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what to do if one is not losing weight on a low carb diet?

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  • Posts: 2,518 Member
    Try having untreated hypothyroid. I gain on 1,000 calories (with exercise).

    Yikes! That sucks, for sure! I've had mine tested, no problems, just a slow metabolism. Hopefully they have or will get your thyroid levels corrected. I have two dogs on soloxine, so I know how that can wreak havoc on the body.
  • Posts: 16,414 Member

    Yikes! That sucks, for sure! I've had mine tested, no problems, just a slow metabolism. Hopefully they have or will get your thyroid levels corrected. I have two dogs on soloxine, so I know how that can wreak havoc on the body.
    Well, I think it's been going on a while but my PCP is pretty clueless. I don't think he ran the right tests way back when and TSH isn't a completely reliable test. So it can come back normal or low even if you have a problem. I suspect Hashimoto's, but I don't have the official diagnosis yet. Going to see the specialist in a few weeks and hopefully get things back under control!
  • Posts: 272 Member
    Hello friends please share your suggestions here what to do if one is not losing weight on a low carb diet ?

    Waiting for the suggestions

    Eat fewer calories or exercise more.:wink:
  • Posts: 61,406 Member
    Other than "eat less"? No. They aren't even answers to the OP. It's just the usuals arguing amongst themselves.

    OP is eating low carb and has no idea how many calories they are consuming and is shocked, SHOCKED that they aren't losing weight. letting the OP know that low carb isn't magic and doesn't work unless they are still in a calorie deficit would seem to be exactly the type of answer the OP needs, no?
  • Posts: 7,046 Member

    Then from a weight loss standpoint the studies are useless because a calorie deficit is the reason for weight loss, you can't take that out of the equation and then say something else "caused" weight loss.

    Here's a simple "study" you can do, or anyone else who believes they can eat low carb without worrying about calories.

    Figure out your TDEE. For one month eat about 200 calories above your TDEE while eating very low carbs. Of course you will have to replace those calories that were automatically reduced by eating low carb with something else ie. protein or fat. Make sure you are in a calorie surplus everyday while keeping carbs to a minimum. After one month come back and report what happened...

    I have a theory what will happen but I will await the "facts"...

    Good Luck! :drinker:

    Ooops, sorry for offering you a beer above. Too many carbs...

    S'all good. Don't need yo' stinkin' beer. We've got vodka and whiskey to fall back on. :drinker: Mmmmmm....whiskey on the rocks....:heart:
  • Posts: 19,251 Member

    OP is eating low carb and has no idea how many calories they are consuming and is shocked, SHOCKED that they aren't losing weight. letting the OP know that low carb isn't magic and doesn't work unless they are still in a calorie deficit would seem to be exactly the type of answer the OP needs, no?
    Thus the reason I said the "eat less" answers actually answered his question.
  • Posts: 19,251 Member

    Nobody can answer the op until they provide more information. The kind asked for in the first few posts.

    Feel free to try though.

    Oh wait, you didn't either.
    He probably abandoned his thread. As they often do when they get thread jacked.
    Which is why I suggested he ask in the low carb forum.
  • Posts: 19,251 Member

    Lucky you. I have a couple of years before I hit 50 and my sweet spot for losing weight is 1350. Maintenance is somewhere around 1600-1700. Sucks to have a sluggish metabolism.
    Yup. And I move a ton. I average 12,000 steps a day (running, walking, cycling), and lift weights, and do Pilates... And with that I burn about 2,000.
  • Posts: 61,406 Member
    Thus the reason I said the "eat less" answers actually answered his question.

    aaaaand if they don't realize that "eat less" is part of the equation (and the *main* part....possibly the only part) then they actually do need to hear the rest of what's going on so they can be dissuaded from the Low Carb is Magik thing. i would contend that most of what's going on in here isn't "thread jacking" but more of a disillusionment intervention.
  • Posts: 19,251 Member

    aaaaand if they don't realize that "eat less" is part of the equation (and the *main* part....possibly the only part) then they actually do need to hear the rest of what's going on so they can be dissuaded from the Low Carb is Magik thing. i would contend that most of what's going on in here isn't "thread jacking" but more of a disillusionment intervention.
    Nah. It's the usual sanctioned threadjacking. On both sides.
  • Hello friends please share your suggestions here what to do if one is not losing weight on a low carb diet ?

    Waiting for the suggestions

    "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."


    Logically, then you should stop the low carb diet.
    Eating a balanced diet and remaining moderately active will most likely give you much much better results, while also not destroying your health and it's much more sustainable.
  • Posts: 2,518 Member
    Yup. And I move a ton. I average 12,000 steps a day (running, walking, cycling), and lift weights, and do Pilates... And with that I burn about 2,000.

    I hear you! I run three times a week and do strength training 2-3 days a week and on those days I do 30 minutes on the ARC trainer averaging 140 steps a minute. I also average 12,000 steps a day. Middle-age metabolism is a pain.

    Oh, and to stay on topic, I did a low carb diet about 10 years ago. I thought I would die! I had headaches from hell and could hardly walk across the room because I was so tired. On top of that, when I got hungry on low carb, I was murderously hungry. Do NOT get between me and my food!
  • Posts: 7,046 Member
    He probably abandoned his thread. As they often do when they get thread jacked.
    Which is why I suggested he ask in the low carb forum.

    Alas, newbies know no better...how are they supposed to know the minefield they blunder into?

    Standard MFP procedure:
    See a low-carb thread.
    Tell them to not low-carb instead of answering their question.
    Dump on low-carb diets/groups. (Zealotry comment.)
    Get in a calorie-deficit vs. low-carb debate. Neither accepting the studies linked on either side.
    Misinformation about low-carb diets gets spewed. (Often but not as much in this particular thread.)


    Just anotha day in the MFP sandbox...
  • Posts: 61,406 Member
    jeez. i had no idea of the sorry plight of the MFP low carber. it must be awful for you guys to have to actually support your claims! imma go ahead and pin a yellow ribbon on my lapel just for you guys. or maybe i should dump a bucket of rice on head and tag other people on facebook?
  • Posts: 55 Member
    When one does exercise regularly/daily, eats right, post their daily food meals,,,and after 7 days of all this,,2 lbs comes off. Whats up with that??
  • Posts: 16,414 Member

    Alas, newbies know no better...how are they supposed to know the minefield they blunder into?

    Standard MFP procedure:
    See a low-carb thread.
    Tell them to not low-carb instead of answering their question.
    Dump on low-carb diets/groups. (Zealotry comment.)
    Get in a calorie-deficit vs. low-carb debate. Neither accepting the studies linked on either side.
    Misinformation about low-carb diets gets spewed. (Often but not as much in this particular thread.)


    Just anotha day in the MFP sandbox...
    The OP's only response to specific questions (long before the thread-jacking) was basically that he wasn't going to answer any questions.
  • Posts: 16,414 Member
    When one does exercise regularly/daily, eats right, post their daily food meals,,,and after 7 days of all this,,2 lbs comes off. Whats up with that??
    Um ... success? Do you think this is a bad thing?
  • Posts: 19,251 Member
    :yawn:
    jeez. i had no idea of the sorry plight of the MFP low carber. it must be awful for you guys to have to actually support your claims! imma go ahead and pin a yellow ribbon on my lapel just for you guys. or maybe i should dump a bucket of rice on head and tag other people on facebook?
  • Posts: 24,208 Member

    I read the article and the conclusions by Yale University professors in a peer reviewed journal. They most definitely did establish that artificial sweeteners cause more weight gain than weight loss over time.
    :

    Please take the time to actually read the study.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/

    That is a single author mini-review - not research. But ok, lets go with it.
    The article the author cites as a possible forward correlation states:

    "The addition of NNS to diets poses no benefit for weight loss or reduced weight gain without energy restriction. There are long-standing and recent concerns that inclusion of NNS in the diet promotes energy intake and contributes to obesity. Most of the purported mechanisms by which this occurs are not supported by the available evidence, although some warrant further consideration. Resolution of this important issue will require long-term randomized controlled trials."

    In other words - energy restriction results in weight loss - there are no current supported mechanisms from scientific evidence for weight gain via NNS but maybe more research might shed a light. Also known as "we don't know if".

    So no, your statement is just not true. They most definitely DO NOT establish a clear cause of weight gain directly from the use of artificial sweeteners - they do note specifically calories matter, specifically calorie restriction.

    Try again.
  • Posts: 19,251 Member

    I hear you! I run three times a week and do strength training 2-3 days a week and on those days I do 30 minutes on the ARC trainer averaging 140 steps a minute. I also average 12,000 steps a day. Middle-age metabolism is a pain.

    Oh, and to stay on topic, I did a low carb diet about 10 years ago. I thought I would die! I had headaches from hell and could hardly walk across the room because I was so tired. On top of that, when I got hungry on low carb, I was murderously hungry. Do NOT get between me and my food!
    I tried it for a week a couple of years ago just to see how it would feel vis a vis these threads. I felt great. But it's not how I normally eat. I tend to eat pretty SLOW carb (not Tim Ferriss).
  • Posts: 7,046 Member
    :yawn:

    It must stink to keep tripping up on your own logical fallacies...
  • Posts: 949 Member
    Eliminate artificial sweeteners and focus on lean meats and veggies and unprocessed foods at meals. You know those foods that say they are low carb and low calorie but still have 20 ingredients you cant identify? Yea those are the ones that hold you back. When I felt myself plateau on low carb diets it was a result of eating too many processed foods with artificial sweeteners a going off the deep end with foods that were unhealthy.

    Drink lots of water, eat clean and you'll bust through that plateau.
    Also track your body measurements. Low carb diets build muscle to replace the fat and sometimes the loss shows on the measurements before you see a drop on the scales.

    I use artificial sweetners like there's no tomorrow and am all about the carbs. They're delicious. I also make frequent use of processed foods. As you can see by my ticker, these things really have nothing to do with weight loss. You simply need to create a caloric deficit.
  • Posts: 2,013 Member
    Start weighing your food accurately. and eat some cookies that you've logged. and no I didn't read any responses.
  • OP - I find it helpful to focus on one thing at a time, until I get the hang of it, then gradually add more information. What I mean is that you are over-complicating this process. The ONLY way to lose weight is to eat at a caloric deficit. Focus on this first, disregard any special diets or eliminating anything for the time being.

    It is more important to log everything and make sure your daily calories don't go into the red. Then you will lose weight. Once you've got the hang of that, then you can start trying to understand more information such as macros, specific diets like low carb, or whatever way you decide to go about it.

    At its core, MFP is a calorie counter. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.
  • Posts: 7,046 Member
    The OP's only response to specific questions (long before the thread-jacking) was basically that he wasn't going to answer any questions.

    Was what I said untrue?
    Check the "I didn't read the OP" threads just posted above this one. Or the "I haven't read any of the comments."

    Yeah, OP won't answer any questions. So he won't get any help. People keep responding the above ways, though, regardless of whether OPs give further info. It's just a true observation of the workings of the community.
  • (waving hi). I just joined too. I wanted to track it all. Have had more than my share of diet "adventures" and found that I've encountered more hurdles as I age (health issues/injuries/stress) so I set out to find exactly what is going to work for me - for always. A low carb way of eating is essential for me (not necessarily Atkins-just low carb in general) but the kind of tweaking I'm getting from a diabetic plan is even better - keeps everything balanced all day every day. Just google a low glycemic index and take note of the lowest glycemic foods. you can still stick to the low carbs but you'll be getting healthier ones. Easy peazy. I'll post the lowest glycemic ones for you...brb...
  • I lost over a hundred pounds TWICE in my life lowering carbs. I lost it quick (so much for the gain-it-all-back theories) and kept it off for long periods of time too. Now I've got to get back on track. These foods are low on the glycemic index. I don't have diabetes but my sister did (as a child) and the entire family followed the diet plan to support her. She no longer has diabetes, nor does anyone else in our family. I'm the only one with the weight issues that surface here and there. Anyhoo...glycemic index foods..lower the better on the glycemic scale.

    Beef,Bacon,Fish,Calamari,Seafood,Ham,Lamb,Lobster,Turkey - *free* to eat
    Avocados _ very low
    100% fruit jam, long grain rice only, fettucine,linguine,sushi-Low
    most veggies,apples, and peas are low
    PUmpernickel bread is low but white bread is high.
    All Bran cereal and steel cut oats are low but Bran Flakes and instant oatmeal is High.

    As you can see, eating the unprocessed "real" foods are ideal.
    Combine with an exercise plan you enjoy and voila.
    Pickleball anyone???
  • I went through the not losing weight on a low carb diet thing. Initially at one point I did lose 30 pounds on Atkins from 297 to 267 but then gained it back because it wasn't sustainable long term. I tried low carb again once I had gained back to my starting point but was only able to get back to 287. One thing I found in low carb groups was they would tell you to try everything else except watch your calories. I got told to do a meat and egg fast. Lost a few pounds pretty quickly but I was craving vegetables badly and gained back what little I lost after having a salad. Was told to avoid "nightshade vegetables" like bell peppers. No change. Was told to give up artificial sweetener like in diet coke. No change. Told to have less vegetables and more meat. I just wanted a salad. Constantly told I needed to cut my carbs to less than 20 g a day. People are not meant to not eat vegetables. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors were eating what they could pick off bushes not just the meat they hunted.

    I read "The Primal Blueprint". While by no means do I strictly follow primal, it made more sense then a lot of low carb books. The carb goal that the author suggests is a far more reasonable 50-100 g of carbs a day. I initially set that as my goal along with a calorie goal. Right now I typically eat 75-125 g of carbs a day and under 1400 calories. I've been steadily losing weight and have gone from 287 in June to 263 today. Slow but steady and I eat most foods in moderation.

    I do believe that most people could probably benefit from lower carbs but on a more moderate carb approach along with watching calories. The few people who are able to lose large amounts of weight just cutting carbs and not watching calories are luckier than most of us. Most of us have to watch calories even while watching carbs.
  • Posts: 7,046 Member


    I read "The Primal Blueprint". While by no means do I strictly follow primal, it made more sense then a lot of low carb books. The carb goal that the author suggests is a far more reasonable 50-100 g of carbs a day. I initially set that as my goal along with a calorie goal. Right now I typically eat 75-125 g of carbs a day and under 1400 calories. I've been steadily losing weight and have gone from 287 in June to 263 today. Slow but steady and I eat most foods in moderation.

    I do believe that most people could probably benefit from lower carbs but on a more moderate carb approach along with watching calories. The few people who are able to lose large amounts of weight just cutting carbs and not watching calories are luckier than most of us. Most of us have to watch calories even while watching carbs.

    Not all low-carb diets are as low as mine (20-30g/day). They all vary. But your 50g-100g range and 1400 sounds a lot what my maintenance is going to look like.

    Good for you for finding out what works for you. That's how you are supposed to do it. :smile:

    Those lucky people (who don't have to calorie-count) stink, but I'm happy for them. :laugh:
  • Posts: 865 Member

    OP is eating low carb and has no idea how many calories they are consuming and is shocked, SHOCKED that they aren't losing weight. letting the OP know that low carb isn't magic and doesn't work unless they are still in a calorie deficit would seem to be exactly the type of answer the OP needs, no?

    ^^^ Exactly this ^^^
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