Day 37

In any diet, at some point, you will probably hit a plateau. Most people lose their drive to continue on their diet when this happens. This may also happen on the LCHF (ketogenic) diet. Most people don't know what to do to break through this plateau. Here are a few excellent ideas:

1. Improve the nutrient quality of the low carb week
The nature of the ketogenic diet is such that most individuals tend to consume a lot of saturated fats while on the diet. Substituting some of the saturated fat intake inherent to the ketogenic diet with unsaturated fats such as fish oils and vegetable oils, may increase thermogenesis (the burning of calories to produce heat) and increase fat loss. Many individuals report a significant amount of bodily warmth following a meal high in unsaturated fats, probably due to increased thermogenesis.

2. Eat the day’s calories across fewer meals  
Although this strategy is purely conjectural, some people have reported better fat loss by eating the same daily calories across fewer meals. In theory, this could allow greater fat loss as the body may be required to draw more energy from body fat stores in between meals.

3. Take a week off the diet
Although this goes against everything most dieters have been conditioned to believe, sometimes the best strategy to break a fat loss plateau is to take a week off of the diet and eat at maintenance calories. Some individuals choose to remain ketogenic, simply increasing their caloric intake, while others prefer to return to a carbohydrate based diet. The body ultimately adapts to anything including diet and calorie levels. Taking a week off of the diet can help raise metabolic rate as well as rebuild any muscle which may have been lost. However, fat gain during a one week break is generally minimal as long as individuals do not overdo caloric intake.

4. Cycle calories throughout the week
Many individuals have found success by cycling caloric intake while on a ketogenic diet.  If we use a rough guideline of 12 cal/lb as an average caloric intake during the low carb week, an individual might alternate a day at slightly lower calorie levels (for example one day at 11 calories/pound) with days at slightly higher calorie levels (14 calories per pound) to get fat loss going again. Under these conditions, individuals can cautiously take calories below the 11-12 calorie/pound limit generally advised, but only for a day or two at a time after which calories should be raised above 12 calories per pound. Although calorie cycling can restart fat loss, dieters must watch for signs of muscle loss. An example 7-day span where calories are cycled appears below.

Monday: 12 cal/lb
Tuesday: 10 cal/lb
Wednesday: 15 cal/lb
Thursday: 13 cal/lb
Friday: 12 cal/lb
Average caloric intake: 12.4 cal/lb

Note that the highest daily caloric intake (15 cal/lb) occurs immediately after the lowest daily caloric intake (10 cal/lb). In theory, this might help to prevent any metabolic slowdown from the low calorie day.