Reboot Week Three: When to Start Cutting Calories, the Lean-Protein Test and Stall Breaker (2020 Live)
In this recording
A 26-minute morning Live from 2020-01-21, filmed handheld in a borrowed kitchen with good window light before a day of shooting short Q&A videos. It's for people on my "Reboot Me" plan who started in early December or on New Year's Day. It was never posted to YouTube.
- [0:00] You're a few weeks in, carbs are down and you've found your keto foods. What now? The weight-loss phase: cut total calories and expect fairly steady weekly loss, menopause and cycles aside.
- [0:51] By now your hunger should be close to controlled. If you're still fighting cravings, message me.
- [2:17] Adaptation takes three to six weeks to kick in, so your appetite should be lower. Now concentrate on protein, because people who under-eat it lose lean muscle.
- [2:17] Losing muscle moves the scale but won't help you look good naked, and muscle takes much longer to rebuild than to lose.
- [3:35] For whole foods I recommended sirloin, chicken breast, any white fish and tuna.
- [3:53] The test: read the label. If grams of fat plus grams of carbs is less than or equal to grams of protein, it's a "high protein, low bullshit" food to keep using.
- [4:38] Foods near or past a 1:1 ratio are the ones to eat less of now. Ribeye runs about 1.3 g fat per gram of protein. At 9 calories per gram of fat and 4 per gram of protein, even 1:1 is two-thirds or more fat by calories.
- [5:30] So ribeye and New York strip become a problem at this stage, and London broil or eye of round help. Tuna, white fish, most of the chicken and most of the pig are leaner; pork loin is close to 3 g protein per 1 g fat.
- [6:55] Check in with the group, and if you haven't taken waist, bicep, neck and thigh measurements, now is a good time to compare with a month ago.
- [7:35] Most of you should be adapted to some degree: better energy, less cranky, less hungry at mealtimes and less hungry overall.
- [7:53] If that's true, now is the time to look for a calorie deficit. But instead of focusing on restricting, focus on adding more lean foods: chicken breast, tuna, sirloin, protein shakes.
- [8:46] Shift the ratio: less fat and carbs, more protein. That's how you speed up the weight-loss phase.
- [9:20] Three to four weeks in is the earliest I'd suggest trying Stall Breaker.
- [9:31] Stall Breaker 1 leans on chicken, salmon, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach and Parmesan. Stall Breaker 2 uses white fish (tilapia, flounder, cod), sirloin and eggs, with a steak-and-eggs breakfast.
- [10:25] I said white fish runs close to 30 to 1 protein to fat, sirloin 3 to 1, eggs 1 to 1.
- [10:50] If you skip breakfast, eat one meal a day or eat in a short window, like a 1 pm lunch and 5 pm dinner, Stall Breaker 1 suits you better.
- [11:11] Stall Breaker 1 includes bouillon cubes. I like pouch salmon because it's precooked, shelf-stable and cheap, but it's there for omega-3s and overall health, not weight loss, so you can swap in chicken breast.
- [11:52] Ways to vary the same meal: chicken, broccoli and mushroom alfredo, a stir-fry with soy sauce and sriracha, or a soup with spinach wilted in and a sliced hard-boiled egg.
- [13:13] Stall Breaker is high protein, low carb, low fat, and I wouldn't start anyone on it before adaptation. You should still be full on cauliflower rice, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts and leafy greens.
- [13:55] Lean protein list: tuna, white fish, sirloin, London broil, pork chops, pork tenderloin, chicken breasts, thighs and drumsticks. Assuming you're taking your multivitamin, turn down fat and carbs.
- [14:52] People cheat on protein and have low-calorie days where they miss it. Protein is the one target I absolutely want you to hit. Under on fat and carbs is fine; under on protein is not.
- [15:37] I asked for your lean, tasty meals for the group, and for short questions for the Q&A videos I was filming that day.
- [17:26] "Keto is high fat, so how do I lose weight with less fat?" Ketosis uses fat from your body or your plate and doesn't much care which. To burn body fat, take fat off the plate once ketosis is running.
- [18:45] First time through and wondering if you're in ketosis? Signs I listed: funny-smelling pee, breath or sweat, sweating more, trouble staying asleep or awake, extra energy at bedtime or on waking.
- [20:52] I was down 12 pounds on the reboot. I don't compare, because I'm six foot, male, started at 240, kickbox, I'm in my 30s and my schedule is flexible. A 5'4" woman in her 50s needs fewer calories than me and won't lose as fast on the same food, and that's normal.
- [21:36] A Star Wars line: more protein and less fat and carbs is the Luke Skywalker side.
- [22:30] My own reboot was messy: Christmas, New Year's and my birthday on 4 January all had carbs, so deep ketosis was only just starting for me.
- [23:24] Week three is when motivation gets tested. Weeks two and three are usually a scale stall, so that's 14 days of eating right without the result you want.
- [24:23] I was finally free of the pull of candy and chips, but bored of prescriptive eating. Broccoli, mushrooms and chicken again didn't excite me. I know choosing it anyway leads to the goal, and a bun probably wouldn't be as rewarding as I imagine.
- [25:30] Week two or three is the hardest week of a reboot. If you've soldiered on this far, it gets easier from here.
Watching this in 2026
This is one of my clearer "phase two" talks, and the core holds up. Once carbs are low and hunger has settled, hit protein and take calories out of fat. In a pooled analysis of 24 trials (Wycherley et al., 2012), energy-restricted high-protein diets gave modestly more fat loss and less loss of lean mass. A later review (Leidy et al., 2015) linked about 1.2–1.6 g/kg a day to better appetite control and weight management. My "protein is the one target to hit" at [14:52] fits that.
"Ketosis doesn't care whether the fat is on your plate or on you" is a simplification, but where it leads is right. In a metabolic-ward study (Hall et al., 2015), cutting dietary fat produced more body-fat loss than cutting the same calories from carbs. Plate fat isn't free on keto, and you don't need it to stay in ketosis once you're adapted.
A few things I'd say differently. The ratios at [10:25] are rough, so read your own labels. Sleep trouble isn't something I'd hand people as a sign they're doing it right; if it lasts, take it seriously. And I asked viewers to type "L" or "R" and to like and subscribe. I wouldn't do that now.
If you take diabetes or blood-pressure medication, tell your doctor before you cut calories further. If you have a history of an eating disorder, involve your doctor or therapist before a plan as strict as Stall Breaker.
Key points
- Cut calories only after hunger is under control, usually three to six weeks in.
- Test a food: fat grams plus carb grams at or below protein grams.
- Hit protein every day; being under on fat and carbs is fine.
- Smaller, older and female bodies lose more slowly on the same food. Don't compare.
- Week two or three is the hardest. It gets easier.
Related
- Videos: Stall Breaker · reboot week one · New Year reset 2020 · week six · week seven · what ketosis feels like · measure inches
- Guide: protein and satiety · too much fat · breaking a stall · timeline
- Blog: losing muscle on keto · eat less fat to lose weight · the week-three stall · signs you're in ketosis · comparing on social media · Kevin Hall's ward studies
- Story: Reboot Me