Low Carbs

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annieboomboom
annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
edited November 2014 in Food and Nutrition
My years of struggle have finally brought me back to a reduced carb diet. Not only do I feel better; aches and pains gone, energy increased and I actually lose weight without starving.
BUT, it has to be done right; lots of vegetables, moderate your fat and protein. I have set up my caloric limits, fats, protein and carbs on myfitnesspal so I can track just as though I as losing weight by caloric restriction.
I also exercise. A lot.
Here was the hard part; I had to give up wine. I had a small "come to Jesus " meeting when I realized that it simply sabotaged any attempts I made.
This is MY story and may not work for everyone but know this; my good and bad cholesterol and blood sugar numbers are fantastic.
10 days, 6 pounds.

I was probably pre diabetic and this is the only solution for me.
Good luck.
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Replies

  • TheSatinPumpkin
    TheSatinPumpkin Posts: 948 Member
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    Welcome and congrats on your progress.
  • phgr79
    phgr79 Posts: 4
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    I've been low carbing for 6 months, and I think its great, although I do not refer to it as a diet, more a change in lifestyle :smile:
  • annieboomboom
    annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
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    I wish I didn't always feel like I wanted something with cars; salty, crunchy, sweet. I need to
    get some berries back into my life which will come, but not just yet.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Salted almonds are low carb and both salty and crunchy.
  • annieboomboom
    annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
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    ok folks. Can we talk about the scale for the umpteenth time?
    Why, why does it fluctuate when you are doing all the right things. I even stopped drinking to make this work. Stalled after about the first 5 lbs.
    Gym, calorie watch, and yet....
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
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    annieboomboom wrote: »
    ok folks. Can we talk about the scale for the umpteenth time?
    Why, why does it fluctuate when you are doing all the right things. I even stopped drinking to make this work. Stalled after about the first 5 lbs.
    Gym, calorie watch, and yet....

    Because you are a complex biological organism, not a simple stoker that converts fuel to fire. If you have been dieting for about a month or so now, the 5 pounds is a great result. It probably started out as pretty much 100 % water weight and after that you have been slowly rehydrating and putting on some water weight while losing actual fat.
  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    annieboomboom wrote: »
    I wish I didn't always feel like I wanted something with cars; salty, crunchy, sweet. I need to
    get some berries back into my life which will come, but not just yet.

    Pickles!! That's what I eat when I need something salty and crunchy.
  • annieboomboom
    annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
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    Yes. I dropped back down. My brother, a doctor, talks about set points. He says that I have had a certain set point for some time and it is hard to get below .
    Any thoughts?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Guys what's your average daily carb intake?
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,956 Member
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    The body retains water for a zillion reasons including hormones, too many carbs, an excess of salt, some pain and allergy meds, and sore muscles. And sometimes the body does it to be plain ornery, IMO. Weight loss is not linear. It will fluctuate daily. The body holds onto weight until it is sure it can do without it, as its interest is to retain the status quo.

    Try keeping measurements as well. You will often see changes there before your body decides to release the water it is hoarding.

    Another thing you might check is whether or not there is calorie or carb creep due to relaxing your standards or accidentally not measuring accurately. Or even hidden carbs or calories from restaurants or homemade food from family dinners. If someone else makes it, you might not accurately log it b/c you aren't 100% on what is in there and the amounts.

    Sometimes, if none of that is wrong, we have to be patient. Which sucks. LOL!

    You might want to join the Low Carber Daily Forum the group. You'll find threads there about this very thing.

    Good luck.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,956 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    Guys what's your average daily carb intake?

    I'm very low-carb or Keto. Less than 20g net carbs. Hardcore! :wink:
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    annieboomboom wrote: »
    My years of struggle have finally brought me back to a reduced carb diet. Not only do I feel better; aches and pains gone, energy increased and I actually lose weight without starving.
    BUT, it has to be done right; lots of vegetables, moderate your fat and protein. I have set up my caloric limits, fats, protein and carbs on myfitnesspal so I can track just as though I as losing weight by caloric restriction.
    I also exercise. A lot.
    Here was the hard part; I had to give up wine. I had a small "come to Jesus " meeting when I realized that it simply sabotaged any attempts I made.
    This is MY story and may not work for everyone but know this; my good and bad cholesterol and blood sugar numbers are fantastic.
    10 days, 6 pounds.

    I was probably pre diabetic and this is the only solution for me.
    Good luck.

    you are losing weigh through calorie restricting, you are just doing it via restricting one whole food group...
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    baconslave wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Guys what's your average daily carb intake?

    I'm very low-carb or Keto. Less than 20g net carbs. Hardcore! :wink:

    yes very hardcore B) . I just gotta bite the bullet and do it!!! Giving up fruit will be the hardest. It's summer here and fresh fruits and berries are everywhere <3<3

  • Targetx130
    Targetx130 Posts: 58 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    baconslave wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Guys what's your average daily carb intake?

    I'm very low-carb or Keto. Less than 20g net carbs. Hardcore! :wink:

    yes very hardcore B) . I just gotta bite the bullet and do it!!! Giving up fruit will be the hardest. It's summer here and fresh fruits and berries are everywhere <3<3

    I aim to stay under 40 each day
  • Karin066
    Karin066 Posts: 11 Member
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    I'm also 67 and do low carb, low calorie, moderate fat and protein - 50 net carbs, 1200 calories and I exercise 90 minutes a day 4 days a week and 60 the other days. Keto is too restrictive for me so I experimented until I hit a carb number that allowed me to lose weight and that was 50. And the weight loss is DISGUSTINGLY slow. You do all the right things and still the scale will go up or stay the same. When that happens I take measurements and usually find a half inch somewhere that's gone and it keeps me going another week. I don't think it's as simple as calories in, calories out at this stage of life.
  • annieboomboom
    annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
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    I find keeping my carbs to 20 is the only answer for my body. I have gone back to tracking on my fitness; 1500 which are hard to eat some days. I am staying off the scale for several weeks until I think my body has adjusted to the changes. I feel good, I am not hungry, the aches in my joints have disappeared , my brain is clearer.
    Concentrating on those aspects of this diet approach is what is required. I think there are just terrific informational posts that also help clear the way. It isn't a diet, it is really a revision of a lifestyle.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,956 Member
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    Very glad to hear you are doing so well. :+1:
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    Starting low carb diets will shed water weight initially, then the body has to reset itself (you end up stalling for a few weeks). This whole weight loss isn't linear, but the loss comes in starts and stops. Just keep to you deficit and don't weigh daily if you're going to stress about the stalls. I started to lose weight after lowering my carb intake as well. I've got 30% of my 1600 calories set for carbs which gives me still quite a few for my day. I haven't mastered below that number yet, but once I get accustomed to it, I'm going to lower it a little bit more.

    I'm at a rate of loss of 0.25 lb/week though, so talk about slowly creeping down on the scale if the water weight doesn't mask the loss all together. I'm finally seeing the loss after about 2 months of a stall.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,956 Member
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    wkwebby wrote: »
    Starting low carb diets will shed water weight initially, then the body has to reset itself (you end up stalling for a few weeks). This whole weight loss isn't linear, but the loss comes in starts and stops. Just keep to you deficit and don't weigh daily if you're going to stress about the stalls. I started to lose weight after lowering my carb intake as well. I've got 30% of my 1600 calories set for carbs which gives me still quite a few for my day. I haven't mastered below that number yet, but once I get accustomed to it, I'm going to lower it a little bit more.

    I'm at a rate of loss of 0.25 lb/week though, so talk about slowly creeping down on the scale if the water weight doesn't mask the loss all together. I'm finally seeing the loss after about 2 months of a stall.

    I lost 2lb every week for months. Now that I'm less than 30lbs to goal, it's crawling... ugh. But still a downward trend overall. I'm healthier than I've been since high school. So, as long as I'm still losing and healthy and energetic, then if its stupid-slow, it's fine with me. :smile:
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    baconslave wrote: »
    wkwebby wrote: »
    Starting low carb diets will shed water weight initially, then the body has to reset itself (you end up stalling for a few weeks). This whole weight loss isn't linear, but the loss comes in starts and stops. Just keep to you deficit and don't weigh daily if you're going to stress about the stalls. I started to lose weight after lowering my carb intake as well. I've got 30% of my 1600 calories set for carbs which gives me still quite a few for my day. I haven't mastered below that number yet, but once I get accustomed to it, I'm going to lower it a little bit more.

    I'm at a rate of loss of 0.25 lb/week though, so talk about slowly creeping down on the scale if the water weight doesn't mask the loss all together. I'm finally seeing the loss after about 2 months of a stall.

    I lost 2lb every week for months. Now that I'm less than 30lbs to goal, it's crawling... ugh. But still a downward trend overall. I'm healthier than I've been since high school. So, as long as I'm still losing and healthy and energetic, then if its stupid-slow, it's fine with me. :smile:

    I've got about 6-10 lbs left as well. Yes, stupid slow downward is better than upward trend.

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