Admin If you’re using a low-carb lifestyle to lose weight, there’s nothing more frustrating than experiencing a keto weight loss plateau – even if you seem to be doing well! Why does ketosis plateau occur and what is the best way to break through it? We’ll discuss all the answers here, so you can turn keto weight loss stall into a temporary setback.
What is a Keto Weight Loss Plateau?
What is a Keto Weight Loss Plateau? It’s a priority to define a true weight plateau on keto. A true keto diet plateau occurs after you have been following a consistent keto diet for at least 3 months and the weight loss has stopped.
Why so long? When many people first start a keto diet, weight loss is rapid in the first week or two; this is because your body is not using carbohydrates to maintain your glycogen levels (or the water used to maintain those levels), causing you to lose “water weight”. After this point, the weight loss slows down and, like all diets, proceeds in a non-linear fashion. You may think you’ve reached a stagnant period when in fact you are experiencing normal up and down weight changes.
In addition to natural weight fluctuations, keto plateaus can take at least 3 months because it takes time to adjust your keto macros and follow them consistently. It doesn’t make sense to think you’re experiencing a plateau on ketosis because 1) your macros may have been off, 2) your macros are correct but you haven’t been able to follow them closely enough, or 3) you’ve only been following your macros for a few weeks and haven’t seen results.
Why Weight Loss Plateaus on Keto
If you have confirmed that you are indeed in a keto weight loss plateau, now what? In order to break the plateau, it is important to determine what may be preventing further weight loss.
Too Much Fat
In ketosis, you need fat for fuel, but it’s not an all-access pass to eat as much fat as possible. Fat is more satisfying because it’s more than twice as calorie dense as protein or carbohydrates. If you eat too much, you may not reach the caloric deficit needed to shed pounds.
Too Many Carbs
If you start keto diet the first time, you probably don’t realize how many carbs are lurking in regular food, even if you stick to vegetables and other whole foods. Eating too many carbs can still cause your body to store fat instead of burning it, causing a stall in keto weight loss.
Too Little Protein
Many keto dieters worry about having too much protein, believing it will kick them out of ketosis, a theory that has been debunked by research. The bigger factor that causes ketosis to stall is too little protein.
Why? Protein helps you feel full and helps increase muscle mass – which, improves your resting metabolism (especially when exercising).
Alcohol
For some people, just one or two drinks can interfere with weight loss. In addition to adding calories (and sometimes carbohydrates), alcohol interferes with the digestion and utilization of other nutrients, including fat. If you’re experiencing weight stall and drinking alcohol, take a look at your alcohol intake. Consider the type and amount of alcohol you are drinking. Carbohydrates and calories can add up quickly, and we sometimes tend to reach for food while drinking – whether we’re hungry or not!
High Insulin Resistance
With high insulin resistance, the body has a hard time metabolizing food. Glucose from food does not end up providing energy to the cells, so excess glucose accumulates and is eventually stored as fat. Your genetic makeup, age and nutrition are just a few of the factors that contribute to this problem, which can affect anyone.
Slow Metabolism
If you’ve tried other popular diets before starting keto, they may have played a role in your ketosis plateau. That’s because crash diets that cut too many calories cause your body to break down muscle for energy, resulting in low muscle mass. Lower muscle mass makes for a lower resting metabolism, which can make it harder for you to lose weight.
Poor Sleep
Poor sleep causes an increase in cortisol (a hormone that controls appetite) and insulin (a hormone that triggers fat storage). As a result, poor sleep habits can make you feel hungry when you’re not and make it harder to lose excess weight.
Stress or Emotional Eating
Even if you have a meal plan and count your macros, life happens in ketosis – and many of us use food as a comfort food. Eating too much, especially in the form of low-quality and high-calorie comfort foods, can make the plateau of the keto diet even more difficult to overcome.
Medications and Medical Conditions
A side effect of some medications and diseases is weight gain, which can add to the struggle of keto weight loss stall. As always, don’t make changes without consulting your doctor. If you think these issues are contributing to the problem, discuss them with your doctor.
How to Break a Keto Weigh Loss Plateau
Now you know why this happens. So what do you do when you hit a plateau on keto? Fortunately, you have many options.
Intermittent Fasting
The ultimate keto plateau buster! No matter what you do, fasting can help with insulin resistance; when you eat less, you stimulate insulin less often. Try intermittent fasting or egg fasting to get started.
Check Your Macros
Your weight plays a big role in your daily macros. As your weight changes, your macros will change as well. Use the Macro Calculator to reset your numbers each month.
Track Calorie Intake
It is very common to underestimate calorie consumption. You may just be eating more calories than you realize, which could spell trouble for your weight loss.
Get Enough Protein
Many people on keto don’t eat enough protein. They worry that protein will keep them out of ketosis.
But evidence shows that moderate to high protein intake (about 30% of calories) is completely compatible with keto weight loss.
When breaking through a weight loss plateau, protein is your friend. It fills you up, supports your mood, and promotes the development of fat’s big nemesis: Muscle.
Prioritize Sleep
If you don’t sleep well, you increase hunger hormones and decrease insulin sensitivity. In other words, you’re more likely to overeat and store fat. Make sleep a non-negotiable issue and all aspects of your health will pay off.
Manage Stress
Cortisol, your stress hormone, is designed for short-term survival. It breaks down bones, disintegrates muscles, and allows you to store fat.
To manage your stress and reduce cortisol, make sure you sleep well and exercise daily. Yoga or meditation can also be very helpful in reducing stress.
Exercise
While it is possible to lose weight through diet alone, being physically active can help you get out of a weight loss plateau. Exercise can help increase calorie burning, which is so important for many other aspects of health.
Be Patient and Get Support
If you don’t sleep well, you increase hunger hormones and decrease insulin sensitivity. In other words, you’re more likely to overeat and store fat. Make sleep a non-negotiable issue and all aspects of your health will pay off.
Manage Stress
Cortisol, your stress hormone, is designed for short-term survival. It breaks down bones, disintegrates muscles, and allows you to store fat.
To manage your stress and reduce cortisol, make sure you sleep well and exercise daily. Yoga or meditation can also be very helpful in reducing stress.
Exercise
While it is possible to lose weight through diet alone, being physically active can help you get out of a weight loss plateau. Exercise can help increase calorie burning, which is so important for many other aspects of health.
Be Patient and Get Support
In order to achieve long-term results, a long-term commitment is required. When it feels like it’s going to take a long time to break through a barrier, go easy on yourself.
Conclusion
Stalling on keto doesn’t have to cause frustration. Try making changes to your diet and lifestyle to break the stall in keto weight loss and start seeing results again.
