants to know!

(Jeramy Koval) #2

When I’ve plateaued I turn to food tracking. Usually I’m doing something to stall progress. Sounds like you may have alreadyidentified a few things to watch out for. I will occasionally also incorporate 16/8 or 20/4 intermittent fasting as well if I find my tracking to be on point.

(Carl Keller) #3

What made the scale move most for me was when I reached fat adaptation, reduced how much dairy and nuts I was eating, cut artificial sweeteners to a minimum and started doing OMAD three days a week. What made this easy and successful was that I had full control of my cravings, my energy levels were consistent and going 20+ hours without food didn’t make me cranky or suffer.

Here’s a photo of a woman who only lost one pound but whose measurements changed greatly by trading fat for muscle. While it’s to be taken in the context of working out along with diet, it does prove that scales don’t always tell the full story.

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('Jackie P') #4

Wow! That’s bloody brilliant!

(Sue ) #5

Carl, that’s amazing!

When did you feel you had full control of your cravings? I am definitely not there, but from what I’ve read it’s still pretty early to be fully fat-adapted.

(Carl Keller) #6

I’d say about six or seven weeks in. Cravings started subsiding within a week, but it took a good month and a half before I could look at a donut or cookie with pure contempt.

It all depends on how metabolically challenged we are. Continue restricting carbs and eating the right things. Make sure you are not provoking your hunger for long periods of time, avoid snacking and only eat when you are hungry. You will get there when your body is ready. :wink:

(mole person) #7

Carl’s advice matches my own experiences. I stalled a few times before getting to my goal weight.

Eliminate sweetness. It’s the only way to really stop cravings and it has the effect of increasing satiety by decreasing how often you just want to eat.

Limit nuts to an ounce a day. If you can’t do that than eliminate them. I find them too delicious and have to remove them entirely.

Strictly limit or eliminate dairy. Dairy stalls many people.

For me the biggest effect comes from being strict about eating only one meal a day. The more strict you can be the less you even have to worry about any of the above since all of your calories come in a one hour window and it’s very hard to overeat when doing that stringently.

(Consensus is Politics) #8

After my initial loss, I plateaued. Stayed there for several months. Began another downward trend once I increased my intake. Yes, you van say I began eating MORE calories to lose weight.

I was cold all the time. So maybe not eating enough turns down the thermostat to compensate. When I eat more, I’m never cold. When I eat a lot more, then I’m too hot almost all the time.

I eat a variety of once a day meals, but here is an average one I eat now as an example of how much (I do not count macros or calories)…

Bacon wrapped, cream cheese stuffed, chicken thighs. x4

I’ll eat that several times a week. Usually halfway through the 4th thigh I feel full. Sometimes I finish it off, sometimes I make the dog happy.

I eat a large variety of other foods too, but thats just an example of how much I eat, once a day.

(traci simpson) #9

Yes, please share!

(Ethan) #10

I plateaued for 15 months after dropping about 35 pounds. I cut out all plant products, cheese, and heavy cream and nearly immediately dropped 15 more pounds.

(Windmill Tilter) #11

I don’t eat 3.5 days each week. I’ve dropped 45lbs since January. It gets easier every week until it’s basically effortless. It’s completely impossible to avoid weight loss when you fast. It does annoy my wife though. It annoys a lot of people here too, so a lot of folks avoid talking about it. For reasons I don’t really understand, fasting seems like a divisive topic.

I’m not suggesting that you try fasting, because it’s not for everybody. You can lose weight just fine without fasting. I just like it because it saves me $150 a month and it saves me 5-6 hours a week that I would have spent cooking and eating food that prevents fat loss. I also enjoying watching the scale drop with clocklike regularity, and belt notches drop on schedule as reliably as a German train.

Importantly, water fasting is also protective metabolically. I test my resting metabolic rate (RMR) every morning, and I’m still well above normal after 3 months and 48 days water fasting in the past 97 days.

(Jody) #12

Fasting. I am middle age, perimenopause, female with a deranged metabolism and good amount of extra weight. We are the toughest group to move the weight dial down because of hormones and many of us decades of dieting. Fasting did it for me. I saw a little movement with 24X3 and was able to half my T2D medication…but really noticed my pants falling off after a month of 36X3. It also allowed me to stop all T2D medication. AND Alternate day fasting fits into my life, it’s easy actually once you build your fasting muscle.

(Sue ) #13

Wow, thanks everyone! This is all great advice. Sounds like dairy and sweets are a big hinderance to weight loss for many people. I’d like to try fasting in smaller doses but I feel like I’m not ready just yet. I want to try one thing at a time to see what produces results.

Robert, bacon-wrapped chicken thighs sounds amazing! It’s hard to go wrong with that combo.

(Mame) #14

I agree but everyone needs to find the ‘right’ amount of fasting that works for them if they want to try it. I love saving $ although I still find myself buying/cooking too much food at times.

(Sue ) #15

Jody I am right there with you age-wise and being menopausal. I feel like this belly fat is clinging on to me for dear life. It was so much easier to lose weight even 5 years ago.

(Jody) #16

Susie, I don’t know about you, but the weight is coming off in different places. It’s weird. It’s shifting.

(mole person) #17

I’m the same age too. It’s crazy how the hormonal shifts hit your body’s weight set point and it’s ability to change it easily.

It can be changed though with enough time. My body is now actively defending a set point of 106 lbs even after weeks off-plan. I never thought I’d see that again.

(traci simpson) #18

It was easier to loose weight last year! lol

(Sue ) #19

Yep, it used to come off my belly first. Now, not so much! I did notice this morning that my thighs are no longer rubbing together. Win!

Ilana - that’s wonderful to hear! I feel like I’ve been stuck at this weight for 10 years and previously had just accepted that my body wants me to be there.

(Windmill Tilter) #20

I agree 100%. The way I figure it, everybody who isn’t sporting an IV fasts once a day, so everybody needs to choose how long they do it. The SAD diet calls for a 6-8hr daily fast.

The longer you fast, the more quickly you reverse insulin resistance, and the more fat you burn. Just increasing your normal fast from 6 hours to 12 hours is a big upgrade.

That said, for many people, keto works just fine with with 6-8 hours of fasting.