I need some advice please.
Shells918
Posts: 1,070 Member
I've made my diary public so you can look at it.
My dr told me to stay under 50 carbs, which I do most days. He didn't seem to care about calories too much so I'm using the MFP suggested.
I'm barely losing weight and I'm hoping all my experienced LCHF peeps can give me some insight, suggestions and most of all HOPE. I've been doing this for a year and have lost 19 pounds and 26 inches.
I'm 46
5'4"
SW 194
CW 175 (was 172 2 weeks ago idk what happened)
GW 130/125
I've been sitting in the 170s for a really long time. I go up, I go down. I haven't gotten to 169 ever. I don't know what I'm missing.
All suggestions will be appreciated!
Thank you so much!!!
My dr told me to stay under 50 carbs, which I do most days. He didn't seem to care about calories too much so I'm using the MFP suggested.
I'm barely losing weight and I'm hoping all my experienced LCHF peeps can give me some insight, suggestions and most of all HOPE. I've been doing this for a year and have lost 19 pounds and 26 inches.
I'm 46
5'4"
SW 194
CW 175 (was 172 2 weeks ago idk what happened)
GW 130/125
I've been sitting in the 170s for a really long time. I go up, I go down. I haven't gotten to 169 ever. I don't know what I'm missing.
All suggestions will be appreciated!
Thank you so much!!!
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Replies
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Have you re-calculated your calorie goals since dropping 19 pounds?
26 inches is an INCREDIBLE transformation. I'm a slow loser, too, averaging around 20 pounds this last year. It's ridiculously frustrating, but I'm not doing anything wrong. There's a very good chance you aren't, either.2 -
You said your doctor suggested staying below 50g carbs, presumably for weight loss, or is there an underlying medical condition such as thyroid issues or diabetes that could be of concern?
If not it might be time to start watching calories more closely, definitely agree with the above. I'd try re-calculating my goals, drinking plenty of water, and sticking as close to hitting my recommended fat intake, getting a minimum of .6g protein per lb of lean body mass, and staying within the recommended calories as much possible without going over for at least a week.
Sometimes it's simply too many calorie high days mixed in with good days that make for confusion.
You've been successful in this WoE for a good length of time, so I'd assume your method for measurements are accurate, but it never hurts to try being a little more diligent in this area too... I know sometimes I've gotten lax and the scale was sure to let me know it the following Wednesday.1 -
@JTyler2016, yes, it is for medical reasons. I'm prediabetic and have metabolic syndrome brought on by medication. I'm also hypothyroid but on meds for that.
@Panda_Poptarts I am glad to hear I'm not the only slow loser. It does get frustrating.
I think I've recalculated the calories but I was eating my exercise calories in the beginning and I'm trying not to now.
I weigh and measure everything I eat. I think I have to add more fat and maybe better carbs for the ones I do eat.
Thank you for your advice!!'1 -
A couple thoughts....
Recalculating not only calories, but also macros is a good idea. (Have you read through that sticky LCD Launch Pad? If not, it's got links to keto-calculators that can help you along.)
You don't need to hit any fat targets, since your body will cheerfully snack on body fat if you don't feed it enough. (!)
However, you should hit (but not significantly exceed) your protein target.
Good luck!1 -
Hi @darlswife! I don't have a lot of advice, as I've been hanging around the same weight for about a month now. I think my main issue is that I was on vacation for a month and while I stayed on plan, I was a eating a lot more snacks than usual and maybe eating when not hungry. (At least I didn't gain, my usual MO on vacation
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I took a peek at your diary and wondered why you use low fat half & half (have you tried regular half & half, or heavy whipping cream, which is amazing!)? Also, why do you use an egg substitute instead of eggs? In trying to tweak your fat & carb intake, changing those things might help a little.
Good luck!2 -
Troubles I see with your food choices:
As mentioned before I question the Low fat half and half, and use of egg substitute.
Using the power crunch cookies for lunch most days (full of artificial sweeteners, is fake food imo, offers no nutritional value)
What I mainly see is a lack of real food. Tuna is good, but is Low fat (even with the mayo it's still not higher fat).
Switch the Low fat anything for full fat options (the satiety is wonderful). Drop the power crunch cookies for a while, and see if you see a difference in weight loss. Imo it would be better to have sandwich meat, and cheese, instead of those. Your body isn't sure what to do since you're giving it bacon, but then egg substitute, and other low fat foods. Best of luck to you!3 -
Good points, @Karlottap.
@darlswife, FYI, the issue with low- or zero-fat versions of dairy products is that they tend to be proportionally higher in carbs, even without the addition of carb fillers, because the fat has been removed. (For the same reason, they're less filling.)2 -
Agree with everyone above - avoid fake food like the plague and don't use MFP's calorie recommendation. Get a DEXA scan and RMR if you can and base your intake on those. Also, exercise! Especially resistance exercise if you don't have any limitations.1
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Hi @darlswife! I don't have a lot of advice, as I've been hanging around the same weight for about a month now. I think my main issue is that I was on vacation for a month and while I stayed on plan, I was a eating a lot more snacks than usual and maybe eating when not hungry. (At least I didn't gain, my usual MO on vacation )
I took a peek at your diary and wondered why you use low fat half & half (have you tried regular half & half, or heavy whipping cream, which is amazing!)? Also, why do you use an egg substitute instead of eggs? In trying to tweak your fat & carb intake, changing those things might help a little.
Good luck!
Wow this is amazing advice @RalfLott @Karlotapp @Majcolorado @redimock
It has been hard to go from the low/no fat weight watchers days where I lost 75 pounds 15 years ago. I was so successful with thAt. Moving to full fat foods has been hard for me.
I will totally switch out the coffee creamer to full fat, I might move to hwc at some point but I just tapered down from 8 equals to 2 stevia and one sweetnlow. I take steps with things.
Giving up Powercrunch bars will be sad, but if it helps I will do it.
I use boxed eggs because of the convenience really. It's 98%egg whites ( I thought) and makes life easier to measure a half a cup out rather than trying to weigh whole eggs. If it's going to help, I can use whole eggs. Anyone know if I can crack a bunch of eggs in advance and use them as needed?
I'm so excited for this information!
Thanks everyone!0 -
It has been hard to go from the low/no fat weight watchers days where I lost 75 pounds 15 years ago. I was so successful with thAt. Moving to full fat foods has been hard for me.
I use boxed eggs because of the convenience really. It's 98%egg whites ( I thought) and makes life easier to measure a half a cup out rather than trying to weigh whole eggs. If it's going to help, I can use whole eggs. Anyone know if I can crack a bunch of eggs in advance and use them as needed?
One of the trickiest parts of the LCHF life is getting over the years and years and years of "low fat is best!" Once you manage though, you find out high fat just tastes so much better and is so much more satisfying!
I don't know about cracking whole eggs in advance and using them as needed. I worked at a bakery as a teenager, and we had a giant bucket-o-eggs that we used (precracked and scrambled together), but I don't know if that was treated in some way to keep it safe.
I think that if you just crack them as you need them, you can record "2 large eggs" or "2 jumbo eggs" or whatever size you buy. There only seems to be about a 10 calorie difference between sizes, so I would imagine individual differences between eggs of the same nominal size should be inconsequential for your logging.
98% egg whites seems fine - but then you are missing out on all of that yolky goodness!
Just my two cents - I hope it helps!
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Are there farmers' markets in your area? Fresh produce, local meat & dairy, fresh eggs.... Mmm, mmm, good!3
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The ability to be exact is impossible. My recommendation with eggs (if you're cooking them ahead of time for convenience) is if you cook say six eggs (number off the top of my head), divide them into three equal portions for storage. Wa la, you've got two egg servings! Yes, you need the yolk (for the fat)! Egg whites are good, but don't provide the best part (imo) of the egg!
I had a hard time overcoming the fat phobia that's been preached to us forever! I'm an RN, so the preaching has been done by me too! Once I saw what high fat could do for me (made me feel healthy, and not hungry!) I haven't looked back! I actually believe that low fat diets have lead to many of the health issues we are seeing today (explosion of dementia, and Alzheimer's especially!)! I recommend you read up on this as soon as possible, because until you change your thinking, and belief (as I had to do too!) about low fat you will have trouble with being successful with LCHF. Recommended reading on this is "Cholesterol Clarity" by Jimmy Moore, "Grain Brain" by David Perlmutter. These have been instrumental in changing my thinking about low fat, and what it's done to us!
Hugs to you! Changing this thinking is a process, but can be done! Please read, and educate yourself about this! You need this belief to solidify this woe for yourself, and for defense against the people who "poo poo" this too! 1 -
Are there farmers' markets in your area? Fresh produce, local meat & dairy, fresh eggs.... Mmm, mmm, good!
Fresh produce yes, I live in NJ, the Garden State, lol. Farm stands everywhere. Meat dairy and eggs... They use local at our grocery store.
I'll be going shopping in the next few days and getting all of these suggestions. I can't wait to try them!1 -
@darlswife
Also, I notice that a lot of your snacks have real sugars in them (PB, Snickers, Apple, Honey, etc.). A diabetes doc I listened to recommended a cascading increase to carbs over the day (1:2:3), so at a goal of 50 a day, you'd want less than 8 at breakfast, less than 17 at lunch, and around 25 at dinner. Once you increase your fats, you should be able to drop the snacks.
It's actually important for those of us with metabolic issues/carb sensitivity, etc. to get at least a 4 hour break twice a day from eating. We have to give our stomach/liver/gallbladder/intestines a break. We also need to give our pancreas a break. Spiking insulin regularly with sugar will keep you from burning fat, full stop (it's actually part of it's main function, intentionally). It will also throw all your hormones into a roller coaster ride from Hades - that includes any female hormones (which makes cravings worse) AND MORE IMPORTANTLY - YOUR THYROID HORMONES. Sugar and grains create hormonal chaos - which isn't good for anyone.
I feel the best when I work in a meal skip, usually at lunch, about once a day. Doing that, and interval intensity training, both work together to drag that insulin level down, restoring a level of sensitivity, and helping bring everything down to a level where normal starts to seem like a potential reality, rather than a laughable fairy tale...5 -
@KnitOrMiss
The snickers and honey are not regular things and I'm trying to cut back on apples and peanut butter.
It's hard for me to go too long without food because if I get too hungry I get a migraine.
Some days I only have coffee and don't eat breakfast till after 11, but I get a bit lightheaded and see spots when I work out. Hoping that when I increase my fat/protein I'll be less hungry. I can do the 4 hour break after lunch, but not between breakfast and lunch for some reason.
Thanks for the info!0 -
@darlswife
I'd imagine that this is more of a reactive hypoglycemia issue, from the sounds of it, because the body naturally spikes insulin around the times you eat...like it gets to know your schedule. So even if you don't eat in the morning, you'll still have insulin running around looking for sugar, etc. The body is really crazy insane and somewhat brilliant... If you're like me, you've just broken yours and are having to fix it before doing any real "progressive" type improvements.
I'd definitely work toward getting a better breakfast in. Sometimes my breakfast (on a fasting day) can be 800 calories or more - like 3-4+ eggs with breakfast meat and cheese, etc. The more solid fats and protein I get early can totally set the tone of my hunger the whole day. Usually it's more of the 350-600 calorie range... Lunch is almost always lighter calorie wise, just because I don't want to feel heavy at lunch unless I went light at breakfast... Dinner is a bigger meal, too...
Another note - I was low carb for well over 6 months before I started extending my meal breaks. I realized that no matter what I ate for lunch, I always was DYING for a snack after it, no matter what. Because of this, I started pushing my "lunch time" back by 5 minutes here, 15 minutes there, etc. until it was silly late in the afternoon and I hadn't missed eating. This took me AGES. The further I pushed it back, the easier it got...
I'm one of those who does not do well AT ALL if I skip breakfast, so I can sometimes IF through it, if it happens naturally for whatever reason, but that's like MAYBE once a month... But I can sometimes, when fully fat adapted, skip lunch...or go until like 4 pm and have a small snack before going home and making dinner...2 -
@KnitOrMiss
The snickers and honey are not regular things and I'm trying to cut back on apples and peanut butter.
It's hard for me to go too long without food because if I get too hungry I get a migraine.
Some days I only have coffee and don't eat breakfast till after 11, but I get a bit lightheaded and see spots when I work out. Hoping that when I increase my fat/protein I'll be less hungry. I can do the 4 hour break after lunch, but not between breakfast and lunch for some reason.
Thanks for the info!
This sounds like blood sugar dropping. The best fix for that is to increase insulin sensitivity by eating fewer carbs (which is why your doctor has you on low carb) Particularly fast acting ones found in processed foods, fruit (fructose) and real sugar.
And there's the electrolyte connection as well. Next time, have a salty snack like a pickle or olives instead. Push through the low blood sugar and your liver should self correct that. You should be checking blood sugar when you feel that way. If you're staying above 65-70, without ever dropping lower you can probably trust your liver to dump some glycogen. Your body will be telling you to "eat all the things", don't listen. It's a trick! Even if you find that must eat something to correct it, if what you eat simply sends your insulin back to work, you are doing absolutely nothing but starting your next 4 hour cycle up to crash again.
Have you seen any of Jason Fung's videos? I highly recommend you find them in the launch pad. They will help you understand how to fight back against the looping cycle that's keeping you hungry all day.5 -
I just want to tell you all how awesome you are. I appreciate all of the feedback and can't wait to go food shopping tomorrow!
I did start watching the Jason Fung Video, but obviously I can't do it all in one day.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to look at my diary and give advice so nicely.
Things are going to get better, I know it.
I love this group!
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