The ever elusive "Sweet Spot"!

miltbrophy2463

I would like to know how you have manipulated your macros to facilitate weight loss?

Low & Slow
I realize that what works best for some may not work well for others but I will continually strive for that elusive spot. I have been on Keto for a year, eating 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carbs with a 26 pound loss but nothing in last 4 Months. I know that I must change my set point, Funny thing is, I have been attempting to lower my fats to 65% and up my proteins to 30% but my body would rather have the old macros. The struggle is real to claim a just reward, in it for life! Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated!
Keto On!

ccrdragon

Congrats on the weight loss!

How many total calories are you consuming? With a 26 lb drop, your energy expenditure will have also dropped so you may need to lower total calories (while keeping the same macro ratios).

miltbrophy2463

ccrdragon,
Thank You! I am 6'1" 240lbs eating 1,400 calories daily with 16/8 intermittent fasting and weight training.

ccrdragon

the TDEE calculations for you (assuming a sedentary lifestyle) put your daily expenditure at roughly 2400 calories a day. How are you measuring your daily intake (I ask because I am surprised that you would stop losing weight with a 1000 calorie deficit).

Also, have you taken measurements or before/after pix to see if maybe your body composition is changing even tho you are not losing weight? I see a lot of people who will stall, but it's because their bodies are sorting things out (like re-balancing hormones, converting white fat to brown fat, etc) and the only real way to tell that's happening is with metrics beyond the scale.

Personally, I have stalled a couple of times but measurements were continuing to change (legs getting smaller, clothes fitting better, etc), so I wasn't really bothered by the stalls.

Motherofship

Ccrdragon's comment is really insightful. A 1000-cal deficit is probably enough to put you in 'starvation mode', so it really might work best for you to up it.

I know some people also go for a carb day which supposedly 'resets' them, but I've not had a need to so I don't know much about it. Maybe the same principle could work for your IF by changing around the pattern for a while.

The body adapts

nvmomketo

miltbrophy2463 wrote: »

ccrdragon,
Thank You! I am 6'1" 240lbs eating 1,400 calories daily with 16/8 intermittent fasting and weight training.

I agree with @ccdragon . My guess is that you are either eating more than you think, due to eyeballing food rather than weighing it, or you may have a health issue like hypothyroidism which is slowing your metabolism a bit.

Perhaps try weighing all food this weekend?

The measurements advice is great too. We've had a few members post pictures during their stalls where it is obvious that they have lost fat and inches, and probably gained some lean weight. A very real possibility for you if you are weight training.

A few years back I was weight training quite seriously but then I had a back injury and had to stop everything for a few months. After about 10 days of inactivity I suddenly lost about 10 lbs within days. My guess is that my muscles finally had a chance to recover and they let go of some water weight they were holding onto while healing/trying to keep up with my weight program. Your weight training could be affecting the scale even though you are losing fat.

ladipoet

errigrg wrote: »

Ccrdragon's comment is really insightful. A 1000-cal deficit is probably enough to put you in 'starvation mode', so it really might work best for you to up it.

I know some people also go for a carb day which supposedly 'resets' them, but I've not had a need to so I don't know much about it. Maybe the same principle could work for your IF by changing around the pattern for a while.

The body adapts

This is exactly what I thought too. I'm a 5' 6.5" woman, and when I was in the weight-loss portion of my journey, I was eating roughly 1400 calories a day and losing weight. I'm now in maintenance and am eating roughly 1600 calories a day but the number of cals per say keeps going up (this is actually a good thing for me) because I'm weight & strength training to build muscle and tone up. I expect the next body fat test I have will justify another 50-100 calorie increase. Anyway, my point here is this: you are a 6' 1" man (which means you have more muscle mass to maintain than I do) and you re clearly not eating enough so I too second what @errigrg said above.

miltbrophy2463

ccrdragon, eerigrg, nvmomketo, ladipoet, I really appreciate your assist on this as I have always felt that I have not been eating enough to lose but feeling totally satiated. I do not have hypothyroidism nor do I measure my food. I realize this is a scientific diet so I will be purchasing a scale. I must say that in the 70s I went from 250lbs to 178lbs in 6 months. I guess old habits die hard but happy those habits are long gone. I ruined my metabolism about the only issue I have at this point is a genetic issue called hyperlipidemia. I would have thought that I would be losing more than 1/2 a pound a week for 52 weeks. I guess it took 53 years to wake up. I will not waiver because of the blood numbers and benefits. I knew that I could count on you guys for the assistance. Thank You!

nvmomketo

You are still losing. Just slowly. They say slow and steady wins the race, right?

Keep playing around with it. you'll eventually find a sweeter spot. I think changing things, like calories or macros or meal timing, does help keep the body on it's toes. I often seemed to lose a bit better when I changed something up.


My tastes tend away from higher protein too. I tried to increase to 25% and it was a struggle. I fall back to around 20%/80g protein every time I stop watching it. Now I just leave it there. When I lower calories my percentage of protein is higher but its still about 80g. Same with when I go to maintenance levels. It is still 80g but it is a lower percentage.

miltbrophy2463

Thank You nvmomketo,
I guess that I was thinking about lowering my fat intake due to my condition. I will attempt to up my calories slowly for a few weeks to see if that does the trick or maybe carb cycling. As I see it I have nothing but time so if takes a few years, so what! It's a double edged sword for me as hyperlipidemia and gout go hand in hand with fatty protein. I believe that the only answer for me would be higher fat intake. Your thoughts and responses are helpful and appreciated. TY!