I broke thru the stall!!!!
cenright0
Posts: 80 Member
finally! I broke thru the stall and finally saw the scale drop 2.5lbs in 2 days!
I took the advice of others in this community and took a look at how often I was eating and I truly think this is the key for me. Here are my realizations:
1. I was admittinly over shooting my calories by anywhere from 100-300 day which was pointed out to me by a poster who viewed my diary. I kinda knew this but thought it probably isn't that critical as at least I am sticking to low carb/keto and my macros were always right on. Also at least my cals were much less than when I started this woe in Feb. When someone took a look at my diary and mentioned this it was kinda a wake up call.
2. This is the big one that I think broke my stall- Eating too often!!! I started reading about intermittent fasting and started to realized that although I am eating low carb I am eating 5-7 times per day which is not giving my body time to tap into those fat cells! My typical day for the last 3 months looked like this:
breakfast- BPC (1T Kerry gold, 1 T coconut oil, cinnamon)
Snack -10:30- low carb
Lunch- 12 or 12:30- low carb
Snack at least one to two times in the afternoon- ie beef stick, moon cheese etc
Dinner- more of a snack size dinner at 5:30
Pre bed- snack- pork rinds, slice of bacon etc.
With this schedule I think I was conditioning my body to always want food. Sometimes I grabbed food because I was truly hungry other times I grabbed food out of habit or emotional eating ( gave myself a little pick me up in the middle of the day)
Anyway, as much as the idea of intermittent fasting makes me cringe I am warming up to the idea and decided to use a modified version as a tool.
Am- BPC
Lunch- try as I might to make it till 1 or 1:30.
Dinner- eat at 5:30
Stop eating by 7pm
So, although this is by no means IF ....it is for me!!
I gotta say it has not been easy the last couple days to muscle thru that time between meals without snacking but it just might be making all the difference! I am hoping each day gets easier and someday I feel I could go all day with only one meal but baby steps for now.
Just the emotional boost by seeing that scale go below 140 is wonderful! Today was 137.5 and I couldn't be more motivated to keep using this tool to change my woe.
Just thought I'd shar incase it could help anyone.
I took the advice of others in this community and took a look at how often I was eating and I truly think this is the key for me. Here are my realizations:
1. I was admittinly over shooting my calories by anywhere from 100-300 day which was pointed out to me by a poster who viewed my diary. I kinda knew this but thought it probably isn't that critical as at least I am sticking to low carb/keto and my macros were always right on. Also at least my cals were much less than when I started this woe in Feb. When someone took a look at my diary and mentioned this it was kinda a wake up call.
2. This is the big one that I think broke my stall- Eating too often!!! I started reading about intermittent fasting and started to realized that although I am eating low carb I am eating 5-7 times per day which is not giving my body time to tap into those fat cells! My typical day for the last 3 months looked like this:
breakfast- BPC (1T Kerry gold, 1 T coconut oil, cinnamon)
Snack -10:30- low carb
Lunch- 12 or 12:30- low carb
Snack at least one to two times in the afternoon- ie beef stick, moon cheese etc
Dinner- more of a snack size dinner at 5:30
Pre bed- snack- pork rinds, slice of bacon etc.
With this schedule I think I was conditioning my body to always want food. Sometimes I grabbed food because I was truly hungry other times I grabbed food out of habit or emotional eating ( gave myself a little pick me up in the middle of the day)
Anyway, as much as the idea of intermittent fasting makes me cringe I am warming up to the idea and decided to use a modified version as a tool.
Am- BPC
Lunch- try as I might to make it till 1 or 1:30.
Dinner- eat at 5:30
Stop eating by 7pm
So, although this is by no means IF ....it is for me!!
I gotta say it has not been easy the last couple days to muscle thru that time between meals without snacking but it just might be making all the difference! I am hoping each day gets easier and someday I feel I could go all day with only one meal but baby steps for now.
Just the emotional boost by seeing that scale go below 140 is wonderful! Today was 137.5 and I couldn't be more motivated to keep using this tool to change my woe.
Just thought I'd shar incase it could help anyone.
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Replies
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Very helpful. I have been stuck for 2 weeks. I believe it's due to a few too many calories. I have coconut oil in my coffee in the morning then don't eat until noon. Although I was really hungry this morning probably from a 75 minute run yesterday. Then I eat at noon and six. Too hard to not eat around meal time because of kids and husband, but I am normally hungry at these times and I think I overeat a little. I'll do some tweaking and see.
I have read that drinking more water helps or increasing moderate exercise like walking.0 -
Congratulations! I also realized that I was snacking too much. I now I eat 2-3 meals, but I make it bigger meals with lots of fat to keep me fuller longer and drink lots of tea and water in between (this helps the urge of wanting to snack). I try to make my last meal no later than 6PM. In the morning I have BPC with butter and MCT oil early in the morning. Then I usually won't eat until between 10AM - 12PM, depends how hungry I am that day. It has been working for me for the most part. Even if I don't see the pounds always falling off, I feel slimmer every day, a lot less bloated.
Another thing I found is that cheese does not help me lose weight. I haven't cut is out completely but I have drastically reduced the amount that I have it.
Tweaking is good. What may have worked in the past may need to be changed up a little as your body got used to the new "normal".0 -
Way to go! Also, just one other point, I wonder if a lot of your snacks were packaged foods. I find that too many packaged foods, even when on plan, cause me to slow down or stall in weight loss. As I cut out snacking, my losses got better.1
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Way to go! Also, just one other point, I wonder if a lot of your snacks were packaged foods. I find that too many packaged foods, even when on plan, cause me to slow down or stall in weight loss. As I cut out snacking, my losses got better.
Good point! I do think I was relying on Moon cheese waaaay to often!
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Found this statement on Precision Nutrition web page while researching today, good thing to remember!
"Like salivating dogs, our appetite hormones are trainable, and they’re driven largely by our routines. They make us hungry when we expect to be hungry. If we have dinner every day promptly at 7, we can count on Ye Olde Hunger Hormone Factorie to start firing up around 6:30."
So true!!!
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from what I've found "stalls" usually have little to do with when your eating, or needing a further reduction in calories, and have everything to do with your body adjusting to all the changes and needing time to catch up. it's likely you'll "stall" again, I'd recommend when that happens, just wait it out. It's not all about the number on the scale, your body has a lot of stuff to do and it doesn't care if the scale number isn't changing as fast as hoped for.
the 2.5lbs you lost in a couple days likely happened because your body was ready to let go now. That's kind of how it works, it'll hold steady then drop a good portion at a time, at least after the initial quick loss.
there is a great thread on here by @sunny_bunny_ with great detail on "stalls" maybe she can link it when she gets a chance.1 -
Great one. Well done! I am truly hungry by 10:30 and no amount of water can help! Then again by 12:30 and 3:30/4 and by dinner time. So I am desperate to find a way to cut back. I tried BPC and failed I was hungry an hour later! I know I need to cut out 30g nuts and my small cheese portion during the day but I am properly hungry and these are taking me over my limits. Any suggestions??0
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kirstie1978 wrote: »Great one. Well done! I am truly hungry by 10:30 and no amount of water can help! Then again by 12:30 and 3:30/4 and by dinner time. So I am desperate to find a way to cut back. I tried BPC and failed I was hungry an hour later! I know I need to cut out 30g nuts and my small cheese portion during the day but I am properly hungry and these are taking me over my limits. Any suggestions??
Are you eating enough and having enough fat during your meal time? Often my meal will consist of 10 oz 73/27 ground beef patty. Sometimes I may add a little extra butter. This would keep me full for hours (most days). Some days I can't even finish the full patty. I am on the side of not counting calories. I just make my meals big (non standard serving size) and enough fats to keep me full.0 -
@kirstie1978 Have you tried to eat bigger meals in the morning? With a high fat content? That might keep you more satisfied than BPC.0
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auntstephie321 wrote: »from what I've found "stalls" usually have little to do with when your eating, or needing a further reduction in calories, and have everything to do with your body adjusting to all the changes and needing time to catch up. it's likely you'll "stall" again, I'd recommend when that happens, just wait it out. It's not all about the number on the scale, your body has a lot of stuff to do and it doesn't care if the scale number isn't changing as fast as hoped for.
the 2.5lbs you lost in a couple days likely happened because your body was ready to let go now. That's kind of how it works, it'll hold steady then drop a good portion at a time, at least after the initial quick loss.
there is a great thread on here by @sunny_bunny_ with great detail on "stalls" maybe she can link it when she gets a chance.
Maybe I shouldn't have referred to my lack of weight loss as a "stall". To clarify, I think I was simply maintaining my weight at 140lbs for 3 months. A stall would probably happen when someone has a steady (or not steady) loss and then stops losing altogether. For me I started this woe on feb 15th, I lost 3lbs in the first week (I'm sure mostly water) and then I lost NOTHING for over 2.5 months! I was basically maintaining my weight. I needed to change something clearly. Tinkering with my macros wasn't helping, reducing protein wasn't helping, lowering carbs wasnt helping. I truly think if I wouldn't have tried the no snacking and stretching out meals I would continue in at 140lbs for ever.
I should note I only have 10-15lbs to lose and my body seems to love the 140 mark but I am perimenopausal and I do not want to see that number creep to 150, 160.0 -
Maybe I shouldn't have referred to my lack of weight loss as a "stall". To clarify, I think I was simply maintaining my weight at 140lbs for 3 months. A stall would probably happen when someone has a steady (or not steady) loss and then stops losing altogether. For me I started this woe on feb 15th, I lost 3lbs in the first week (I'm sure mostly water) and then I lost NOTHING for over 2.5 months! I was basically maintaining my weight. I needed to change something clearly. Tinkering with my macros wasn't helping, reducing protein wasn't helping, lowering carbs wasnt helping. I truly think if I wouldn't have tried the no snacking and stretching out meals I would continue in at 140lbs for ever.
I should note I only have 10-15lbs to lose and my body seems to love the 140 mark but I am perimenopausal and I do not want to see that number creep to 150, 160.
First of all CONGRATS on breaking through!
This is good for me to read, as I thought snacking was a good thing! That thought may be left over from a few years ago when I was doing Body for Life, when eating every few hours was encouraged. I also have about 15 lbs. to lose and am perimenopausal
I am going to seriously look at eating bigger/more filling meals and skipping the snacks. As it is, I eat snacks because I'm so hungry between meals. I never feel like eating at breakfast so that could be a challenge.
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kirstie1978 wrote: »Great one. Well done! I am truly hungry by 10:30 and no amount of water can help! Then again by 12:30 and 3:30/4 and by dinner time. So I am desperate to find a way to cut back. I tried BPC and failed I was hungry an hour later! I know I need to cut out 30g nuts and my small cheese portion during the day but I am properly hungry and these are taking me over my limits. Any suggestions??
Are you eating enough and having enough fat during your meal time? Often my meal will consist of 10 oz 73/27 ground beef patty. Sometimes I may add a little extra butter. This would keep me full for hours (most days). Some days I can't even finish the full patty. I am on the side of not counting calories. I just make my meals big (non standard serving size) and enough fats to keep me full.
@samanthaluangphixay
Thanks for the replies. yeah I'm eating bacon eggs and cream/cream cheese for breakfast, that's the best time of day for less hunger as I go 4 hours without feeling hungry. it's after lunch (which usually has a high fat content) that's the worst, I've upped my calories and fat intake and am hitting my macros, but seem to be always hungry and also not loosing any so wondering if I'm actually overeating rather than under eating?!
Only time I seem to have ketones is after dance when I'm dehydrated, the rest of the time they're not in my urine and I'm averaging 20g carbs a day, it worked so well for me previously but this time round I haven't lost any inches or weight since the initial drop in water weight and seem to be hungry a lot of the time! I've had one slightly off day for a friends birthday but other than that have been spot on the whole 5 weeks or so!
I've started drinking sparkling water to try help fill me up and increase sodium potassium etc, including black coffee I drink in excess of 2.5 litres a day I'd say but only water and black coffee. It's all a mystery! Haha!0 -
@kirstie1978 don't worry about those ketostix, if you are at 20g of carbs a day, you are definitely in ketosis. Those things are so inaccurate.
Hmm...your hunger after lunch is puzzling. Maybe your body is still conditioned to want something after lunch. The not hungry feeling takes time. I have been at this for six months and I just started feeling it like three weeks ago....so it doesn't happen right away to people. We have to teach our bodies and minds a whole new way of living.
Prior to LC, I was always eating again after lunch about two hours later. Not even because I was super hungry but because I was bored and it was a habit. I used to be the girl with the desk drawer full of snacks that my colleagues would come to when they needed sugar! So maybe it just needs to take a little time for you.
I would say, be patient...double check your logging and make sure some extra carbs aren't sneaking in and try to drink some water or tea to determine whether or not you are hungry or thirsty...or it's a habit from pre-LC. Keep at it!0 -
Another thought on snacking. I just got msg from my husband in Oman wanting details of a wedding invite. He plans to book flights, if internet improves. Given dodgy connection, i wanted to answer quickly, I am flying around the house getting angry with myself for hiding it somewhere other than my hand bag or work bag. Honestly, so frustrated.
Past the caramel syrup wafers, the dried apricots, the chocolates and even the new irish fudges no less than 8 times. Thanks mum for yummy addition of banned substances to supplies. Long story, but point being:
Under stress we make different choices and our body lies. I suddenly got very hungry. I grabbed a few leaves off my dill plant and chewed them to distract myself. WORKED! Surprisingly. Recomposed myself and went to sit back on balcony in sun. Admitting defeat on finding invite but not on unwanted food. Mum suggested car - typical mum, she was right first pop. Invite found, msg sent and importantly no food damage. Trust me, i could have eaten at least one of each treat to quell feeling of failure n anxiety! Now taking @Sunny_Bunny_ tip n having a warm cup of tea whilst ignoring the fake eat signals, oh, and typing this to help my resolve.
Apologies for thesis, hope it helps6 -
Thanks. Yeah it's definitely hunger, I have always suffered with the shakes when my body is hungry, aside from the other signals, I've been good with distraction and my job is super busy so I don't get a chance for boredom! So it's definitely proper hunger, but I am wondering if maybe it is slightly my body being used to eating then? I don't know... But it is proving hard to keep calories down to a sensible level and not be hungry! I will persevere as I feel a lot better most of the time, just need to figure out what I can snack on with limited calories that doesn't tip me over anything! Haha! I aim for 15-20g carbs to make sure any inacuracies are counted for! Thanks for the advice0
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kirstie1978 wrote: »Thanks. Yeah it's definitely hunger, I have always suffered with the shakes when my body is hungry, aside from the other signals, I've been good with distraction and my job is super busy so I don't get a chance for boredom! So it's definitely proper hunger, but I am wondering if maybe it is slightly my body being used to eating then? I don't know... But it is proving hard to keep calories down to a sensible level and not be hungry! I will persevere as I feel a lot better most of the time, just need to figure out what I can snack on with limited calories that doesn't tip me over anything! Haha! I aim for 15-20g carbs to make sure any inacuracies are counted for! Thanks for the advice
This sounds like falling blood sugar (not necessarily low though) which is often caused by high insulin levels.
Have you ever been told that you pre diabetic or insulin resistant? Even if you haven't, this could be a sign of undiagnosed (usually it does go undiagnosed) insulin resistance.
Some of the other things you said fit the scenario as well.
If you want to assume that's what's going on, I would suggest to consider how much protein you're getting as taking in considerably more than you need could make regaining sensitivity a slower process. Artificial sweeteners are often the biggest culprit for insulin resistant people because most of them do actually have an insulin response. I would go ahead and try to eat to settle the shakes but be very picky about what you choose. Avoid too much protein and artificial sweeteners on any of those snacks.
Once the sensitivity improves the hunger should get in line and the shakes will be a thing of the past.3 -
Thanks @sunny_bunny_
Yes I have always had issues with it, but have never had any issues with it on tests, I've had a few blood tests due to the fact I suffer with chronic fatigue and low vitamin levels and know my fasting glucose has always been fine, although my body tries to tell me otherwise, I am going to start testing and monitoring it I think just to see. If I ever have artificial sweeteners is later in the day, never before lunchtime. I have been super careful about what I eat and sticking to cheese (small cheddar piece) or no more than 50g nuts, usually 30g. I've tried to keep protein about 75g although occasionally it goes higher, but since all the suggestions and so on have dramatically reduced it! I have today managed to loose 0.3kg, which is the first drop in 6weeks so clearly something is happening, although it's TOM and so I expect that will all come back on again shortly!1 -
@kirstie1978 have you considered a gut imbalance? @DittoDan is the guru here. When I read your statement " chronic fatigue and low vitamin levels and know my fasting glucose has always been fine, although my body tries to tell me otherwise" I thought that is me pre anti candida diet. I just could not get my B12 up even with injections and vitamins. My doctor is stunned how healthy my B12 level is after just tablets and the diet. I no longer need to take b12. Hope for you that is not the case, but mentioning this in case it helps you get healthier. Good luck0
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samanthaluangphixay wrote: »@kirstie1978 don't worry about those ketostix, if you are at 20g of carbs a day, you are definitely in ketosis. Those things are so inaccurate.
Hmm...your hunger after lunch is puzzling. Maybe your body is still conditioned to want something after lunch. The not hungry feeling takes time. I have been at this for six months and I just started feeling it like three weeks ago....so it doesn't happen right away to people. We have to teach our bodies and minds a whole new way of living.
Prior to LC, I was always eating again after lunch about two hours later. Not even because I was super hungry but because I was bored and it was a habit. I used to be the girl with the desk drawer full of snacks that my colleagues would come to when they needed sugar! So maybe it just needs to take a little time for you.
I would say, be patient...double check your logging and make sure some extra carbs aren't sneaking in and try to drink some water or tea to determine whether or not you are hungry or thirsty...or it's a habit from pre-LC. Keep at it!
@samanthaluangphixay The one thing I did to help me get past the "I want a snack/dessert 1-2 hours after lunch" annoyance, I pretty much doubled my breakfast calories, and fasted through lunch. Around normal lunch time, I had that ketone burst kick in when the body is killing your body fat and rocking and rolling. I ONLY do this as it occurs naturally. I don't force a fast, because for the way my brain is wired, that would put me in disordered eating - not allowing myself to eat when legitimately hungry AND/OR eating when not hungry. Both as equally damaging to me.
To have it happen naturally, when I start to get hungry, I kick up the water, telling myself when the hunger is real and true, I'll eat. Sometimes that's in 5 minutes, sometimes it eases off and it's 5 hours (or more!) later. Now a days, I'm working out on my lunch before eating, so it's a little different, but I try to fast through lunch at least once every two weeks (once a week is preferred) to keep my insulin levels/reactions down. It allowed me to get from a 9 to a 5.1 on my fasting insulin levels (though this last test was weird) without medication. @kirstie1978 - fasting glucose and insulin CAN be related, but I've never had a fasting glucose or A1C bad result - whereas my insulin was raging out of control...
EDITED TO ADD: It killed the after lunch urges, gave me some control back over my eating at other times, too, and if in doubt, I kill any sweet cravings with fats and salts in that order. Sweets are only allowed in small portions and wrapped in some form of decadent fats!1 -
@KnitOrMiss thanks for the advice!
I will try to see if going big on the breakfast will help tide me over. My workouts are generally first thing in the morning so breakfast can be bigger. I generally have two hard boiled eggs with two strips of bacon and an iced coffee (unsweetened - used to do SF syrups) with HWC. Maybe I can add something else to it to help up the fat.
My lunch is usually a salad with full fat dressing, avocado, and salami. Sometimes add an egg.
To be honest, it is a huge mental thing for me. I'm not physically hungry...I'm sure a lot of it is in my head but it is so hard to break the cycle, even more than six months later.1 -
I hear you on that. For me, following the hunger after feeling perpetually starving nearly 24/7 was such a relief that I barely noticed it... I've never been one to get hung up on eating times and stuff, and luckily I work in a location where eating times are very flexible.
My breakfasts are typically something like below, usually in the 500 calorie range.
3 eggs
2 TBSP heavy cream
1 TBSP butter
1-2 oz of grated cheese and/or cream cheese, etc.
I've also included cut bacon, hamburger, sausage, etc., kicking it up to the 800-900 calorie range.
I mainly did that to help with the feeling of fasting/not to be hungry right off. Now sometimes I fast through lunch on that 500 calorie meal, too. WITH a workout.
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