Keto + IF body fat going down but not weight

[BigandTall]

I am a 52 year old man who is 6'7" and weigh 301, although look like 260-270lbs. I get more than 600 minutes of intense exercise each week through full court basketball. I really want to drop 50lbs for health and my knees. I have been on strict keto and IF for a full week logging in some serious caloric deficits, averging less than 2000 cals / day. My body fat percentage through bioelectrical impedance measuring on my Aria has gone from 28% to 24% but my weight has been difficult to drop - only 3 pounds. Usually, at my size, I see alot more pounds peeling off while maintaining the strict diet, IF, and exercise.

My question is, is it typical to see body fat dropping but weight plateauing? 

When will the weight start to come down? 

Thanks! 

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hi @BigandTall - I used to be big and short.  Now I'm just short.  I'm 59, on Keto+IF for about a year, lost 50 pounds.  I currently exercise very lightly (15 minutes) 7 days per week.

My opinions:

• I believe Keto & IF is muscle sparing - I lost very little muscle mass.  So yes/maybe on the body fat dropping question.
• I think intense exercise is counterproductive to weight loss 
• If you are actually at 24% body fat, then 50 pounds of fat loss would take you to 7%.  That's going to be tough to do, and since you are not a blob, the weight is not going to fly off.
• One week is too short of a period to draw any conclusions -- 3 pounds would theoretically be a huge 1 week loss.  If you actually went from 28% to 24% body fat while losing 3 pounds, that means you lost 12 pounds of fat while gaining 9 pounds of muscle in one week.  I'm thinking water weight instead.

As to when will the weight start to come down?  I may be missing something - is a 3 pound loss in the first week not a start?

My suggestion if you want to drop 50 pounds is to stick with what you are doing for a few months and see where it takes you.  If you get stalled, I'd suggest lightening up on the exercise and focus 100% of your effort on weight loss.

[BigandTall]

You've lost 60lbs that's great! I appreciate your advice and will stick to the program - I've committed to 90.days. In regard to my body fat percentage at 250 (300-50), I can't help but think it won't be that low at 7 percent, I've never been "cut" and have weighed as low - as an adult after serious training - at 225. Maybe the bioelectrical impedance monitor is showing correct trends (ie downward) but is off on the number. Thanks for sharing your experience. 

[Dominique]

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@BigandTall wrote:

I have been on strict keto and IF for a full week logging in some serious caloric deficits 

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In the grand scheme of things, "a full week" is a very short period to make any meaningful assessments, especially since it appears you have made major changes to your diet (calories, macros, nutrient timing). Stick to whatever approach you have chosen for at least 1-2 month. You will then be in a much better position to assess the impact of the changes you made.

[Baltoscott]

Hi @BigandTall.  

Agreeing with @Daves_Not_Here that a week is too short a time to draw any conclusions.  I don't do keto or IF, so I won't try to add anything there other than to agree (again) that first week weight losses and BF % change after moving to a low carb diet such as keto tend to be mostly water.  If you can stay satisfied and keep your average daily calories at around 2000 calories, I think you can expect to see pretty steady weight loss over your 3 month experiment.  

You don't mention it in your post, but my suggestion would be to weigh in daily so that you can compare a moving average weight week to week instead of comparing a single weigh in each week.  The daily moving average tends to tamp down temporary water weight fluctuation (which also affects the fat % reading).  Fitbit does provide usable weekly averages and a trendline of sorts in the app and on the desktop, but TrendWeight (link in my signature) is a better program and it is easy to link to your fitbit account.  And it is free.

My exercise profile is somewhat similar to yours.  I don't play basketball, but I get a lot of aerobic minutes through a daily bike commute and I put in about 4 hours/week with weights at the gym. That is pretty much what I was doing when I lost 40+ pounds in 2017.  It is also pretty much what I doing as I gradually gained weight through 2016.  So, assuming that level of basketball is normal for you, I would keep at it and just focus on the calorie reduction. 

[BigandTall]

Thanks, this sounds right. 

[BigandTall]

Thanks Baltoscott - I do weigh daily and try to view it as data as opposed to a referendum on whether what I'm doiing is working or not - it can get a little frustrating! 

[SunsetRunner]

You are likely not even losing fat right now. Carbs hold 2.7 grams of water per gram of carbohydrates. You went keto which is extremely low carb so that weight loss is likely water weight. I wouldn’t suggest going under your BMR. You are a tall guy so your BMR is a lot higher than the average person. A small deficit is more beneficial. When you drop calories, your metabolic rate drops as well. You can screw up your metabolism by having a huge calorie deficit and you will eventually get to a point asking yourself why you can’t lose weight. You need to leave yourself wiggle room so that when you do plateau, you can drop a little bit more calories without a problem. I strongly suggest working your way down to keto instead of just jumping right out of the gate with it.