Stalled Weight Loss Despite Intermittent Fasting

Has your weight loss stalled—even while doing intermittent fasting? Here’s how you can address the problem.

Healthy Ketogenic Diet and Intermittent Fasting:

Insulin Resistance:

DATA:

Timestamps
0:00 Stalled weight loss despite intermittent fasting
0:16 Starvation, evolution, and intermittent fasting
0:46 How fasting benefits your health
3:17 Signs of high insulin
4:04 The 8 things to keep insulin down
9:23 Macros vs. micros
14:33 Final thoughts

In this video, I want to talk about what to do if you stalled when doing intermittent fasting. I get this question a lot from my viewers and guests on my live show, and I wanted to create this video to cover all of the basics.

Our bodies have been evolving for hundreds of thousands of years. Starvation has played a part in this process. Starvation is a risk to your survival. Humans have gone through a lot of periods of starvation. We’ve developed and adapted certain mechanisms to help us survive.

When you start fasting, signals are sent to the brain to let it know that food is scarce. Your hormones and cells then adapt and become more efficient.

During fasting, the body starts to tap into your fat stores.

For survival purposes, your body wants to stay fat so that it maintains energy to use during periods of starvation.

1 lb of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories. So just eat fewer calories and exercise more, right? Wrong! Traditional weight-loss tactics rarely work.

Your metabolism plays a massive role here. Hormones will slow down your metabolism if you eat less, which can cause you to gain weight.

Fasting helps you get rid of your glycogen reserve—which is stored glucose and water.

The key hormone that keeps your body at a stall is insulin. If you have high insulin, you cannot lose fat. If it’s low, you can lose fat.

Focus on lowering your insulin, and you will have a much easier time losing weight.

A simple way to tell if your insulin levels are high is if you have a very strong appetite. If your insulin levels are low, your cravings go away.

If you can’t go a few hours without getting hungry, you have high insulin and insulin resistance.

The following 8 things will help you keep your insulin low. I put them in order of effectiveness.

1. Fast longer (don’t eat unless you’re hungry)
2. Lower carbs (including hidden carbs)
3. Lower stress
4. Increase sleep (7-8 hours)
5. Decrease fat (75g)
6. Exercise
7. Avoid certain medications
8. Reduce insulin resistance

When you’re fasting, you want to eliminate all macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) but still have some micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, and amino acids).

Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 58, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Thanks for watching. I hope this video helps you fix stalled weight loss on a fast.

[anniedjaswadi]

I ate one day meal at noon, drink 1, 5 litres water daily I don't feel hungry at night, walked every day 15000 steps I feel great.

[kpec]

When I've lost weight without fitness, that is when I hit plateaus in weight loss. Fitness breaks through, especially if you fast. When you come off a fast, don't pig out. Go back to small portions. Keep your weight loss progress.

[vickimunday]

Thank you! Exactly what I needed 😀 I’ve been fasting 16/8 and stretched to 18 and getting results. It’s crazy how I can go that long and not be hungry.

[duchessofmeraniamerania]

I did not lose one pound since I started OMAD two weeks ago. I have to say I am incredibly stressed (legal case) and I am not drinking alcohol nor having sweets nor carbs🤷‍♀️Frustrating!

[alphacause]

During my 120 lbs weight loss journey, I encountered many stalls. Regardless of how stubborn the stall, no stall was intractable. The remedy to any stall is to increase the fasting window. The more stubborn the stall, the greater the fasting window should be. Assuming that you have a good grasp of what a healthy weight should be, don't be afraid to go on multiple day fasts to break the stall to reach your goal.

[cyndianne]

I LOVE this checklist! 😍😍😍😍 Dr Berg, I just did my very first 24 hour fast. My insulin is coming down! I was getting hypoglycemia-like symptoms which always stopped me. You explained to go slower and ease my body into it and viola! I seriously have tears in my eyes because IF and prolonged fasting are becoming a reality! THANK YOU DR BERG ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[sinazotame]

This Dr has answers to everything 😭so happy I came across this channel.

[wickandde]

Thank you Dr Berg, I've lost 4kgs since 21st September 2020. Today is 7th Oct 2020. You're straight up changing lives. 🙏 The boundless energy I have is insane!

[LizandSkatz]

Wonderful! I had a stall last week but I switched up to OMAD for 4 days and kick started my weight loss again! Approaching 28lbs!!

[EmlynInTheMix]

Thanks Dr Berg, this is a perfect summary. I've been doing 18-19 hours a day fasting for the last 4 weeks, I lost a lot of weight at the start due to water loss and now seems to have stalled a bit. but this information was perfect to give me a better understanding of what's happening with my body.

[ineedhoez]

I stalled while doing low carb omad. I was eating 1431 calories per day and only consuming 26 grams of carbs per day. I gained 5 lbs in 6 weeks. I checked my fasting insulin levels and they increased from a 13 to a 17. You cannot burn fat if your fasting insulin is above 10. I did a 60 hour fast, rechecked my insulin levels, and they were at 10. The 5 lb fell off and my weight loss started back up again. I cut my protein down about 50 to 70 grams per day. I switch from steak to shrimp and fish. And make sure I hit my keto macros. It's been effortless ever since. Your fasting insulin will tell you the story.

[michelled]

Started OMAD and needed more information. Dr. Berg is the only advice i like to hear. He’s amazing!

[MarydToKeto]

I have been stalled for around 4 months so thank u for these tips! I really appreciate it!

[heatherwhitlock-shoppa]

Thank you for breaking the vitally important information down, so your viewers can have a better understanding. I am living my best life, with the suggestions you offer. The first thing I do each morning is to check out what you have to say. 💕

[Kiyokomom]

I’ve been stuck for a while, so I’ve been searching other options. The other options go against what dr. Berg says, so I’m so glad he came out with this video before it was too late to go back.

[lilylily]

Week 3 IF and have not lost any weight..but I am getting healthy and feeling great. 😄

[marijatrajkovic]

Just lost 7kgs in 2 weeks by intermittent fasting and low calorie healthy food and walking 2h a day . Im so happy

[enriqueosuna]

I had reached a weight setpoint with keto and try to add intermittent fasting. However, it was tough to achieve. However, I started injecting Compounded Tirzepatide 2.5 mg, and the cravings stopped. So now I am now able to do the 18-6 intermittent fasting without any issue and was able to lower my weight setpoint.

[yolandareyes]

Good video, Dr. Berg. Full of important information I needed. I'm going through a stall intermittent fasting. Thank you for sharing.

[aisha]

DR. i lost about 20 lbs by fasting and then started to add keto to get more results. After losing the first 7lbs of water weight I've lost zero lbs for about 2 months now. I do still fast everyday.