Breaking Stalls and Plateaux Part 3

by | Jul 30, 2012 | Exercise, Fat Loss, Sensible Eating, Stalls and Plateaux | 0 comments

So, you’ve been on your diet or a while now – but the weight is no longer coming off.

It’s OK… You just stalled or hit a plateau

Whatever you do don’t worry as in nearly every case, it is avoidable and in all cases it is possible to overcome the stall, plateau or whatever else you want to call it.

In the last part of this three part series, I’m going to give you a checklist of things to go through and outline the three most effective ways of kick-starting your diet and getting you back on track to phenomenal fat loss. Guaranteed!

Do go through Part 1 and Part 2 first as you do need to know which one – or more – of the many different things that can halt weight loss is affecting you personally

Marks Check List

Things to do when the weight loss slow down.

  1. Don’t give up.
  2. Be positive.  At least there is no three-fold gains
    (weight, measurements and volume) and if you are in ketosis, you are still losing fat
  3. Stick to your plan. It’s there for a reason, don’t ‘do it my way’
  4. Check EXACTLY what you eat. Don’t use net carbs – it’s a marketing con – so count them all
  5. Check labelling for protein content and remember the law allows up to 140% error – also check portion size. It might relate to only one square of chocolate not the whole bar.
  6. Always allow a few days for change to take effect.
  7. Change or begin exercise routine
  8. Take supplements.
  9. Check calories. Do make sure you are not eating too much and not eating too little.
  10. Get enough sleep. A rested body works far better than a tired one.
  11. Don’t cheat. Ever.
  12. Are you staying in ketosis (Well derrr)
  13. Eat little and often to even out blood sugar levels and stop insulin rebound
  14. Avoid alcohol. There are a surprising amount of carbs even in spirits, and don’t forget alcohol stimulates the production of insulin
  15. Reduce carbs even further. This has been mentioned in the text.
  16. Check mineral levels.
  17. Make sure you have adequate levels of salt, potassium, zinc and copper.  Enough to allow your body to work properly, but not too much as to cause water retention.
  18. Avoid food additives – like the plague. These are known to cause a number of reactions interfering with the smooth working of the body. This can lead to a difficulty in losing weight.
  19. Cut down/cut out tea and coffee and caffeine added drinks like cola, red bull etc. These stimulate the release of insulin which as you know is the ‘get fat’ hormone
  20. Cut down or quit smoking – Smoking may reduce your appetite but it also uses up vitamin C and  stimulates adrenal gland
  21. Take note of your calories.
  22. Check your Fat, Protein and Carb ratio. For many low carb diets this is typically 33:55:12% by weight.
  23. For the zone diet it is 40:30:30.  Whichever diet you are following you should know what this is. (Note Atkins does not use this, particularly during induction)
  24. Make sure you are having enough fibre.
  25. Check for general health problems and especially yeast infection, candidas etc
  26. Are you eating enough different lowcarb foods to keep your interest high.
  27. Check that you are eating enough protein and fat and in the right proportions
  28. Check you are not eating transfats or otherwise hydrogenated fats.
  29. Take MSM supplement to make the transfer of fat and water out of the body more efficient

Stall Buster 1

It could not be easier – Just go back to induction levels. It’s very simple and works for many folk like a dream.

Stall Buster 2 (Condensed version)

Do these in the order they are given:

  • Make sure you are following the plan and not doing your own thing
  • Change how you eat – Eat little and often by dividing your intake into 4 – 6 servings spread throughout the day.
  • Check your Carb Intake properly.  Account for and include anything you would normally not include, like fibre.  Do NOT use net con carbs – use the actual carb amounts.
    • This will give you a true picture of the real amount of carbs and calories you are eating.
  • Using the accounting method above, adjust your carb intake to 15 – 20 gm below your critical carb amount  (if you know it) or better to the same level you used for your induction phase.
  • Check you calorie intake.

Work out how many calories you are consuming using the following table.
Compare these against your gender and activity level to see if you are consuming too many or too few. There is a more comprehensive online calculator on the Low Carb and Atkins Monthly website.
www.lowcarbandatkins.com
As a very approximate guide, use the following:  Simply multiply your weight in pounds by the relevant multiplier

Food Type Quantity of food Multiplier Total each line
Amount of Protein grams X4
Amount of Fat grams  X9
Amount of Carbs grams  X3.75
Amount of Alcohol grams  X7
  Total Calories

 

 

 

 

 

So, for example, if you are male weighing 170lb having moderate exercise your calorie intake would need to be around 2635 per day for maintenance.
If it’s too high either reduce carbs more or change to eating more protein and fat but without eating too many calories for your body type and activity level.
If it’s too low, increase Protein and fat proportionally to get the level of calories you need.

Multiply Your Weight by the figure below
Activity Level Women Men
Sedentry 12 13
Light Exerciser 13 14
Moderate Exerciser 14 15.5
Mod to Heavy Exerciser 15 16.5
Heavy but Regular Exerciser 16 18

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Calorie needs will vary greatly according to many things, including: gender, age, height, level of activity, body fat percentage and type of food eaten. This is just a simple guide to see if anything is amiss.

In addition to the above:

  • Take exercise opportunities like using the stairs instead of the elevator etc.
  • Do muscle building exercise.
  • Earn your appetite by before dinner walks etc.

Stall Buster 3

The MFP.   Meat, Fish and Poultry Regime.

This is a very simple diet. For two weeks eat only Meat, Fish and Poultry, and a few high fibre veggies. BUT make sure it is home cooked or in the very least additive and carb free.  Don’t use processed meat from the deli as this is full of sugars, fillers, additives and other nasties.

You may want to prepare some snacks a day or two prior to starting, such as home cooked chicken or turkey pieces. When they are cooked, cut them into snack size pieces and leave in a suitable package in the cooler. Also, make up some home made mayo. Divide it into three portions, have one as natural, add curry powder to another and crushed garlic, salt and pepper to the last one. Keep these covered and use them as dips on your meat etc.

The fish should be un-breaded, cooked according to any of the many recipes suitable for induction.
You can allow yourself one or two (max) eggs each day too. Again you could hard boil some in advance for ease when the munchies come.
If you’re not already in ketosis, make the first few days high fat days. (Meat cooked with lots of butter sauces etc to encourage your body to go into ketosois a little quicker.)
Make sure you take proper mineral, Vitamin (and fibre if you need it)  supplements for your body’s needs and above all drink lots of fluid – water preferred.

So hopefully, even from this short resume of causes and solutions you will understand that any stall, plateau or slow down in FAT LOSS is not the end of the world.  In fact it’s just a call to action for you to take charge of your health once again.

Breaking Stalls and Plateaux Part 2

by | Jun 24, 2012 | Exercise, Fat Loss, Stalls and Plateaux | 0 comments

During the Low Carb weight loss journey, many dieters experiences a slowing down or a halt in weight loss.

The good news is that in nearly every case, it is avoidable and in all cases it is possible to overcome the stall, plateau or whatever else you want to call it.

In this three part series, I go over most over the most comprehensive list of things that can cause your at/weight loss to tail off and in the last part I’ll give you three ways that you can use to bust a stall or plateau… Guaranteed!

Part Two – 16 Ways you can Sabotage Your Weight Loss Plans

A Bored body.

Even if you are exercising and have reached a plateaux, this could well be a sign that you’re now not exercising enough. Simply put, your strength and stamina levels have reached a point where you are in fact cruising through your exercise session and it’s not causing you to even break into a sweat.  This will start to have the same effect as no exercise.
This is most evident for folk doing aerobic or low impact exercise. The best type of exercise for fat loss on a low carb regime (in fact for any regime) is one which ‘makes’ muscle. That has to be resistance training or weight lifting. That’s because this type of exercise is the only really effective way of building muscle. There are so many advantages in doing this. Not the least of which is you are getting a much better tone and body shape.  Better muscle tone improves the posture and makes skin ‘hang’ better. Look at anyone in the gym and see which bodies look better. As this improves, so will self-esteem and also you will find daily tasks so much easier as you have the strength to do them.

Not Enough Water.

You’ve heard it before I’m sure. Your body uses liquid to fulfil all of its functions. Without adequate fluid levels everything slows down and that includes metabolising and eliminating fat.  Remember, too, our requirement for adequate levels of liquid are increased if we are in dry or warm environments.  And lastly, you remember that you can see the excess fat excreted – floating on the water after you pee.  Well, to get the fat out of your body and into the bowl, you have to wash it through with something.  In a nutshell ketosis does not work without adequate amounts of water.
Now you will also have heard that you have to drink the magic 64 oz per day. Well, up to a point it is true that more is certainly better than less, but not all of that must be water. Teas, especially herbal ones can count too (but watch out for the fruit teas as they may have higher carb levels!).  The watchwords here are your beverages must be carb AND calorie free. See later for beverages.

Medications.

So many medications are just set to stop weight loss either by slowing down metabolism, or otherwise interfering with the body’s processes.  First on the list are diet pills (often just cause you to flush water); appetite suppressants (make you not eat enough); or anything that promises instant weight loss. (Many of these are filled with starchy fillers that just add to the problem).  Diuretics are again a major cause of stalls particularly if you are in ketosis simply due to the body not having enough fluid to complete the process.

Not so obvious maybe are meds designed to lower cholesterol. (e.g. Clofibrate)  They have just the reverse effect as they inhibit the liver’s ability to convert fat to glycogen, slowing down fat burning. Did I mention the side effects?

How many of you can testify that you put on weight when you started to take the pill? Similarly, oestrogen, HRT pills, steroids, cortisone, seizure medication, will all cause weight gain.
Aspirin slows down the metabolism and is know to cause hypoglycaemia.  I still wonder why they prescribe it for heart attack victims who need to lose fat. Other pain control pills like Acetaminophen, panadol and etc.

Others to be aware of are amphetamines, anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, antihistamines, anticoagulants, analgesics and tranquillisers.  Drugs like propanolol (used for angina) cause the metabolism to slow down.

If you take insulin or use oral diabetic medication then you can expect to see greater fat storage as fat burning slows down or stops altogether. (See Thomas Smiths excellent article on diabetes in the last issue)
But remember to consult your medical practitioner before making any changes to your prescribed medicines. That said, make sure your medical practitioner knows about these things as many don’t and merely trot out the stuff sold to them by the pharmaco’s. You won’t be able to convince them either, so if they’re not knowledgeable get another practitioner before the one you have kills you.  (Sounds dramatic but sadly there is truth in that)

Food Sensitivity.

Of the main food groups allowed on Low Carb diet, Dairy products such as cheese can cause quite a problem with stalling.  The first reason may be a simple one – processed food often contain added sugars and starchy fillers. The second reason you can get problems with these is a common allergy to the casein in cow’s milk. (This can often be triggered by the shocking amount of antibiotics and other growth hormones present in modern milk supplies – but whatever you do – don’t switch to soy milk).
Other common food allergies are from wheat and wheat gluten, corn, soy, eggs (Particularly the white and more from battery hens than free range).

Chinese Food.

The high levels of MSG found in Chinese restaurant food is known to cause many gastric disturbances. It’s also directly linked to obesity. (Not to mention the other side effects, some of which are shocking)

For all the above, use a food elimination method to find your particular culprit.

Using Net Carbs.

This has got to be the biggest scam to hit the low carb world since the diet first became popular.  It’s not so much that the science is wrong – one way or another everything, even fibre, is metabolised to some extent by the body and this differs from person to person.  Also, much is made about the spike using the glycomic index as a way of giving credibility to the method.  If the GI or spike mattered one iota, then Dr Atkins et al would have given carb levels for each meal or snack. Instead they all, almost without exception, set daily targets of so many grams.
Manufacturers have betrayed the consumer by tricks and stealth to kid us that because ‘xyz’ ingredient has such a low glycomic index it need not be counted.
I’ve said it before and here again.  They are lying and spreading those lies as if they were gospel and conning the public and professionals alike.  Don’t fall for it.  Count all carbs and you won’t go wrong.

Take a look at a sample taken from a nameless producer. The snack bar has a big 2g decal on it so you would be forgiven for thinking that it only has 2 grams of carbs.  But when you view the info you can see that the actual carbs are 17grams for the bar. If you’re on induction, that’s nearly all your daily allowance gone in two mouthfulls.  Tellingly, if you add up the fat, carbs and protein – the amounts come some 7 grams short of the whole bar’s weight.  My question is: where have they gone and what are these ingredients anyway?

Also, I have a big problem with the ingredients as they are listed.  Soy protein is at the top of the list – not my idea of a healthy food (See Kaala Daniels article in December’s Low Carb and Atkins Magazine or better still, read her book).
Also fibre cannot be automatically taken away, as many folk do metabolise fibre to some extent.

Wrong Type of Food.

Obvious, but often overlooked. Make sure you know what you are eating. The more processed a food is, the less healthy it is going to be. It will have more fillers, additives, flavour enhancers and the like, all of which may well cause you problems.  There is a growing understanding that it is important to eat food right for your type.  More on that later.

Post Induction Stall.

The most common type of stall and one that can, in most cases, be avoided if you know it’s a possibility. Firstly, apart from a couple of things I’ll mention later, this is not so much a stall but more a change in the way the body is handling your new diet and weight loss regime. It has in effect sensed that the food it is getting in is going to be something it will have to cope with permanently.

By now you should have understood that a lot of your initial 3 – 5 lb (1.5 – 2.5 Kg) weight loss on induction was water being removed from your body simply because you were using up your store of glycogen (glucose that’s used for instant energy stored within the muscle and liver).  For every gram of glucogen there are three grams of water stored with it, so when you use up the glucogen the water has to go too. Once this convenient store of energy has gone the body then starts metabolising fat using the process of lypolysis and gluconeogenisis (See note)

The good news is that you ARE burning fat!
The reason for this is straightforward and is a function of the way the body uses fat cells for water storage and the way that fat cells work themselves.

As I said earlier, when you start an LC diet your first losses are glucogen then fat, as ketosis kicks in, and a lot of water. This water loss can fool the body into thinking it is dehydrating and as a result of that it starts to hold on to all the water it can.  This has two results.  The first is that the metabolism slows down and the second is the processes which are causing fat loss slow down too.

But listen, you are still burning fat all the time your body is in ketosis – it does not have a choice.

Now here’s more good news. Each of us has a natural, personal ratio of fat, muscle and water. And as your body senses the change in that relationship, given the chance, it will tend to get back its own ideal ratio and soon will start to let go of the excess water too. (Note when we are fat this ratio is distorted so it will need a time for retraining). Also, each of us has a natural limit to the amount or rate of fat removal we can healthily sustain. Our bodies will determine that for us.

So one way to help this change of phase pass quickly is to drink more liquid (non diuretic ones) and exercise.  The liquid will help overcome the body’s sense of dehydration and provide the much needed fluid to aid the body’s processes.  The exercise will help build muscle and bring about a more rapid return to that ideal ratio.

Body Changing Speed.

When you’re on a lowcarb diet, think of the changes you are asking of your body. First, you’ve taken away it’s reserves of instant energy (the glucogen), then you’ve made it start to burn fat, turn that into amino acids and then convert that into glucose. You may even have started to exercise. All these are a good thing. But the body is just reacting to these things forced upon it, so don’t be surprised if it takes time to regroup and adjust to the new way of being. The point here is not to allow that to take too long. Go through the check list and make sure you’re not allowing new bad habits to settle into the place of the old ones. The secret here is to not let your body get too comfortable or set in its ways (And believe me it will whenever it gets the chance) – but rather set your body new limits and tasks.

Brain Body Link.

Undoubtedly, your mind is your most valiant ally, or your most vile foe. Many serious scientific trials have shown just how effective the brain is at telling the body what’s what. This is the same for all of us eating lowcarb to lose or maintain an ideal weight.
The first thing is to have a good, clear and complete set of positive goals written down. The part of our mind that helps us achieve does not really understand negativity so all goals should be in the form of positive statements. i.e:  Not “I want to lose 30 lb”,  But “I will be lean and fit into my size 10 dress!”  Not “I will not eat high carbohydrate food” It’s far better to use “I will eat good nutritious high protein food”.

The second is to obliterate the possibility that failure is acceptable and keep telling yourself that.
Though it might sound daft, tell yourself every day just what you want your body to be doing. You will be surprised how much difference this makes.

Commercial Foods.

The bane of lowcarbers. You cannot dictate exactly what ingredients are used in these ‘foods’, and remember they are made by commercial companies in order to make a profit – a maximum profit. Ostensibly there is nothing wrong in that, except when through avarice they start to use whatever cheap ingredients the law allows – whether or not it is truly healthy – just to maximise their profit.  Once they have got to this stage they will stoop to whatever depths they have to in order to get you to buy them, even if it means not being too friendly with the truth about the carb contents, protein contents, fat type and contents or what artificial poison (oops, sorry) sweetener they are using. And it doesn’t matter whose name is on the packet either.  You are going to stall if you eat commercially made low carb food – guaranteed.

My Way of Eating.

All good low carbers stick to the plan. It takes lots of experience to go off plan and is not recommended. When you start deciding that ‘well, I’ve been good, I deserve a treat now’, that could be your undoing.  It won’t be long before that piece of pie you allowed yourself at the weekend becomes a piece of pie every day.  Or that Friday night ice cream becomes a regular nightly feature of your eating routine.

To make any plan work – you have to work the plan – it is that simple.  So if you know you have been having the odd deviation from the low carb straight and narrow, stop it before it gets to be a habit. The experience of thousands of LCer’s is that one slip from the path will lead to a slide down the mountain.  No matter what the justification, no matter how much you kid yourself that you deserve it, that little ‘treat’ won’t do you any good. The best reward you can have is success and that means sticking to your chosen plan.

Not the Right Plan?

More as an aside here. We are all individuals and there are many Lowcarb plans. You owe it to yourself to investigate them all. It may be that the plan you chose initially is not the best one for you. At least by finding out about other plans you will have more information upon which to base yourself and make your plans. In diet and in everything else, knowledge is empowering.  Get empowered!

Yes, you do deserve a reward.  But in truth your reward should be more than something that you know is not going to be good for you. Why not make a nice dessert or a cosy meal for two for your reward and share it with someone special. Go out to the cinema or theatre. Make your reward something really special – you owe that to yourself and to your continued success.

Weekend Off.

There are a few individuals who can lowcarb during the week and take the weekend off – but they are the exception who effectively are losing weight as the amount they eat over the whole week measured by calories is  slightly less than they are using up.  In addition to be successful in this way, they will normally have a faster metabolism too. When anyone with a normal or sluggish metabolism tries the same thing it is a certain recipe for disaster. Considering it can take up to 2 or 3 days for some to get into ketosis (and for some, that’s a struggle too), then effectively the amount of days you are burning and losing fat amounts to about 3 days a week. That’s a very poor result and of course you have to use every ounce of will power to start again each week. This is not recommended in any way. The whole idea of a LowCarb diet is to keep blood sugar levels and fat burning process consistent, the Lowcarb way of eating trains the body to get used to the LC lifestyle and make the best use of the quality food you consume. To suddenly yoyo back to high carb is both a shock and unnecessary stress to the system and will be the cause of greater fat growth than fat loss. (See the side note on Insulin and glucogen to see why)

Splenda.

Not a carb nor calorie free sweetener. In the very few human trials done before FDA approval with, would you believe, less than 30 people, some of the testees absorbed ALL the sweetener.  That meant they were metabolising it. The average absorption (extrapolating the results from animal trials) is believed to be around 15%.  As that’s an average, some people will obviously absorb more.  If you are using it, then count at least one gram carb for every two grams sweetener.  Also remember that the bit that’s not sugar must be something else.  In this case it ends up being definitely carby.  But please note I am not recommending you use it, as its safety is unproven over the long term and there are many people who have had severe and dangerous reactions to it.  Not the least of the problems in my book, is that it is very likely to cause a stall.

Gained Weight.

Again don’t panic, particularly if it’s just a pound or two.  If measurements and volumes have remained the same then you’re still in the game. The most normal reason why our weight fluctuates is due to water gains and losses. And don’t forget, when your exercise routine is effective, you will be making muscle and this weighs more than fat for the same volume.

For ladies, then things like hormonal fluctuations can make quite a difference to weight. One thing to remember is that scales never tell the truth.

Four Questions to Successful Fat Lose

by | May 26, 2012 | Fat Loss, Questions about low carb, Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Here’s four things to take care of which will further guarantee your successful fat lose.

1. Questions

Many folk fail to ask themselves why they want to lose fat. By not asking detailed enough questions, you fall victim to only giving yourself vague reasons and vague goals. If you don’t know exactly where the goal is you will find it almost impossible to score.

2. Quantity

Make sure you absolutely know how much you should be eating for your activity level, and body size. (Height and frame type). Eating too little can be as self-defeating as eating too much.

The other quantities you absolutely must know are the size and weight you want to be when you reach your target. Notice that was size and weight. The most important of these is actually the size you want to be, as your weight can be influenced by the type of exercise you do to help achieve your goal.

3. Quality

You really are what you eat. People who eat junk and processed food on a consistent basis really do have lower health levels than those who take full responsibility for what they put into their bodies.

Just have a look at the long list of preservative and taste enhancers that you find on the ingredients list of commercially produced food.

The only way you can almost guarantee not to be slowly poisoned by them is to prepare your food from quality, fresh and preferably organically sourced ingredients. Which for the most part need not cost any more if you do you shopping wisely.

4. Quitting

In a word… Don’t

Churchill’s admonition to never, never, never give up was spot on particularly for those in the battle against the bulge.

That seemingly weeks going by with no movement in the scales does not mean your overall condition is not improving either.

Breaking Stalls and Plateaux

by | May 20, 2012 | Fat Loss, Sensible Eating, Stalls and Plateaux | 0 comments

At some point during the Low Carb weight loss journey, nearly everyone experiences a slowing down or a halt in weight loss.

It’s almost as if it’s part of the right of passage, something that you just have to go through.

Well, first of all let me give you some good news and say that in many cases the slow down is avoidable and in all cases it is possible to overcome the stall, plateau or whatever else you want to call it.

In this three part series, I go over most over the most comprehensive list of things that can cause your at/weight loss to tail off and in the last part I’ll give you three ways that you can use to bust a stall or plateau… Guaranteed!

Part One

First off, let’s discuss exactly what a stall is and set some ground rules.

You can consider yourself in a stall if neither your weight, body measurements, nor body volume has not shown any change for a minimum of 4 weeks.  That said, if you have not had any change for two weeks, at least start the investigation process as to what may be the likely cause of the stall.  Quite simply, if it is something simple and you make changes that cause the weight and measurements to move in the right direction, then sooner is always better than later, particularly for your own encouragement.  And if it is something simple then why wait another two weeks?

That brings us to the first of the ground rules.

Ground Rules

99% of us diet not to lose weight.  In truth we are dieting to lose excess FAT.  That is a very important distinction.

Never forget – You do not want to lose weight -you want to lose excess FAT FAT FAT.

Another important thing to remember at all times is:-

The scales are not your friend. They are no more accurate at measuring your fat loss as your horoscope is about your day to day finances.

The second ground rule is one on how to start any diet properly. (And if you haven’t done this, do it today)

When you begin any diet, and particularly an LC diet, first thing in the morning before you eat you should record the following:

  • Your weight.
  • Your body measurements:
    • Waist,
    • Chest,
    • both upper arms at the largest part,
    • both thighs at the largest part,
    • both calves at the largest part and
    • around the neck.
  • Body volume.
    • You can get this done professionally at a health centre or gym that has the equipment for the purpose, or if you don’t want the hassle of that, choose a pair of trousers and a top that are a bit tight or better still one or two sizes too small and try to put them on and note how far up you can get them. Keep them together on a hanger in your wardrobe as you will use them often.

On the day you start your diet and then only every seven days after,  weigh, measure and try on the clothes and MAKE A NOTE of all the weights, measurements and just where you could struggle to get the trousers etc to.

If all of these three types of measurement have NOT changed in the past 4 weeks running, it’s time to consider you may be in a stall.  If only two have remained stable, then the good news is you’re not in a stall. And there is no cause for alarm.

Even if all three have stayed the same for a number of weeks – anything less than 4 weeks running is just a temporary stall and could be considered a good thing, as it is most likely your body is adjusting its function to suit your new lifestyle and way of eating.  And despite all appearances, you will still be losing fat especially if you remain in ketosis.

The other important thing to remember is that you are dieting only to

IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH.

You have made these changes to become slimmer, leaner and healthier again.
The fact that you will lose weight is a by-product of the main process.

Now I very boldly said that most stalls can be avoided.  We can see that most clearly by looking at the things which cause stalls.

Frankly speaking, these can be divided into three categories.

  • Food intake – the type of food you are eating and the amount
  • Body functions – Just what your body is doing at this particular stage of your diet.
  • Outside causes – allergies, sweeteners, alcohol, medications – it’s a long list.

Some of the causes of stalls

The actual thing, or number of things, that is causing your stall may be one of the following.  Let’s discuss them one at a time.  Although that may be a bit difficult as many are interlinked.

Too Many Carbs.

Yes it can be as simple as that. Some people have the type of metabolism that requires that they need maybe as few as 10gms of carbs a day to get into ketosis and not many more to remain there. Whilst others can continue to lose while consuming as much as 80 to 100 grams daily.

Too Many Calories.

Barry Sears of Zone fame hits it squarely on the head when he rightly maintains that it not just carbs you have to watch, but also calories too. There is a widely held misconception that calories don’t count when in fact it’s obvious they do. If you are not using more calories than you are consuming, they don’t just magically disappear. They do in fact get metabolised by the body and are stored for the future as FAT. It is worth remembering that even Dr Atkins did not say calories didn’t count.  He actually said carbs count more than calories. There is a difference and it is an important one.

Hidden Carbs.

Even if you conscientiously count every carb you eat, the annoying part is that you will be eating more than you bargained for.  There are a number of reasons for this. The first is that the labels on the food don’t always tell the truth.  Manufacturers are allowed a margin of error of 140%, that can mean that there could be nearly half as many more carbs than you might think in some foods, snacks or ingredients.  Also, in many countries, the labelling laws allow a rounding down of ingredients.  So 0.99 of a gram of carbs could in fact be recorded on the label as 0 grams.  It would not take many like that to add up to many more grams of carbs in the day.

Then there are the carbs hidden away in condiments and seasonings and so forth.  Stop, look at the label.  Even if they are not listed many will contain more carbs than you might think.  (See info block right)

Not Eating Enough.

Not so obvious this one, but true enough.  When we don’t eat enough, our bodies go into what could be best described as starvation mode. Here the body tries to hang on to everything it can, so it uses every trick it can to hold on to its store of emergency rations.

Not Enough Protein.

This is vital particularly if you combine exercise with your diet. (In fact a high protein diet combined with proper exercise is a sure way of losing fat. There is a study by the University of Illinois that confirms this). This works so well because a protein diet contains a high level of Leucine which working together with insulin help stimulate protein synthesis in muscles. The extra protein reduces muscle loss while the low carbs result in low insulin, allows fat to be burnt.  Simple really.

Over Eating.

So obvious it’s often overlooked.  Low carb ethos of ‘eat until you’re satisfied’ is often interpreted by some as eat until you’re stuffed.  A sure fire way of not losing weight.  You can never get past the equation energy from food in (calories in)  – energy used by the body (calories out) = the direction of weight movement.

Eating Only Once a Day.

This has two effects. The first is that the body gets the message that food is scarce so goes into starvation (fat retention) mode. The second is that because you get so hungry by the time you eat then you are inclined to over-eat and by eating so much the blood sugar levels go high, too much insulin is produced and the cycle of metabolising food to fat starts all over again. This is often compounded by the fact that many who eat only once a day eat at the end of the day too close to bed time, and all that food has nothing to do except be turned to fat.

No Exercise.

The body can only build muscle if there is a demand to do so.  If you don’t exercise while you eat the same quantity of food, you have in effect reached a stalemate.  Firstly, by exercising, you will feel a lot better by getting active and making the body work as it’s meant to. Secondly, your metabolism will be increased causing more fat to be burnt. Thirdly, as your muscles use energy to move, so fat burning will increase.

Whats to Come…

Well, if you have not found a likely culprit in any o those listed above then the nxt part may be just what you’re looking for… Would you believe I have identified 16 more products, foods and reasons why your weight-loss may have stalled.

Stay tuned…