Yep, my body does not want to lose weight that's for sure! I use iodized salt when cooking and get lots of sunshine here in CA (and I just read somewhere that higher fat diets help skin to produce adequate D) but who knows maybe I need more. I seem to go down a rabbit hole when I start to read about all rage supplements different experts recommend -- kinda confusing!

Were you exercising before you started low-carbing, or did you start both around the same time?

As mentioned by others, it takes experimentation to find where individual sweet spots are with regards to macros, activities, etc. I know that for me, as a barely 5'5", 180-ish lbs woman, there's no way I could sustain resistance training and HIIT 5 days a week on 1400-ish calories a day, regardless of macro breakdown. My metabolism would tank faster than you could even say "metabolism."

Why such frequent HIIT?

Thanks for the insight Dex,

I was on again off again doing some walking, nothing much. My HIIT has bee 10 min a day, just to preserve some cardio capacity. I'm happy to scale it back, but it's so minimal (my machine says I burn 100 calories) that I didn't think it would affect my lc diet negatively.

Mpl16

The thing is, exercise is for fitness. Diet is for weight loss. Exercise can actually inhibit weight loss.

If you want to maintain or build cardio fitness, you would be much better served by mellow zone 2 efforts of 45-60 minutes a few times a week. They can be pretty boring, but they are much less likely to stress your body and hike up your cortisol levels.

HIIT is always short in duration by design, but it's a lot of stress on the body in that short amount of time, which causes a hormonal response that usually includes elevated cortisol. In the case of HIIT, it's not about the calories, it's about the effort.

At this point, you're probably battling both the inflammation response that comes with any new exercise program (and shows up on the scale as no loss, or even a gain) and the cortisol response to frequent HIIT.

Sold!! I was going to add 1/2 mile easy walk 2 and from work this week. No one has to tell me twice to ditch HIIT! What's yellow zone?

There are a couple of ways to find your zone 2 range.

If you have a heart rate monitor, you approximate it by subtracting your age from 220, and staying in the 70-80% range of that number. (e.g. For a 40 year old person: 220-40 = 180 as max heart rate, zone 2 would be between 126 and 144).

If you don't have a monitor, it's basically "conversational pace" -- meaning that you should be able to carry on a conversation in full sentences without straining. You can also think of this as not needing to breathe through your mouth. I've trained with people who hate heart rate monitors and just put a piece of tape over their mouths while out for a run or ride to keep themselves in the right zone. (I'm not suggesting you walk to work with tape over your mouth, just using it as an illustration. haha!)

Ah, got it. The good ole conversation rate. Thanks!

I just posted this in my journal:

"Yesterday I received my Fitbit Charge HR, a replacement for my Fitbit Charge. HR stands for heart rate. My Charge was still under warranty but the battery was no longer holding a charge so they sent me an HR as a replacement since they no longer had any Charges in stock in my wrist size. I try not to get hung up on numbers, figuring if I eat right (real food, low carb etc) and exercise (my daily walks) then things are probably going OK. But since I now have the Charge HR I now know what my heart rate is, my resting heart rate and my heart rate during my walks, and it all look good for an unathletic old woman (age 67). My resting heart rate is 63 and my heart rate during my walks is in the target range, averaging 70% of maximum, or 108 beats per minute. My pace is fairly steady over the entire walk, even with a small dog who can get distracted and slow down the pace, something I don't let him do too often. I guess I am doing OK. I realize that the Fitbit may not be entirely accurate (I believe someone recently sued them about this) but I'm figuring its in the ball park which is good enough for me. Ain't technology grand!"

This is just the pace that I fell into naturally. It's nice to know that I'm in the range. When it comes to exercise I am not a fan of pushing myself. HIIT has always sounded like something I would rather ignore. I highly recommend walking as a great way to get exercise that can even be enjoyable or at least I find it so.

Jean

Great insight, Jean, thanks!

Ladies! Watch out for going for specific numbers. The conversation standard is best - that is, by your own reactions.

That old formula of "220 minus age" is outdated. New research including - gasp! - actual women, shows that women have a slightly lower max heart rate than men. If you use the old one programmed into so many machines, it gives a falsely high formula.

google "recalibrated formula 's workouts new york times"

I feel your pain. Last time I tried LC I tried everything everybody suggested and after the first initial loss I lost nothing for 3 months. I just couldn't believe that a morbidly obese person could follow a plan to the letter and not lose any weight -- I gave up because I don't have the patience of others here.

But I'm back and, for me, only the intermittent fasting is helping the scale move. Even on IF I can slow down to .5 pound a week -- but that's a .5 pound more than I lost before. I'm actually going to try some extended water fasts once I get back from my vacation. But I'm staying in ketosis no matter what because I keep reading more about all the health benefits -- and if I am going on the fasts, it's advantageous to not be hungry.

Fasting may not be for everybody, but I believe it's the only option that I have at the moment.

Good luck on your journey -- I hope you find the answer.

I don't actually go for any numbers. I just go for walks at a pace that is comfortable for me. Today was my first day wearing my Charge HR so, since I had the thing, I was curious what my numbers were and they suggested to me that things were going well. I actually already knew that before knowing my heart rate. I'm too old to push myself beyond what feels comfortable. I was more interested in my resting heart rate. Nothing to worry about there either.

Jean

I'm pretty sure that's why I said it approximates a range, not that it will land you at an exact range. I was also fairly sure that OP wasn't going to run out and buy gadgetry from the outset, hence the other guideline for a conversational pace, or not breathing through the mouth.

The only way to get your real individual range is to do a test to find your personal max. That's only useful if you're going to get into serious heart rate training for endurance sports purposes. There are very few people on this particular forum who are going to, or need to, go to those lengths.