should I take a break??

Answer

Hi!First off: congratulations! 25kg is no joke and I hope you’re feeling better with yourself now.

Second: You being stuck with your weight it means one thing: you are not in a calorie deficit!

Knowing this you can do 2 things: 1- Lower your calorie intake. Make better calorie choices! Or2- Start to workout or take a walk or do something that gets you moving. The calories that you ingest turn into energy and your body uses that energy to move meaning the more you move the more energy your body consumes and that helps with the calorie deficit!

Here’s a good video that can help you understand this: https://youtu.be/zySYg6oc6zY

Answer

Hello, that sucks.

So my own opinion – and there certainly are other schools of thought around – is that you should take a diet break if you are feeling mental or physical exhaustion. I don’t believe that in so doing you would witness any miracle – you may allow your cortisol levels to recede and thereby facilitate a bit of water loss if you are currently in retention, though I imagine that you would also likely regain a bit of fat – but merely shifting your attention elsewhere for a while could make all the difference in terms of future compliance, if it allows you to return back mentally refreshed and eager for more.

More importantly, as the previous comment stressed – and I hate to say this because I never had to do so explicitly myself – you will have to (further) restrict your calories in one way or another. Explicit counting, shorter eating window, serving size adjustment, more whole foods and/or fewer options promoting over-consumption, are just some of your options. At the end of the day, to allow for further fat loss you should be eating below your current sedentary TDEE; the rule of thumb to keep in mind for expectation management purposes, is that a kilo of body fat delivers roughly 7,700 kcal.

If you do that for a month and the scale still won’t budge one inch^(1), then:

• Your TDEE may be lower than your calculator estimated. Retry with 100\~200 fewer kcal/day.
• You may be eating more than you think; unfortunately only formal calorie-counting will reveal whether that is the case.
• If you are physically active, muscle gains may indeed be masking fat losses (i.e. body recomposition). You may wish to re-evaluate whether you actually desire to lose more weight as opposed to “swapping” further fat with muscle.
• You could be facing hormonal issues (e.g. hypothyroidism or hyperinsulinemia) resulting in compromised energy expenditure; seek expert counsel if you think that this may be the case.

^(1) I always encourage daily weigh-ins interpreted via moving average (7-day or longer) for progress evaluation. If you can’t stand the daily noise, don’t weigh more often than once per week.

Answer

I’d suggest reducing carbs below 50/day (20/day). I eat ketovore/carnivore and don’t need to count calories. It’s hard for me to overeat meat! I’m 5’0, on my last 15-17 pounds to lose, losing steadily. I do 16:8 and was stuck too until I started this way of eating. I do 16:8, OMAD now. Dr. Jason Fung, Dr. Ken Berry and Dr. Shawn Baker have great YouTube videos on this subject.

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