I have a question about what seems to be stalling weight loss.

I went off track in June and gained eight pounds (from 176 to 184.) Then, I began to lose it, pretty quickly, as soon as started low carbing again. Within a week or two, I was back down to 178.

A few days before July 20, my weight jumped way down to from 178 to 172, almost overnight. Then, July 20, it jumped back up to 176. I didn't think this was any problem, but now it's a month later, and the scale is still hovering between 174 and 175, so I'm starting to get concerned.

Am I doing something wrong?

My scale is new-ish, so I don't think that's the problem.

I've started working out with weights, but very minimally, so I'm not putting on any kind of crazy muscle that would account for the scale change.

I have not "cheated" with even a bite of food. (I do eat a little fruit, but it's in the low carb range and carefully portioned.) My plan has been to stay below 30 grams of carbs per day, and most days I achieve that goal. A few days it's been slightly higher.

I average around 1500 calories a day, although some days I've noticed my calories got higher, around 2000. I've successfully lost weight so far by just eating whenever I was hungry, and not stuffing myself, so I haven't worried too much about calories.

Any thoughts?

Firstly, you have done extremely well to date. 44 lbs lost in 5 months is excellent progress.
You say you went off track in June. What exactly did you do and for how many days?
Do you have an estimate of your daily protein and fat intake as well as your carbs?
Daily weight fluctuations of 1 to 2lb can be quite normal - depends on many factors. Just the weight of food/drinks you consume over a day can be anything from 2 lbs to 4 lbs and therefore it can help to reduce apparent weight fluctuations by weighing yourself at the same time of day each day.

My profile is a bit deceiving because I lost 30 lbs before I started posting here...it's been a long time. I'm not sure how long, but definitely more than a year. I started low carbing when I began posting here in March, so I guess that's about 10 to 14 lbs. in five months (or four months, if you skip the part where I went off track.) It's frustratingly slow for me. The first 30 lbs. came off fast, as I just started drinking coffee with cream for breakfast. Low-carbing has been effective (especially for my mental state) but slow. I have gone from a size 16 to a size 10, which shows progress, but the scale has gone down steadily along with my size the whole time.

I went off track around Memorial Day and got back on track a little after July 4th. Nothing crazy, just went off plan and back to regular eating.

I am counting total carbs and avoiding the packaged products. I also haven't used any artificial sweeteners except 2 diet cokes since July.

My tracker says I'm eating an average of 67% fat, 27% protein and 7% carbs.

What you are experiencing is so frustrating, but unfortunately, fairly common. You probably have pretty strong insulin resistance, and your body is adapting to your habits.

You can read through all the ways people here have broken stalls, and also a lot of people will tell you just to persist and stay on-plan and eventually you'll start losing again. That particular prescription is not good for someone like me who gets upset that all that hard work is getting me no results (yes, I know, there are other benefits -- but I really want to lose weight). But, persistence may work for you if you can handle it.

Anyway, it's up to your own personal preference if you want to try things like going down in carbs, rigorously checking your intake, getting rid of dairy, artificial sweeteners, adding fat, lowering fat, etc. etc. Apparently some things work for some and not others -- so it's experimentation I believe.

Personally, I tried all that about 10 years ago and nothing worked -- I just stopped losing weight even in strong ketosis and under 20 carbs. Just stopped for months. I didn't have the resolve to stick with it and gave up, so I decided I needed to be more aggressive. It just boggled my mind that I could need to lose over 100 pounds, eat so few carbs, and still no weight loss, and in fact, I even gained a few pounds for awhile there.

Now I realize that my primary goal is to access those fat stores, and only lowering my insulin will make that happen. But, as someone who has been obese all of her adult life (and overweight as a child), it is probably true that my basal insulin level starts out at a much higher level, and that is hard to counteract just with being in ketosis, eating fat, and sticking to a very strict plan.

Recently I've had success with intermittent fasting, but I know that's not for everyone. I've even read that a few people don't lose weight with fasting either. So I'm prepared that my body might also try to adapt to that -- so I'm actually not on a regular schedule and eat some days, and others not -- but nothing regimented. I'm also going to add some exercise during the times I'm fasting to encourage my body that it really needs to get it's energy from it's own fat stores.

Anyway, sorry for the long story, but I just want people to know that they aren't crazy when they do everything right, and still don't lose weight. It's not really fair, but I am looking for a way to conquer this life-long weight problem -- and I think it can be done. I look to the many people here who are in maintenance for my inspiration.

I started this over a year ago. To many stalls to count. Just keep going. I have learned this needs to be a lifestyle- patience and persistence is everything. It gets even more difficult as we push to goal, just keep going... IF is great for the body, don't force the fat if you have a lot of fat on your body to burn for energy. I have changed how I eat lately focusing on a bit more veggies and keeping protein very low, although my carbs each day are still under 20 net, I have a huge salad each day if I am not fasting. That seems to have jump started things again. I think I was perhaps eating to much protein which I am thinking for me was causing stalls. Protein from eggs/bacon in moderation are better options for keeping bs down so the body will tap into it's own fat stores. Once I cut way back on protein and started eating more salad and healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil salad dressing I make at home, feels like my body is burning it's own fat much easier. Scale isn't moving super fast but it's finally moving again. I am extremely insulin resistant so I have had to really tweak things throughout this whole process to find where my sweet spot is in this woe. As I have lost the weight, I also find my body doesn't really need all that many calories in a day. IF taught me how to really tap into what real hunger feels like. Also, even if the scale isn't moving, don't let that get you down because for some reason you will see it in your clothing even if the scale isn't budging a whole lot. I never thought I would see a size small or medium again and I'm at that point, just keep pushing forward and hang in there.

Thanks for the thoughts, katmeyster and mten2015. I will keep plugging away at this...

just another opinion. but I have a few thoughts. One is that we all talk about water but I got to tell you more water will often break a stall. I mean a lot like a gallon or more a day.

Dr A used to tell people to do a fat fast for a few days. that was days. It was cream cheese and macadamia nuts. look it up very effective for many. In the original atkins plan you went below 20 got two weeks and then increased by five grams a week until wl stopped then went down 5 and you should be losing. 30 may be a bad number for you.

motion is huge. Im not talking about exercise but get your body in motion helps.
just some ideas. I am old timer lc and a newbie to IF. I'm liking the IF

You are right Kat, for many of us it's about keeping blood glucose very low. This past week, I really focused on taking 2 tbsp braggs vinegar before each meal. My meals have consisted of huge salad (and I mean huge) with avocado, lettuce, spinach, tomato, cucumber, cheese and plenty of olive oil dressing made at home. I have had very little to no meat, kept enjoying my coffee with HWC and diet soda, makng sure I get plenty of sleep and wowza 5 lbs down! It's hard for me to tell if it's the lack of meat or adding in the vinegar that helped me get through a stall but hey I will keep doing this and see if it helps me reach my first goal quicker. Once I get to my stated goal, I am going to lower that number as my real desired number is about 135 lbs.
Eric Berg had a rather enlightening video on youtube breakthrough any weight loss stall beyond low carbs. Shed some real light for me.

I hadn't heard of drinking a ton of water. I could definitely try that...couldn't hurt.

I have heard of the fat fast and I decided I'd wait two more weeks and then try it if my weight hasn't gone down at all. I guess 4-6 weeks is considered a stall and I haven't quite hit 6 weeks.

I'm going to try drinking more water right away, though. Thanks.

if you got back on july 5th, and it's aug 25th- it has been about 8 weeks? And you lost about 10 pounds from 184 to 174-175?
So that is over a pound a week. I know it might feel slow, but that is a great rate. keep it up! and stay on plan.
i would NOT encourage you to fat fast- you have already faced a derailment for over a month. why pick something much more restrained and extreme and difficult? i think you are setting yourself up to binge with a 1000 kcal/day diet. Not to mention, fat fast was ONLY designed for people in a true stall, which you are nowhere close to meeting requirements for, if you are losing 1 pound a week.

so just keep on, keepin' on. you will get there.

(Robin, I lost the eight pounds I had regained really fast after starting July 5, and then that's when the stall happened.)

Probably the quick weight you lost was mostly water. A high carbs diet attaches a lot of water to your body. Going back to low carb, most of it was jettisoned. Now as you lose weight it'll be fat, not water.

thank you, Nancy. i meant to include that because you were off plan then returned, you go through typical 3 week "stall" again as body depleted glycogen stores, then refilled water stores, while fat is still being burned.

Oh interesting. I did go through that stall soon after induction the first time, and I hadn't thought about it happening again. Thanks for the thoughts.

Phoenix, it doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong now. I have done many different diets in my life and find if I change or go off program it takes my body a bit to get used to the change. I suspect if you stay low carb now, you will see some slow loss going forward. Slow is good. Stick with it. If the stall continues, consider some intermittent fasting. I am finding my appetite is so small now that breakfast is an easy skip and it seems to be helping given my insulin resistance. It's rare thst I skip dinner, but tonight I just wasn't hungry, so didn't eat. Follow your hunger when low carb.