Low carb, no loss yet ... what am I doing wrong?

jen_fitnhappy

After years of struggling with calories in/calories out, I've been low carbing since July 1 and haven't lost anything yet. I know these things take time and I don't have much to lose, but I was wondering if there's anything I'm doing wrong that might stick out to any of you.

I am - - Female, age 41, 5'5", CW 150lbs, GW 140lbs

I've been eating <45 net carb grams per day and my macros average 15C/ 60F/ 25P. Ketostix revealed small-moderate amounts of ketones. I've opened my diary (you all are more accepting of low carb than the "general" population, lol). I've only been keeping track of this new lifestyle for the past three weeks, so please ignore anything beyond that. I drink a lot of water but don't always record it.

In addition to meeting my macros I aim to meet the 1430 net calories MFP set for me to lose a half pound each week (sedentary). I'm putting exercise on hold for now because I want to see how only this change in eating affects me. The exercise you may see I have is from my FitBit adjustments.

Does it look like I'm doing things right? I would love to stick to this way of eating because I am NEVER hungry and it is extremely easy to not go over my calories. Oh and by the way, my husband already lost 10 pounds, go figure lol!! What can possibly be wrong with my plan?

Thanks in advance. :flowerforyou:

Kimmb0865

I am a 47 yr old female, 5'1", current weight is 221.2 lbs and i have lost 27 lbs in 16 1/2 wks doing low carb-my diary is also open if you want to see what i eat and i also walk w/ 1 lbs weights now-i was at a standstill for about 5 wks but my weight is now moving-i dont do the macros i only count carbs and try to stay below 30 net carbs and also to stay w/i my cal range.
I hope this helps you out and you can add me as a friend also!!

AlabasterVerve

Personally, I would only eat full fat foods in order to increase my fat, eat less protein and try and make sure the majority of my carbs were coming from fruits and vegetables. I only say that because that's what works for me (not because I think you're doing anything "wrong") but maybe some of these tips will help? Good luck.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight

KarenisPaleo

Your log looks awesome! You're doing fine it seems to me.....

what works for some people is eliminating dairy. I know, you love cheese. Eat more bacon or something like that to make up for it. Don't decrease your fat intake. Eliminating dairy can also help with plateaus, as some have posted on this site sharing their success.

Good luck

linbert57

I would steer clear of all "light", "low fat" etc. items. They usually are loaded with sugar. That was one of the hardest things to get my mind around - you do not have to be afraid of fat. I eat full fat salad dressings (if I buy bottled dressings, I make sure there is little sugar) and full fat dairy. I do not drink milk, but I use heavy cream in my coffee. Your sodium is a little on the high side, but this might help with "carb flu" - make sure you drink lots of water to flush from your system. Best of luck

astartig

to me it looks like there might be a lot of artificial sweetners in your food. Even though they don't have the calories your body thinks they are sugar. I'd try to go cleaner and not eat anything with big words on the label.

if you've been doing a lot of working out too. It might be that you've added muscle and lost fat. thus no change on the scale. are you recording body measurements?

another factor with your low weight loss goals right now .5 pounds a week. that would be 1.5 pounds lost, that's not much and a number that would be easily masked with water weight gain. with higher sodium numbers it's very possible the actual weight loss is there but masked by water.

wigglingalltheway

+1 on dairy. I have gone without it for a month or so and it did cure my final 5lb plato. Unfortunately though without it I just wasn't getting enough cals and didn't feel good because of it so had to reintroduce it.

also +1 on the sweeteners. The chemical side is one thing but its known that sweetener increases insulin as much as sugar because your body just reacts to the taste of it.

Also watch out for drinks. I had a shock when I noticed the squash (cordial) I don't know what its called in the US... you know the stuff you mix with water to make a drink. They vary massively and one I found in the cupboard (I dont drink it myself) had 20g of carbs per half pint serving. Keeping in mind their servings are most likely weak to make the nutritional information look better than it is for a real person.

Three normal glasses of that a day and we could be talking 100g of carbs! frighting!

sunsetseven

Hi Jen,

I agree with what I have seen on the replies. I took a quick glance. You have a lot hidden sugar. Low fat cottage cheese, Sweet ham, helmans' mayo. When I hit the big K, I stuck with chicken breats, whole cottage cheese, avocados, eggs, nuts and minimal veggies. It was extreme and I had extreme results which I could not keep up on a daily basis after I hit my goal. I have decided since that experience to try to eat cleaner and follow more of a paleo / primal fooding style.

To good health to you!
- Seven

kiramaniac

A good article here regarding sweeteners, and impact on insulin. Bottom line is that while we call the entire class "sweeteners", in reality, individuals sweeteners are quite different from each other and they have different impact on the body.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/artificial-sweeteners-insulin/#axzz2ZsZuL0sT


There are a lot of variants of Low Carb. What are you following, and what are your goals? You don't have a lot to lose, so a moderate approach is probably a good thing. You mentioned measuring with ketostix, so it sounds like you are trying to be in ketosis. So I'm going to make recommendations based on a keto approach.

While many do maintain ketosis with the carb levels that you have, you are higher than what many people target. It seems like women, and especially women who are age 35+, often respond better with macros targeting higher fat, more moderate protein, and lower carbs (this is based on feedback on the keto boards). You may want to consider 1-2 weeks with adjusted macros targeting more of 70-25-5 and see if you see improved results.

Also, for many meals you have a disproportionate level of carbs, fat and protein that could be adversely impacting ketosis (and blood sugar / insulin). For example, Low Fat Cottage Cheese for breakfast with 12 g Carbs, 3 g fat, and 26 g protein. I'd move to something with higher fat and lower carbs. Protein levels may be OK - but try to eat at least as many grams of fat as grams of protein at every meal. Excess protein can convert to glucose in your body. This coupled with the carb content could be negatively impacting you.

In general, select full fat versions of dressings, mayo, cheese, etc. Avoid the Low Fat versions, as they usually have replaced the fat with some form of sugar. Also select fattier cuts of mean. Instead of 90% lean beef, go 80% (or lower). Add butter to your veggies when you have them for dinner. Monday July 15 is an example of where there may be some issues. Most meals are relatively heavy on protein, with not enough fat to balance. That, coupled with the snack with concentrated carbs (vs distributing those more evenly throughout the day) may be enough to throw you off.

Dairy is definitely a YMMV item. It may or not be an issue for you. If you think it may be, try cutting it for 2 weeks.

Watch the tortillas. Another YMMV item. I've seen various posts on them that they contribute to stalls. I know those have only been in the last few days, but they may be an issue.

Sweeteners are a YMMV item - and plenty of opinions out there. Personally, I feel some are great and others are not. I use sweeteners - but I am very selective. It may be something for trial and error.

For your diary today (7/23), the tortillas, cottage cheese and apple are the only things I would flag. I think the rest of your diary looks really solid.

You mention also that you drink a lot of water. Target 12-16 eight oz glasses a day instead of the MFP recommendation of 8- eight oz glasses.

Good luck! I think you're on the right track, but just need to make some tweaks. On the positive side, it's not exactly a chore to eat like this! So while it may be frustrating to not see big moves on the scale, enjoy all of these foods that you normally don't get to eat on a low fat diet approach - especially since you aren't feeling hungry! That's really awesome.

Dragonwolf

Hi Jen,

I agree with what I have seen on the replies. I took a quick glance. You have a lot hidden sugar. Low fat cottage cheese, Sweet ham, helmans' mayo. When I hit the big K, I stuck with chicken breats, whole cottage cheese, avocados, eggs, nuts and minimal veggies. It was extreme and I had extreme results which I could not keep up on a daily basis after I hit my goal. I have decided since that experience to try to eat cleaner and follow more of a paleo / primal fooding style.

To good health to you!
- Seven

This, and as others have said, don't be afraid of the fat.

If you really want mayo, make it yourself. It's actually really easy (especially if you have a blender), and you don't have to worry about the type of oil or any other additives that are in it, because you control it all.

Here's a quick recipe I found a while back that I love: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-mayonnaise/

I made the baconnaise version and it's awesome (though I did half bacon fat and half coconut oil, because I didn't have enough bacon fat; was great, though it did get too stiff in the fridge and needed some warming to make it usable, since both turn to solid at that temp).

jen_fitnhappy

Wow, I am overwhelmed by your responses! Hugs to you all. Would thank you individually if I could. I've been busy and couldn't respond. I am taking your seriously and I'm glad you found some pitfalls in my diary.

Diet Doctor Site - thanks for this. I saw you posted this elsewhere and already had it bookmarked. Good stuff.

Full fat foods - this will be easy to implement Yes my log has some "lowfat" items... hard to break old habits!

Increase water - this will be easy to do too! Will help on those days of excessive sodium. I have very low blood pressure so I wasn't concerned about my sodium level. The extra water should help with retention.

Lower/eliminate dairy - not so easy! With my reduction of carbs and elimination of grains, potatoes, etc. add to that dairy... what else is left, lol?! I do understand and can respect how dairy can be detrimental. I'll try this as a last resort.

Artificial sweeteners - guilty of this! Before I started low carb a friend suggested my use of artificial sweeteners could be working against me in my weight loss. I totally understand the concept. So I gave it up back then and started using stevia. Didn't like the taste of stevia so much and it didn't help me to lose weight, so I opted for natural sugar in my coffee instead. Since I've been low carb I'm back on the artificial stuff again. Per your advice, I'll wean myself off and slowly add the stevia back in.

Fat to Protein ratio - I get it! Thanks for explaining how these two work together. This one shouldn't be hard to do.

Thanks again to each of you. Of course I'm always open to more suggestions so keep 'em coming! Lots of great people on this forum it seems, so opening up for friends!

- Jen -

Binkie1955

Jen,
have friend requested you and will study your diaries, my wife and I both saw results in the first month similar to your husband's and you seem to be doing everything right. please stick to your plan and give it a bit more time. I'll look further at your diaries and see if there is anything obvious that I'm missing but hang in there please. I think you'll get the results we all get.

Juliane_

a good tasting stevia I recommend is made by Nunaturals. They have a no carb blend. This is what I use.

EricCowperthwaite

Hi Jen,

one note about sweeteners .... There's some pretty good evidence that artificial sweeteners are very problematic. Here's why:

- The sweet taste tells your body to expect carbs/sugar, so your body produces insulin to handle it
- You get no actual carbs, so your body never generates leptin, which is the chemical that signals satiety in your brain
- The insulin in your blood stream tells your body to store dietary fat

It's very possible that artificial sweeteners are contributing to your weight loss stall.

I was a sugar in coffee guy myself. What I did was wean myself off the sugar in my coffee over a few weeks. I just kept gradually reducing the sugar I put in my coffee until I got to about 1/2 teaspoon and then I cut it out altogether. Took me about 4 weeks. Once I was at black coffee, I discovered I still wanted something in my coffee. So, I put a tablespoon of heavy cream in my coffee - 60 calories, all fat! And I found that I enjoyed it, likely because my body was in ketosis, so all fat tastes much better to me.

I would really highly recommend getting rid of the artificial sweeteners AND the sugar. Also, avoid milk and yogurt, lots of sugar in there too. Enjoy cream and butter, though .... all fat, no sugar! Preferably your cream and butter will be from grass fed, pastured cows, much healthier.

janicelo1971

I would try to go a week or 2 to no more then 20 carbs....try to reduce dairy and do full fat in other stuff....avoid the fruits and salad dressing as they have more sugar....todays menu looks perfect!

Dragonwolf

Wow, I am overwhelmed by your responses! Hugs to you all. Would thank you individually if I could. I've been busy and couldn't respond. I am taking your seriously and I'm glad you found some pitfalls in my diary.

Diet Doctor Site - thanks for this. I saw you posted this elsewhere and already had it bookmarked. Good stuff.

Full fat foods - this will be easy to implement Yes my log has some "lowfat" items... hard to break old habits!

Increase water - this will be easy to do too! Will help on those days of excessive sodium. I have very low blood pressure so I wasn't concerned about my sodium level. The extra water should help with retention.

Lower/eliminate dairy - not so easy! With my reduction of carbs and elimination of grains, potatoes, etc. add to that dairy... what else is left, lol?! I do understand and can respect how dairy can be detrimental. I'll try this as a last resort.

Artificial sweeteners - guilty of this! Before I started low carb a friend suggested my use of artificial sweeteners could be working against me in my weight loss. I totally understand the concept. So I gave it up back then and started using stevia. Didn't like the taste of stevia so much and it didn't help me to lose weight, so I opted for natural sugar in my coffee instead. Since I've been low carb I'm back on the artificial stuff again. Per your advice, I'll wean myself off and slowly add the stevia back in.

Fat to Protein ratio - I get it! Thanks for explaining how these two work together. This one shouldn't be hard to do.

Thanks again to each of you. Of course I'm always open to more suggestions so keep 'em coming! Lots of great people on this forum it seems, so opening up for friends!

- Jen -

Stevia's going to have the same effect as artificial sweeteners with regard to how the body reacts to the taste of sweetness without the carbs. It would be best to just wean off of sweeteners in general.

If you want to keep your coffee, there are a couple things you can try:

1. Learn to drink it black
2. Learn to drink it with just (full fat) cream
3. Make bulletproof coffee - http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/

I'm with you on the dairy front. I love milk and cheese. Perhaps you can try cutting back/out the liquid milk and substitute in things like almond or coconut milk (ideally, without additives; making it at home is the best)? They have fewer carbs, and taste pretty good, especially if it's homemade. Keep the lower lactose items, such as cheeses and plain yogurts, at least to start, and see how that works out for you.

EricCowperthwaite

I'm with you on the dairy front. I love milk and cheese.

I really love good cheese. Fortunately, I really detest milk. I know that's sort of a bizarre combo, but I'm sometimes a bizarre sorta guy.

Anyhow, I think eliminating milk and yogurt from diet is really important to losing weight on any sort of low carb diet. That said, cheese is generally okay in moderation. I'd suggest that 1-2 ounces of good cheese a day could really help with the desire for dairy products and be okay from the perspective of not stalling weight loss.

wideeyedla

The first thing I did was change my macros on MFP. Set them to 50 fat/30 protein/20 carbs. Then I deleted sodium from my five and added fiber, so I had a handle on how much I was getting.

Pre menopause, I lost really quickly on Atkins. Post menopause, I am doing ketogenic Paleo and it is SLOW. It is sustainable, though, and since I switched to deal with some health issues, I can live with slow.

Two suggestions after looking at your diary: first, you have high sodium levels and are not drinking a lot of water. Sodium doesn't matter so much if it's not a medical issue, but sodium and inadequate water means you retain. Ketosis involves cellular waste, a good thing. Flush it . Second, add fiber. I use Chia and Flax seeds in a power green smoothie with a spinach base and almond milk. Fiber helps clean out the other waste. Leafy greens and other high fiber/low sugar veggies are fine. Deduct the fiber total from your carbs for net carbs and keep your sugars low.

Might just be that your body is holding on to stuff it needs a little kick to let go of. I know I am on track when I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. It's annoying, but I just tell myself that it is fat.

You also might think about gentle exercise like walking. Depleting glycogen stores in muscles helps as well.

Good luck!

Oh, and my diary is open. Just ignore Saturdays. Although last time I did Atkins, I lost 70 lbs with that weekly monster ice cream.

kiramaniac

Two suggestions after looking at your diary: first, you have high sodium levels and are not drinking a lot of water. Sodium doesn't matter so much if it's not a medical issue, but sodium and inadequate water means you retain.

You want to be really cautious about reducing sodium on low carb. "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" (Phinney and Volek) has some good info on sodium levels. In general though, on LC we need to supplement and not cut sodium. On low carb (even in range of 50-60 grams per day) your body will dump sodium. That's a key reason for many experiencing headaches and fatigue. After depleting sodium, the body will turn to potassium stores. This can then result in muscle cramps and heart arrhythmia. The general recommendation is 3-5 grams per day (which is where OP is at on most days that I saw).

I agree though that more water is important.

EricCowperthwaite

I agree though that more water is important.

I found that I stall if my water intake is less than 10 cups per day. The 8 cup per day recommendation just doesn't work for me on LCHF style diets.

wideeyedla

Two suggestions after looking at your diary: first, you have high sodium levels and are not drinking a lot of water. Sodium doesn't matter so much if it's not a medical issue, but sodium and inadequate water means you retain.

You want to be really cautious about reducing sodium on low carb. "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" (Phinney and Volek) has some good info on sodium levels. In general though, on LC we need to supplement and not cut sodium. On low carb (even in range of 50-60 grams per day) your body will dump sodium. That's a key reason for many experiencing headaches and fatigue. After depleting sodium, the body will turn to potassium stores. This can then result in muscle cramps and heart arrhythmia. The general recommendation is 3-5 grams per day (which is where OP is at on most days that I saw).

I agree though that more water is important.

Thanks for clarifying. I said not to worry about the sodium, but it does need to be balanced with adequate hydration . I took sodium off the tracker and replaced it with fiber, which is something I am more concerned about. I don't worry about sodium, just make sure I am getting plenty to potassium in my diet, and I use sea salt in cooking pretty much everything

jen_fitnhappy

I agree though that more water is important.

I found that I stall if my water intake is less than 10 cups per day. The 8 cup per day recommendation just doesn't work for me on LCHF style diets.

Per everyone's water advice I got it up to 13 cups yesterday! And of course working on it today.

astartig

Hi Jen,

one note about sweeteners .... There's some pretty good evidence that artificial sweeteners are very problematic. Here's why:

- The sweet taste tells your body to expect carbs/sugar, so your body produces insulin to handle it
- You get no actual carbs, so your body never generates leptin, which is the chemical that signals satiety in your brain
- The insulin in your blood stream tells your body to store dietary fat

It's very possible that artificial sweeteners are contributing to your weight loss stall.

I was a sugar in coffee guy myself. What I did was wean myself off the sugar in my coffee over a few weeks. I just kept gradually reducing the sugar I put in my coffee until I got to about 1/2 teaspoon and then I cut it out altogether. Took me about 4 weeks. Once I was at black coffee, I discovered I still wanted something in my coffee. So, I put a tablespoon of heavy cream in my coffee - 60 calories, all fat! And I found that I enjoyed it, likely because my body was in ketosis, so all fat tastes much better to me.

I would really highly recommend getting rid of the artificial sweeteners AND the sugar. Also, avoid milk and yogurt, lots of sugar in there too. Enjoy cream and butter, though .... all fat, no sugar! Preferably your cream and butter will be from grass fed, pastured cows, much healthier.

Exactly this! I am the same with my coffee too. I've been drinking hi balls instead of coffee mostly since I went on this diet. (seltzer wiht some vitamins and caffeine) but I had a coffee hte other day and was like whelp... nooo sugar, what then and had them add cream instead and it was hella good. I don't know if I'd have always thought this or my taste buds have been changing this week.. but yeah.

astartig

Two suggestions after looking at your diary: first, you have high sodium levels and are not drinking a lot of water. Sodium doesn't matter so much if it's not a medical issue, but sodium and inadequate water means you retain.

You want to be really cautious about reducing sodium on low carb. "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" (Phinney and Volek) has some good info on sodium levels. In general though, on LC we need to supplement and not cut sodium. On low carb (even in range of 50-60 grams per day) your body will dump sodium. That's a key reason for many experiencing headaches and fatigue. After depleting sodium, the body will turn to potassium stores. This can then result in muscle cramps and heart arrhythmia. The general recommendation is 3-5 grams per day (which is where OP is at on most days that I saw).

I agree though that more water is important.

Thanks for clarifying. I said not to worry about the sodium, but it does need to be balanced with adequate hydration . I took sodium off the tracker and replaced it with fiber, which is something I am more concerned about. I don't worry about sodium, just make sure I am getting plenty to potassium in my diet, and I use sea salt in cooking pretty much everything

Sea salt doesn't have iodine or potassium I think.
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPressure/Sea-Salt-Vs-Table-Salt_UCM_430992_Article.jsp

I've been using the mortons low salt salt which is mostly potassium iodide giving you a healthy dose of both iodine and potassium.

astartig

I'm with you on the dairy front. I love milk and cheese.

I really love good cheese. Fortunately, I really detest milk. I know that's sort of a bizarre combo, but I'm sometimes a bizarre sorta guy.

Anyhow, I think eliminating milk and yogurt from diet is really important to losing weight on any sort of low carb diet. That said, cheese is generally okay in moderation. I'd suggest that 1-2 ounces of good cheese a day could really help with the desire for dairy products and be okay from the perspective of not stalling weight loss.

I am with you on the, don't like milk but like cheese. (I actually do like other dairy products though) I don't think it contributes to stalls unless you've got a food sensitivity though. I think most of the warning labels with foods that are low carb have to do with people that are allergic or sensitive to the item in some way.

Right now I am trying to figure out what my sensitivities are. It's becoming clear I have some. Dairy doesn't appear to be a trigger. I was going along fine Gerd symptoms completely gone but then I Had turkey jerky and had major heartburn (what's in it that would trigger that?) I think the wheat tortillas might be a trigger for me. But they have a ton of stuff in them. The dr kracker crackers don't seem to have ill effect so it's probably not the wheat..

Even then the gerd is way less of a problem than it was. weight loss stall... I don't know. I just started a week ago. Not doing scales so I am waiting to see what life looks like a month from now. I expect things should start getting a lot looser. If not I'll start eliminating food groups more thoroughly.

EricCowperthwaite

I am with you on the, don't like milk but like cheese. (I actually do like other dairy products though) I don't think it contributes to stalls unless you've got a food sensitivity though. I think most of the warning labels with foods that are low carb have to do with people that are allergic or sensitive to the item in some way.

My take on milk and yogurt contributing to stalls is because of the sugars in them. I also note that Gary Taubes says to completely avoid milk and yogurt, but that moderate amounts of cheese is fine and that you should eat lots of butter.

Dragonwolf

Right now I am trying to figure out what my sensitivities are. It's becoming clear I have some. Dairy doesn't appear to be a trigger. I was going along fine Gerd symptoms completely gone but then I Had turkey jerky and had major heartburn (what's in it that would trigger that?) I think the wheat tortillas might be a trigger for me. But they have a ton of stuff in them. The dr kracker crackers don't seem to have ill effect so it's probably not the wheat..

Check the spices, if you can. There are several spices that are known to cause stomach-related issues. I've seen ranch dressing also be a culprit, because of one or more of the spices in it.

jen_fitnhappy

<---- you see my join date?? That's how long I have NEVER seen the scale drop significantly. And.....

O.M.G. hopped on the scale this morning and had a 3 pound loss since my original post. WHAAAAT??!! :noway:

I haven't seen this number in a long time. All I did was follow your advice. I can't believe this. I hope its not a fluke.

Happy.

:bigsmile: :happy: :bigsmile: :happy:

wideeyedla

Good job !

wideeyedla

I added 1/2 C of plain Greek yogurt into my plan, even though I technically don't do dairy. It has the magnesium, and is protein dense. Now I just have to find a store that carries the full fat variety

astartig

I added 1/2 C of plain Greek yogurt into my plan, even though I technically don't do dairy. It has the magnesium, and is protein dense. Now I just have to find a store that carries the full fat variety

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-Donvier-Yogurt-Cheese-Maker/dp/B000064841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374964613&sr=8-1&keywords=Cuisipro+Donvier+Yogurt+Cheese+Maker


if you get a full fat yogurt and put it one of these you get a very nice greek yogurt. they work great.