Keto Plateau

Ptah182
Ptah182 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on Keto for a couple of months. The past 3 weeks I've been unable to really lose any weight. I've been hovering between 270 - 273 lbs. I started exercising at about 1 - 2 hours a day on average, and am still hovering in that zone. I have tried to compensate for the exercise by eating more, and staying in a 1000 cal deficit. However, at times I can be a higher, as I just can't consume that much food at the end of the day.

My options so far to get through the plateau...

1) Reduce exercise to 30 minutes and reduce deficit to -750 cals for the day. Also, I did start taking Assault for my workouts, and it does contain Creatine. I thought the weight gain might be a combination of fat loss from Keto and water gain from the creatine in the Assault. However, my measurements are still the same.
2) Do a refeed. I have never done a carb up or refeed. I did stop keto on Halloween weekend for an annual party I throw, which I ended up gaining 17 lb. It came off during the next week or so, but I lost to where I am now, which is where I was before, and am stuck,.
3) Intermittent fasting. 20 hour fast 4 hour window to eat. No exercise, and 1000 cal deficit.

My macros are always dead on, even if my caloric deficit changes. 65/30/5

Any opinions about my options would be great as I'm trying to decide today what to do tomorrow.

Replies

  • p4ulmiller
    p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
    Is keto the one that makes you feel ill when you first start? I've never equated feeling ill to a healthy eating regime.

    As for an answer, if you aren't losing weight, you are not in a deficit. If you are in a deficit, you are losing weight. Don't expect weight loss every day or every week.
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    Something is going on... water weight or real weight. I'm using the Bodymedia Fit to keep track of calories expended and MFP to monitor intake. I understand the math. You can't really argue that spending more than you put into a bank account is going to end up leading to an overdraft.

    My concern is that my metabolism has slowed which causes my data to be inexact... which would lead to the plateau even though I'm within a mathematecal deficit.

    Yes, Keto is the 1-3 days of feeling like death before adjustment. Once I'm past it I have more than enough energy to DO.... hence the long cardio sessions this week.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    I would try to change something up. Maybe take a break from cardio for the week and let your body rest, and maybe hit the weights instead. Maybe fast for a day or at least 16 hours. Maybe alter your caloric intake an extra 100 or 200 calories each day (+/-) and see if that has an effect. Point being, if you've been stalled for 2 months, something has to change.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Something is going on... water weight or real weight. I'm using the Bodymedia Fit to keep track of calories expended and MFP to monitor intake. I understand the math. You can't really argue that spending more than you put into a bank account is going to end up leading to an overdraft.

    My concern is that my metabolism has slowed which causes my data to be inexact... which would lead to the plateau even though I'm within a mathematecal deficit.

    Yes, Keto is the 1-3 days of feeling like death before adjustment. Once I'm past it I have more than enough energy to DO.... hence the long cardio sessions this week.

    Can you open your diary so we can see how much you're eating and how you're tracking?
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    I opened it up. There's a couple days past weekend where I didn't spend much time logging, but I didn't go crazy with anything different.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    Your exercise cals burned is high, what exactly are you doing? Maybe you're over estimating calories burned?
  • jim9097
    jim9097 Posts: 341 Member
    Something is going on... water weight or real weight. I'm using the Bodymedia Fit to keep track of calories expended and MFP to monitor intake. I understand the math. You can't really argue that spending more than you put into a bank account is going to end up leading to an overdraft.

    My concern is that my metabolism has slowed which causes my data to be inexact... which would lead to the plateau even though I'm within a mathematecal deficit.

    Yes, Keto is the 1-3 days of feeling like death before adjustment. Once I'm past it I have more than enough energy to DO.... hence the long cardio sessions this week.

    I have the body media; it is a piece of crap. This is the root of your problem. That thing over values general activities as such a high rate that there is no way to make up for it. Not to mention the mental game of that stupid device. I saw I was buring 3500 calories a day, but was eating 2500 and not moving. Only means one thing, I am not really burning 3500 and I bet you subtract or stop using that thing and you will solve this pretty quick.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    what's in "ketoslim - net carbs bar" ?
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    If I look at the data when it records it seems accurate... at least before exercising. My BMR calculations lined up during my days off, i.e. I'm not doing much I burned what I should have. At times of rest its around 2-4 and when I'm at work doing something it goes up accordingly. It might be off for harder activity... but I think the math I do about how I work out would be more off.
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    At the gym I've been doing 60 min elliptical, 60 min of jog/run, and 30 min of cycling... with 30 min of bodyweight exercise.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I looked through several weeks of your diary and noticed 3 things that are probably causing your lack of weight loss:

    1. You're not logging accurately. You are missing parts of several days and some days completely. This could mean you are eating way too much on those days and therefore blowing your calorie deficit.

    2. Your sodium is through the roof and could be masking your weight loss.

    3. Your exercise burns are probably estimated too high and therefore you are not in a deficit.


    It could be any of those things and/or a combination of any of them. I would reconsider your calories burned from exercise and look for ways to reduce your sodium. And, log 100% of everything you eat for a month. Weight and measure your food.

    ETA you could also be retaining fluid from those monster exercise sessions. You don't need to do 2 hours of cardio every day. Slow down before you burn out. Drink lots of water and take rest days.
    Also, keto is not magic for weight loss. You may want to think about how a more balanced diet could be advantageous to your health and well being and still allow you to lose weight.
  • kenzietate
    kenzietate Posts: 399 Member
    There are several things that many people seem to recommend when you hit a plateau in keto.

    1) Make sure your water intake is high enough! This one I see a lot, people are drinking a lot more water than they used to but they up it by a bottle or two a day and see the weight start to move again.

    2) Cut out any artificial sweeteners. Sometimes it seems that people become more sensitive to them over time and can hinder the ketosis process.

    3) Cut out dairy for a week or two. Some people seem to have trouble with dairy in keto also. Don't know why.

    4) Try having a carb load day. I have seen this break the plateau for many people. After the water weight is lost again, the scale keeps moving.

    5) Try a fat fast. I don't know how these work, as I haven't even thought about doing one but I have read over and over that this has helped many people break their plateau.

    6) Check out the keto groups on here for more ideas or check out www.reddit.com/r/keto if you haven't already!

    This probably goes without saying but don't try all of these at once! Try one for a week or two and if doesn't work try another. Hope this helps!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Impossible, keto and low bard diets both lead to effortless weightloss
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    what's in "ketoslim - net carbs bar" ?

    It is a custom entry... I picked it up at the hippie health food store next to my gym. I needed to eat something, seemed the safest. I took out the 18g of sugar alcohol. I have had sugar alcohols and then tested my blood glucose shortly after and there wasn't a spike, so I figured my body responds positively to artificial sweetners and sugar alcohols.
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    Good point. I can't complain if my data isn't completely accurate. I'll make it a point to be more meticulous with my logging... and I can cut sodium by preparing food instead of being too busy/lazy to cook ahead of time... all good points I'll be looking into.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    I'd also stop doing 3 hours worth of intense cardio per day. If you're seriously doing that and then eating 2,000 calories a day, your net caloric intake is going to be incredibly low. Focus on getting the diet accurate and scale back the exercise, and see if you don't make progress.

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