3 Steps To Breaking Through A Ketogenic Weight Loss Plateau

3 Steps To Breaking Through A Ketogenic Weight Loss Plateau

Introduction

I’m going to take a guess that you’ve been doing the ketogenic diet now for a little while and experienced some really rewarding progress at the start.

Firstly, congratulate yourself on initiating the steps to weight loss success. Always celebrate the small wins, its a MUST.

Okay, now I’m going to assume that you have reached the point where you haven’t lost any weight over the past 2 months, and you’ve lost a little bit of hope, and you’re starting to question your progress.

Let me classify something to you:

Just because you are not losing weight on the scale doesn’t mean that you’re not losing body fat.

You’ve probably heard that one before… YES AARON! I’m measuring my waistline, and I’m taking pictures of myself in the mirror, but all this does is make me feel WORSE!

 

…. Let us break this down.

 

Step 1 – Breaking Down The Components To Weight Loss

The three main steps to weight loss are as follows:

1. Nutrition
2. Stress
3. Sleep

If you don’t have at least 2 of these main areas locked in, you’re going to be experiencing stalled weight loss. Without sleep, you cannot get enough recovery to be fully active the next day. With excessive stress, you’ll be relying on cortisol levels to get you through the day, but you know what excessive cortisol promotes? You got it… fat storage.

There are many different scenarios we could delve into here, but let’s just take this one level deep for each of the outlined components above

1. Nutrition
   1. Macro Nutrients (75% Fat, 20% Protein, 5% Carbs as a starting point)
   2. Micronutrients (Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium chloride, Zinc, B Vitamins etc)
   3. Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3 / Omega 6 Ratio, Inflammation)
2.  Stress
   1. Work Stress (New Job, New Boss, New Scenario, Busy Period)
   2. Home Stress (New Family Member, Lazy Partner, Financial Issues)
   3. Excercise Stress (Overtraining, Beyond 10% Caloric Restriction, Insufficient Recovery)
3. Sleep
   1. Overactive Brain at Night (phone beside bed, unable to switch off)
   2. Waking Up Often (light sleep, restless sleep)
   3. Sleep Duration (Getting less than 8-hour sleep per night)

Step 2 – Identify Your Weakness

So from the issues outlined above, you’ve probably got a pretty good idea on which ones you might be lacking, and which ones you’ve got locked in. Many people come to me with the idea that their weight loss is stalling because they don’t have their macros down pat yet, but in the back of their mind, they are quietly stressing about their new work arrangements that are pushing them to sleep 5 hours per night just to make the boss happy. Do you see where I’m getting at?

So If you haven’t reached your goals yet, and you’ve hit a plateau, what should you do next?… that is SIMPLE!

So your goal might be to lose another 30lb (10 kgs), and you’ve stopped losing weight for the past 3 months, now what?

Well, let’s take a look at what I call reverse engineering your goal.

Reverse engineering your goal looks at the end goal, sets a timeframe and works back in time from your end goal finale to the current day. The main takeaway is that you’re setting up action-oriented processes that will guide you in the right direction.

This part right here is very important, so I’m going to repeat it:

The main takeaway is that you’re setting up action-oriented processes that will guide you in the right direction.

1. Okay, so if you’re planning to lose 10 kgs, what is the realistic timeline where you think you’ll be able to achieve this? Let’s say 3 months.
2. So that means you’re aiming to lose 3.3kgs per month, which is just under 1 kg week. – These are still results orientated goals, so let’s switch our mindset to ACTION ORIENTATED GOALS
3. What is the ONE THING that you are scared of, and probably will be the hardest part of this whole process? (For me… this might be hiring a personal trainer because its expensive and I’d be embarrassed turning up to the gym) – Do you think that is a valid fear? What Is Yours? Write it down!
4. How can you achieve that ONE THING in the next week, even if your life depended on it? Trust me, this is HARD! Set about getting that done. DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU.
5. Once that one thing has been started, then find the next thing, and then the next, and the next! – This mindset will get you out of thinking about the end result, and get you thinking about the challenges that you face, and how to overcome them, one by one, until you don’t have any left – this is addictive, so watch out!

Hopefully, you’ve found a few really difficult barriers that you will be able to challenge. Getting your body to push past its comfort zone (including your mindset shift) Is possibly the biggest hurdle you’re about to overcome, and will create a “Lead Dominoe” effect that will help you shift your focus to finding the next hurdle, instead of wondering why losing weight doesn’t come with a magic pill, or a secret answer. It’s purely down to hard work. Get in, do the work, and you’ll see results, and you’ll love yourself for it!

 

Step 3 – Get Consistent, Not Persistent

Over time, I’ve learned that consistency isn’t doing the same things over and over again until you get bored and want to quit. Consistency is about doing a task, deciding whether its right or not, and continuing with the mindset of 1% growth over time.

Being persistent would be eating the same dam meal every single day because your friend told you its worked for her, and not trying to listen to YOUR body, or what you’re trying to achieve. Its simply repeating the same concept without any alterations, which is the reason why you need to become consistent in your way of improvement, not persistent with the bad advice you were given that isn’t working anymore.

Conclusion – Read This!

Go back to step 1, and try and figure out what you’re missing in the 3 big steps to getting your weight loss on track.

Then attempt to find your Lead Dominoe, or find which idea scares you the most, and COMMIT TO IT! (Set a stikk goal, or get a friend to hold you accountable)

Then on the road to knocking over your lead dominoes, just remember that being persistent in your actions isn’t always the best way forward, be consistent, but be aware of your surroundings and tweak your results to let you always be putting 1% improvement on your action orientated goals – Its a marathon, not a sprint.