BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb I have stopped losing weight although on ketosis!!

Hi,
I lost 33lbs with alow carb and i need to lose another 9lbs. After 3 months of being on this diet and losing very good, I have stopped losing!! Please tell me what to do!!
I am on ketosis most of the time, but my weight is not changing anymore! please advise.

Sima

Hi Sima! I have a suggestion, that is also something that Dr. Atkins recommended. First, go OFF the diet! That's right, just eat whatever you want to (carbs and all) for ONE DAY. This will take you out of ketosis. Then, go back to the original Induction phase of the diet, for 2 weeks, as if you just started. This should kick-start you back into weight loss mode, as your body makes the switch between storing and burning fat. Good luck!

Another thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn't be down in 20g for your entire life. That is only for INDUCTION After that, you are supposed to start gradually increasing your carb intake, so that your diet varies and your body gets more nutrient mixes. So you really shouldn't be in ketosis after 3 months. You should be higher than that.

Did you start raising your carb total per day by 5g each week, as you went? If not, you really should start doing that. I wouldn't recommend eating a ton of junk food for a day as a solution. It doesn't help your body any, really, to go in and out of ketosis. Instead, if you tell us what your current daily carb count is and what you're eating, we can help based on that. It sounds like your metabolism has equalized with what you're eating, and we need you to start doing some activity to get your heart rate going. Remember, a larger body needs more calories since there is more of it to maintain. So now that your body is smaller, you need to start thinking about a more healthy overall lifestyle for it.

Thank you for reply.
To be honest, I think i started adding carbs too fast! im still in low level of ketosis most of the days (not everyday) but my weight is always the same. Now i feel i have not been very honest with my diet, should I now go back to induction or start from 40 g per day. I did not count the carbs when i added as numbers. I just added nuts (very little) more salad.
Please advice . Thanks

I have been faithfully doing induction for 6 weeks. I am a frickin' fanatic. I write everything I eat down to the letter and have never even reached 20 carbs per day. I have been in "moderate" ketosis every single day with the exception of "heavy" a few times. Here is the weird part...I haven't lost but 1 pound. I have lost several inches on my back, thighs and middle. I started at a size 10 and now I am a comfortable 8. I am 5'2" and weigh 150. Thats too much. So why in the world can't I lose some lbs. I can't live with the 150 number no matter how good I look. Bye the way I am 60. HELP! Should I do the fat fast?

I reached this plateau also and had to start watching my calories in order to get it going again....initially you have to remember that you're losing water weight from depleting your muscles of their glycogen stores, then your body starts switching to the fat burning metabolism. Remember that fat has double the calories of carbs and protein, so if you're consuming more calories than what your body can burn, you're going to store it anyway, you can still be in ketosis and burn fat, and store the excess that's coming into your body.

Remember that your body isn't just made up of fat!! That's why BMI is so critical. It's not just how much you weigh. It's how slim you are and how the fat ratio is in your body. We have a scale that tells us our fat percentage.

So let's say you start out 50% fat and 40" around (just throwing out numbers here). Now say you start eating healthily - and you end up being 30" around and 30% fat. Now you have quality muscle and are toned and looking like Bo Derek - but you weigh the same. That's because fat is big and light - and muscle is slim, trim and heavy.

So you can't just think about your weight! You have to think about how you look and how your body is composed. Nobody should just try to "be lighter" - you could be lighter and be really full of fat and unhealthy. You need to aim for a low BMI - which means more muscle, less fat, and slimmer.

So, the real question is what is your BMI?

Everyone here is so knowledgeable and there is so much great advice here.. a few things that also helped me were managing portion control better.. try eating smaller meals more often *no later than 3 hours apart*... and add exercise if you haven't.. traditionally cardio exercises increase your hunger.. but adding weight lifting *women don't need to worry about bulking up because we don't naturally have the genetics that men do to get ripped.. so strength training actually gives us ladies long lean muscle tissue instead of bulky muscle tissue*.. weightlifting will increase your lean muscle tissue.. which will help you to burn more calories whether you're awake or asleep.. a great book to read is "The Cardio-free Diet" it has completely changed my life.. I'm stronger and healthier, and it haa given me an amazing figure while coupled with a low carb diet my body changed so fast it was amazing! I simply work out 3 days a week at home with dumbbells for 20 minutes to and hour, when I used to do "The Firm" workouts or "Power 90" six days a week.. killing myself.. working out way harder.. but for far fewer and slower results... Many consider a cardio-free exercise plan just as controversial as eating low carb.. and yet.. both are absolutely highly effective and healthy... Well at least, they work very well for me... I hope you find what works for you too..

Be well and Good luck...

I agree entirely with Kaylee, and no Danilee that fat fast is dangerous, Dr Atkins said that it should ONLY be done for the most metabolic resistant, those who COULD not lose at all.
If you do it you risk slowing down your metabolism even more. plus Dr A said it should be done under medical supervision. Give your body a chance, have patience, don't give up, after all you did not put on weight overnight, so the same applies in reverse. Han in there, good luck,
Sylvana

Sylvana is exactly right People tend to want quick fixes, but the weight went on slowly, over time. You need to take it off at a gradual rate too. You really will look better each week! It's amazing how just five or ten pounds can make a BIG difference in how you look and feel. Keep at it, living a new, healthy lifestyle. Find a FUN active hobby. You want to enjoy life, after all!