Help me break through a plateau...
ZeroTX
Posts: 179 Member
Lost consistently for 3 months and have come to a screeching halt. No changes in eating (low carb). I'm not much into exercise, largely because I work two jobs and have no time. Suggestions???
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Replies
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How long has it been since you've lost? How are you measuring your food intake (i.e. food scale/measuring cups/eyeballing portions)?0
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3 weeks. Doing low carb without counting, just eating lots of meat, veggies, and some fruit.0
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This is my incredibly generic advice when someone isn't losing. If you want more specific ideas, it might help to set your diary to public or answer some of the questions people will ask about your routine.
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.0 -
You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.0
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3 weeks. Doing low carb without counting, just eating lots of meat, veggies, and some fruit.
I posted without seeing this response. Data will help you troubleshoot and without it there's little we can suggest. I would suggest logging your food for a week or two to see what happens.
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You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.0 -
You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.
The theory is wrong and against all laws of science.
Low carb works in the same way all diets work - by consuming less calories than you burn. Period.
If you're not consuming less calories than you burn - you won't lose weight, regardless of your chosen way of eating.0 -
Hmm.You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.
When I was low carb/keto, I wasn't losing until I counted my calories. With low carb, fat macro percentage is high, and fats are Calorie-dense. Also, if you were losing for 3 months and have stalled, you may need to reassess your calorie goal. Do weigh all your foods and log, you'll be surprised!
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You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.
Malibu927 wasn't positing a theory about low carb eating. She was stating a truth about your diet. Regardless of macronutrient intake, fat loss is largely governed by the number of calories you ingest vs. the number of calories you burn. Anytime you ingest fewer calories than needed to maintain your weight, your body will turn to its internal energy stores (fat plus a bit of lean) to meet those maintenance requirements. This is not a matter of your body burning fat to replace the carbs you're not eating. It is your body burning fat to fulfill its energy needs.
You can eat any way you want--general low carb, keto, high carb, IIFYM, etc.--and lose weight as long as you are eating the right amount (i.e., fewer calories than needed to maintain.) If you are not losing fat, you are eating too much to lose weight.0 -
We'll have to agree to disagree, as I've done various forms of various diets throughout my entire life, and believe me, my calorie intake while LOSING on low-carb is considerably in excess of my MFP goal calories. Now, if I went overboard, obviously I wouldn't lose weight, but not all calories are equal and your body needs dietary fat to work properly. Low-fat, high-sugar is bad for you no matter how few calories it adds up to.
Now I said I didn't want a religious war on my thread, so if there are any more critics of my method, I'll just delete the thread.0 -
We'll have to agree to disagree, as I've done various forms of various diets throughout my entire life, and believe me, my calorie intake while LOSING on low-carb is considerably in excess of my MFP goal calories. Now, if I went overboard, obviously I wouldn't lose weight, but not all calories are equal and your body needs dietary fat to work properly. Low-fat, high-sugar is bad for you no matter how few calories it adds up to.
Now I said I didn't want a religious war on my thread, so if there are any more critics of my method, I'll just delete the thread.
You asked for help because you aren't losing. People are trying to help. Calling it a "religious war" has disturbing connotations. This might be better asked in one of the keto or low-carb groups if you don't like our advice.0 -
We're just trying to help you. You asked, we answered. *shrug* No wars, just advice.
If you're not losing weight, you've hit maintenance, period.0 -
Nobody is proposing that you eat low fat and high sugar. You are the only person who has posted such a thing.
It's not difficult to lose weight while still eating in excess of your MFP calorie goal. Set your goal low enough and it will happen. As long as you eat less than maintenance, you'll lose, though the speed at which it happens will be affected.0 -
We'll have to agree to disagree,
This isn't about agreeing or disagreeing on an opinion...this is about a scientific fact.as I've done various forms of various diets throughout my entire life, and believe me, my calorie intake while LOSING on low-carb is considerably in excess of my MFP goal calories.
Which you have absolutely no way of knowing, since you don't count and log calories.but not all calories are equal
A calorie is a calorie. An inch is an inch. A liter is a liter.and your body needs dietary fat to work properly.
No one has said otherwiseLow-fat, high-sugar is bad for you no matter how few calories it adds up to.
Now THIS is an opinion, and something we can agree to disagree on.Now I said I didn't want a religious war on my thread, so if there are any more critics of my method, I'll just delete the thread.
This isn't about a religious war. No one cares what method you choose to eat. But if you're truly interested in weight loss, you HAVE to understand there are immutable laws of science and nature that are going to govern this.0 -
You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.
They've come up with many theories in an attempt to explain why eating a low carb diet high in fat and protein (e.g. 'naughty' 'fattening' foods like bacon) results in weight loss. The theories don't really pan out, apart from the low carber is unwittingly achieving a caloric deficit.
It's not so easy to eat at maintenance on low carb initially. But it does become easier to do so every day. Spending the majority of your life being taught to be conservative with butter and bacon and so on, to being taught you don't have to be, there is going to be an adjustment period where a pat of butter still seems indulgent but 2 pats feels like too much, to then being liberal and careless with calorie-dense fat is now a new unfortunate habit you've picked up from your new diet that, unsurprisingly, isn't working anymore.0 -
You need to eat fewer calories.
If you don't think that's the answer, what do you think the answer is? Eat more?0 -
What you have here is a few people who don't understand the principles of ketogenic style dieting. Your hang up could be in a few places as to why your weight has stalled.
1. Are you implementing carb refeeds? Every 7 to 10 days you need to amp your carbs (I would say 300g or so). As you body utilizes fat as an energy source it will begin trying to preserve your bodyfat. To keep this from happening a carb refeed is used.
2. Are you taking in enough fat throughout the day?
3. Are you eating often enough?0 -
OP, I suggest you keep at your plan for another month. I'm sure you will figure it out.0
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Not all foods are equally nutritious, but all calories ARE equal.but not all calories are equal
I had a similar experience to yours, though. I generally eat at a deficit (had a week or so where I ate at maintenance) and after losing slow but sure, the loss stopped. I just trusted that if I continued at a deficit, I had to lose. Sure enough, after a few weeks I started losing again.
Deficit eating=loss. But due to water weight, exercise, and all sorts of variables, the loss is not linear.
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Do the principles of ketogenic dieting include losing weight via caloric deficit or do those principle state that one can lose weight in a caloric surplus?What you have here is a few people who don't understand the principles of ketogenic style dieting. Your hang up could be in a few places as to why your weight has stalled.
1. Are you implementing carb refeeds? Every 7 to 10 days you need to amp your carbs (I would say 300g or so). As you body utilizes fat as an energy source it will begin trying to preserve your bodyfat. To keep this from happening a carb refeed is used.
2. Are you taking in enough fat throughout the day?
3. Are you eating often enough?
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Ok, unlike most of the folks in this thread, I eat keto. I can tell you for a fact, if you aren't losing, then you need to eat less or be patient. Maybe both. You can be patient for the next 3-4 weeks and see if you're just stalled. If that's what it was, well no problem.
Or... Maybe, just maybe, you were one of those who could eat what they wanted and still lose as long as you were in keto. The operative word is "were" because apparently that isn't the case any longer. Regardless of what was, what is happening right now isn't working. For the overwhelming majority of people, a calorie deficit is what's required to lose weight. I'm willing to bet good money you're now one of those people even if you weren't before.
So, you can stand back and be patient, which is a perfectly acceptable option for now. 3 weeks is barely a stall and it's nowhere near a plateau. Or, you can take the advice to start tracking your food and pay attention to calories. Again, a perfectly acceptable option at this point. Your choice.
Good luck.0 -
Last week sugar was compared to Satan. This week, anyone who is suggesting that someone who isn't losing weight eating low carbs is not at a calorie deficit is accused of starting a religious war.
Never change MFP. Never, ever change.
Oh and OP - I agree with the advice above. You either need to wait longer than three weeks to see if the stall is just part of the normal, non-linear patterns of weight loss, or you need to accurately track your calorie intake so you can determine if you need to make adjustments in order to start losing again. Alternatively, find time to increase your activity level.0 -
We'll have to agree to disagree, as I've done various forms of various diets throughout my entire life, and believe me, my calorie intake while LOSING on low-carb is considerably in excess of my MFP goal calories. Now, if I went overboard, obviously I wouldn't lose weight, but not all calories are equal and your body needs dietary fat to work properly. Low-fat, high-sugar is bad for you no matter how few calories it adds up to.
Now I said I didn't want a religious war on my thread, so if there are any more critics of my method, I'll just delete the thread.
Wut?
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I'm eating low carb, have never done this or heard of the above refeed advice.0
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That was not intentional, somehow I filled in two areas with answers and they posted as two different replies.CarbasaurusRex wrote: »Lucille4444 wrote: »I'm eating low carb, have never done this or heard of the above refeed advice.
It's interesting how you are answering the question as if you were the OP
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.3 weeks. Doing low carb without counting, just eating lots of meat, veggies, and some fruit.
How much have you lost? ETA: I see you've lost over 60 pounds! Congratulations!
If you are not counting calories, then you have no idea of how much you are eating. Did you know it's wise to decrease your calorie intake with each ten pounds you lose? The reason is because as we lose weight our calorie needs decrease. This means you have to decrease the calories you consume, whether you literally calorie count or you don't.
Food type and diet type have nothing to do with weight loss, it's all about the calorie deficit. In other words, you can eat high carb, low carb, everything in sight, as long as you eat less calories than you burn. Diet and food types are preferences, unless you have a medical condition and your doctor said you need to eat a certain diet.
Since you are not literally counting your calories, then I'm going to say cut back just a little bit- maybe have less meat or nuts or whatever--and see what happens.
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You aren't counting calories? That's the issue there. You can't be sure you're eating less than you burn just by going low carb. You have to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.
That's not the theory behind low-carb eating.... In extremely low-carb dieting, the basic theory is: your body burns fat to replace the carbohydrates you're not eating, to include good-for-you fats. Simplified version: not all calories are equal. Not interested in starting a religious war about low-carb dieting, though.
However, I will consider logging to see what my calorie intake is compared with my carb and protein intake.
Thanks all.
That may be the theory behind low carb, but the absolute truth is that you must eat less calories than you burn to lose weight. If that low carb theory were really true then there would be no people who have trouble losing on low carb.0 -
What you have here is a few people who don't understand the principles of ketogenic style dieting. Your hang up could be in a few places as to why your weight has stalled.
1. Are you implementing carb refeeds? Every 7 to 10 days you need to amp your carbs (I would say 300g or so). As you body utilizes fat as an energy source it will begin trying to preserve your bodyfat. To keep this from happening a carb refeed is used.
2. Are you taking in enough fat throughout the day?
3. Are you eating often enough?
1. Please post a peer reviewed study backing up this claim. That's sounds bogus to me.
2. Fat keeps you full longer, thus an excellent suggestion to getting that calorie deficit back.
3. How often you eat has nothing to do with weight loss. It's about a calorie deficit0 -
Ok, unlike most of the folks in this thread, I eat keto. I can tell you for a fact, if you aren't losing, then you need to eat less or be patient. Maybe both. You can be patient for the next 3-4 weeks and see if you're just stalled. If that's what it was, well no problem.
Or... Maybe, just maybe, you were one of those who could eat what they wanted and still lose as long as you were in keto. The operative word is "were" because apparently that isn't the case any longer. Regardless of what was, what is happening right now isn't working. For the overwhelming majority of people, a calorie deficit is what's required to lose weight. I'm willing to bet good money you're now one of those people even if you weren't before.
So, you can stand back and be patient, which is a perfectly acceptable option for now. 3 weeks is barely a stall and it's nowhere near a plateau. Or, you can take the advice to start tracking your food and pay attention to calories. Again, a perfectly acceptable option at this point. Your choice.
Good luck.
Re the bold: interesting statement, but not accurate. There are no special snowflakes when it comes to weight loss. If you're not losing weight on any diet, you're not in a calorie deficit. It's not like the science applies in one weight loss situation and not the other.
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This discussion has been closed.
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