low carb to low calorie while intermittent fasting?

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ktm96
ktm96 Posts: 61 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on low carb and have lost some weight, i then also added intermittent fasting to my regimen and have continued to see results. I want to switch to low calorie now so i can still eat my carbs but still lose weight and i plan to stick to intermittent fasting, will i gain any weight? how can i not gain weight going through this transition?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    You will gain some weight when you reintroduce carbs...provided you are at a calorie deficit, that weight will be water and glycogen. If you have been low carb then your glycogen stores are pretty depleted and your body will want to restore them...but it's essentially water weight.
  • ktm96
    ktm96 Posts: 61 Member
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    are we looking at around 3-4 pounds? I started my weight loss journey 2 months ago with low calorie and loss about 8-10 pounds and then started low carb with intermittent fasting and lost 10 pounds. do you think 3-5 pounds of water weight is safe to guess? I'm at 129 pounds and 5'7
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    are we looking at around 3-4 pounds? I started my weight loss journey 2 months ago with low calorie and loss about 8-10 pounds and then started low carb with intermittent fasting and lost 10 pounds. do you think 3-5 pounds of water weight is safe to guess? I'm at 129 pounds and 5'7

    Probably...sounds about right...
  • ktm96
    ktm96 Posts: 61 Member
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    just one more question, sorry!

    i plan on taking in about 40% of carbs for my diet starting next week, is the 3-4 pound weight gain still accurate according to this? Or should I slowly add carbs instead?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    just one more question, sorry!

    i plan on taking in about 40% of carbs for my diet starting next week, is the 3-4 pound weight gain still accurate according to this? Or should I slowly add carbs instead?

    Keep in mind that when you do low carb, you are also doing low calorie if you're losing weight. A calorie deficit is always required for weight loss regardless of macro ratios. It's not the lack of carbs themselves that made you lose weight...you simply cut back on a macro that tends to be calorie dense.

    It's difficult to estimate how much water weight you will gain re-introducing carbs...they require more water to metabolize and as I said earlier, they are going to be converted to glycogen as well. This is not a bad thing necessarily...no carb/low carb works well for sedentary individuals, but it's pretty brutal if you're doing anything significant in RE to exercise and trying to progress your fitness because you lack the glycogen stores to do so.

    The key is to know and understand the science. It's water, so it doesn't really matter...the number on the scale is reflective of numerous things, so you need to understand that too. To gain a pound of actual fat you would need to consume 3,500 calories more than your maintenance level of calories.

    I can easily fluctuate 2-5 Lbs day to day dependent on whether I've had a bit too much sodium or I'm dehydrated or I had a carb feed after a big time lifting session, etc.

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