Weight gain with carbs! Help!

Lisa1971
Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been low carbing it for quite some time but whenever I try and increase my carbs I immediately gain weight even though my calories are well within my limits! My carbs have been under 100g a day and then when I go over this number it always shows on the scale the next day and I don't know why. I don't eat junk and my carb increase is from fruits, veggies, or whole grains. Even if I have one glass of wine the scale goes up! Does anyone know what is going on? Will I ever be able to eat good carbs again without the scale going up?

Thanks.
Lisa

Replies

  • Celinya
    Celinya Posts: 18
    Hey there! I wrote about this on my blog:
    http://newbeautifulme.blogspot.com/2012/05/temporary-weight-gain-explained.html


    Normally your body uses glycogen for energy, then fat. We are eating a lower carb diet which causes our bodies not to store glycogen. Once glycogen stores are gone, we use fat for energy. Fat is a richer, denser form of energy which is part of the reason we see increased energy when in fat burning. A big part of the reason people see such dramatic loss when they first start TSFL is because their body is burning all of it's glycogen stores. Glycogen holds onto water, so when it's burned, it releases water and causes a loss of water weight.

    However, the reverse is true. If you eat carbohydrate rich foods, you rebuild your glycogen & the water comes back too. 1 gram of glycogen has 2.7 grams of water with it, so consuming extra glycogen can increase your weight by 3-5 lbs. Your body has to use it's glycogen again and once all the glycogen is gone the accompanying water will be gone as well. And you will be back in fat burning!
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Hey there! I wrote about this on my blog:
    http://newbeautifulme.blogspot.com/2012/05/temporary-weight-gain-explained.html


    Normally your body uses glycogen for energy, then fat. We are eating a lower carb diet which causes our bodies not to store glycogen. Once glycogen stores are gone, we use fat for energy. Fat is a richer, denser form of energy which is part of the reason we see increased energy when in fat burning. A big part of the reason people see such dramatic loss when they first start TSFL is because their body is burning all of it's glycogen stores. Glycogen holds onto water, so when it's burned, it releases water and causes a loss of water weight.

    However, the reverse is true. If you eat carbohydrate rich foods, you rebuild your glycogen & the water comes back too. 1 gram of glycogen has 2.7 grams of water with it, so consuming extra glycogen can increase your weight by 3-5 lbs. Your body has to use it's glycogen again and once all the glycogen is gone the accompanying water will be gone as well. And you will be back in fat burning!

    Thanks for the info! Does this mean that I can't go back to eating carbs again? Still confused. :sad:
  • Celinya
    Celinya Posts: 18
    Yes, but you will see a bump in the scale though, but this isn't a fat increase it is a water increase. It might take a couple weeks to get below your low carb weight as you lose more and more fat.
  • mikkijane1
    mikkijane1 Posts: 50 Member
    Thank you! I can definitely see how that is true. I had some Chinese food as a little cheat and I was up 5 pounds the very next day! Although I knew that there was no way I could put on 5 pounds of fat in one day, it made me so upset. Once I got back on track and drank lots of water, the weight was back down in about a day and a half.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
    Hey there! I wrote about this on my blog:
    http://newbeautifulme.blogspot.com/2012/05/temporary-weight-gain-explained.html


    Normally your body uses glycogen for energy, then fat. We are eating a lower carb diet which causes our bodies not to store glycogen. Once glycogen stores are gone, we use fat for energy. Fat is a richer, denser form of energy which is part of the reason we see increased energy when in fat burning. A big part of the reason people see such dramatic loss when they first start TSFL is because their body is burning all of it's glycogen stores. Glycogen holds onto water, so when it's burned, it releases water and causes a loss of water weight.

    However, the reverse is true. If you eat carbohydrate rich foods, you rebuild your glycogen & the water comes back too. 1 gram of glycogen has 2.7 grams of water with it, so consuming extra glycogen can increase your weight by 3-5 lbs. Your body has to use it's glycogen again and once all the glycogen is gone the accompanying water will be gone as well. And you will be back in fat burning!
    Very cool post!
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Thanks again!

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