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.