Weight loss plateaus, or stalls, are not the end of the world. 

You’re trying to lose weight. Dieting is hard. I get it, but you’re not stalling if you:

• Lose 0.5 pounds in a week
• Don’t lose weight in a day
• You’re losing inches, but not pounds

Keto is an adjustment, and a lot of people expect rapid results. You may lose weight this week, or you may lose inches with little-to-no movement on the scale. If you’re not losing pounds or inches, you’ve stalled.

What Causes Keto Stalls?

Weight loss plateaus or stalls happen to everyone.

But you should be doing everything in your power to avoid stalls. When you avoid stalls, you stay committed to the keto lifestyle and reach your goals faster.

A few of the many reasons that stalls occur are:

• Underestimating calories. Statistically, people underestimate the number of calories that they eat by as much as 25%. When you’re munching away on nuts, it’s easy for six nuts to turn into a dozen or even two dozen. Nuts are delicious, and they fall perfectly into the keto diet, but they’re high in calories. If you’re struggling to lose fat, monitor your calories more precisely.

• Alcohol. Alcohol is a hot topic in the keto community, and it is not forbidden. You can drink alcohol, but you can also cause your weight loss and fat loss to slow when you do. Moderation is key, and if you find that you’re in a weight loss stall, cut out alcohol completely.

• Cheating. A cheat day seems like a great idea. You promise yourself that you’ll cheat just on Friday. You deserve a cheat day. But a cheat day turns into two cheat days. You may cheat three times this week, lose weight and inches, and you’re confident you can continue to see results even if you’re eat 50% carbs every day. Cheating causes stalls – eventually.

• Eating too little. You can eat too much, but you can also eat too little. When you eat too little, you’ll slow your metabolism, causing your results to stall.

• You’re not in ketosis. Ketosis can be difficult to reach, especially when you’re just starting out. You’ll want to keep a close eye on your macronutrients, or how much protein, fat and carbs you consume daily. If you’re following a strict ketogenic diet, you should be limiting your carb intake to around 20 – 30 grams of carbs per day. The Bulletproof keto diet aims to have you eat less than 50 carbs per day. 

Keto stalls will happen, and it’s up to you to make adjustments to overcome a stall. If you’re not in ketosis, you’re not going to see results. Monitor your macronutrients, and make sure that you’re not eating too much or too little.

Check the foods you’re eating for “hidden carbs.” Hidden carbs are everywhere, and I encourage you to read ingredient lists and food labels to try and avoid these additional carbs. 

If you’ve been excessively sedentary – it happens – exercise more or change your routine. Of course, many people choose keto because you can lose weight without exercise, but exercise can help move the scale in the right direction.

When most people think of keto, they think of meat – and butter. After all, if you’re going to follow the keto lifestyle, you can’t possibly be vegetarian, right? Many vegetables and some meat substitutes are loaded with carbohydrates.

If you think you can’t be vegetarian and follow the keto lifestyle, you’re wrong.

It’s possible to go low-carb without eating chicken, beef, pork or seafood. And yes, you can keep your carbs to less than 30g per day.

How?

Limit Your Carbs

The biggest concern when going vegetarian on keto is carbs. It’s easy to eat too many carbohydrates because your protein sources are limited, and the most common vegetarian-friendly foods are loaded with carbs, such as:

• Beans and legumes, such as black beans and lentils.
• Grains, such as rice, oatmeal and quinoa.
• Tubers, such as potatoes and yams.
• Fruit, such as bananas, apples and pears.

Eating just one serving of any of these foods can easily take you above your daily limit for carbohydrates.

How can you limit your carbs without resorting to meat, poultry or seafood?

Incorporate these foods into your diet:

• Meat substitutes, such as tempeh, seitan and tofu
• Low-carb vegetables, including zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli
• Leafy greens, like kale, spinach and arugula
• Dairy and eggs, including butter and high-fat cream
• Nuts and seeds, including sunflower seeds, almonds and pistachios
• Avocados 
• Berries, including blackberries and raspberries
• Vegetable-based fats, such as olive oil, avocado oil and coconut oil

Incorporate High-Quality Proteins into Every Meal

Protein is still an important part of your diet, even on keto. Most people will need to eat 70-100 grams of protein per day. Keto-friendly vegetarian protein sources include:

• Greek yogurt, which has only 5-7 grams of carbs and about 20 grams of protein per 6 ounces.
• Eggs, which have about 14 grams of protein and 1 gram of carbs per two eggs.
• Nut butter, which has about 8 grams of protein and 4 grams of carbs per 2 tablespoons.
• Hard cheese (such as cheddar), which has about 8 grams of protein and only about 1 gram of carbs per ounce.
• Cottage cheese, which has about 20 grams of protein and 6 grams of carbs per 6 ounces.
• Tofu, which has 19 grams of protein and 2 grams of carbs per 5 ounces.
• Tempeh, which has 20 grams of protein and 4 grams of carbs in about 3 ounces.
• Seitan, which has about 21 grams of protein and 4 grams of carbs per 1 ounce.

Make Sure You’re Reaching Your Daily Fat Goals

Ideally, your diet should consist of 70-80% fat when following the keto lifestyle. Reaching that level of fat may sound challenging without high-fat meat products, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. 

High-fat dairy and eggs are two great, vegetarian-friendly sources of fat. Vegetable-based oils are also great sources of fat, such as:

• Coconut oil
• Avocado oil
• Olive oil

High-fat, plant-based foods include:

• Nuts
• Avocados
• Seeds 

The key most important thing is to make sure that you’re incorporating healthy vegetarian foods into your diet. Reaching your fat goals is crucial, but stick to vegetarian-based oils or high-fat foods like avocados. And limit those carbs by ditching the gains, lentils and beans.

The ketogenic diet has been in the spotlight recently for its potential health benefits and its ability to help people lose weight. Although the low-carb lifestyle is now being embraced by people around the world, including celebrities and health gurus, it has been the center of controversy for many decades. 

Initially, it was believed that the ketogenic lifestyle caused heart disease and raised cholesterol because of its high fat content. Today, scientific studies have shown that low-carb diets offer many health benefits. 

But in order to enjoy these benefits, you have to follow the diet properly and avoid some of the most common mistakes people make when going keto.

The Health Benefits of Keto and Common Mistakes to Avoid

The ketogenic lifestyle offers many health benefits, including:

Appetite Suppression

What’s the biggest problem with conventional diets? They leave you feeling hungry. The keto diet isn’t really meant to be a diet in the traditional sense (it’s more of a lifestyle), but it’s a way of eating that will leave you feeling satiated for longer than diets rich in carbohydrates. 

Studies show that when people eat more protein and fat, they tend to eat fewer calories. Protein takes longer for the body to break down and absorb, so you feel fuller for longer. Fat slows digestion, decreases appetite and increases fullness. 

Mistake to avoid: Eating hidden carbs. There are many foods that appear to be low-carb, but really aren’t – like sauces, condiments and salad dressings. Consuming too many of these foods can completely negate the appetite suppression effects of the ketogenic diet. 

Aids in Weight Loss

A low-carb diet is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight. Even when restricting calories, studies have found that people on low-carb diets lose weight faster than those on low-fat diets.

It takes more work to convert fat to energy. Both fat and protein leave you feeling fuller for longer, so you naturally consume fewer calories.

The body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, which is an immediate source of energy. Any excess glucose is stored in the liver or converted into fat which is stored in adipose tissue. When you lower your carbohydrate intake, you minimize this effect, which further accelerates your weight loss.

Mistake to avoid: Assuming you can eat as much as you want as long as it’s high in fat. Many people assume that you don’t have to track your macros when on keto as long as you’re making sure that you’re eating high-fat foods. But if you take in more calories than you burn, you’ll wind up gaining weight. 

Lower Blood Sugar and Insulin 

The keto diet is often recommended to people suffering with diabetes and insulin resistance. Studies have shown that reducing carbs lowers insulin and blood sugar levels significantly.

In fact, in one study, people with type 2 diabetes lowered their carbohydrate intake, and 95% either eliminated or reduced their glucose-lowering medication in just six months.

Mistake to avoid: Snacking too much and eating too many keto sweets. Some people think it’s okay to indulge in keto-friendly desserts and sweets because they use sugar substitutes and the net carb count is low. However, these sweets are often high in calories and their sweet taste may trigger cravings for carbohydrates.