Type 2 Weight Loss On Lchf Stagnant

[kamsamji]

Hi guys,
Been doing LCHF since Feb and managed to lose 3st and bring my HbA1c down from 6.8 to 5.9 (41mmol) - but I've hit a wall on the weight loss at 16st 12lbs. I'm eating the same as I have since I started - limiting my carbs to under 30g - and haven't touched bread, pasta, potatoes or any of the obvious ones since Feb. Ketones show around 0.4 and have peaked at 0.6. BG is never above 6 whenever I test 2 hours after eating.
All in all, I'm happy with my overall progress - but I need to lose more weight. Any suggestions? Do I need to do Newcastle Diet to kick start it all again?

 

[bulkbiker]

How many times a day are you eating?
How long has you weight loss been stalled for?
You have certainly are having great success I'd be ecstatic as it presumably took a lot longer than 5 months to gain weight and Type 2?

 

[kamsamji]

How many times a day are you eating?
How long has you weight loss been stalled for?
You have certainly are having great success I'd be ecstatic as it presumably took a lot longer than 5 months to gain weight and Type 2?

Usually 3 times a day - but occasionally skip brekkie. Typical Lunch is generally salad (spinach, watercress etc), chicken thighs with skin. Sometimes, mozzarella instead of chicken. Evening is similar.
I am very happy with the progress, don't get me wrong - but I still have 3 stone to lose - but have maintained for about 2 months now.

 

[bulkbiker]

Usually 3 times a day - but occasionally skip brekkie. Typical Lunch is generally salad (spinach, watercress etc), chicken thighs with skin. Sometimes, mozzarella instead of chicken. Evening is similar.
I am very happy with the progress, don't get me wrong - but I still have 3 stone to lose - but have maintained for about 2 months now.

My way of restarting weight loss has always been a bit of fasting. Maybe try skipping one meal (I don't have breakfast for example) and just eating twice a day. You might find this will give you a kick start although it does sound as if you aren't eating much. Do you monitor calories at all? You might want to eat a bit more when you do eat but do it in a smaller window of time... say between 1 and 7 pm or whatever suits your lifestyle. If you feel up to it then maybe try nothing for 24 hours and see how that goes.

 

[kamsamji]

My way of restarting weight loss has always been a bit of fasting. Maybe try skipping one meal (I don't have breakfast for example) and just eating twice a day. You might find this will give you a kick start although it does sound as if you aren't eating much. Do you monitor calories at all? You might want to eat a bit more when you do eat but do it in a smaller window of time... say between 1 and 7 pm or whatever suits your lifestyle. If you feel up to it then maybe try nothing for 24 hours and see how that goes.

Ok, cheers, I will try that. If anything I thought I might be eating too much! I don't' monitor calories, as I've not had to since I started - the weight just fell off! I'll try a fast and smaller window.

 

[bulkbiker]

Ok, cheers, I will try that. If anything I thought I might be eating too much! I don't' monitor calories, as I've not had to since I started - the weight just fell off! I'll try a fast and smaller window.

Yeah I wouldn't start monitoring calories if you haven't.. sounds like what I did. Changed what I ate and lost lots.. I have had 3 plateaus on the way down and went through 2 by doing a bit of extended fasting. The third has kind of stuck for the past 18 months so while i'm much happier at this weight it's still more than I really want to be but.... my body seems to have different thoughts.

 

[Brunneria]

Thing is, lchf works as an automatic weight loss tool for a lot of people, partly through food reduction and partly through reducing insulin resistance. But there are some (many?) for whom it doesn’t work that way. As far as i can tell we only lose weight until we hit our level of insulin resistance. At that point weight loss seems to stall.

The greater our insulin resistance, the quicker the stall happens.
The lower our insulin resistance, the easier it is for the weight to melt away.

So anything that reduces insulin resistance should help break a stall. Exercise, fasting, cutting carbs further, even introducing Metformin into the mix may help.

Personally, I refuse to lower my food intake beyond a certain point. I won’t risk lowering my metabolism by going very low calorie, so i won’t eat less than i consider necessary to maintain adequate nutrition in the long run. In fact I would rather stay obese than teach my body to manage on too few calories which will then encourage it to rebound weight gain and food cravings later.

On the other hand, I want to eliminate my insulin resistance, and am happy to do so by severe carb restriction, moderate exercise and intermittent fasting.

 

[Terrytiddy]

Hi @kamsamji well done so far with weight loss. Like you I have more weight to loose I took 3 stone off in 10 weeks of starting LCHF. I was doing 18/6 fasting everyday. No food after 20.00 till 14.00 next day with only black tea, coffee and water during fast. I was having 15 -20grm's of carbs a day. My blood glucose came down from 16.6 to 4.9 average over 30 days. I have now gone onto 23/1 fasting every day and cut my carbs down to 5gms or less. I've got my diabetes MOT tomorrow so will see what weight and HbA1c come back at. Good luck with your progress keep us informed.

 

[Moggely]

I started the lchf in February as well and like you lost a lot of weight, in fact I really don't need to lose anymore and seems my body doesn't either as I have stalled for a month so far. I really just need to maintain it. I tried the fasting twice now and though I didn't do to badly on it it's not something I really want to do as i felt a bit unwell. Good luck. You've done so very well so far and you will probably still lose regardless only it's likely to be slower which I think is better in the long run.

 

[bamba]

One reason weight loss will plateau - when you start out, you don't know what you can eat - so eating less is automatic.

As you progress you find out more stuff and "a little bit of that will do no harm" until there is altogether too much of "that".

Intermittent fasting is probably a good reset mechanism.