Keto Diet Plateau: Why And What Next?

The keto diet is a popular choice for those looking to lose weight, but it's not uncommon for people to hit a plateau where they stop seeing results. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including consuming too many carbs, too many calories, or not enough calories; eating too much or too little protein; snacking too often; lack of exercise; stress; underlying medical conditions; and not getting enough sleep. To get back on track, it's important to make adjustments such as tracking carb intake, increasing protein consumption, managing stress, and getting adequate sleep.

Not achieving ketosis

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that can be effective for weight loss. However, it is important to implement it correctly to achieve the desired results. One of the main reasons keto may stop working is not achieving ketosis, a metabolic state where the body burns fat for energy instead of glucose. Here are some factors that can contribute to not achieving ketosis:

Excess Carbohydrate Intake

Even a small amount of carbohydrates can prevent ketosis. On the keto diet, it is recommended to limit carbohydrate intake to 20-50 grams per day. This includes not only obvious sources of carbs like bread and rice but also snacks, sauces, condiments, processed foods, and even some keto-friendly options. It is important to carefully read food labels and track your carb intake to ensure you stay within the recommended range.

Insufficient Calorie Intake

While it is essential to reduce carbohydrate intake, it is also crucial to ensure you are consuming enough calories overall. Extreme calorie restriction can lead to nutritional deficiencies and slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. Use an online calculator to determine your daily calorie needs and make sure your meal plan provides sufficient calories while adhering to the keto guidelines.

High Protein Consumption

A common misconception is that a low-carb, high-protein diet is equivalent to a keto diet. However, if protein makes up more than 35% of your diet, you may not achieve ketosis. This is because excess protein can be converted into glucose by the body, reducing the rate of fat burning. Aim for a moderate protein intake, with most of your calories coming from healthy fats.

Lack of Physical Activity

Exercise is an important component of any weight loss plan, including keto. It helps increase metabolism, build muscle, and burn calories. Incorporating regular physical activity, such as cardio, resistance training, or high-intensity interval training, can enhance the effects of the keto diet and promote weight loss.

Stress and Sleep Deprivation

Chronic stress and lack of sleep can negatively impact weight loss. Stress increases the production of cortisol, a hormone that stimulates fat storage. Additionally, stress and sleep deprivation can lead to increased appetite and cravings for high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich foods. Managing stress through mindfulness or meditation and aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep per night can support your keto journey.

Food Sensitivities and Medical Conditions

Food sensitivities or underlying medical conditions can also hinder your progress on the keto diet. Common food sensitivities include dairy and FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols). Certain medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, and depression, can also make it difficult to lose weight. If you suspect food sensitivities or have concerns about underlying health issues, consult a healthcare professional for guidance.

Eating too many carbs

On a keto diet, your carbohydrate intake should be limited to 20-50 grams per day, and only around 5% to 10% of your total calories should come from carbs. This is a stark contrast to the standard dietary recommendation of 45-65% of calories from carbs. Even if you think you are following a strict keto approach, it can be challenging to accurately track your carb intake without using a tracking app or keto calculator.

Hidden carbs can also be a problem, as they are often found in snacks, sauces, condiments, and processed foods, even those marketed as keto-friendly. For example, nuts are a part of the keto diet, but they also contain carbohydrates, so eating too many can cause the carb count to rise and kick you out of ketosis.

To ensure you are staying within the recommended carb range, consider tracking your macronutrients through an app like MyFitnessPal. Additionally, always read food labels and ingredients to make sure you are buying clean food products. If you want to know exactly how many carbs you should be eating to stay in ketosis, investing in a blood glucose/blood ketone meter is recommended.

If you find yourself struggling to stay within your carb limit, try increasing your fat intake to help you feel fuller for longer.

Consuming too many calories

Keto-friendly foods like avocados, olive oil, full-fat dairy, and nuts are high in calories, so it's important to monitor your intake. It's easy to overconsume calories when increasing your fat intake because fat contains more than double the amount of calories compared to protein and carbohydrates. For example, a moderate protein intake is essential because eating too much protein can negatively impact weight loss and overall progress. This is because your body can convert excess protein into glucose and switch to using glucose for energy instead of burning fat.

Additionally, eating large portions or snacking on high-calorie foods throughout the day can lead to a calorie surplus. Constant snacking can increase your calorie intake, resulting in weight gain even if you're in a state of ketosis. Therefore, it's important to pay attention to portion sizes and snack in moderation.

To get back on track, make sure you're consuming an appropriate number of calories each day. You can use an online calculator to determine your daily calorie needs and adjust your meal plan accordingly. Don't be afraid to add more healthy fats to your diet, as long as you stay within the recommended range of 60% to 75% of your daily caloric intake.

Lack of exercise

Exercise also offers numerous health benefits that extend beyond weight loss. It lowers the risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and obesity. Additionally, exercise helps build muscle, which boosts metabolism by increasing the amount of energy burned at rest. This means that even when individuals are not actively exercising, their bodies are still burning more calories.

To incorporate more physical activity into one's lifestyle, it is recommended to create a workout schedule and stick to it. Setting a goal of three to four days a week and choosing a convenient time can help establish a healthy exercise habit. It is also beneficial to include strength training in one's routine, as research shows that strength training combined with keto yields the highest fat burn.

However, it is important to note that balance is key when it comes to exercise. Excessive cardio training may burn calories, but it can also stimulate appetite, leading to increased cravings and snacking. Similarly, excessive weight training does not give the body adequate rest to recover and build muscle effectively. Therefore, a combination of strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is often recommended for optimal results.

In conclusion, lack of exercise can be a significant factor in why keto stops working for some individuals. By incorporating regular physical activity, individuals can boost their metabolism, burn calories, and improve their overall health, which will support their weight loss journey and help them get back on track with their keto diet.

Eating too much protein

However, gluconeogenesis is a necessary process that is already happening in your body. It's not the enemy of ketosis; in fact, it makes ketosis possible in the first place. It's also how your body creates new glucose from non-carb sources, including protein.

Your body takes compounds like lactate, amino acids (protein), and glycerol to manufacture glucose when there are no carbs around. This may seem like a problem when you're trying to run on ketones instead of glucose, but gluconeogenesis has an important purpose—and it doesn't harm ketosis.

Your body needs glucose and glycogen to keep you healthy, even in ketosis, and it will get this via survival mechanisms like gluconeogenesis. On a keto diet, your body uses gluconeogenesis for three primary purposes:

• Preventing hypoglycemia: GNG keeps your blood sugar in a healthy range so it doesn't fall to dangerous levels.
• Fuelling tissues that can't use ketones: There are a handful of cells in your body that can only use glucose to survive, including red blood cells, the renal medulla (inner part of the kidney), testicles, and some portions of your brain.
• Resupplying glycogen stores: You can replenish muscle glycogen through GNG that happens during ketosis—especially if you're not a professional athlete or don't participate in competitions. Glycogen is crucial for muscle recovery after workouts.

If GNG didn't make enough glucose to cover these functions, your body would never be able to make the switch to using ketones for energy because some cells (like red blood cells) would die, and your blood sugar would drop too low.

GNG is an extremely stable process. It's not easy to increase it even with extra protein. When you eat extra protein, your blood glucose doesn't spike in the same way as when you eat chocolate cake, for example. Studies have shown that GNG production doesn't increase even with extra amino acids.

That being said, it's important to find the right amount of protein for your body and your goals. A moderate protein intake is an important factor in a well-formulated ketogenic lifestyle. This allows the circulation of ketones to reach levels of at least 0.5 mMol per litre. The optimal range is between 1.5 and 3 mMol per litre.

Eating too little protein can cause feelings of hunger, a decrease in recovery after exercise, and lower energy levels. On the other hand, eating too much can have a negative impact on weight loss and overall progress. It can be a trial-and-error process to determine your protein needs and accurate intake—you might need the help of an expert for this.

As a general rule, aim to consume a maximum of 20% of protein a day when you work out regularly. If you don't work out regularly, 15% is enough. The protein range is, on average, 1.2 to 1.5 per kg of body weight per day.

Frequently asked questions