Down 45lbs but stalling

Hey, first time posting here but I've been following both the subreddit and lifestyle since March of last year. Since then, I've lost about 45 pounds and feel much better overall. I can walk for more than 5 minutes without sharp pains in my shins and no longer run out of breath walking from the car to my apartment. Progress: https://imgur.com/v1PQeTv Face: https://imgur.com/Ab69roK For most of the 8 months that the weight loss occurred, I followed an 8/16 schedule, eating between 12PM and 8PM, supplemented by significantly lower carb intake. However, I've been stalled for the last 3 months or so, hovering around 160lbs. The only change I made was a slightly higher carb intake on the advice of my doctor. I don't track it super carefully, but went from about 30g per day to 50-60g per day, give or take. I have maintained the fasting schedule for the most part, hoping that it would be enough to compensate for the increased carbs and continue the weight loss, but so far that's not the case. I am planning on working harder on getting excersize, but have never been great at self-motivation. Based on everyone's massive collective experience, are there any red flags you guys notice in what I described that I can correct to jump start the weight loss? Or have I likely reached my equilibrium with the changes made so far?

Answer

I’m not sure how much this helps but I plateaued after around 25lbs as well.

I started increasing the frequency and duration of my walks progressively (1.2 miles up to 5 miles) and ended up buying some of those conqueror challenges…bit gimmicky, but it turned my walks into a game of sorts, audiobooks have also helped keep my brain occupied so that I forget I’m walking.

I then combined that with some resistance exercise (which admittedly is more of a challenge motivationally…but I’m locked into a year long contract, so wasting money if I don’t use the membership)

My loss has slowed down quite a bit BUT my lean mass is slowly increasing in parallel….apparently more muscle = more calories burned doing nothing.

The other thing I noticed is how important water is, I increased my intake above half a gallon a day (from almost nothing)

My diet is currently a hybrid of alternating fasting and high protein/moderate carb days

Hopefully something in the above gives you some ideas?!

Keep doing what you’re doing, you’re knocking it out of the park mate!

Also: start tracking your carbs, I thought I knew what I was eating - until I actually tracked it properly, and realised I was eating about 25-30% more carbs than I thought.

Answer

You need to switch something up IMO. Either increase protein, include a longer fast once a week, or decrease carbs again. Just don’t keep doing the same thing you have in the last 3 months. My past plateaus have been mostly caused by Carbs but not sure if that’s the case with you. Make slow changes and measure their impact.

Most importantly keep at it. You’ve done great!

Answer

if you’re in a calorie deficit i dont think you can plateau. i’d try to make sure you know your caloric needs to maintain weight and try to make sure you stay under that. -500 is a good amount though you can do more. its important to note your caloric need will change as you lose weight and you might have to adjust how many calories you consume. I’ve been doing this for about 5 months with a very steady loss of about 7-8lb a month. good luck