Going on week 4 and still gaining weight Help Please
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cedarsidefarm
Posts: 163 Member
Hi, I'm new here and am looking for advice. Ok, I didn't expect to lose any weight while my body adopted to a lifetime of caloric restrictions but to gain 3 lbs is that normal? I'm on day 23. I started out on the always hungry diet, then moved to stage 2 and don't use his recipes as much because I lowered my goal for carbs to below 50. He gives you a goal of percent of carbs in the diet in the book but I found that a plain number was easier to aim for. My goal each day is to eat less than 50 carbs. If/when I go over it is usually because I miscalculated the carbs in what I had planned to eat, not because I cheated. I have not had any bread, rice, potatoes, cake, cookies or bread (I said that already) and bread for 23 days. Bread was a big part of my life. I made it from scratch and developed different flavors for different soups and proteins. But I gave it all up because I gained over 45 pounds. I'm almost 180 and can't afford to gain much more weight at a heigt of 5' 4".
I quit smoking by chewing nicotine gum 2 years ago. I gave up the gum a year ago. I have not smoked since I started chewing the gum. I still chew from 3 to 5 sugar free pieces (not nicotine, plain gum) a day. Yes, they have 1 to 2 carbs per piece and I count them. I'm perfectly healthy, no diabetes, no thyroid condition, no high cholesterol, no high blood pressure.
I am a 57 year old female (keep it a secret, even my Mom doesn't know my real age).
my husband and I run a small organic farm. So, I get plenty of exercise. Here's why I think I may need some time to get my body back to normal. For most of my life, I have smoked and eaten only one meal a day, except when I was pregnant. I gained a lot of weight with each pregnancy but it came off as soon as I went back to smoking. Now that I quit, it seems like nothing I do helps me lose weight. My Mom is over 200 lbs and I've watched her struggle all her life on low calorie diets but they never worked. So, I know I have to do something different.
Is this weight gain something to worry about? Should I go back to counting calories and carbs and/or fasting? Should I get those strips that use urine to determine if I'm in keto? Are the strips useful? How long is it advisable to stay on this diet while gaining and not losing weight? Should I lower my carbs even further?
Since I cut carbs, I feel better and for the first time in a really long time, I am NOT constantly hungry. The swelling in my joints has gone down. If I could lose some weight, this would be the perfect diet for me. I've done the weight watchers thing and I have lost a lot weight. But I was so absolutely hungry all the time with the hunger getting worse and worse the longer I staid on the diet. And my finger nails got dry and brittle and I never had any energy. I finally gave up weight watchers and went back to smoking and eating one meal a day.
I don't want to ever pick up a cigarette again. Please, let me know if what I'm experiencing is to be expected considering how badly I treated my body with the smoking, caloric restrictions and fasting, or if you think I should change something.
I quit smoking by chewing nicotine gum 2 years ago. I gave up the gum a year ago. I have not smoked since I started chewing the gum. I still chew from 3 to 5 sugar free pieces (not nicotine, plain gum) a day. Yes, they have 1 to 2 carbs per piece and I count them. I'm perfectly healthy, no diabetes, no thyroid condition, no high cholesterol, no high blood pressure.
I am a 57 year old female (keep it a secret, even my Mom doesn't know my real age).
my husband and I run a small organic farm. So, I get plenty of exercise. Here's why I think I may need some time to get my body back to normal. For most of my life, I have smoked and eaten only one meal a day, except when I was pregnant. I gained a lot of weight with each pregnancy but it came off as soon as I went back to smoking. Now that I quit, it seems like nothing I do helps me lose weight. My Mom is over 200 lbs and I've watched her struggle all her life on low calorie diets but they never worked. So, I know I have to do something different.Is this weight gain something to worry about? Should I go back to counting calories and carbs and/or fasting? Should I get those strips that use urine to determine if I'm in keto? Are the strips useful? How long is it advisable to stay on this diet while gaining and not losing weight? Should I lower my carbs even further?
Since I cut carbs, I feel better and for the first time in a really long time, I am NOT constantly hungry. The swelling in my joints has gone down. If I could lose some weight, this would be the perfect diet for me. I've done the weight watchers thing and I have lost a lot weight. But I was so absolutely hungry all the time with the hunger getting worse and worse the longer I staid on the diet. And my finger nails got dry and brittle and I never had any energy. I finally gave up weight watchers and went back to smoking and eating one meal a day.
I don't want to ever pick up a cigarette again. Please, let me know if what I'm experiencing is to be expected considering how badly I treated my body with the smoking, caloric restrictions and fasting, or if you think I should change something.
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The great thing about life is that everyday is a new day. And that applies to your way of eating. Going low carb is a lifestyle change.
I definitely think you need to log your food. I lost 65 pounds on LCHF. I am also 57. When I started reintroducing carbs back into my diet, WHAM! 22 lbs. back on. I'm in the process of losing that 22 lbs. now (15 to go!) and it has been harder for me this time.
I keep my carbs under 20g per day. I just have to, we're all different though. Don't waste your money on keto sticks, You will know when you are in ketosis, trust me.
Do not start smoking again! That's just a nasty habit all the way around. I think your weight gain could be water retention, not enough fat, too many carbs. What I did to start losing again was drop the carbs way down and up the fat and salt. Send me friend request and you can see my diary.
Don't give up hope! It does work, really!0 -
If you open you diary, it may be helpful to see what exactly you're eating. In my opinion, I think it's best to watch both calories and carbs. HOWEVER, you can raise your calorie intake a little more than you were. For example, I lost some weight only counting 1200 calories a day and gained it all back because of what you said. I was ALWAYS hungry and tired. I started LCHF/Keto in January and I have more energy and I'm almost never hungry. I kept the calories rather high at first 1800-2000 but I'm trying to gain muscle and lose fat so I lowered it just recently to 1400. However, I only have about 20 more lbs to lose.
It's hard to determine what's causing you to gain weight if we don't know what you're eating.0 -
OH YA. Ketostix are silly. I bought them and stopped using them. Also, I used to smoke as well. I recommend swimming to cure you of any desire to go back. It's just not worth the step backwards.0
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My wife had some thyroid and other hormone issues that went undiagnosed for years. She also gained weight and found it almost impossible to lose it. You may want to check with your doctor about doing some blood work so you can rule it out.0
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The great thing about life is that everyday is a new day. And that applies to your way of eating. Going low carb is a lifestyle change.
I definitely think you need to log your food. I lost 65 pounds on LCHF. I am also 57. When I started reintroducing carbs back into my diet, WHAM! 22 lbs. back on. I'm in the process of losing that 22 lbs. now (15 to go!) and it has been harder for me this time.
I keep my carbs under 20g per day. I just have to, we're all different though. Don't waste your money on keto sticks, You will know when you are in ketosis, trust me.
Do not start smoking again! That's just a nasty habit all the way around. I think your weight gain could be water retention, not enough fat, too many carbs. What I did to start losing again was drop the carbs way down and up the fat and salt. Send me friend request and you can see my diary.
Don't give up hope! It does work, really!
Thanks so much. I have been logging here for 23 days. My goal is to eat about 50% fat and I've been reaching that very easily. It's tough for me to get below 50g of carb but I can do it if I try. I think I'll keep trying low carb for a little while longer....I really don't want to go back to starving myself and always being hungry.0 -
no_day_but_2day wrote: »OH YA. Ketostix are silly. I bought them and stopped using them. Also, I used to smoke as well. I recommend swimming to cure you of any desire to go back. It's just not worth the step backwards.
Thanks for the info. Another poster said the sticks were not very useful too.
I really don't want to go back to smoking. (I think I wont be able to to tell you honestly. The last time I smoked it really hurt my throat.)
I do eat an awful lot of calories they are in the 1600 to 1700. But I have to usually cut back to 1200 to lose any weight.
I also went through a period where I could not get enough nuts, cashews, peanuts, mixed nuts, almonds even sunflower seeds. It was like I could not get enough and then suddenly (after about 2 weeks) my cravings stopped. I think it was because my husband is on a renal diet and he can't eat nuts, peanut butter or seeds so I just did not keep them around.0 -
My wife had some thyroid and other hormone issues that went undiagnosed for years. She also gained weight and found it almost impossible to lose it. You may want to check with your doctor about doing some blood work so you can rule it out.
Yeah, I've been thinking that maybe my body has changed since my last physical. I go in on April for my annual physical and I'll get the doctor to check it all again. You never know. Thanks.0 -
You need to get your Macros straight. Go here and it will tell you:
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
I do 5% Carb/70% Fat/25% Protein and aim for 1100 calories a day to lose.0 -
You need to get your Macros straight. Go here and it will tell you:
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
I do 5% Carb/70% Fat/25% Protein and aim for 1100 calories a day to lose.
Oh my, You are a very strong person. I don't think I could survive on 1100 calories a day. That would be about 22 points on Weight Watchers. Whenever I went below 30 points on Weight Watchers I would stop losing weight altogether and then the hunger would get so bad I could not sleep at night. 30 points was about 1500 calories a day. But even then I was always hungry, tired and my fingernails got all dried and cracked.
My macros are 10% carbs/60%/fat/30% protein based on what I've been doing. I went to your link and they want me to eat about 1500 calories a day. Which I did on Weight Watchers and lost but I also got all those hunger pangs and constant tiredness.
I do heavy physical work, throwing bales of hay, dragging bags of feed. Dragging and pushing unhappy 200 to 150 pound sheep, chasing lambs and leading excited 175 pound dogs. Digging out sheep and chicken manure; planting and tilling. This is my job. I do it 7 days a week unless it's raining like today. And I'm gaining weight. There is something I'm missing here that calories in and calories out is not addressing.
I don't mean to be rude and you have obviously found a system that works well for you. But if I go down in calories, why would I even want do LCHF? I could cut my calories, eat all the beautiful bread I can make and be hungry and lose weight. LCHF would then be just calorie counting without the wonderful bread. I don't know about this.0 -
If you put aside the calorie question for now and focus on adjusting your macros only, I think you'll be setting yourself up for success. Maybe start with 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs, or something close to that.
More fat = more satiety. Really! If you eat enough fat, you won't be hungry in between meals. You may be surprised at how far you can space your meals. You could even go back to eating once a day, if you want, but you might want to wait on that until you've tested changing your macros. See how you feel, and give your energy level a chance to adjust, maybe a couple of weeks.
On the flip side, more carbs = less satiety. Protein can get converted to carbs in the liver via gluconeogenesis. If you eat more fat and less of everything else, your body will make the switch to running on ketones, which feels different from running on glucose, more smooth and steady.
I find I can stay in ketosis if I aim for 50g total carbs per day, with roughly a 70/20/10 ratio. Of course, people's sweet spots vary. I'm about to turn 36, very active mom of 3 young kids, not an athlete, but I don't sit down much either.
Also, major kudos to you for quitting smoking! I quit going on 11 years ago, after being a pack-a-day smoker for the most part of 10 years. You gave yourself a big raise and a major health boost, and you'll never regret it.0 -
1100 is too low imo. Having knowledge of calories is useful though.until we adapt to low carb we can still crave food n overeat. Hell, I could eat half a day's worth of energy in cashews without noticing! Thus we can overeat early on. For many people, our body starts to realise we are full n can be trusted to eat what it needs, not more. Maybe try low carb and observe calories, without judgement.
I hope this works for your weight and your health0 -
mlinton_mesapark wrote: »If you put aside the calorie question for now and focus on adjusting your macros only, I think you'll be setting yourself up for success. Maybe start with 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs, or something close to that.
More fat = more satiety. Really! If you eat enough fat, you won't be hungry in between meals. You may be surprised at how far you can space your meals. You could even go back to eating once a day, if you want, but you might want to wait on that until you've tested changing your macros. See how you feel, and give your energy level a chance to adjust, maybe a couple of weeks.
On the flip side, more carbs = less satiety. Protein can get converted to carbs in the liver via gluconeogenesis. If you eat more fat and less of everything else, your body will make the switch to running on ketones, which feels different from running on glucose, more smooth and steady.
I find I can stay in ketosis if I aim for 50g total carbs per day, with roughly a 70/20/10 ratio. Of course, people's sweet spots vary. I'm about to turn 36, very active mom of 3 young kids, not an athlete, but I don't sit down much either.
Also, major kudos to you for quitting smoking! I quit going on 11 years ago, after being a pack-a-day smoker for the most part of 10 years. You gave yourself a big raise and a major health boost, and you'll never regret it.
Ok, I'll try that ratio. I just freaked when the link initially said I had to go down to 765 calories and then I realized I had made a mistake. But it still wanted me to cut fat and I thought fat was my friend and I'm just confused.
So I know my calories about once a week go very high about 1800 on average. But then I settle back down. This might sound crazy, but for so long I have fasted and cut calories that about once a week my body decide to test me to see if I will continue to feed it fat instead of carbs. Thanks for the help.0 -
SamandaIndia wrote: »1100 is too low imo. Having knowledge of calories is useful though.until we adapt to low carb we can still crave food n overeat. Hell, I could eat half a day's worth of energy in cashews without noticing! Thus we can overeat early on. For many people, our body starts to realise we are full n can be trusted to eat what it needs, not more. Maybe try low carb and observe calories, without judgement.
I hope this works for your weight and your health
Thanks, I guess I should have known this would not be easy but in a different way than counting calories wasn't easy.0 -
It gets easy because it puts you in control of your hunger. Do you call the shots and cravings or blood sugar.
Fat is your friend. And you should find that you can have more calories on low carb than on high carb. That's pretty typical0 -
I think if you follow the advice above and lower your carbs down a bit, and up your fat, you will see one of the great benefits of this way of eating, which is a much reduced appetite! You will end up naturally limiting your calories anyway. Eat within your percentages when you get hungry, stop before you are too full, and you should be okay.
And as for the exercise you are getting everyday, once you are better adapted to burning fat, you should have plenty of energy to get the jobs done.
I think your body may be trying to heal itself so it may take some time for it to trust that you are going to feed it enough of the nutrients (good fats, adequate protein) it needs...then hopefully you'll see your weight start to move.0 -
Personally, I gain weight if I don't count calories, low carb or not, simply because I eat too much. Low carb isn't automatically a weight loss bullet, you still have to eat less than you expend.
How many calories did MFP give you?0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Personally, I gain weight if I don't count calories, low carb or not, simply because I eat too much. Low carb isn't automatically a weight loss bullet, you still have to eat less than you expend.
How many calories did MFP give you?
Thank so much for the advice. I just find it very disappointing to have to restrict my calories on top of cutting out my most favorite food ever - bread. But I honestly think I am overdoing it on calories since I never really let my own hunger guide me on how much to eat except when my hunger became uncontrollable.
The MFP gave me 1500 calories, which in my experience is the minumum I can eat and lose weight without stalling out my weight loss. At first it gave me 765 but I had put in the wrong weight. It kind of scaed me until I realized I had done it wrong.0 -
ambergem1969 wrote: »I think if you follow the advice above and lower your carbs down a bit, and up your fat, you will see one of the great benefits of this way of eating, which is a much reduced appetite! You will end up naturally limiting your calories anyway. Eat within your percentages when you get hungry, stop before you are too full, and you should be okay.
And as for the exercise you are getting everyday, once you are better adapted to burning fat, you should have plenty of energy to get the jobs done.
I think your body may be trying to heal itself so it may take some time for it to trust that you are going to feed it enough of the nutrients (good fats, adequate protein) it needs...then hopefully you'll see your weight start to move.
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try it for another 4 weeks but after that, if I don't lose weight, I'll go to counting calories again.0 -
I'll leave this link here, incase you are using measuring cups/spoons. If so, watch the video
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10346234/not-losing-tips-suggestions-help-please#latest
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cedarsidefarm wrote: »Hi, I'm new here and am looking for advice. Ok, I didn't expect to lose any weight while my body adopted to a lifetime of caloric restrictions but to gain 3 lbs is that normal? I'm on day 23. I started out on the always hungry diet, then moved to stage 2 and don't use his recipes as much because I lowered my goal for carbs to below 50. He gives you a goal of percent of carbs in the diet in the book but I found that a plain number was easier to aim for. My goal each day is to eat less than 50 carbs. If/when I go over it is usually because I miscalculated the carbs in what I had planned to eat, not because I cheated. I have not had any bread, rice, potatoes, cake, cookies or bread (I said that already) and bread for 23 days. Bread was a big part of my life. I made it from scratch and developed different flavors for different soups and proteins. But I gave it all up because I gained over 45 pounds. I'm almost 180 and can't afford to gain much more weight at a heigt of 5' 4".
I quit smoking by chewing nicotine gum 2 years ago. I gave up the gum a year ago. I have not smoked since I started chewing the gum. I still chew from 3 to 5 sugar free pieces (not nicotine, plain gum) a day. Yes, they have 1 to 2 carbs per piece and I count them. I'm perfectly healthy, no diabetes, no thyroid condition, no high cholesterol, no high blood pressure.
I am a 57 year old female (keep it a secret, even my Mom doesn't know my real age). my husband and I run a small organic farm. So, I get plenty of exercise. Here's why I think I may need some time to get my body back to normal. For most of my life, I have smoked and eaten only one meal a day, except when I was pregnant. I gained a lot of weight with each pregnancy but it came off as soon as I went back to smoking. Now that I quit, it seems like nothing I do helps me lose weight. My Mom is over 200 lbs and I've watched her struggle all her life on low calorie diets but they never worked. So, I know I have to do something different.
Is this weight gain something to worry about? Should I go back to counting calories and carbs and/or fasting? Should I get those strips that use urine to determine if I'm in keto? Are the strips useful? How long is it advisable to stay on this diet while gaining and not losing weight? Should I lower my carbs even further?
Since I cut carbs, I feel better and for the first time in a really long time, I am NOT constantly hungry. The swelling in my joints has gone down. If I could lose some weight, this would be the perfect diet for me. I've done the weight watchers thing and I have lost a lot weight. But I was so absolutely hungry all the time with the hunger getting worse and worse the longer I staid on the diet. And my finger nails got dry and brittle and I never had any energy. I finally gave up weight watchers and went back to smoking and eating one meal a day.
I don't want to ever pick up a cigarette again. Please, let me know if what I'm experiencing is to be expected considering how badly I treated my body with the smoking, caloric restrictions and fasting, or if you think I should change something.cedarsidefarm wrote: »ambergem1969 wrote: »I think if you follow the advice above and lower your carbs down a bit, and up your fat, you will see one of the great benefits of this way of eating, which is a much reduced appetite! You will end up naturally limiting your calories anyway. Eat within your percentages when you get hungry, stop before you are too full, and you should be okay.
And as for the exercise you are getting everyday, once you are better adapted to burning fat, you should have plenty of energy to get the jobs done.
I think your body may be trying to heal itself so it may take some time for it to trust that you are going to feed it enough of the nutrients (good fats, adequate protein) it needs...then hopefully you'll see your weight start to move.
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try it for another 4 weeks but after that, if I don't lose weight, I'll go to counting calories again.
Why, when you are getting the benefits you mentioned above, would you give those up and go back to being hungry on a SAD diet?
Low carb doesn't mean calories don't count. But, people say that because you naturally eat less when you eat real food with a good amount of fat. If you're going to switch to counting calories anyway in 4 weeks if you don't get the result you want, just do it low carb. I count, but I did it initially because I couldn't trust my broken hunger signals. In the last 9 months, I've learned what it feels like to actually be hungry as opposed to cravings induced by sneaky carbs and artificial sweeteners. I really think if I didn't count anymore that I would naturally eat the right amount now.
Your body has a lot of fixing to do by your own admission. Cut it some slack if the weight doesn't come right off. It's definitely more important to be healthy and pain free than thin. Losing weight will come in time.0
