Adding carbs back into your diet

Terpnista84

Why do people gain weight when they start to eat carbs again? That's my biggest fear because while I have no problem eating LC to lose weight (I restricted myself to 50g but I typically eat about 20g), I do plan on introducing them to my diet when I reach my goal. If I eat maintenance calories and work out, can I still eat carbs and and not gain weight?

People who have gained weight after eating carbs again, what do you think was the contributing factor?

anglyn1

You might gain around 5 pounds or so due to water with the carbs but that should be all. Most people gain weight back after any diet so I'm not sure why low carb is the one to get the bad rap. The cause is that you slip back into your old habits and you lose vigilance and eventually fail to eat at maintenance.

I personally think for me that it's easier to overeat carbs. I'm not good about weighing or measuring my food and I will totally lie to myself about portion sizes. Plus when I eat carbs I have more cravings.

Terpnista84

anglyn1 wrote: »

You might gain around 5 pounds or so due to water with the carbs but that should be all. Most people gain weight back after any diet so I'm not sure why low carb is the one to get the bad rap. The cause is that you slip back into your old habits and you lose vigilance and eventually fail to eat at maintenance.

I personally think for me that it's easier to overeat carbs. I'm not good about weighing or measuring my food and I will totally lie to myself about portion sizes. Plus when I eat carbs I have more cravings.

Thank you. I figured that's what happens but I wanted to be sure.

Dragonwolf

Why does anyone gain weight when moving away from the way of eating that was causing them to lose weight and back to what made them gain weight to begin with?

By "eating carbs again," you're treating LCHF like a short term, weight loss, "fad diet" or "diet as a verb," instead of a lifestyle change or "diet as a noun." You're falling into the same trap you may have fallen into in the past with things like Slimfast, Nutrisystem, cleanses, and other stuff that's designed to be a short term weight loss "diet-as-a-verb."

That's not to say you can never eat carbs again or anything like that. You can certainly loosen up your carb restriction if you can do so without slipping back into old habits and gaining weight again.

Most of us on LCHF got here, because of trouble we've had with food -- cravings, constant hunger, etc. We were able to get away from those issues by reducing our carbs, but if we reintroduce them, odds are very good that we'd enter back into those same cycles that made us fat to begin with.

For some of us, it's the carbs, themselves, and their reaction to our bodies. For example, I can kind of get away with increasing carbs and maintaining, if and only if, those carbs come from vegetables. If it's coming from sugar or grains, all bets are off, and even at a steady caloric intake, my body reacts in such a way that my insulin rises and stores more than it should, causing me to gain.

How many carbs can you move up to and still maintain your weight? That's entirely up to you and your body. Some people can go fairly high, while others may not be able to increase much if at all. It all depends on your body.

Terpnista84

Dragonwolf wrote: »

Why does anyone gain weight when moving away from the way of eating that was causing them to lose weight and back to what made them gain weight to begin with?

By "eating carbs again," you're treating LCHF like a short term, weight loss, "fad diet" or "diet as a verb," instead of a lifestyle change or "diet as a noun." You're falling into the same trap you may have fallen into in the past with things like Slimfast, Nutrisystem, cleanses, and other stuff that's designed to be a short term weight loss "diet-as-a-verb."

That's not to say you can never eat carbs again or anything like that. You can certainly loosen up your carb restriction if you can do so without slipping back into old habits and gaining weight again.

Most of us on LCHF got here, because of trouble we've had with food -- cravings, constant hunger, etc. We were able to get away from those issues by reducing our carbs, but if we reintroduce them, odds are very good that we'd enter back into those same cycles that made us fat to begin with.

For some of us, it's the carbs, themselves, and their reaction to our bodies. For example, I can kind of get away with increasing carbs and maintaining, if and only if, those carbs come from vegetables. If it's coming from sugar or grains, all bets are off, and even at a steady caloric intake, my body reacts in such a way that my insulin rises and stores more than it should, causing me to gain.

How many carbs can you move up to and still maintain your weight? That's entirely up to you and your body. Some people can go fairly high, while others may not be able to increase much if at all. It all depends on your body.

This is absolutely the case for me. I lost 30lbs watching my carbs only to gain it back when I went back to my previous day to day habits. I have to reset my thinking of this being just a temporary thing.

wabmester

Terpnista84 wrote: »

I have to reset my thinking of this being just a temporary thing.

Bingo. Just think of it as a genetic trait or a food allergy. Some of us are just carb intolerant.

I first did LC in 2004. It worked well, but I slowly relaxed carb intake. I mean really slowly -- over a period of 10 years. It was a disaster even though I still wasn't eating as much crap as I did pre-2004.

So this time around, I decided to make it 100% sustainable from day 1. For me, that meant I wasn't overly-restrictive -- I gave myself 100g carb budget. It worked even better this time, and I feel that I can easily sustain this forever.

DittoDan

It's not likely genetics, its your gut microbiome. They have studies of identical twins, where one is fat and the other isn't. They look at their gut microbiombe ~ and therein lies the differences.

Thats what I am working on, to reset my microbiome and be a normal person that can eat carbs again. There are many cases where this has happened.

Do a YouTube/Google of "Microbiome & obesity".

I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program

daylitemag

@wabmester I would be interested to know what foods you allow in that 100G carb allowance. Alternatively, are there certain foods that you restrict, or won't allow within that daily budget?

wabmester

The 100g just gives me enough flexibility to enjoy some meals with my family and to not sweat hidden carbs at restaurants, etc.

I still avoid all baked goods, breads, pizza, etc. Most of the time, I probably eat like you, and my main carb sources are veggies, dairy, nuts, etc. I'm not strictly targeting ketosis, but at the same time, I don't eat carb-laden foods that I associate with binges. Key goals: sustainable, flexible, not feeling deprived.

Not recommended for everybody. I think some people obviously do better keeping carbs below 50g or so.

daylitemag

Thanks. Lately I've been experimenting with a couple of carby foods. Well, actually only really one. A few times I have had a single, whole-wheat tortilla shell when my wife makes fajitas. I used to eat three or more. They don't really have a lot of carbs and I would still be well under 50g for the day (my general goal until now has been 20g or less) and I just enjoy the flavor. I don't have the re-fried beans and rice that I used to also put in fajitas. So it's just meat, cheese and the single shell. I then fill-up on just the meat portion. It doesn't seem to be having any negative impact and I remain in ketosis....but, I do worry that this could be the proverbial slippery slope. I hope that I can control it and not slide right back to 305#s.

KETOGENICGURL

Because I can't do a meat protein based LC diet I am naturally forced to get more carbs from vegggies, yogurt. I'd have to be strenuous to keep <50 carbs which is too difficult. BUT what I have learned Is I CAN have 100 carbs (real foods, no processed anything) and eat 2000-2300 calories a day and not gain at all. And I'm not active, recent severe ankle sprain kept me immobile for a month.

I've been maintaining the same weight for months, after a disasterous go around with the renal RD to "eat 50 carbs a meal minimum." Nope..just made me hungry all the time, and I gained back 11 pounds..gee thanks.

So right now I am on a long slow slide back to just 50 carbs. Without popcorn or LC tortillas I must turn to more fats...so I get more calories. But this has been enjoyable, to just eat, even though I'm not currently losing. I feel better, and that is worth everything.

bisky

I believe carbs stimulate insulin release and if you are over your carbs and calories you will put fat back on. If you are only over your carbs and not your calories it might be fluids.

That saying, I increased the carbs over the weekend and now back on plan but still suffering from feeling hungry as I did before on a higher carb diet. The low carb diet really is much more satisfying.

macchiatto

When I previously lost weight on a LC/low-fat/high protein diet, I eased back into carbs but maintained pretty well when I ate 100-120 carbs/day (so still in the LC range). When I started edging higher than that I started dealing with more carb cravings, binging, etc.

This time around I think my maintenance might end up being around 50-80gm/day.