Can't lose weight on LCHF diet -- Any advice?

I am going to echo the person above with reiterating how important it is that you accurately measure your intake on that particular diet, because you are consuming large (or larger then other people) amounts of calorie dense foods and little mistakes can mount up big there.

I enjoy the LCHF diet and don't intend to go back to the horrible way I use to eat. However I just expected a much larger initial weight loss.

For me personally, LCHF would be a horrible way to eat. I notice that you said you have gone over on your calories a few days - if you are not eating at a deficit then you will find it hard to lose weight no matter what sort of diet you are eating. I've not seen anyone else on here talking about eating this way but try doing a search for LCHF posts and see what comes up.

Hormones?

By the by, were you dieting or restricting your eating in any way before starting lchf three weeks ago?

Despite the "calorie in/calorie out" notion, I've always been able to eat MORE with low carb/high fat and still lose, or maintain.

Initially on LCHF you are NOT suppose to calorie restrict. Why are you keeping your calories so low at such a high weight? Especially considering your relatively high activity level?

I'm not one who thinks "eat more" is the answer to every problem, but in this case it might be for you. You're not likely to get much support here because this board is, in general, very antagonistic against the notion of low carb. But if you step out and find one of the many LCHF boards out there you'll find people who are more knowledgeable and supportive. I have seen people who didn't lose due to restricting calories along with carbs, and who didn't move the scale until they ate more.

Take a couple of weeks and keep your carbs low, fat high, and do NOT worry about calories. See if that makes a difference because it has for a lot of people who faced this issue. And if it doesn't work, then just move on to some other way of eating that works better for you.

Are you drinking enough water? LCHF needs way more water than people think. This will help in your recovery from your exercise too. Also, you may be eating too much. No matter what kind of eating plan, if calories are too high, you won't lose weight. Everyone has a calorie limit that they need to hit. For me it is 1600 when I eat to my hunger and I was losing about .75 lbs a week. I have PCOS so that slows the weight loss but I was fine with that. Maybe slowly decrease your calories by 100 a week or so until you start losing.

Maybe try a different way of eating? A more natural way perhaps? There's no reason to stick to a fad diet that isn't working. Either way, if you stick to the fad diet or not, you do need a deficit to lose weight. If you are still eating in access over what your body needs, or at maintenance, you wont lose.

What is a "natural way" of eating? When I low carbed my diet consisted primarily of meat, a plethora of vegetables, diary, some fruit and healthy fats. There are entire indigenous societies that have that kind of ancestral diet.

So, pray tell, what is "natural"?

Maybe try a different way of eating? A more natural way perhaps? There's no reason to stick to a fad diet that isn't working. Either way, if you stick to the fad diet or not, you do need a deficit to lose weight. If you are still eating in access over what your body needs, or at maintenance, you wont lose.

What is a "natural way" of eating? When I low carbed my diet consisted primarily of meat, a plethora of vegetables, diary, some fruit and healthy fats. There are entire indigenous societies that have that kind of ancestral diet.

So, pray tell, what is "natural"?

Thank you! You beat me to it!


A LCHF diet is natural. Perhaps you are eating too much protein and not enough fat? Where are you carbs coming from? The vast majority should be coming from vegetables.

Open your diary.

I hope that your low carb/high fat diet is based on healthy unprocessed foods...

It's unrealistic to expect to lose all 70 pounds this year, at least in a healthy manner. Your body may not want to even go that low, depending on many factors. I'm the same height and 150 is about right for me. I only have 14 pounds to go and it will likely take me this entire year to lose it and maybe more. It's not a race; there is no finish line.

At your current weight you should be eating a bit more. Yes, more. Undereating leads to more problems later on. Trust me, been there, did it. Go to another site and find out your TDEE. Eat only a little below it, taking into account your exercise.

I don't do "scheduled" exercise, but I make sure that I sit less than before (always room to improve) and my feet are my transportation during the winter. I'm a single parent and own 2 big dogs and maintain a house and cook everything from scratch. So I have a naturally moderately active lifestyle. And I lift some heavy stuff here and there. The food is the main factor, but exercise will make you look and feel better. 90 minutes of lifting... wow, I don't know about that unless you are a professional and I'm not sure the pros do that.... 2 hour hikes sound nice. It isn't rocket science; find stuff you enjoy and do it, but not over-exercising just to see reducing numbers on the scale as fast as possible.

There are so many factors. Is your exercise much more than you were used to before changing your diet? If so, that's your answer right there. Inflammation, increasing muscle (this one's questionable of course), things like that can affect the number on the scale. You did add dairy... I'm wondering why.... On months that I do not eat dairy I lose twice the amount of weight than on months that I eat dairy, even in limited amounts. For me, yes the food choice matters that much.

Food quality matters (many will disagree), and exercise that fits with your current ability, and patience. It's only been 3 weeks! Also, the scale is the worst measure of progress. Find a lifestyle that you love and can stick with permanently (for me, it's ketogenic Paleo with IF-not for everyone, but perfect for me) and get the "I want to weigh x by x date" out of your mind. Tweak little things, ideally one thing at a time and give a month to see results.

Do you weigh solid foods and measure liquids accurately? otherwise you may be eating 10-50% more than you think you are.

I think your fat intake in general is a bit low. Up it more and see how you cope. Also, get in more water. I generally drink 12-15 cups a day, sometimes more than that. You can take a look at my diary to see what I typically eat. Might give you some ideas. I think you're definitely on the right track. Just tweak it a bit and ride it out.

And when the low-carb-naysayers come in here and start in on you, ignore them. They do this to anyone who dares to eat low-carb.....it's rather high-schoolish in behavior.

This is NOT the place to ask about your diet. You should really find a message board that is more friendly to your diet style. You can see past posts and notice an extremely negative attitude to low carb diets.

My take:
You have started an excercise program that may also add muscle. You may actually still be losing fat but you also might be gaining muscle. The key is not pounds on the scale but inches off the waist, thighs, and neck. You also might want to measure your chest and arms if you are doing weight training. It is possible your diet is still going very well.

No way, you will not gain more than a couple of ounces in muscle in that timeframe in a deficit. Most likely if there is fat loss, it is offset by water retention due to the workouts, though with low carb there usually is less water retention anyway. So that is why I said it is probably a calories in error.

Have you tried to figure out your TDEE or is 1500 just a number you picked as a daily goal?

What is the % breakdown of fats/carbs/protein you are using? Fat should be at least 60%, and 70% is more in the area you need to be, then 5% carbs and 25% protein.

I'll also repeat about accurately weighing your food. Don't use cups or spoon measurements for anything but liquids.

Also, the drinking water part can't be said enough.

I set my macros to 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbs. Make sure you're getting enough fat and not eating too much protein, which converts to glucose and thereby can spike insulin/stall weight loss. Make sure you're getting half your body weight in ounces of water every day - LCHF really does seem to require more water. And ignore the high school-esque haters - they're ignorant and refuse to understand because it's not THEIR way. Theres several things that could hinder your weight loss besides that and if you're like 70% of the population you're prob vit D deficient. Try taking at least 1000IU daily, preferably liquid format. Studies have shown vit D alone can aid weight loss.

I've been following the above guidelines and have been dropping between 1/2-1 pound a day despite having PCOS and low thyroid. In fact eating LCHF had been the only thing that has ever worked and I've tried everything from vegetarian to doctor overseen 900 calorie/day starvation diets.

The other thing is - watch your exercise. You can get too much of a good thing. After a certain point you're doing more harm than good and possibly risking injury - I should know - I pulled my achilles from overexercising a couple years ago.

For info (free) on LCHF, check out dietdoctor blog - lots of great articles and info. He has one in particular that addresses how to lose weight and what could be stalling you. And check out Gary Taubes' books - either Good Calorie, Bad Calorie or Why We Get Fat - they helped me understand what I was doing wrong previously.