Low Carb diet: The ups and the downs...

60-75g is not *that* low, but it's fairly well known that carb intake retains sodium and hence water so the 2-3 pounds is mainly water, if not entirely.

I'd talk to your dietician first, and in the meantime do some research into the whole concept of lowcarb. I eat a lot of vegetables (nutrient dense carbs) but absolutely no sugar and virtually no starch (definitely no bread, pasta, or potatoes). It is technically a lowcarb way of eating, but volume wise its lots of carbs :P

My favourite way of illustrating that is at http://www.dietdoctor.com/thirty-grams-of-carbs-in-two-ways

I blog about how I eat at http://healthywithintent.wordpress.com/ and I follow a free program that is outlined in this little video http://youtu.be/U36XJaETbh8

The Diet Doctor (http://www.dietdoctor.com/) explains lchf (low carb high fat) eating well and has some great videos on youtube.

Paleo/Primal is also essentially a low carb way of eating so you can find lots of good info with that in your google search.

A person eating a normal or high carb diet stores energy in their muscle and liver cells in the form of glycogen. This glycogen is constantly being used as we expend energy and refreshed as we eat (carbs).

As a person starts a low carb diet, they lose a lot of water weight the first few days. (and no or little fat loss) A lot of this water is stored with the glycogen. If you continue eating low carb, most of the glycogen does not get remade as you are in a fat-burning mode. If you eat too many carbs in a meal/day, you can start to form glycogen in your muscle, and with the glycogen comes water. So you will see water weight if you eat too many carbs. But it will come off just as quickly if you keep eating low carb.

With big guys like me, our weight can really fluctuate depending on our water intake/carb intake. Only true fat loss can be seen over time. When I go off low-carb ( holidays, stress eating, etc), I will put on 5 lbs easily just in water weight. But it will come off as soon as I low carb again. I've found that I've eating too many carbs (or too much protein, too) if I see the scale go up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycogen

If you find yourself struggling, then go off it. Calories are more important in terms of weight loss than macro's. And in reality, if you do not have a medical condition such as PCOS, then there is no benefit to be low carb in terms of weight loss.


I much prefer high protein, moderate carbs and fat. For me, it's a much easier way of losing weight.

MFP made me ignore low carb and just count calories. I do not do any sugar or wheat, but I like fruit, I am loosing and feel better.

i went low carb before joining MFP. basically gave myself one last month to eat the carbs i wanted, used up opened packages. anything that was unopened from my pantry or freezer went to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors or local food pantries. anything home-cooked and stored in the freezer went to family and friends. after that month, anything left went in the trash. more or less cold turkey in practice.

if you have difficulty limiting something higher in carbs, my suggestion is to get it out of your house. see if there is an alternative you can use: ie spaghetti squash vs spaghetti. or try different cooking techniques, like baking or broiling foods instead of breading and/or frying.

i wish you the best. lowering carb intake is tough! it's not primary in comfort food for nothing, but the struggle is worth it.

I tend to gain weight when I get white carbs. I stay away from bread, pasta rice, potatoes and all processed stuff like cakes, cookies crackers etc. My doctor once told me that if you get off the white stuff you can lose 20lbs in a month just cutting out that stuff.

This works. I started loosing as soon as I dropped the processed "white junk."

My doctor once told me that if you get off the white stuff you can lose 20lbs in a month just cutting out that stuff.

I am here to report that this is absolute bollocks (or at least not that cut & dried ie. doesn't work for everyone). I cut out all grains and simple starches etc. over a month ago, and have lost less than 5lbs. A few inches, as well, but not anything like the sort of weight I was expecting to lose.