The Plateau Nobody Warned You About
Month one on carnivore was incredible. Weight fell off. Energy spiked. Brain fog cleared. Then month three hit and everything stopped. Scale hasn't moved in weeks. Energy plateaued. You're eating the same foods that were working, and now they're not.
Welcome to the plateau. Almost everyone hits one. The good news is that there are only a handful of causes, and each one has a fix. Let me walk through them.
Cause 1: You're Eating Too Lean
This is the most common plateau cause I see. It usually happens because people start cutting fat as they lose weight, thinking "I'm already burning body fat, I don't need to eat as much dietary fat." That logic seems sound but it backfires.
On carnivore, fat is your primary energy source. When you cut dietary fat too low, your body thinks food is scarce and downregulates your metabolism to compensate. Thyroid output drops. Energy expenditure falls. Weight loss stalls. Sarah explained the weight loss science in detail, and the fat-to-protein ratio is a central piece.
The fix: Increase your fat intake for two weeks. Switch from lean cuts to fattier ones. Add butter. Choose 80/20 ground beef over 90/10. Eat the fat on your steak instead of trimming it. Most people see the scale move again within 7-10 days.
Cause 2: You're Not Eating Enough
Related to cause 1, but different. Some people get so used to not being hungry on carnivore that they slip into chronic undereating. One meal a day becomes a small meal. Two pounds of meat becomes one pound.
Your body adapts to caloric restriction by slowing everything down. Metabolism drops. Hormones shift. The initial weight loss that came from insulin normalization stops, and now you're fighting your body's survival mechanisms.
The fix: Eat to satiety for two weeks without restricting. Don't count anything. If you're hungry, eat. If a second meal sounds good, have it. Let your body reset its signals. Often, eating more breaks the stall because it signals to your body that food is abundant.
Cause 3: Stress and Sleep Are Sabotaging You
Cortisol is the plateau hormone nobody talks about. Chronic stress elevates cortisol. Elevated cortisol promotes water retention, interferes with fat burning, and increases insulin resistance. You can eat perfectly and still stall if you're sleeping five hours a night and running on stress.
The fix: This one isn't about food. Prioritize sleep. Address the stress. I know that sounds like generic advice, but I've seen people break month-long plateaus by doing nothing except sleeping an extra hour per night. The body can't heal or optimize when it's constantly in fight-or-flight mode.
Cause 4: Dairy Is Stalling You
Cheese, cream, and butter are popular additions on carnivore. But dairy affects people differently. Some people stall because dairy triggers an insulin response that's disproportionate to its carb content. A2 proteins in some dairy can cause inflammation in sensitive individuals. And cheese is calorie-dense enough that it's easy to overconsume without realizing it.
The fix: Cut all dairy for 30 days. Eat only meat, salt, and water. If the plateau breaks, dairy was the issue. You can experiment with adding back butter first (usually tolerated better), then hard cheeses, and see where your threshold is.
Cause 5: Your Body Composition Changed But the Scale Didn't
This isn't really a plateau. It's a measurement problem. If you've been training, especially lifting, you're likely gaining muscle while losing fat. Muscle is denser than fat. Your weight stays the same but your waist gets smaller, your clothes fit better, and you look different in the mirror.
Marcus mentioned fasting protocols before, and people who combine carnivore with training often hit this "false plateau" where body composition is improving dramatically but the scale lies to them.
The fix: Stop relying on the scale as your primary metric. Take waist measurements. Take progress photos. Track your lifts. If all three are improving, you're not stalled. You're recomposing. That's actually the goal.
The Nuclear Option: Protein-Sparing Modified Fast
If you've addressed all five causes above and you're still genuinely stalled after 6+ weeks, there's one more lever. A protein-sparing modified fast (PSMF) for 3-5 days can reset things. You eat lean protein only. Chicken breast, egg whites, lean fish. Minimal fat. High protein.
This is intentionally stressful to your metabolism. It creates a sharp caloric deficit that, when followed by a return to normal carnivore eating, can kickstart fat burning again. Think of it as a metabolic reset button.
But this is the nuclear option, not the starting point. Try causes 1-5 first. Most plateaus break with those adjustments alone. PSMF is for stubborn stalls that have resisted everything else.
When a Plateau Isn't a Problem
One more thing. If you've lost significant weight and hit a plateau at a healthy body composition, that might just be your body's set point. Not every plateau needs breaking. If your energy is good, your bloodwork is solid, your strength is improving, and you feel great, the fact that the scale stopped at 175 instead of 165 might not be a problem that needs solving.
Health isn't a number on a scale. It's how you function, how you feel, and what your biomarkers say. If all three are good, you might already be there.
I'm not a doctor. I've coached people and competed myself, so I know what works. But I'm not your doctor. If you have health issues or take meds, check with someone qualified. Everything here is based on what works in practice and what research supports. Your mileage may vary.