Why am I not losing weight(stalled)?
Why am I gaining weight or stuck at a certain weight?
This is a question I get asked at least 50 times a day (no seriously, at least). And while everyone is different there are some common reasons why.
1. The first thing I want to say is a true weight loss stall is 2+ weeks of your weight not moving. That means not even 0.1lbs!
2. Your macros aren’t correct. If you just said what are macros then head over to Ruled.Me and use their macro calculator! You input some quick information and it calculates your calories, fats, carbs (you can leave this set to 20g), and proteins.
a. So, if you had calculated your macros already but used a different calculator why don’t you try inputting your info into the ruled.me’s macro calculator because you could be using one of the calculators that allots too much protein and/or calories. Too much protein means that its being turned to glucose (the unused protein) and then being stored as fat.
b. What do I set my caloric deficit to? Generally, I start at 25%. Give it at least a week before making any adjustments to this. Some people can handle a 30% deficit but start low and go up from there so you don’t set yourself up for failure.
c. I like to recalculate my macros every 10lbs I lose. If you have recently lost 10lbs or more I recommend recalculating your macros.
3. You are going over your macros. Are you tracking your food intake? Just because you are eating low carbs does not mean you can eat as much as you want. Calories matter too! Just like going over your protein can cause you to stall or gain weight (see above) so can going over your calories and carbs.
a. I use MyFitnessPal (I am not affiliated in any way) to track my macros, but there are plenty of apps out there to track.
b. The best tip I can give you is plan and track your foods in the morning or night before. It’s much easier to adjust and move things around to hit your macros then wing it and find out you need 40g more of fat but only have 50 calories left. It doesn’t take much time and it will be a lifesaver.
4. Underestimating Carbs. Veggies are great for us! But they also have carbs! You need to make sure you are measuring and tracking appropriately.
5. You had a cheat day/meal. It’s ok, it happens. There will be a point in the diet where you may want to have a cheat meal or whole cheat day. Just make sure you are setting realistic expectations. You can gain 5-6lbs of water weight from a cheat day and it could take up to a week for you to shed them. In addition, it will also take anywhere from 2-7days to get back into ketosis and start burning fat again. Don’t think you can have a cheat meal Friday and be back into ketosis and losing weight by Monday it’s just not likely.
6. You are eating too much sweetener! Fat bombs are delicious! Keto baked goods too! But breads, waffles, snacks, and baked goods are not supposed to be your primary source of your macros. You want to be getting most of your macros from veggies, meats, and good fats. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
a. Not all sweeteners are equal! Erythritol is the best tasting in my opinion but also has the lowest glycemic index of the sugar alcohols. Ones you want to really limit and watch out for are Maltitol, sucralose, splenda,aspertame.
b. Maltitol is the culprit that may be keeping you at a stall or causing you to gain weight. It’s in many “sugar-free” products (popular candies you buy at the supermarket, syrups, and some of the less expensive chocolates). And while it may technically be sugar free Maltitol has a higher glycemic index (36 where erythritol is 0) so your blood insulin levels will spike (you don’t want this). Does this mean you can’t have any of these products? No, but you do want to try and avoid them and seek alternatives or limit them to 1 serving every other day or so.
7. Dairy can also have an effect on some people’s weight loss. While I personally have not noticed and stalls associated with dairy there are a decent amount of people who have. You can eliminate all dairy or try and limit your dairy consumption.
8. Nuts can have the same effect as too much dairy. Consuming too many nuts can cause you to stall as well. The best way to know is to test your blood ketone/breath ketones frequently to monitor the effects that dairy or nuts have on you personally. If you do not have a monitor you can start by slowly decreasing your consumption or cutting it out completely to see if that helps.
These are only some of the reasons, everyone is different and I recommend using a blood ketone meter like the Keto Mojo (http://bit.ly/2iDBtRf) to monitor your ketone levels so you can pin point what is going on with YOUR body!
