You’ve decided that it’s time to make some changes and you want to lose some weight. You jump into this keto diet thing and find that the weight is coming off easily! You celebrate because not only is it working but you actually are on a diet that doesn’t leave you feeling like you’re starving to death.
Then, without warning, you hit the dreaded weight loss stall.
One week without losing any weight turns into two and then maybe three. Maybe you even gain a bit of weight back. You decide to hit the internet to see what everyone is doing to solve this problem.
Don’t do lazy keto they say. Be vigilant and keep those carbs to only 20 grams! Monitor your macros! Eat more of this….or less of that. Try this or that supplement. Start eating more fat so you can produce more ketones they might tell you. Yes that’s the key! Add butter to everything!
Or coconut oil. Eat it by the spoonful!
The advice on the internet is endless. Not all of it is good or helpful.
First of all, if you’ve hit the dreaded plateau or weight loss stall take a few deep breaths and relax. Losing weight isn’t always about the amount of fat you eat, the number of carbs you have daily or even the amount of calories consumed. There’s lots of things affecting how you body maintains weight such as the amount of sleep you get, stress, hormones, age and even one that many people never think about…..medications you might be taking. All of these things can affect your metabolism which in turn impacts your ability to lose weight.
While other things can impact your ability to lose weight I’m going to tell you the number one culprit I’ve seen in many people’s diet that comes up again and again while on the keto diet.
It might be a bit of a shock to hear this but once I explain it will make more sense.
One of the big reasons I see creating a weight loss stall while on the keto diet is…..
No. Not bacon. But it could be too much dietary fat!
I know what you’re probably thinking. I’m on the keto diet. Fat is good and it provides my body with the fuel it needs.
When you’re trying to lose weight you want your body to tap into all the extra fat stores. But many people are loading up on dietary fat (to meet their macros) which is providing your body everything it needs to keep it fueled. There’s no need to tap into the extra fat being carried around in order to provide it with what it needs. And so the weight loss stalls out.
For example, say you are following a keto diet that is 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs. You might use one of those online calculators or perhaps a phone app to help you figure out how many grams/calories of each you can eat daily. You plug in your current weight, height and perhaps a bit more information such as age, activity level, etc. But there one major flaw I’ve seen with many of them. They are calculating how much to consume for your CURRENT WEIGHT.
If you’ve been eating to the macros that you calculated then you are going to maintain your current weight! This most likely isn’t what you want during the active weigh loss phase. In order to continue losing weight you need to tap into the weight you currently carry on your body. And the main way to do that is to reduce the amount of dietary fat you are eating. This in turn means you need to eat fewer calories.
Hey wait a minute….everyone says you can eat as much as you want on a keto diet!
That’s not true if you want to lose weight.
The one thing that makes a keto diet stand out when compared to other types of diets is that most people don’t feel like they are starving to death. Even when they are eating fewer calories. But if you consume enough calories to maintain your weight it doesn’t matter if you are eating more fat/fewer carbs then your weight loss stops.
In order to break a weight loss stall while on a keto diet you need to consume less fat (fewer calories) so your body will start using the excess fat you are carrying around to burn for fuel.
Not only do you need to eat fewer calories you also need to dial back on your calories as you lose weight. Let’s say you weighed 250 lbs and it took your body about 2,300 calories to maintain that weight. You start eating 2,000 calories and the weight comes off. Now you are down to 200 lbs. At that weight let’s say it takes your body 2,000 calories to maintain that weight. If you continue to eat the same amount then the weight loss will stall out because you are consuming enough to maintain. As you lose weight it’s important to recalculate your caloric needs in order to keep losing weight.
Are you currently stuck in a weight loss stall? Have you stopped to see if you are eating too much dietary fat?
While this isn’t the only reason for a weight loss stall it’s one of the big ones that I see. I’ll save topics about other things that sabotage your weight loss success such as head hunger, carb creep, over estimating portions and over snacking for other posts.
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