Does low carb, high fat ruin your metabolism?

Violet_1

People say anything more 2lbs loss a week is also muscle loss and I lost 9 lbs last week. Bit worried. So basically, when I reach my goal weight, and start eating more carbs again (not loads but some) will my metabolism be terrible? I want to continue this low carb but don't want to be skinny fat from loss of muscle. I do Jillian Michaels dvd twice. Thanks

kommodevaran

How much you can lose per week will depend on how much you have to lose. Initial loss will mostly be water. 2 pounds is the max for ordinary dieters, not the superobese. But yes, a too aggressive weight loss will be muscle loss. You will normally struggle before you get that far - being hungry, lethargic and generally unwell. Your body is smart and lets you know. But you need to listen. If you are superobese, you've had a lot of experience in not listening to your body's needs.

You can eat carbs when losing weight. You just need a calorie deficit to lose weight. If you stick to the calories MFP gave you, you will be allright.

Your metabolism won't be broken, but yes, if you have indeed lost a lot of muscle, you will burn a smaller amount of energy until you have rebuilt them. So it's a good idea to keep moving and not eat too little.

abadvat

First week low carbs / high fats?
Normal - you depleted your muscles and dropped water contents and lost a very minimal amount (if any at all) of fat.
Your metabolism won't be affected but the day you go back on carbs you'll see those 9/10 pounds coming back up in a couple of days - not of fat tho.

StealthHealth

abadvat wrote: »

First week low carbs / high fats?
Normal - you depleted your muscles and dropped water contents and lost a very minimal amount (if any at all) of fat.
Your metabolism won't be affected but the day you go back on carbs you'll see those 9/10 pounds coming back up in a couple of days - not of fat tho.

^^agree with this but just so OP is not confused buy "You depleted your muscles" I think @abadvat is saying is "you depleted the glycogen in your muscles which leads to a drop in retained water (which you will see as a loss on the scale). When you add more carbs back into your diet you will replenish the glycogen and water and see a gain on the scales but this gain is not fat."

Violet_1

So, going forward, should I add some carb to my diet? Like a banana a day? Or 1 piece of bread? I'm so confused... Thanks for the replies.

StealthHealth

For weight loss calories are what matter - get that part right and the weight will come off.

Some people prefer high carb, others low but that preference is just that, a preference and although getting a P/C/F split that you're happy with will help you stay compliant with your diet there is no correct or incorrect ratio (unless your doing some thing wacky like eating zero of a macro).

Doing some strength type exercise will help retain muscle during a diet.

I think this sums it up:

kommodevaran wrote: »

So it's a good idea to keep moving and not eat too little.

abadvat

What you aiming at? Loosing weight? A deficit will do just fine - you need to eat less that you consume to ensure you reduce fat contents that's all.

alexpn

Unfortunately, fluid retention and glycogen storage are things we all have to deal with, we cant get rid of it and they fluctuate based on intake. No one body is the same! This is why weighing yourself too regularly will never give you any peace of mind. It's always safer to judge your efforts on genuine body changes with muscle/fat levels than it is just the weight alone.

Violet_1

Yeah I need to lose 3.5 stone. My goal is to lose under 3 stone by Christmas at 2 lbs a week. I joined weight watchers but I don't believe in low fat stuff or anything processed so I did my own thing all week and shocked the weight watchers members with my 9lbs loss yesterday and it got me worried. I'll look at my diet again then...

Bonny132

9lbs in week 1 is not unheard of, will be mostly water and waste products. If you are doing LCHF I would recommend you to search out some of the forums on MFP for advice and tips.

luvmakeup4ever

No it doesn't. My metabolism is fine...