How to break a plateau

[spEEdfrEEk]

Ok, there has been some mention of hitting plateaus on

the low-carb diet recently. So I'd like to suggest a few things

you can do to get over the hump.

Lets assume you are using a typical Atkins approach..

Then:

1) Your first step is to include a "cheat meal" once a

week on the weekend where you can pretty much eat

anything you want. This works, primarily, by enhancing

thyroid output which can slow under a strict Atkins

regime.

Lets suppose you've been doing the diet for a while and

have lost a significant amount of weight (say 20 - 30 lbs)

when you hit a plateau. There are 2 options at this

point.

2) Include exercise. Many people say one should exercise

to lose weight, but I've found that one can only exercise

effectively after a good portion of the weight is lost.

People who have lost 20-30 lbs. are ready to move

to this step.

2a) Cardio stuff - the first step. A good way to start the

process is via cardio activity. These include things like

jogging, cycling, swimming, etc. The BEST way to use

this to spur fat loss is to _avoid_ staying in the aerobic

zone. IE: You want to do INTERVALS and not slow cardio.

Slow cardio (heart rate < 120 BMP) is not as effective

as interval training where heart rates can achieve 150

or higher. (I typically run up to 180 during interval

cycling)

Why? Because slow cardio does not deplete

the body of blood glucose and stored glycogen (sugars). Doing

intervals does! After interval training, your glucose is

depleted and your body has no choice but running on

fats afterwards. This state can last several hours, and

this means you tap body fat stores harder (as ketone

production will increase)

To do intervals, you alternate between phases of high

intensity and low intensity. IE: for running, start off

by walking to warm up and then go immediately to

1.5 minutes of ALL OUT sprinting. At the end of 1.5

min. slow down and drop to a slow walking pace for

the next 1.5 minutes. Repeat this 5 times and stop.

This will give you 15 minutes of intervals and your

heart rate will have shot through the roof 5 times. In

fact, you will also have "felt the burn", which is an indication

that you were running on and depleting stored sugar.

If you don't feel like running, swimming or cycling, you

can use other "impulse" type sports for a similar

effect: basketball, raquetball, and tennis are good examples

of interval type sports.

2b) Weightlifting - the best scheme. Lifting is the BEST form

of anaerobic training and will increase your RMR (resting

metabolic rate) by keeping your non-fat body mass and

metabolism high while dieting. There is no better way to

drop adipose than lift weights while using a cyclical ketogenic

approach. In fact, I went from 217 (powerlifting weight) to

183 (motocross weight) in less than 1 year with this approach

and actually IMPROVED my power and stamina. I have spent

just as much time studying exercise kinesiology as I have

bimedicine and nutrition, so if there are any lifting questions

I can try to field them for you as well. It's beyond the

scope of this discussion right now.. Lifting is the best choice

for dropping fat while low-carb if you have a gym or gym

membership.

3) "Fat fast" diet. If you are seriously stuck for a long time

and all of the above has failed to get you restarted, then

you should consider a "fat fast" scheme. The original"Fat

Fast" was developed by Atkins for just this type of thing.

(to try to circumvent the thyroid problem his diet induces).

Basically for one week you restrict calories to 1000 kcal/day

which is VERY low. The only foods you consume are

extremely fatty and you need to maintain a ratio of

10% protein, 90% fat with 0 carbs at all times. It's tough

but due to incredible ketone secretion you can restart

fat loss and NOT lose muscle tissue while doing it. You

can ONLY due this for ONE week - no more, or you'll risk

retarding your RMR. Here's a link that describes the diet:

http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/12/21-237659.html

4) Thermogenic drugs. If all of the above fails to work for you,

then you may consider the use of thermogenic drugs. I

am going to hold off on describing this now because I don't

want people to think it's an easy way out. I will explain

it later if someone tries all of the above and still ends up

stuck ;-)

Alright guys, good luck!!

:cool: TJ :cool:

[Hookman49]

Thanks TJ. Really do apprecate all the help and effort you are putting into this. This diet and your help has been the best thing for me.

Ken

[spEEdfrEEk]

No sweat bud! Glad I could help!

:cool: TJ :cool:

Thanks TJ. Really do apprecate all the help and effort you are putting into this. This diet and your help has been the best thing for me.

Ken

[severdog]

TJ-

I've been doing low-carb for a week, plus some exercise, but I tried interval training today after reading your above post....WOW. I feel the burn, dude.

What's with these ketone strips that I read about? Are they something that I can buy in a drugstore and piss on? What do they tell you?

Thanks for the advice....

[spEEdfrEEk]

I tried interval training today after reading your above post....WOW. I feel the burn, dude.

Yep, and the best thing is that afterwards your body

hits your fat stores REALLY hard. (it has no choice, you've

depleted blood glucose and muscle glycogen with the

intervals).

What's with these ketone strips that I read about? Are they something that I can buy in a drugstore and piss on?

Yep, go to your local drugstore and ask for "ketostix" or

"ketodiastix". The latter includes a glucose test if I am not

mistaken. Just go for the lowest price.

What do they tell you?

How much excess ketone you are excreting in the urine

stream. As long as you are showing trace, you are running

on ketone metabolism (which indicates the best state

for fat loss)

Thanks for the advice....

No sweat bud!

:cool: TJ :cool: