Stalled weight loss for 3 months

[nottonightjoesphine]

Hi everyone.

I've been on the LC WOE since around May. I've lost 1 stone 10lb and haven't lost a single pound since October. It's so disheartening that I'm beginning to slip.

I know there are things I'm doing that are not good. For example I've always had a drink at weekends (vodka and soda/sometimes red wine) which is likely contributing to my lack of success. I also don't exercise and love dairy- I eat plenty of cheese. Since I've been slipping however, I also now have a hot chocolate (green and blacks, with half milk and half cream) every night. So yeah, I know there are things I need to do but it seems there's so little reward for the work I do/have put in.

I have worked hard at it prior to this, for example - I went on a cruise in summer and didn't let a potato or dessert pass my lips). I weighed certain veg (I eat tonnes) and avoided highly coloured ones.

Anyway one thing I've been reading up on is water intake- I'm terrible at it, total coffee addict, maybe 5 cups a day with milk,which I'm willing to try and address.

Can someone explain to me what the deal with water is? Why do we have to drink it? I've always been aware of it being important with low carbing but figured it might be a bit gimmicky (I know, stupid!)

I'm 182lb still, and have 3 stone to lose, so how much water should I be drinking? How does it help? Has anyone found that they can pull themselves out of an extended plateau by drinking water?

Also, if you can think of anything else to advise on my lack of weight loss (aside from what I know to be true, eg the dairy etc) feel free

Thanks a lot!

[yumyumpoppycat]

3 months is quite along stall, so well done for keeping with it for that whole time, especially over christmas.

I can never understand the water thing but just googled and apparently Fat cannot be metabolized without adequate water. So it seems as thought water flushes the fat out of your body! I dont know how accurate it is but this info is all about stalling and drinking water www.pre-diabetes.com/lifestyle/low-carb-diet-got-you-stalled-reason-1-you-are-not-drinking-enough-water.html .

Another thing would be to try increasing the amount of veg you eat if its not a huge amount.

Hope the water thing works, you might as well test the theory before resorting to cutting out dairy although it is probably worth considering the dairy afterwards.

[ProfYaffle]

Are you actually counting carbs/calories? Just wondered because I've tried bootcamp in the past but didn't lose any weight on it, now I'm doing Atkins which is basically the same foods but portion controlled and I've found it's working really well for me. I know plenty of people seem to lose without counting but I'm not one of them!

[ProfYaffle]

Oh, and I should add, I know 'portion control' sounds depressing but I've found with my keto suppressed appetite I'm able to be happy and satisfied on far fewer calories than I have been on low fat/calorie diets.

[nottonightjoesphine]

Thanks both


At the beginning I counting carbs and tried to loosely stay within 30g for the first while. Even when I relaxed I didn't stray far from that figure.
What I don't do is count calories at all- and blimey it does sound depressing to start that now as well. I find that although I'm not hungry in between meals while doing LC, I really need to eat PLENTY of the foods I'm allowed at meal times. For example I'll have a 3 egg omelette with cheese in the morn, tuna salad with mayo and cheese at lunch, and then for dinner, some kind of meat with loads and loads of veg.
If I have a bolognaise (no pasta) I find that I need to eat loads of the meat and sauce, otherwise I just can't get satisfied. I must look like a greedy pig to my husband! I find that if I fill up like this , sugar doesn't even cross my mind x

[ProfYaffle]

On Atkins they suggest no more than 115g of cheese per day, maybe give that a go? And add in some exercise, on the numerous times I've lost weight ( ) the most successful plans have always incorporated exercise. Let's hope this is the last time!

[yumyumpoppycat]

Profyaffle I am with you on losing weight again ...sigh. And actually the last time I lost weight really successfully, after dc 2 (16/ 18 down to 10/12), I was really properly exercising.

Sounds like a plan could be to measure out dairy allowances for the day ... maybe half what think you eat/drink now and drink more water. Fingers crossed!

[nottonightjoesphine]

Thanks everyone. I don't think I eat 115g of cheese but who knows- could easily be in denial there!

Will keep on keeping on :/

[ProfYaffle]

I suppose it's worth weighing it just to be sure. Well done for koko though, must be tough after such a long stall.

[StuntNun]

There are lots of things you can try to shake it up a bit. Drinking more water is a must. Having a big two litre bottle of water that you have to drink during the day would give you a target to achieve. You really need the water as it flushes the ketones out of your blood, otherwise there is a negative feedback loop which limits how much ketones you can produce.

Other things you can try are:

• Logging your calories on MFP to see whether you might be overeating, make sure there hasn't been any 'carb creep' and check whether your macros are optimal
  
  
• Trying to eat more fat, what about a BPC if you like coffee?
  
  
• Intermittent fasting, I used three 14-hour fasts a week very successfully
  
  
• Cutting out dairy as it can spike insulin in some people
  
  
• Going very low carb for a few days using Ubercamp, egg fast or fat fast
  
  
• A carb refeed to reset leptin
  
  
• Start a HIIT exercise plan

[nottonightjoesphine]

Thanks stunt

Really gonna take a long hard look at my diet and get it going again. I don't want to go back to eating loads of carbs- they don't agree with me and I feel better for being off them. I guess though that I would like a little more variety and perhaps some complex carbs from time to time - rice etc.

What's BPC?

[StuntNun]

BPC = bulletproof coffee: 200 ml coffee, 5-15g coconut oil, 5-15g butter whizzed up with a blender.

[nottonightjoesphine]

Thanks- is that in place of breakfast? Does it work?

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

I think you should be having 3 litres a day at that weight, not far off mine.
I drink a pint at breakfast before my tea. I add a bit of boiled water so it's not too cold and down it quickly. They I have a 500ml bottle on my desk and empty it 3 times by lunchtime. One more bottle in the afternoon and a pint of water with dinner. Easy enough when you get in a routine.

[Mrsstevejones]

I have a BPC every morning for breakfast, i have really developed a taste for them.I make them with a tbsp of coconut oil and 25g butter. It does give the coffee a coconutty taste but you can buy less flavoursome coconut oil.

A BPC really keeps me full until lunch and is a good way of getting loads of fat and no carbs or protein.

[nottonightjoesphine]

Wow those coffees sound hardcore! Really going to try one though. I always have two eggs for breakfast fried in olive oil. It gets boring but I persevered. I do love eggs so hasn't been too hard. I have lunch at work at 12 so the eggs see me through no problem.

My typical day goes like this:

Mon-fri:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, coffee

Lunch: tuna salad, mayo, tomatoes cucumber, 30g cheese, coffee

Dinner: roast chicken/steak/fish/etc, cauliflower cheese, fried asparagus, broccoli, spinach, sprouts (a variety of about 4 veg per night)

Hot chocolate with real cocoa, cream and milk. (Bad i know)

Weekend:
Pretty much the same as above, except I will have red wine in the evenings or a few vodka's with soda.

Is this awful? Give it to me folks.....