Hi , I started about a year and a half ago. Not really knowing what I was doing I followed the usual points of eat till full ,eat more fat etc. I was 300 pounds 6 feet tall. Over that time I've stopped over Christmas and summer for a couple of months as I was discouraged with lack of results. Been back on it pretty strict since October of last year down to around 250 pounds. I've been doing omad with black coffee and tea throughout the day. Eat my meal around 5pm to 7pm daily. Again I've been eating till full with added fat. Usually I'll prep a weeks worth of beef ribs , shanks, oxtail, blade roast and have it all week with the broth and rendered fat from it. I'll add some eggs or chicken with skins here and there. I've noticed that I stalled my weight loss at around 250 ,255 pounds and my normal weight should be around 200. What am I doing wrong.

3 hours ago, kaz said:

What am I doing wrong.

Possibly nothing. How long did it take to get from 300 to 250? Sometimes we hit plateaus for several weeks and then things pick up again. Oftentimes during stalls people will still report healing or body recomposition, etc.

Can you think of anything in your habits that may have changed? Have you increased fat or upped your portions? How soon after eating your OMAD do you go to bed?

There are a couple possibilities here, and the same approach might be warranted for both.

1) Your body has adapted/adjusted to your new pattern, i.e. your metabolism has reset itself based on your current food intake. This is why some people can literally consume only 800 calories a day and still not lose weight. The body down-regulates energy usage to conserve because it thinks there is a famine.

The solution might be to either cut back on food or fat, OR keep the body guessing by maybe throwing a day or two in there where you eat 2 meals instead of one, OR throw in a fasting day, etc.

2) You required more energy when you were 300 lbs than you do now at 250 lbs. You've lost 17% of your body mass. That means your basal metabolic rate (energy needed just to keep cells alive) is 17% less than before.

The solution here might be to reduce food/fat intake, OR add some extra activity, whether that's running, walking, lifting, etc.

I went from 300+ to the 250's much quicker than I would have ever thought. I hit some stalls here and there as well.

Like Bob said, I had to do some experimenting to get back on the weight loss track. My biggest hitter for a stall was/is drinking milk. After a glass or two I could just about here the brakes squealing as the weight loss was coming to a stop.

I experimented with lesser fat than protein and not only did I stall but I gained a few pounds. For me, my best weight loss was with higher fat and moderate protein. I dropped down to 211 and then I started to get more and more into the gym.

I switched gears and started forcing myself to eat more to hit a protein target. I also introduced protein powder as I can't eat enough meat to hit the same protein target. I have since gained back to around 226 or so. On this kick, with the protein powders I don't believe my fat intake is exactly where I need it and the weight gain is a little easier.

Another thing Bob mentioned is body composition. I had a few stretches where the pounds sort of stalled, but I had to cinch my belt up a little bit more. I was changing but the scale was not keeping pace.

I would guess a tad more food per day could trigger some weight loss. You have lost a bunch and the body is probably trying to build some stores.

Scott

Stalls are perfectly normal as our bodies adapt to eating this way. Sometimes it’s just part of the healing process. In my journey to where I’m at now I hit two big stalls that lasted three months each. I didn’t do anything to trigger or trick the body into more weight loss. I just continued on the same path and eventually it kicked back in.

As Dr. Chaffee says “You walked 10 miles in, you’ve got to walk 10 miles out.”

Patience may be a virtue, but it is so much easier to say than practice.

I went into the service way overweight at 17, I spent the first five years in the 180's-190's. The last year I ballooned into the 220's. I got out around 225. Over the next 30 years I continued to gain until I was in the 320's in my fifties.

I did a bunch of diets over the years but always gained it back, and then some. Carnivore was absolutely crazy. I was not putting forth much effort at all and the weight was falling off at a very rapid pace. Maybe 30-31lbs in the first 31-32 days. I hit couple stalls here and there in the second month and my lack of patience showed. I wanted, and actually expected to maintain the 'pound per day' loss I had the first month.

It took me several months, closer to a year before I accepted the fact I dug this hole over 30+ years and fixing it in a couple months is beyond reason.

I don't calorie count but sometimes using calories as a part of an explanation makes it easier. For easy math and round numbers if I were eating 3000 calories a day and then dropped to 2000 calories per day the weight will drop. In time my body will say, 'this guy is going to starve us to death' and it then figures out how to do all the things it needs to do during the day with 2000 calories and then find a way to store some weight as well. As Bob said, 17% of you is now gone and you are not the same metabolically.

Add some walking, some lifting, increase or decrease your food intake, odds are that should trigger the body to lose weight. Odds are you will plane off at another weight as well as the body was designed to store fat as the 'winter is coming and the kills don't happen everyday'.

Scott