One Year of Logging In, but I need help!
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Marillian
Posts: 3,892 Member
Today is day 365 of logging into MFP. I've been a member since 2014, but was not consistent.
One year ago today I re-committed to getting rid of my excess weight once and for all. One year ago, I could barely walk a few yards without having to stop. I was disgusted with how I looked and felt. I was tired all the time. I knew I had to get serious and make changes to lose weight, but there is a little voice inside of me that laughs and said, yeah, right. You've tried how many times? Sure, I lost, but always gained it back. I knew how to eat healthy so that wasn't the issue. I was addicted to sugar. I realized I have to view sugar as a drug. I am very proud of myself that in one year, I've lost 71 pounds! I can walk distances, work out in the gym and had to buy a new wardrobe. I still have many more pounds to get rid of, but I am confident that I will.
A little over 2 weeks ago, I changed to LCHF. I was really skeptical that I would lose weight with this WOE. My first week I lost 6.2 pounds. My second, only 0.4. Today I showed a 3 pound gain, but I have not cheated at all. Is this "normal"? Have you gained even though you stayed the course? It don't have that TOM anymore, so that's not a reason.
I was advised to up my calories when I started LCHF from 1500 to 1825 (my TDEE with 20% deficit), but raising my calories that high scared me so I only upped it to 1700. I was told to give it at least 6 weeks, but seeing that big of a gain freaks me out. I have the urge to lower my calories back down because I fear I will gain again.
Any advice, suggestions appreciated!
One year ago today I re-committed to getting rid of my excess weight once and for all. One year ago, I could barely walk a few yards without having to stop. I was disgusted with how I looked and felt. I was tired all the time. I knew I had to get serious and make changes to lose weight, but there is a little voice inside of me that laughs and said, yeah, right. You've tried how many times? Sure, I lost, but always gained it back. I knew how to eat healthy so that wasn't the issue. I was addicted to sugar. I realized I have to view sugar as a drug. I am very proud of myself that in one year, I've lost 71 pounds! I can walk distances, work out in the gym and had to buy a new wardrobe. I still have many more pounds to get rid of, but I am confident that I will.
A little over 2 weeks ago, I changed to LCHF. I was really skeptical that I would lose weight with this WOE. My first week I lost 6.2 pounds. My second, only 0.4. Today I showed a 3 pound gain, but I have not cheated at all. Is this "normal"? Have you gained even though you stayed the course? It don't have that TOM anymore, so that's not a reason.
I was advised to up my calories when I started LCHF from 1500 to 1825 (my TDEE with 20% deficit), but raising my calories that high scared me so I only upped it to 1700. I was told to give it at least 6 weeks, but seeing that big of a gain freaks me out. I have the urge to lower my calories back down because I fear I will gain again.
Any advice, suggestions appreciated!
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Replies
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Congratulations on how far you've come! That's so inspiring.
Are you weighing food? Reading labels? What is your carb limit?0 -
Wow. Impressive accomplishment. Congratulations
If you are at a good deficit, you will lose weight. These daily fluctuations are probably just water weight while your body tries to balance its electrolytes out. When one drops carbs, insulin goes down and insulin causes people to retain water and sodium. Various carb amounts will cause water retention to fluctuate, and your weight to vary too.
I will get weird dips and peaks daily too. I can go up or down 2-3 lbs with ease. My guess is that if you give it more time, you'll continue to see results. If it worked in the first two weeks, there is no reason it won't in the third.
You LOST a total of three pounds after INCREASING your calories by 200 kcal per day. That's pretty darn cool right there.
Just curious, why were you told to increase your calories? Is it for caloric cycling or someone thought it was too low for your size? Who was your adviser on this? Do they know LCHF and weight loss well?0 -
My weight goes up and down as much as 4 pounds on a daily basis.
Your water andbsodium balance is very different on keto. You need to get 3000-5000mg sodium every single day. You have to look at the big picture with weight loss though. The water balance fluctuates tremendously.
Did you do anything that made your muscles sore before the increase? That would definitely be water weight.
On keto, don't stress counting calories too much. Focus on eating appropriate foods only when hungry, without snacks. Often, natural hunger reduction takes care of a safe calorie reduction.1 -
My weight always goes up by about 5 lbs every time I start the LCHF WOE if I have been away from it for 60 days or more. I recently gained the 5 lbs but then lost it plus 2 lbs when I restarted LCHF after the Holidays. The first time it took me 44 days to start losing. This time it took me about the same amount of time but I had to deal with a serious medical issue too this time.
Hang in there, I think some people just need more time to adapt.1 -
Thank you. I have a friend who has lost well over 200 pounds by eating LCHF and is very knowledgeable. She recommended I figure my TDEE which I did and eat that. I should add that I am also T2 diabetic.
I am a bit sore from a hard pool work out with my trainer on Friday.2 -
Thank you. I have a friend who has lost well over 200 pounds by eating LCHF and is very knowledgeable. She recommended I figure my TDEE which I did and eat that. I should add that I am also T2 diabetic.
I am a bit sore from a hard pool work out with my trainer on Friday.
The workout could be the cause! Overworked muscles tend to retain water as they heal. A good thing but annoying if stepping on the scale. I'd bet money that is your cause. 2 -
I don't know what sort of diet you were previously on and some folks recommend not paying attention to calories but my biggest adjustment when switching from 40c/30/30 to keto was the "visual" of the tiny amount of food I could eat on LCHF. I was accustomed to a plate full of food (mostly vegetables) and well, high fat food portions are tiny comparatively. Filling fortunately, but tiny. It was an adjustment. An ounce of cheese for 100 calories isn't much to behold.
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I would agree with everything that has been said previously - LCHF does require a complete change in the way that you look at food and very much a complete change in the attitude that you have towards measuring weight loss. Water retention is the biggie really and most people, myself included, can see 4-5lb swings in a single day depending upon how well hydrated they are. I drink about 3l of water per day and each litre weighs 2.2lb, so if I were to weigh myself in the early evening it could very easily show a 4lb increase even on a fast day when my calorific intake is less than 500. Please don't be disheartened though - I've lost 28lb in the last 7 weeks despite these fluctuations!0
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when I started weight lifting I gained 15 lbs. it tool a few weeks to come off.0
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input. My initial plan was to only do LCHF for a couple weeks, i.e., the Atkins "induction phase" to detox from sugar and carbs, and then slowly add food back in. However, I have decided to try to continue with LCHF since I am seeing lower numbers with my blood sugar testing.
I do weigh and measure my food, and I keep a food diary here on MFP in order to stay within a certain calorie range. Right now, I have my calories set at 1700, and my macros are 5% fat, 55% fat and 40% protein.
Even with all the reading I have done, I am confused on how to continue eating LCHF for the long haul. There are just so many differing opinions. Eating only meats, cheese and vegetables (I only like a few that are allowed; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and asparagus in addition to salad greens) does not thrill me at all. I find it boring because I need more variety. I really miss fruit like strawberries, blueberries and pineapple. I miss root vegetables and sweet potatoes. I can go without pasta, rice, grains and bread, but to say I'll never eat another piece of crusty bread or mashed potatoes just isn't realistic to me.
Maybe I'm not as dedicated as most of you are. I ate relatively low carb for a year, trying never to go above 50 grams (total, not net), and it worked for me. I felt it was very sustainable. My downfall was sweets and cereal. I miss those too, but I know they are my undoing so I am avoiding them. I am being totally honest here and mean no offense, but I just do not see LCHF as a lifetime sustainable WOE for me, personally.
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input. My initial plan was to only do LCHF for a couple weeks, i.e., the Atkins "induction phase" to detox from sugar and carbs, and then slowly add food back in. However, I have decided to try to continue with LCHF since I am seeing lower numbers with my blood sugar testing.
I do weigh and measure my food, and I keep a food diary here on MFP in order to stay within a certain calorie range. Right now, I have my calories set at 1700, and my macros are 5% fat, 55% fat and 40% protein.
Even with all the reading I have done, I am confused on how to continue eating LCHF for the long haul. There are just so many differing opinions. Eating only meats, cheese and vegetables (I only like a few that are allowed; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and asparagus in addition to salad greens) does not thrill me at all. I find it boring because I need more variety. I really miss fruit like strawberries, blueberries and pineapple. I miss root vegetables and sweet potatoes. I can go without pasta, rice, grains and bread, but to say I'll never eat another piece of crusty bread or mashed potatoes just isn't realistic to me.
Maybe I'm not as dedicated as most of you are. I ate relatively low carb for a year, trying never to go above 50 grams (total, not net), and it worked for me. I felt it was very sustainable. My downfall was sweets and cereal. I miss those too, but I know they are my undoing so I am avoiding them. I am being totally honest here and mean no offense, but I just do not see LCHF as a lifetime sustainable WOE for me, personally.
No offense taken by me.
You certainly don't have to follow it forever but you'll have a nasty rise in blood sugar whenever you decide to eat the starches and such. That's your decision to make of course.
Also, low carb means anything from 0 to 150g carbs a day. Just because you want to go lower right now doesn't mean you have to stay that low forever. The reason those of that do stay there choose that is because eating the foods you mention cause one issue or another, like high blood sugar for example, and we have just decided it's not worth it. That's a very personal decision. That also doesn't mean that you can never have a potato or whatever again. You can always allow yourself those things sometimes. It doesn't mean you just shouldn't commit to low carb just because you know you will eat them occasionally. It's just that you would be choosing a little more flexible method.
I eat zero carb but I'm known to eat occasional sweet potato fries or big salad on occasion. Now, I pay dearly for it! And it stops me from doing it 95% of the time. But on a rare occasion I opt for the belly trouble anyway.1 -
Thank you Sunny Bunny. I should clarify that I do plan on continuing to eat low carb. I can never do otherwise because of being T2. My goal is to get off my meds because lower sugar is very important to me. My endocrinologist advised me to eat no more than 90g of carbs per day. That's very manageable for me, and I rarely went over 70g. For the past two and a half weeks, I average 10-12g total.
I'm sure that in time, I'll figure it out what works best for me. There are just so many WOE out there it makes my head spin sometimes.1 -
I do LCHF up to 100g net carbs/day...rice, potato, and fruit are very much a part of my diet in moderation...you don't have to keep to the Atkins induction levels, you don't even have to start there, tracking carbs and keeping them in whatever range works best for you is the the key. Sustainability is definitely key to success.1
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It's also about portions. You are correct in the manner of thinking that 20 grams of carbs for 6-12 weeks will help you on the detoxing. You'll still want to keep sugary and starchy foods to minimum portions (pineapple and potatoes come to mind for something like 1/4 and 1/2 cup respectively, but they can be included, as long as you balance them against other intake in the day. Your long term goals seem fairly reasonable, but there are also ways to test your sugars with certain foods and certain carb levels to find you own personal best levels. I think Chris Kressler, Dave Asprey, and a few others have spelled out how to do this to determine your threshold based on the foods you want to include or the levels you want to eat at long term...
Something else that helps most folks is to stagger and graduate your carb levels. If you were at a 90 gram a day load, that would equal around 15 grams of carbs at breakfast, 30 at lunch, and 45 at dinner. Obviously, if you needed to include snacks, which for the most part eating LCHF you should NOT need snacks except once in a while, you could adjust to 15, 10, 20, 10, 35 with that as B/snack/L/snack/D, etc.
Once you adapt well, too, insulin sensitivity can be regained in part by incorporating intermittent fasting, if glucose levels allow, and such, too. But it is not advised if you have outlying stress factors.
@genmon00 - Do you have anything to add?0 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »I do LCHF up to 100g net carbs/day...rice, potato, and fruit are very much a part of my diet in moderation...you don't have to keep to the Atkins induction levels, you don't even have to start there, tracking carbs and keeping them in whatever range works best for you is the the key. Sustainability is definitely key to success.
I also do LCHF from 100g-120g per day. I have some beans and 1 serving of fruit. And sometimes I'll have 1 serving of potatoes or a slice of toast if I'm dying for it. And occasional dark chocolate. 0 -
Congrats on your hard work to lose that 71 lbs and get moving again, well done.Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input. My initial plan was to only do LCHF for a couple weeks, i.e., the Atkins "induction phase" to detox from sugar and carbs, and then slowly add food back in. However, I have decided to try to continue with LCHF since I am seeing lower numbers with my blood sugar testing.
I do weigh and measure my food, and I keep a food diary here on MFP in order to stay within a certain calorie range. Right now, I have my calories set at 1700, and my macros are 5% fat, 55% fat and 40% protein.
Even with all the reading I have done, I am confused on how to continue eating LCHF for the long haul. There are just so many differing opinions. Eating only meats, cheese and vegetables (I only like a few that are allowed; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and asparagus in addition to salad greens) does not thrill me at all. I find it boring because I need more variety. I really miss fruit like strawberries, blueberries and pineapple. I miss root vegetables and sweet potatoes. I can go without pasta, rice, grains and bread, but to say I'll never eat another piece of crusty bread or mashed potatoes just isn't realistic to me.
Maybe I'm not as dedicated as most of you are. I ate relatively low carb for a year, trying never to go above 50 grams (total, not net), and it worked for me. I felt it was very sustainable. My downfall was sweets and cereal. I miss those too, but I know they are my undoing so I am avoiding them. I am being totally honest here and mean no offense, but I just do not see LCHF as a lifetime sustainable WOE for me, personally.
The Atkins website goes into great detail about slowly raising your carb intake. They call it the ladder, you might want to follow that process. If you have not read The NEW Atkins for a New You, you might find that a good thing to do. Many people don't realize how much they emphasis the good vegetables and fruits for your carb sources. I am pretty much following the Atkins 40 plan, not strictly as I am trying to work my way up the ladder, and I do not have t2d, my husband does, so I cook with that in mind all the time. He eats whole grain breads, small serves of potatoes, and he likes real pasta from time to time. I don't eat those, but I don't nag him either, he does make sure they are small serves. BTW, strawberries and/or blueberries can be eaten (great with whipped cream for dessert), steer clear of the pineapple unless your day is really low in carbs.
This group has a great stickie about diabetes too, lots of great info. in there, videos, books, etc. If you are on meds already, just be careful to not let your BS drop too low.0
