Keto Weight Stall

zic100
zic100 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I need help and advice because I've hit a 2 week plateau and I'm not sure what to do. I currently weight 228 and started at 237. I began a ketogenic diet because I had a very difficult time losing weight on a carb based diet. On the keto diet I was losing about 2.4 lbs a week and 4 lbs on the second week. I thought I finally found a diet that will work for me. My body type is the endo-meso type and seems to be leaning more towards the endo side then it used to in the past. I'm currently 25 so I don't want to say age is slowing me down but maybe it is? At 22 i dropped 30 lbs doing a calorie restricted diet with carbs but that no longer seems to be effective. Anyways, on week 4 of the keto diet I hit a stall and stayed constant at 228.4. I wasn't super worried because it seems to be common to stall in the 4th week. Today is the 5th week weigh in and I've stalled again for the second week in a row. Now I'm concerned I'm doing something wrong. Also, If I lose weight, I have a cheat meal once a week. This cheat meal is usually some form of fast food like pizza or burgers. For the first 3 weeks this cheat meal didn't seem to effect any weight loss but now I'm concerned that maybe I should remove it entirely? I'm currently eating 2100 calories with a macro split of 60% fat 35% protein and 5% carbs. In the third and 4th week I used a 75% fat 20% protein and 5% fat but switched after I hit my first stall. I'm aware of the factors that could stall keto

1. Too much protein
2. Cheese
3. Coffee
4. Stress

...And I'm sure there are probably more. My protein varies between 100g - 160g depending on how I do my macro splits . I drink my coffee black and have maybe 1 cup to 1.5 cups a day. I don't think this is a lot but I'm not sure. I like cheese because it is tasty and an easy way to add fat to a meal and it didn't seem to stall me for the first 3 weeks.. I wouldn't say I'm super stressed out so I don't think that is a factor. I weigh and log all the food I eat using a food scale so I know I'm not going overboard on portion control. I've also cut my exercise back to 2 days a week (weight-lifting). My food diary is public and would appreciate any advice or criticism on the foods that I"m eating. I'm not sure if I should cut my calories back further, raise my calories more, exercise more, or remove coffee and cheese, or some combination of these factors. Any advice would be appreciated.

Replies

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Zic,

    There is no such thing as a two week plateau. If you do not lose weight on any diet you are eating too much, mostly likely by underestimating food intake and overestimating calorie burns. However, weight loss is not linear and you could have simple old water retention. Give it more time.

    Also, your ticker says you have lost zero of 13 pounds. Sounds like you're just starting out. :smile:
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    This might be true, the only thing different was that I ran a little more in the first few weeks. I ran for 30 minutes about 2 - 3 times a week in addition to weight lifting twice a week. Calories were still at 2100 too. I can try introducing more cardio back and see if that helps. Trying to fix the ticker, its out of sync with my mobile app for some reason.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Yeah, if you just started working out it's most likely water weight being retained. However, looking over your diary it seems you don't weigh your food, which means you could be eating more than you think.
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    I typically log everything as a snack. The food weight measurement is next to the food in the diary I believe.
  • meridianova
    meridianova Posts: 438 Member
    first of all... 2 weeks is not a stall or a plateau. 2 months, maybe.

    your macros sound fine and like they're right in line with what they should be for a ketogenic diet. if you want confirmation as to whether or not you're actually in ketosis, get some ketostrips to confirm. if you're even remotely purple, you're doing something right.
    I typically log everything as a snack. The food weight measurement is next to the food in the diary I believe.
    you might think about logging your foods into each appropriate meal. that might give you a better idea of where your trends are and what you're getting at which points in the day.
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    Thanks plerf, I"m just used to losing about 1 - 1.5 lbs a week consistently. I get worried when this doesn't happen but I realize that weight loss might not be so linear. I will go and pick some ketostrips up.
  • BeckysMama
    BeckysMama Posts: 14 Member
    malibu927 said that if you have just started working out it might be water weight. Could anyone please explain why this should happen? I have upped my exercise too and noticed that I appear to be retaining a lot of water but not sure why. Thanks in advance.
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    malibu927 said that if you have just started working out it might be water weight. Could anyone please explain why this should happen? I have upped my exercise too and noticed that I appear to be retaining a lot of water but not sure why. Thanks in advance.

    Stress on the muscle often causes short term water retention as part of the repair process(totally natural and not generally noticeable unless you're daily weighing)

    To the OP- were you "eating back" your exercise calories or are you on a TDEE method?

    Edit- Also I'm set to 1 lb a week, but I will go 2 weeks at the same weight and then drop more than a pound other weeks... there'd have to be a month of no loss for it to really ruffle my feathers... There's an awesome post somewhere about wooshes n something.. I don't know I read it over a year ago...
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    malibu927 said that if you have just started working out it might be water weight. Could anyone please explain why this should happen? I have upped my exercise too and noticed that I appear to be retaining a lot of water but not sure why. Thanks in advance.
    Because your body holds on to water for muscle repair when you start exercising, or even when you change to something different.. It happens every time I change my exercise routine (I only change out of boredom, not because there is any magic in changing my routine :smile:), but the water goes away after a week or two.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I typically log everything as a snack. The food weight measurement is next to the food in the diary I believe.
    If the style of logging works for you, then so be it. Continue on with that.

    However, I'm going to challenge you. Look up eggs in grams and weight your eggs prior to cooking. Everything that you have in a measurement or in a generic term (small, medium, large), find out what the gram amount is, weigh it, and enter the gram amount. I guarantee you will be a bit surprised at six eggs might be more or less than 500 some odd calories.
  • annpatalexa
    annpatalexa Posts: 38 Member
    I've always been confused with the Keto Diet. A friend of mine who has epilepsy probelms did the diet when her doctor told her it could help the epilepsy. It helped that but her weight loss was long and slow. During a whole year of this diet she lost about half a pound a week, ending the year at -28 pounds. It also helped her epilepsy dramaticly, she was able to wean off one medication onto a lighter one. ,

    Another friend (without epilepsy) did it and gained weight.


    Changing what you eat can help. sometimes the body gets bored with what you're feeding it.
  • slfam
    slfam Posts: 14 Member
    One thing to remember is that even one high carb meal can knock you right out of ketosis. You may still be eating a low carb meal plan after that but it will take time for your body to get back into ketosis. If you are doing that every week you probably aren't in ketosis any more. (I have ever used the sticks to see if I am in ketosis but I have heard that they are pretty unreliable so keep that in mind.) Also, don't forget to take your measurements. I have found that I will lose really well, then for a couple of weeks I may gain a pound or two and then I start dropping again. And during that time, whatever the scale says I am still losing inches. Your weight loss will definitely slow down compared to how it was in the beginning but this is a long-term way of eating and you will keep losing as long as you keep doing what you are supposed to. Don't give up!
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    @JosieRawr : I'm actually not eating back my exercise calories. I've picked a number, 2100 calories , and eat that regardless of exercise or not. My Fitness Pal actually tells me to eat 2300ish to lose at 1lb a week. Actually about a year ago I had my BMR measured in a lab. It was with the whole air mask thing so It should be pretty accurate. They told me my BMR was 1810 calories. But honestly I imagine that I'm slightly more active then what the BMR says. I do have a sedentary life (student / desk job ) but I can't imagine that I would need to drop to 1810 calories to lose weight when 2100 calories was working just fine for the first three weeks.
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    @slfam : I didn't have my cheat meal this week. I'm going to give it another week and see if the scale budges. Also, I'm removing cheese from all my meals this week. The cheese I was eating was mostly shredded cheese like cheddar/ colby jack etc as well as feta cheese goat cheese. They all appear safe, no carbs or sugar but I'm skeptical none the less. Also I did buy ketostix and took two measurements, one yesterday and this morning upon waking. Both times they showed that I was not in ketosis at all. However I've read some posts online that say you can be in ketosis with the sticks showing negative or trace ketones because there might not be excess ketones because they are used as fuel. I don't know though so I'm gonna continue using them to see if this changes from negative to purple at all over the next few days.
  • 6ftamazon
    6ftamazon Posts: 340 Member
    For the record, too much protein can kick you out of keto as well. It's recommended protein makes up 20-25% of your diet as half of the protein you eat is converted into carbs.

    Most likely though, you don't have a noticeable caloric deficit and that's why you're not losing
  • zic100
    zic100 Posts: 7
    Yes I've heard this too. Its tough to know what is too much protein though as it is different for everybody. I've changed my macros to a 70% fat 25% protein 5% carbs on 2100 calories and see if that makes a difference. Also, does anyone know if the stimulants in pre workout might negatively impact ketosis? I enjoy using c4 pre-workout powder and as far as I'm away there are no sugar/carbs but it brings the energy punch.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    There were several times I stalled on the ketogenic type diet. I had cheats with carbs and when I stopped the cheats completely losses resumed. I discovered shrimp made me stall when I stopped that it was back to losses. When I ate the little tiny grassini bread stick I would gain. If I was stalled and had a apple day it would break the stall.exercise caused me to stall I was doing alot of cardio. I had to just walk or do very low impact yoga. Stretches. If you exercize more they say eat more like 400 cals eat tuna or avacado. Watch your portions. Chew thoroughly. And cut down your cals you are at management cals right now. I am 235 and stsrted at 240 supposed to eat 1500 cals most days im under it. If you are eating the right fats you will stay full and not want to eat. I am not keto now but o plan to again. I lost 20 lbs doing it before.

Categories