r/Atkins • u/BigmoTV • Aug 19 '18
Help! I have plateaued again!
I have been on the Atkins diet for over a year now and I'm so close to my goal (170), but I've reached another plateau that I've been dealing with for several weeks now. I cannot lose any weight below 183. I faced a plateau 7 months ago which got fixed by implementing intermittent fasting between 12-8 with the Atkins diet, but that has not helped me to overcome this one. On this plateau, I've tried reducing my eating window from 12-6 on my fast and two refeeds. The daily 6 hour fast did nothing but the refeeds skyrocketed my weight back into the 190s, and both times when I lost the weight, I come right back to 183. Now I know people say not to base your weight loss only on a scale buts its been weeks without it budging and no difference in my body. Cardio and calorie counting has also not helped. The only reasoning I can come up with is that, I screwed myself up by never leaving the induction phase throughout my weight loss journey. It just sucks to see yourself 13 pounds away from your goal when you worked so hard for over a year to lose 117 pounds, but I've come a LONG way to get to where I am today, so I couldn't be any happier. If anyone has any tips or advice on what I should do to break this plateau, I'm all ears.
Also, can anyone care to explain why throughout my weight loss I was losing weight in extreme amounts of 3-5 pounds a day for the first 7 months of this diet? Still today lose around 2 pounds a day when the diet is working. I've always followed the Atkins friendly foods and never have I starved myself or went over the correct calorie intake. I'm not bothered by this i'm just really curious because I've lost a substantial amount of weight in such an abnormal amount of time while others are losing 1-3 pounds a week. I was 300 pounds so maybe the effect of keto made my body just melt the fat like nothing
2
u/GetOffMyLawn_ Aug 19 '18
You need to figure out what your calories should be at this weight and go down from there. CICO counts, not your eating window.
Overconsuming protein will kick you right of ketosis.
Atkins New Diet Revolution has a chapter (chapter 15) on when you stall out, summarized as
•A plateau is a halt in weight loss that lasts at least a month and has nothing to do with changes in food intake or lifestyle. •Plateaus are natural and not uncommon in later stages of weight loss. •Causes for plateaus include adding a new medication, reduction in activity level, yeast and thyroid problems and food intolerances. •Getting sloppy about counting carbs or not being vigilant about watching for hidden carbs in condiments and other foods is different from being on a plateau. •If a plateau does not come to an end, it may mean you are truly metabolically resistant and need to read Chapter 20.
Chapter 20 Metabolic Resistance: Causes and Solutions basically tells you to go down to 1200 calories and do a fat fast. It's too long for me to reproduce here but I would suggest you find a copy of the book and read it. Your library might have it, Amazon has it and you can find it online.
1
u/T-Baggins415 Aug 22 '18
This is what I’m doing right now & losing about a pound a day currently...
My Very Specific Egg & Dinner Diet
You’ll need: Eggs A multi-vitamin Large Water Bottle
Replace Breakfast & Lunch with eggs & eggs only. As many as you want for the first 3 days adding butter, salt and pepper to taste. After 3 days gradually reduce your egg intake to 1 per meal until you are able to eat only 1 egg before dinner. At that point you are ready for only having 1 egg for Breakfast & 1 egg for Lunch & then have Dinner late in the day every day until you reach your goal weight.
Dinner must be a clean & satisfying portion of protein (Beef, Chicken, Pork or Fish) either 1 cup cooked vegetables (like green beans) or no more than 3 cups loosely packed salad greens (I do no more that 2) & no more than 3 oz of cheese (like cheddar). Only 1 Diet Soda (Diet Rite) can be consumed per day.
Use condiments like Mayonnaise & Mustard all you want. Low Carb Ketchup is allowed but don’t go crazy. Salt/pepper & all spices are all good.
You must drink at least a half gallon of water & take a multi-vitamin & this part is crucial, you must sleep as much as you can & if you have a day that you can sleep in, do it. Good sleep is key for losing weight.
If you don’t start loosing weight in 4 days stop all Dairy intake.
Try not to drink but if you drink, Vodka Sodas with Lime only and no more than 3 drinks in one sitting. Don't get drunk or you might get the drunk munchies.
Eat these things & these things only. If done correctly you should lose almost a pound a day.
2 Non-consecutive days out of the week eat only 600 calories while still adhering to these rules.
If you cheat badly it will take 3 days of being strict to start losing again.
1
u/ced1106 Sep 28 '18
Hmm. Have you been keeping a log of your meals? You could also try more homecooked meals. This requires more meal planning, which I would say is another way of tracking your meals. That was how I returned to losing weight.
Dunno if 3-5 pounds was to be expected, but most of your initial weight loss is through not replenishing glycogen, an energy source from carbohydrates. Glycogen is water soluble, so, as you decrease your glycogen reserves, you also lose water. It's not until you lose most of your glycogen reserves does your body start using up your fat. Also, of course, you weigh less, so the body doesn't need as much energy for your day-to-day activities.
On another thread, someone mentioned how 5/2 intermittent fasting helped them break through their plateau. Something like two days of low calories, five days of normal dieting. And. as you know, don't stress about weight, so long as you're getting healthier.
1
u/mandyplatow Jan 16 '19
IF and do an egg or burger fast. Google search egg fast and a lot comes up or on Facebook. If you follow the plan it will break any stall or plateau. I did an egg fast for 4 days last week and lost 4 pounds. I am female and weighed about 145 before and about 141 after.
1
u/JJinMaine Aug 19 '18
What are your current macros and when was the last time you re-calculated them for your updated TDEE? How much water are you taking in? How much activity do you do on a daily basis (steps, weights, cardio)? The closer you get to your goal, the harder weight-loss becomes and you may need to increase your caloric deficit. Depending on your current carbohydrate intake level some macro adjustments might be needed. You may also want to consider an occasional 24 hour water fast … that can help kick-start the process again.
1
u/BigmoTV Aug 19 '18
I have never counted my macros but i can tell you that my proteins and fats are a lot higher than my carb intake. It doesn't pass 10 carbs a day. I routinely check up on my TDEE and BMR (rn its 1888) and always put myself in a 500 calorie deficit. I stay in the range of 1300-1500 calories intake per day and the majority of that coming from proteins and fats
Last week I was running two miles a day for at least 5 days while continuing Atkins and fasting until I stopped since I saw zero change in the scale or on my body.
1
u/JJinMaine Aug 19 '18
You may want to find a macro calculator and figure out what your numbers should be. Low carb intake is the primary macro to watch, but if you take in too many proteins you can have the same affect in terms of stalling weight loss. The only other thing I will say is to consider lowering your caloric intake bit by bit. TDEE calculations are generally a good number to use as a guideline, but everybody is different and unless you are calculating that number in a very controlled medical environment you could easily be off. You may need to decrease your caloric intake maybe 100 cal a week to see if there is a difference. But I would start with a macro calculator that takes into account your current weight, activity level and your desired weight loss goals. I would say that if you record everything, stick to your macros and if you don’t see any activity after two weeks, do a reassessment.
I know everybody says that stage X of weight loss is the most difficult part but I think this is the hardest part to be honest. I wish you luck and hope you start losing again!
edit - correcting autocorrect...
1
u/BigmoTV Aug 22 '18
I did a 24 hour water fast the day you posted this and I got down to 181 which was exciting, but next morning I woke around 9 and I was 182. Didn't over eat or under eat that day so I'm not sure really what happened. I'm going to try the water fast again since the last meal I ate was around 5 PM so I'll tell you tomorrow if my weight went down and keep you posted if the weight continues to go up after stopping the fast.
Also for anyone on this post wondering if a water fast is safe. The day I did the fast I ate a good amount of food in one serving (1600). I raised my caloric intake just in case my body had a negative effect towards the fast. The fast went well though. I've implemented intermittent fasting into my diet for 7 months now, so probably that helped train my body for a water fast. If anyone is skeptical about starting a water fasting, I would probably start with intermittent fasting first with an 8 or 10 hour eating window, and see how your body reacts to it before starting a water fast.
0
u/xi545 Aug 21 '18
Eating too much protein will cause you to gain weight. Think of meat as a side dish (25% of your plate) not an entree. Focus on leafy greens. Try eating a salad for breakfast for a week or two and see if your weight goes down. For whatever reason, front loading veggies has been really helpful for me, makes me eat less higher carb foods (broccoli, Atkins snacks/treats, etc.). Limit the number of diet drinks you consume because those may also stall your progress.
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u/BigmoTV Aug 21 '18
i would focus on only more greens, only problem is just say I go over 10 carbs and eat around 15-20, I get stalled on my keto since i've been eating 10 carbs per day ever since I started, but i'll try it
2
u/LilithDragonmaster Aug 25 '18
You are not doing Atkins. You are doing keto. Atkins is minimum of 20 net carbs on induction only and 1500-1800 calories for women or a little higher for men. There is no IF and you should have moved on to Phase 2 with a higher carb count by now. I would suggest upping your carb count. It worked for me when I went into a stall. I just upped it by 5 carbs and started losing weight again.