P.I.S.S.?
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DianaElena76
Posts: 1,241 Member
Where can I find some good info about stalls? I lost 20 lbs in less than 2 months and am now just sitting here hovering around 216 two months into my low carb way of life. I know I've had a couple cheat days recently (most notably around a week and a half ago when friends came from out of town, but I've gone slightly over my carb goals a couple times since then too--feel free to peek at my diary). Any suggestions for changes I can make to break this stall, or should I just be patient and keep on keeping on?
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Stalls are the most frustrating and complex part of dieting. It can be hard to find the cause and cure it.
I know you don't want to hear this, but coffee can be one of the causes (via cortisol increases due to caffeine).
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I'm stalled too. Drinking more coffee to up fat (double cream). Decided to up calories to 1500ish and not eat exercise ones.0
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Stalls are the most frustrating and complex part of dieting. It can be hard to find the cause and cure it.
I know you don't want to hear this, but coffee can be one of the causes (via cortisol increases due to caffeine).
You're just determined to depress me aren't you ;-) My coffee is normally delivered via IV!
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Do whatever you can to reduce stress. If you're doing intense exercise, switch to walking for a while.
If you're at 20g/d carb, try 50-75g/d for a while. (Interesting fact nobody will believe: ketosis doesn't help weight loss. Try a moderate low-carb diet like mine for a lower-stress approach.)
The calorie increase can help if you're at a big deficit. Believe it or not, it can also help by increasing your fat stores and leptin levels a bit. Obviously, increasing body fat isn't ideal, but if followed by a fast, it can get you out of a stall.
Experiment.0 -
I have heard from a doctor that if you up your fat a bit you can break a stall.0
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When I stalled before (this is my second go around, got a few pounds away from my goal weight and became pregnant... continued LC through pregnancy and it was the best pregnancy yet (#8) only to go back to grains post-partum. dope. ) I found increasing my fat and lowering my protein to work. And just keep on, keeping on. Sometimes the the body will shed inches rather than pounds, then the following couple weeks switch and do the opposite.
I have heard of those who wean from coffee to experience positive benefits all around, not just curing stalls. (Sorry not a coffee drinker.) And I have heard others benefit from increasing calories although in my experience so far this has not proven to be true for me.0 -
The increase in fat is also an increase in calories.
(That's why it can work.) 0 -
One more thing I forgot to mention. If your stall is actually due to overeating and/or excessive hunger, the best fix is an increase in quality protein. Meat and eggs do wonders for satiety.
Consider joining the upcoming meat-only challenge if you want a sure-fire way to lose weight.0 -
Also, having the full on out of ketosis days you did, essentially, you're where I am and having to readapt. It just takes time. Go back to how you did things more in induction. Right now, get those carbs to a minimum to allow yourself to adapt again. Consider a day or so of an egg or fat fast.
Whether or not ketosis helps you lose weight faster or not is not an issue I will attack here, but if you choose to stay in ketosis, do not up your carbs by more than 5-10 gram increments to allow your metabolism to keep up (and that is a grand total of 10 gram daily change once per week, meaning at the end of the week, eat day will have had 10 more grams than the previous week, not that Sunday will have 60-70 grams more than Monday...)...
Also, remember, that cheats aside, your body sometimes has to pause and regroup before continuing to lose. As long as you aren't gaining, you feel great, ignore that scale - your body will progress when it is ready. I took six months out of last year at maintenance after losing a good chunk to just get my head and body back together on the same page...0 -
I feel dumb offering advice, as I've only been doing this for a little over a month now, but I did take a peek at your diary. (Mine's public too). My only suggestion is to lower carbs, and eat more meat. I see you have a few days of veggie burgers on there. Even if you balance out the carbs from them, you could be having real burgers and no carbs easy. Just a suggestion. Good luck with your stall. They suck. 0
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Ugh, I'm so eager to get out of the 200s!
I have reduced (somewhat) my coffee intake recently due to it making me feel nauseous again, but my diary might not reflect that. I just guesstimate how much coffee I've had based on how much is left in the pot when I leave for work and how many times I refilled from the communal coffee pot at work. My relationship with coffee is so weird--maybe it's true what someone said here recently that the quality of the coffee makes a huge difference.
I came to low carb somewhat gradually in that I started out just aiming for a max of 80ish carbs per day then reduced to 40 while breastfeeding and then recently went down to 35 after the baby quit nursing. Interestingly I ate fewer carbs when my goal was 40 than I do now, and I lost more quickly.
I am also noticing I'm eating a LOT of dairy (in case you couldn't tell by my remarks about how much I love cheese, just check out my diary
). Could that stall me too? 0 -
Ugh, I'm so eager to get out of the 200s!
I have reduced (somewhat) my coffee intake recently due to it making me feel nauseous again, but my diary might not reflect that. I just guesstimate how much coffee I've had based on how much is left in the pot when I leave for work and how many times I refilled from the communal coffee pot at work. My relationship with coffee is so weird--maybe it's true what someone said here recently that the quality of the coffee makes a huge difference.
I came to low carb somewhat gradually in that I started out just aiming for a max of 80ish carbs per day then reduced to 40 while breastfeeding and then recently went down to 35 after the baby quit nursing. Interestingly I ate fewer carbs when my goal was 40 than I do now, and I lost more quickly.
I am also noticing I'm eating a LOT of dairy (in case you couldn't tell by my remarks about how much I love cheese, just check out my diary ). Could that stall me too?
Dairy could stall you, but it isn't likely unless you have a metabolic disorder or sensitivity to that lactose... It depends though, too, on how much you're eating. Are we talking ounces or pounds of cheese daily? Type matters too. Hard cheese are easier on you, as is butter, but sour cream and cream cheese have more carbs, etc.0 -
I feel dumb offering advice, as I've only been doing this for a little over a month now, but I did take a peek at your diary. (Mine's public too). My only suggestion is to lower carbs, and eat more meat. I see you have a few days of veggie burgers on there. Even if you balance out the carbs from them, you could be having real burgers and no carbs easy. Just a suggestion. Good luck with your stall. They suck.
I know. I've been so tired and stressed out that I have a bunch of meat in my refrigerator but no energy or time to cook it. I have been just throwing the veggie burgers in a pan or the microwave. I try to buy the lowest carb ones, but even they have 3+ carbs (NET) each. And the Greek yogurt is pretty high in carbs too, but I haven't had time to cook breakfast and frankly got tired of eggs. I need to go back to what was working before: eggs for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch, cheese for a snack, and meat and veggies for dinner. *sigh*0 -
Do whatever you can to reduce stress. If you're doing intense exercise, switch to walking for a while.
If you're at 20g/d carb, try 50-75g/d for a while. (Interesting fact nobody will believe: ketosis doesn't help weight loss. Try a moderate low-carb diet like mine for a lower-stress approach.)
The calorie increase can help if you're at a big deficit. Believe it or not, it can also help by increasing your fat stores and leptin levels a bit. Obviously, increasing body fat isn't ideal, but if followed by a fast, it can get you out of a stall.
Experiment.
You keep posting that increasing carbs from 20 to 40 or so isn't detrimental to weight loss, and might even help it. Because I seem to be in a stall, I'm actually thinking of trying an increase in carbs and fat. The weight I've lost, I lost when I was eating more than 20 carbs.0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Ugh, I'm so eager to get out of the 200s!
I have reduced (somewhat) my coffee intake recently due to it making me feel nauseous again, but my diary might not reflect that. I just guesstimate how much coffee I've had based on how much is left in the pot when I leave for work and how many times I refilled from the communal coffee pot at work. My relationship with coffee is so weird--maybe it's true what someone said here recently that the quality of the coffee makes a huge difference.
I came to low carb somewhat gradually in that I started out just aiming for a max of 80ish carbs per day then reduced to 40 while breastfeeding and then recently went down to 35 after the baby quit nursing. Interestingly I ate fewer carbs when my goal was 40 than I do now, and I lost more quickly.
I am also noticing I'm eating a LOT of dairy (in case you couldn't tell by my remarks about how much I love cheese, just check out my diary ). Could that stall me too?
Dairy could stall you, but it isn't likely unless you have a metabolic disorder or sensitivity to that lactose... It depends though, too, on how much you're eating. Are we talking ounces or pounds of cheese daily? Type matters too. Hard cheese are easier on you, as is butter, but sour cream and cream cheese have more carbs, etc.
Did you look at my diary? I slice off a hunk of cheese and weigh it then slice it up for my snacks throughout the day. Lately it's been around 2-1/2 oz, give or take. I was doing okay when it was just the cheese (usually colby jack or sharp cheddar), but I've recently added heavy cream in my coffee, Greek yogurt for breakfast, dollops of sour cream with my meats, butter on everything... I don't know. I probably just need to go back to basics.0 -
wheatlessgirl66 wrote: »Do whatever you can to reduce stress. If you're doing intense exercise, switch to walking for a while.
If you're at 20g/d carb, try 50-75g/d for a while. (Interesting fact nobody will believe: ketosis doesn't help weight loss. Try a moderate low-carb diet like mine for a lower-stress approach.)
The calorie increase can help if you're at a big deficit. Believe it or not, it can also help by increasing your fat stores and leptin levels a bit. Obviously, increasing body fat isn't ideal, but if followed by a fast, it can get you out of a stall.
Experiment.
You keep posting that increasing carbs from 20 to 40 or so isn't detrimental to weight loss, and might even help it. Because I seem to be in a stall, I'm actually thinking of trying an increase in carbs and fat. The weight I've lost, I lost when I was eating more than 20 carbs.
Some can do that, some cannot. If you have any sort of metabolic conflicts, I would recommend DECREASING carbs and INCREASING fats as a first choice. If that doesn't work in 3-4 weeks (and if you increase carbs at all, you will have water retainage to process the carbs), then up your carbs. But whatever you do, do it slowly... Jumping numbers up or down (aside from fats, generally, those don't hit as hard) tends to confuse your metabolism. You might lose more at first, but your metabolism will eventually stall out (like if you were eating 3000 calories daily, dropped to 2000 calories daily, at first you'd burn like mad, then when you get to the point where your metabolism realizes you really are only eating 2000, it will hit the brakes until you level out...then it will slowly start up again)...and it sometimes takes us quite a while to reboot it. That's why I always personally recommend small incremental changes in general...there are always exceptions...but in general....0 -
One more thing I forgot to mention. If your stall is actually due to overeating and/or excessive hunger, the best fix is an increase in quality protein. Meat and eggs do wonders for satiety.
Consider joining the upcoming meat-only challenge if you want a sure-fire way to lose weight.
I've actually been under my calorie goal frequently. When I go over it's usually because I ate something really dense without realizing it, not because I was hungry and had an extra snack. 0 -
Do whatever you can to reduce stress. If you're doing intense exercise, switch to walking for a while.
If you're at 20g/d carb, try 50-75g/d for a while. (Interesting fact nobody will believe: ketosis doesn't help weight loss. Try a moderate low-carb diet like mine for a lower-stress approach.)
The calorie increase can help if you're at a big deficit. Believe it or not, it can also help by increasing your fat stores and leptin levels a bit. Obviously, increasing body fat isn't ideal, but if followed by a fast, it can get you out of a stall.
Experiment.
I'm not going to argue about ketosis, as I don't have time to research and am basically just experimenting with my own body. n=1, you know? But I will say that my carb goal is 35g net carbs per day, which means I can easily reach 50g total if I've had a lot of vegetables that day and still be within my macros. I generally get enough fat and protein, as far as I know. Maybe I should recheck my goals. 0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Ugh, I'm so eager to get out of the 200s!
I have reduced (somewhat) my coffee intake recently due to it making me feel nauseous again, but my diary might not reflect that. I just guesstimate how much coffee I've had based on how much is left in the pot when I leave for work and how many times I refilled from the communal coffee pot at work. My relationship with coffee is so weird--maybe it's true what someone said here recently that the quality of the coffee makes a huge difference.
I came to low carb somewhat gradually in that I started out just aiming for a max of 80ish carbs per day then reduced to 40 while breastfeeding and then recently went down to 35 after the baby quit nursing. Interestingly I ate fewer carbs when my goal was 40 than I do now, and I lost more quickly.
I am also noticing I'm eating a LOT of dairy (in case you couldn't tell by my remarks about how much I love cheese, just check out my diary ). Could that stall me too?
Dairy could stall you, but it isn't likely unless you have a metabolic disorder or sensitivity to that lactose... It depends though, too, on how much you're eating. Are we talking ounces or pounds of cheese daily? Type matters too. Hard cheese are easier on you, as is butter, but sour cream and cream cheese have more carbs, etc.
Did you look at my diary? I slice off a hunk of cheese and weigh it then slice it up for my snacks throughout the day. Lately it's been around 2-1/2 oz, give or take. I was doing okay when it was just the cheese (usually colby jack or sharp cheddar), but I've recently added heavy cream in my coffee, Greek yogurt for breakfast, dollops of sour cream with my meats, butter on everything... I don't know. I probably just need to go back to basics.
No, I didn't. From this screen, it's complicated for me to get back to your dairy...sorry.
The only thing I see in that list that's different from what I do is the yogurt. For me, the carbs were always too high and SOOO not worth it. I personally do bullet proof hot drink (tea for me, coffee for most) followed by something salty (usually cheese and something - almonds or pepperoni) to keep electrolytes up (I can feel it usually). This keeps me super full until lunch time, or past, if necessary.
Okay, going to scour your diary... Okay, which is more typical - Thursday and Friday last week, or Wednesday and Saturday through Tuesday? I see a *kitten* ton of veggies as far more concern, particularly the veggie burgers, than the dairy. The dairy has a decent balance of fats. How did you feel Friday versus the rest of the days?? And I didn't pay close attention to the water - are you having at least one 8 oz glass of water per each 8 oz of coffee??? If not, you might be majorly dehydrating yourself...0 -
Do whatever you can to reduce stress. If you're doing intense exercise, switch to walking for a while.
If you're at 20g/d carb, try 50-75g/d for a while. (Interesting fact nobody will believe: ketosis doesn't help weight loss. Try a moderate low-carb diet like mine for a lower-stress approach.)
The calorie increase can help if you're at a big deficit. Believe it or not, it can also help by increasing your fat stores and leptin levels a bit. Obviously, increasing body fat isn't ideal, but if followed by a fast, it can get you out of a stall.
Experiment.
I'm not going to argue about ketosis, as I don't have time to research and am basically just experimenting with my own body. n=1, you know? But I will say that my carb goal is 35g net carbs per day, which means I can easily reach 50g total if I've had a lot of vegetables that day and still be within my macros. I generally get enough fat and protein, as far as I know. Maybe I should recheck my goals.
Out of the last 7 days, only two were under the carb macro. I saw one day that your net carbs was over by one (and I wasn't looking at the net carbs as closely either, but even with net and total, your carbs need to be a hard number usually. Most people can't handle the huge fluctuations back and forth. I hope you can!!
Regardless, a lot of veggies will slow me down more than a lot of cheese. I don't know scientifically why that is. If I do have the veggies, I need to bury them in fat - cheese, butter, or creamy sauce - or they hit me HARD....0
