Going low carb after zero weight loss from exercise

smallsfgirl

One full day of low carb (25 grams I think - less than I had intended) and I am already fitting comfortably into jeans I haven't been able to wear awhile I might even hop on that scale this week. I didn't want to weigh myself until I knew I was under the weight I was the last time I plugged it in here sometime last year.

Raybug0903

Low carb is working great for me as well. More energy, losing weight, and not nearly as hungry when I was eating so many simple carbs.

ldbuster0

I did low carb once and I did lose weight. My weight stayed off for a year, then I got real sick and had to take steroids shots and gained a lot of weight back. I just couldn't stick with low carb for life, but I might try it again.

Darlekins

I was a nanny for a Nephrologist (a doctor of internal medicine with a specialization in kidney care and the treatment of kidney diseases/condition). for about 3 years. He told me I could thank the Low carb diets for my paycheck, because that was where the majority of his pay came from. Please consider seeing your doctor before making any changes.:flowerforyou:

Weird. I also worked for a nephrologist/endocrinologist and he was quite the champion of low-carb diets. His focus was on staving off kidney disease due to uncontrolled diabetes though. The cardiologist in the practice was also a proponent of low-carb. Sucked because they took out the vending machine in the building.

psuLemon

I was a nanny for a Nephrologist (a doctor of internal medicine with a specialization in kidney care and the treatment of kidney diseases/condition). for about 3 years. He told me I could thank the Low carb diets for my paycheck, because that was where the majority of his pay came from. Please consider seeing your doctor before making any changes.:flowerforyou:

Weird. I also worked for a nephrologist/endocrinologist and he was quite the champion of low-carb diets. His focus was on staving off kidney disease due to uncontrolled diabetes though. The cardiologist in the practice was also a proponent of low-carb. Sucked because they took out the vending machine in the building.

Keep in mind if these doctors are supporting many patients that have metabolic disorders or conditions such as diabetes, then low carb is not only a good tool but almost a necessity. My wife's cardiologist has her on a gluten free and low carb diet since she has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Due to the POTS, her body has developed a gluten intolerance as well as some insulin resistance. So she doesn't have an options. Diabetics, PCOS'ers and many others just don' t have a choice which is why certain doctors agree with certain approaches. But for a healthy person with no metabolic or medical issues, low carb is not necessary from a fat loss perspective.

allforthethrill

What you were doing could be working for you, don't take the scale as the be all and end all. Measure yourself, I learnt this recently too. I began exercising and didn't lose anything for weeks but I was losing inches!

366to266

For those of you eating 1600 or 1800 cals a day, what are you eating, might I ask? I am eating low carb, but seem to often end up hovering between 1200-1400. I'm not really hungry, though. Wondering if I should pad what I am eating a bit more, but if so, with what.

If you are a member of fatsecret my food diary is public on there - same as my username here

HMVOL7409

I don't believe I have insulin resistance, or at least I didn't a couple of years ago when I was testing my own blood glucose levels every day. In fact, I think it was on the low side. It's possible I have thyroid issues. I was slightly hypo a number of years ago but haven't been tested in awhile. Guess I'll get that all checked out next time I see a doc.

Wow, I'm so excited about this! I just feel so confident I'm going to be 20 lbs lighter in a few months and it's going to be easy peasy...I hope However I do need to conquer a mini vacation next week. What happens when you "hiatus" from low carb for 3-4 days? Balloon back up or just not continue to lose? Not going to go crazy with calories, but low carb is going to be difficult being at the hotel.

editing to add:
I was exercising daily, mostly cardio. Fitbit says I was burning300-400 but the machines at the gym would say more like 450-600. Total daily calorie burn was usually somewhere between 1900-2200. Calorie intake was usually between 1100-1400 with a couple 1800-2100 cheat days. Almost all days I was under my calorie goal. Some might say I didn't eat enough. I guess I'm ready to stop expecting exercise to help me lose weight at this point and switch to something I know will work. I was planning to be in smaller jeans weeks ago!

Some would say you were eating too low. Some would also ask if you are tired of the yoyoing? You tend to pick a "diet plan" in order to get fast results instead of being patient and giving something time. Or is a jean size more important to you than health? Obviously these diets or cutting exercise weren't working or you wouldn't always be trying to lose weight. What are your stats?

I am not going to put down LC bc it does work for some people. Just know going from one diet to the next never leads to success.

patentguru

Low carb works for me because it reduces the chances of insulin spikes, which halts fat burning until the sugar level in the blood is reduced (which is usually reduced too much by the insulin resulting in intense hunger pains). It is easy to spike the insulin with today's processed foods.

Really low (below 20 grams) puts you in ketosis. I have used this to remove fat quickly but it is difficult to stay on. I used low carb to rapidly lose fat for about 2 months. The low carb diet is easy, especially when travelling (eat the cheesburger without the buns).

However, if you are doing long cardio (more than 30 minutes at a time) low carb is very difficult (it was for me).

So give it a try. You may like it.

Acg67

Low carb works for me because it reduces the chances of insulin spikes, which halts fat burning until the sugar level in the blood is reduced (which is usually reduced too much by the insulin resulting in intense hunger pains). It is easy to spike the insulin with today's processed foods.

Really low (below 20 grams) puts you in ketosis. I have used this to remove fat quickly but it is difficult to stay on. I used low carb to rapidly lose fat for about 2 months. The low carb diet is easy, especially when travelling (eat the cheesburger without the buns).

However, if you are doing long cardio (more than 30 minutes at a time) low carb is very difficult (it was for me).

So give it a try. You may like it.

lol

SanteMulberry

bump for reading later

Snooozie

Bump to read later

graysmom2005

Going "lower carb" has made the difference for me. I did just calories and didn't lose weight for almost 3 years...and that is me teaching group fitness 9-10 times a week. When I upped protein/fats and lowered carbs (not SUPER low...just keeping them in check) my body responded very positively. It started burning fat and not spinning it's wheels burning sugar/carbs.

It wouldn't be realistic or long term for me to go super low or ketosis low. I try and keep it below 100g or 150g most days with one day not really minding. Keeping the carbs from veggies and some dairy mostly. It has been great.

DebbieLyn63

I keep my net carbs between 30 and 50g a day and do much better. I am apple-shaped, lost my mother to Type 2 diabetes last summer, and even tho my blood sugar has stayed within safe range, about 4 yrs ago my Triglycerides were over 600, which is the precurser to Diabetes. I started cutting back my carbs at that point and managed to get them down to 200 in 2 years. I didn't lose remarkable weight tho until I went really low carb and low cal, Even eating low carb, I still must keep my calories low to lose weight, but without the starch and sugar, I am able to keep my cals low without hunger and cravings. It also helps keep my inflammation and pain levels down from my arthritis.
For the average person who can lose strictly by eating at a calorie deficit and exercise, you may have no need to go low carb, but for those who are eating at a deficit, exercising, and not losing like they should be, then it might be worth trying to lower your carbs a bit to see if it helps. Or if you are having trouble staying under your calorie goal because of carb and sugar cravings, then lowering your carbs, and increasing healthy fats and protein, might help you stay more satiated.

And for those suggesting simply upping your proteins and healthy fat- if you do that and stay below your calorie level, then you will automatically lower your carbs!

There are plenty of reputable studies showing the benefits of a low carb/ low glycemic index diet for weight loss. It is not just water weight loss. For many people it does provide better weight loss success than simply lowering cals and exercise.
Of course there are many people who do not NEED to go low carb to lose weight, and no one is telling them that they should, this is just an option for those who are having trouble losing weight by the traditional means.

jacksonpt

I did about a month of careful calorie counting and almost daily exercise and lost nothing. So I was giving it a lot of thought last night, about why calories in/calories out is clearly not working and it occurred to me that I've never successfully lost weight exercising. But I have with either just eating less, or on some special diets which included low carb. And while researching last night, I came across this article:

http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/why-weight-watchers-is-actually-a-low-carb-diet

I really love this Eating Academy blog ...probably spent 2 hours reading through his posts and comments. So I'm sold, low carb it is. I'm a half a day into it and I feel like I've already lost a few pounds!

So now I need to rethink food and exercise - I do love the energy it gives me...just not counting on it for any weight loss. I'd love some food ideas. Does anyone want to swap low carb food diaries?

I didn't read through all the responses, but this SCREAMS that your estimates are off.

rw4hawks

Bump to read later.

McGruber03

This is an interesting thread. The word "low" means a lot of different things to different people. Does "low" mean less carbs than the average American consumes? Or is it something extreme like 20 grams? The current RDA for carbohydrate intake is 130-300 grams of carbs to prevent ketones. Many Americans get anywhere from 400-600 grams of carbs per day. So, getting the RDA would be low for them. I do think that different things work for different people. I personally have lost weight and maintained that loss for years with regular exercise and eating 3 meals and 1-2 snacks per day. I don't really count carbs or calories, I just try to eat reasonable foods. A typical day for me is...

Breakfast - Whole wheat English muffin with pb&j and a glass of milk, or a bowl of cereal, or a breakfast bar when I'm pressed for time.
Snack - Banana
Lunch - Sandwich or grilled chicken salad or dinner leftovers like pintos and greens (all from home, I eat out about once/month) - I usually eat an orange at lunch.
Snack - Almonds or an apple or popcorn
Dinner - Chicken tacos, bbq pork sandwich, chili, sweet potato soup, homemade pizza, breakfast (eggs, cheese grits, whole wheat toast, Al Fresco chicken sausage or turkey bacon), lasagna, some sort of pasta dish - and my favorite in the summer is when we have guacamole, chips and beer for dinner on a Friday night. i know it is an appetizer, but my Husband and I love it for dinner sometimes! I can make some MEAN guac!!

Exercise - Monday - 45 minute spin, 30 elliptical, 1 hour power yoga
Tuesday - 3 mile run, 30 minutes of light weights
Wednesday - 45 minute spin, 3 mile run
Thurs - 3 mile run, 30 minutes of light weights, 1 hour power yoga
Friday - 1 hour yin yoga, 4 mile run
Saturday - 1 hour hot yoga, 6 mile run (sometimes I skip the run depending on the weather, i canNOT run 6 miles on a treadmill!!!)
Sunday - 1 hour walk with neighbor or 1 hour swim, or 5 mile run

I'm a 35 year old female, no kids, work 40 hours/week at a hospital and teach as an adjunct at the local community college, i'm 5'7", 155 lbs, BMI 24.3, (normal range), cholesterol and blood sugar normal (we get yearly physicals at work.) Again, this is definitely not low carb, and not low calorie, but it works for me.

patentguru

Basically, I believe low carb works because it is results in less hunger pains, i.e. lower will power required to stay in calorie deficit. No matter the diet, you must burn 3500 calories more than you eat to reduce 1 pound of fat.

With a high carb diet, you are likely to spike insulin, which often results in lowering the blood sugar too low, resulting in sever hunger pains, i.e. a very high will power required to not overeat. Furthermore, during the insulin spike (hour or so?) your blood sugar is being reduced, i.e. making fat, your body will not be converting fat to sugar during blood sugar reduction time.

We are discussing the fat loss stage here, not long term weight maintenance or mass gain. Of course, we would all agree that a balanced diet is best. But when losing fat, the focus changes to losing fat. Like it or not, most people do not have the will power to overcome hunger pains caused by eating lots of carbs. The low carb diet is not perfect, but it definitely reduces hunger pains and is easier to eat less overall calories. That is why it works. Again- what the diet for weight maintenance is another issue.