Weight gain the first week.....Ugh!!

cakefairy11

I have been following Chris Powell's Carb cycling for just one week. Tuesday is my first cheat day and I am scared!! I stepped on the scale this morning ( after a HC day) and it looks as if I have gained weight. I am one of those people who obsess over the scale and strip down to weigh myself daily. Can I get some helpful words from some of my CTL buddies? Thank you!!!

SOOZIE429

Ok, don't panic. You've been on the program for one full week? Are you typically going to have your cheat day on Tuesday? Also, it's best to weigh yourself after an LC day. Your weight will fluctuate a lot during the week on this program, so make sure you only weigh in once a week. And the day after an LC day. It will be discouraging if you don't and then probably won't stick to it.

SOOZIE429

I just took a look at your diary. It looks like all your days are high carb. On low carb days your carbs should be around 50 grams. Also, we are only allowed plain non fat Greek yogurt.

Have you read the book?

cakefairy11

Oh no!! I haven't read the book yet-had to order it. Thought I was doing ok. I started on a HC day last Tuesday-should I have started on a LC instead? Ok, so I am doing it all wrong with regards to carbs. Poop!!

cakefairy11

How many carbs on HC days?

babeinthemoon

How many carbs on HC days?

This is what I've done for the last few months:
I shoot for 100-120g of protein, and 25g of fiber a day..

On Low-Carb days I shoot for 1200 cal with 35-45g fat, and under 90g carbs (veggies only).

On High-Carb days I shoot for 1500 calories with under 30g fat, and 125-200g of carbs (veggies & healthy carbs).

Sunday Funday I'll eat up to 2400 calories.

If I hit all of these numbers, my average calories for the week is 1500/day. In case you are wondering, I do not eat back exercise calories. Oh, and if you of the male persuasion, you'll want to be eating more than me. See the book for what Chris suggests!

babeinthemoon

On low carb days your carbs should be around 50 grams. Also, we are only allowed plain non fat Greek yogurt.

Where did you get the 50g limit on carbs for a low carb day? I've read the book up and down and didn't see a specific number for carbs, so I'm assuming I just missed it. I personally shoot for 60-100g on a low carb day with 1200 calories, since this is the quantity of carbs that it takes for me to be able to eat 1-2 fist-sized portions per meal on low carb days.

Also, technically "low fat yogurt" is allowed on the diet, on a high carb day as Chris has it listed under "Smart Carbs" on his Smart Foods Guide. The smart food guide is much more detailed than the book, and can be found on Chris's website if you get on his mailing list. If you want the quick link to the guide, just find the post "smart food guide" in this discussion group.

SOOZIE429

I could swear that I read 50-70 carbs on LC days. But maybe I'm wrong. But I still keep to that and have no problem with it. I am going by the food list in the book. I do have the smart list, but haven't examined it. I will double check it. In the book he says no milk and I notice that you have milk in your diary. Is it different somewhere else? I do have a bit of half and half in my coffee. That's my only cheat.

Thanks!

SOOZIE429

Wow. So I just looked again at the Smart Food Guide and a few of the foods on the list contradicts what he says in the book. But the list is a little more lenient, so I guess I'm going with that.

cakefairy11

Thank you for the help ladies!!

babeinthemoon

Wow. So I just looked again at the Smart Food Guide and a few of the foods on the list contradicts what he says in the book. But the list is a little more lenient, so I guess I'm going with that.

The smart food guide came out after the book.. I'm not sure how much longer after but it did. I like it because it has many more foods listed so I can feel like I can make better choices is something is questionable.

Edited to add: My favorite change with the smart foods guide is the addition of "eggs" to the protein column. It no longer says "egg whites" under protein, & "egg yolk" under fat. I still try to limit my eggs to low carb days, but sometimes its unavoidable, or my fat for my other meals is so low that I don't care. I've tried making omlettes with eggwhites or egg substitutes, but I have such a hard time getting them to come out properly, that I'd rather have just the egg. Besides, egg substitues are more expensive usually than regular eggs, so I'm all for saving a little money in the process too.

In the book he says no milk and I notice that you have milk in your diary.

As far as the milk goes, I don't like almond milk, which is the one approved "milk product" in the book. In June I really, really tried to like it as my mom uses it in her protein shakes. During the whole first week I found that it made me feel funny in the morning. One morning I drank my shake, did my 30 minutes on her treadmill, and took a shower. Half way through I felt really woozy and like I was going to be sick. So, the "scientist" that I am compared the lables of almond milk & skim milk. The calories were so close, but the milk had more carbs. I decided to go with the skim milk in my shake, since I was only having 1/2 cup, and it was a High Carb meal. I did that for the next few days and found that I no longer felt strange/sick in the morning. So, I havn't looked back.

Chris's theory in the book is that there are people with lactose sensitivities that they are not aware of. If they can cut out the dairy for a while, then they might see that they feel much better without it. I decided that I was going to keep my skim milk, with my high carb meals. If I was going to have a second shake on a Low Carb day I'd use coconut milk (unsweetned, low fat) even though the calories/fat are a little higher than the almond milk. It wasn't for almost a month later that I discovered the smart food guide, and found that that skim milk was okay as a smart carb! I was thrilled to get a confirmation on my "reasoning."