what to do if one is not losing weight on a low carb diet?

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Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I lost about 30 lbs (really FAST) on Atkins when I was in my 20's. It was because the diet was so restrictive, and I got so sick of meat/cheese, that I essentially just stopped eating. I believe I uttered these exact words before dropping the diet: "I would rather starve to death than eat one more bunless burger".

    "Diets" are so much fun. :indifferent:
    Last I looked Atkins wasn't just "meat and cheese".
  • BevRodriguez52
    BevRodriguez52 Posts: 13
    I can understand your frustration. I have been on a low carb diet for a little over a month now. My calories for wt loss of about 1 1/2 lbs per week is 1200 cal. I am having difficulty getting to 1000 cal/day, since I don;t like vegetables unless they are cooked. I'm also getting very tired of chicken. Fruits have so many carbs that they have to be limitted.
  • Carolynnr59
    Carolynnr59 Posts: 9 Member
    I think the key word there is "moderation.":smile:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I'm still patiently waiting for someone to tell me if I need to remain in a calorie deficit for low carb to work.

    Since I started low carb about 10 weeks ago, I've kept track of everything in a spreadsheet, and must say I was curious to see if what I lost was more than what I would have expected to lose with the calorie deficit from my intake. Things vary, like water retention, etc, but from what I've seen with myself, the difference between the two was pretty minimal, a couple of pounds. I mostly attributed it to the water loss that's associated with a lower carb intake, and the reduction of my bodies internal glycogen/ carb stores, and the reduction in water your body retains due to reduced glycogen stores.

    Just my experience, but it led me to believe low carb is just a good way to keep to a caloric deficit, as opposed to their being some molecular black magic going on. Same with paleo and other eating programmes, as it was quite easy to see how difficult it was to eat a substantial amount of calories when you cut out the filler and junk foods that give you calories, but little else. Its easy for me to wrap my head around, but it seems difficult for others, probably because they're thinking fat is so calorically dense, wouldn't it simply be so easy to pile on the calories, but what I've found is no, its actually quite difficult to eat amounts of fat beyond a certain point, likewise with protein, as your body tells you quite quickly you're full, whereas with carbs, it seems to take quite a bit longer and usually beyond the point you've eaten enough, to realise you're full, and probably were 10+ mins ago.

    In any event, I'm not sure if your question was genuine, but the above is my experience, and happy to talk more if you want to drop me a message, as given the direction this thread has taken, I don't intend to encourage it by posting anything else here :)

    Thank you!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I can understand your frustration. I have been on a low carb diet for a little over a month now. My calories for wt loss of about 1 1/2 lbs per week is 1200 cal. I am having difficulty getting to 1000 cal/day, since I don;t like vegetables unless they are cooked. I'm also getting very tired of chicken. Fruits have so many carbs that they have to be limitted.
    It would seem to me if you don't like vegetables...low carb is going to be a challenge.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I can understand your frustration. I have been on a low carb diet for a little over a month now. My calories for wt loss of about 1 1/2 lbs per week is 1200 cal. I am having difficulty getting to 1000 cal/day, since I don;t like vegetables unless they are cooked. I'm also getting very tired of chicken. Fruits have so many carbs that they have to be limitted.
    It would seem to me if you don't like vegetables...low carb is going to be a challenge.

    not to mention unhealthy. 1000 cals of dry chicken and no fruits or veggies sounds like a bad idea to me. any method chosen has to be rounded out so that a person gets exposed to a full nutrient profile, and this is sounding deficient.
  • BevRodriguez52
    BevRodriguez52 Posts: 13
    You might try an exercise program to build muscle without over training. I'm sure there are a lot of these programs available. I am using Charles Webb's "Metamorphosis" as my guide for nutrition and exercise. His exercise program is 30 to 40 minutes three days a week. Muscle burns calories even while you are at rest.
  • Early_Riser
    Early_Riser Posts: 127 Member
    Switch to low calorie
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    I'm just here to learn more about losing weight while at a net calorie surplus.
  • ronrstaats
    ronrstaats Posts: 294 Member
    Look at me! I am telling you LOW CARB DOES NOT WORK! I've been doing it for several years. Poor me, I have lost all my muscle due to all that fat and diet sodas I drank. I was so week from not having carbs I could only work out with weights for an hour followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I was starving myself on 2000 to 2500 calories a day!

    God I love Sarcasm! LOL

    FG8KZbTB.jpg
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I can understand your frustration. I have been on a low carb diet for a little over a month now. My calories for wt loss of about 1 1/2 lbs per week is 1200 cal. I am having difficulty getting to 1000 cal/day, since I don;t like vegetables unless they are cooked. I'm also getting very tired of chicken. Fruits have so many carbs that they have to be limitted.
    It would seem to me if you don't like vegetables...low carb is going to be a challenge.

    not to mention unhealthy. 1000 cals of dry chicken and no fruits or veggies sounds like a bad idea to me. any method chosen has to be rounded out so that a person gets exposed to a full nutrient profile, and this is sounding deficient.
    Many people's diets on here lack a full nutrient profile. But no matter WHAT she chooses to do, it's gonna be hard to get all the nutrients without a lot of vegetables. Granted, she doesn't say she won't eat them...just that she wants them cooked.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Look at me! I am telling you LOW CARB DOES NOT WORK! I've been doing it for several years. Poor me, I have lost all my muscle due to all that fat and diet sodas I drank. I was so week from not having carbs I could only work out with weights for an hour followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I was starving myself on 2000 to 2500 calories a day!

    God I love Sarcasm! LOL

    FG8KZbTB.jpg

    Wut?
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 7,021 Member
    Look at me! I am telling you LOW CARB DOES NOT WORK! I've been doing it for several years. Poor me, I have lost all my muscle due to all that fat and diet sodas I drank. I was so week from not having carbs I could only work out with weights for an hour followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I was starving myself on 2000 to 2500 calories a day!

    God I love Sarcasm! LOL

    FG8KZbTB.jpg

    Look at you. You suffered so. Poor thing. Could hardly move to work-out and starving all the time...
    :laugh:


    Sarcasm aside, THAT is the way it's done. Congrats on the hard work.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    seems pretty simple-change things up
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 7,021 Member
    I lost about 30 lbs (really FAST) on Atkins when I was in my 20's. It was because the diet was so restrictive, and I got so sick of meat/cheese, that I essentially just stopped eating. I believe I uttered these exact words before dropping the diet: "I would rather starve to death than eat one more bunless burger".

    "Diets" are so much fun. :indifferent:
    Last I looked Atkins wasn't just "meat and cheese".

    Yep. It's lots of different veggies, too. Then you get to add more stuff after 2 weeks. It has several rungs. You can add beans and nuts later. To your meat and cheese and other veggies you are already supposed to be eating.

    http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx

    Which is a list of all you can eat in the first phase. You can click around to find out all the other things in the other Phases.

    Too restrictive for me (been there and dropped that), but I have friends on it and doing great.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Look at me! I am telling you LOW CARB DOES NOT WORK! I've been doing it for several years. Poor me, I have lost all my muscle due to all that fat and diet sodas I drank. I was so week from not having carbs I could only work out with weights for an hour followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I was starving myself on 2000 to 2500 calories a day!

    God I love Sarcasm! LOL

    FG8KZbTB.jpg

    Look at you. You suffered so. Poor thing. Could hardly move to work-out and starving all the time...
    :laugh:


    Sarcasm aside, THAT is the way it's done. Congrats on the hard work.

    I agree, his calorie deficit eating plan worked extremely well
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Seriously...ignore button significantly shortens the thread & argumentative posters are banished to the naughty corner :laugh:
    pfft...pissing contest -___-
  • Adw7677
    Adw7677 Posts: 201 Member
    You need to find out what works for you. While you need to eat a deficit to lost weight, it's not a guarantee that you'll lose weight. There could be a food group that screws it all up. You might need to go gluten-free, reduce sugars, eat whole/natural foods, try paleo, go vegetarian, etc.. Everybody's different.

    I've found that I can try anything for a week. "It's only a week." I'm doing without sugars and sweeteners this week, and so far so good.
  • cassandramathieson
    cassandramathieson Posts: 3 Member
    Not only does modern science show that artificial sweeteners are difficult for your body to interpret, but they also have been linked to cravings for refined carbohydrates and MSG. MSG, you know, what they use to fatten up mice so that they can experiment on them. My pre-medical studies incline me toward agreement with the vast majority of the above statements.

    references:

    http://www.medicalcorps.org/fat-rat.htm

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/
  • Kiyy
    Kiyy Posts: 91 Member
    When your doing a low carb diet correctly. The calories don't work the same. Low carb usually get me more fat loss and helps me keep muscle. I add exercise to help me get the fat burning. When I'm in ketosis I can tell.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 7,021 Member
    Seriously...ignore button significantly shortens the thread & argumentative posters are banished to the naughty corner :laugh:
    pfft...pissing contest -___-

    Already done. :bigsmile: Def feeling lighter.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Seriously...ignore button significantly shortens the thread & argumentative posters are banished to the naughty corner :laugh:
    pfft...pissing contest -___-

    Already done. :bigsmile: Def feeling lighter.

    I know right?
    When I got done, had to add a couple more.
    Poor poor horsie :brokenheart:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I lost about 30 lbs (really FAST) on Atkins when I was in my 20's. It was because the diet was so restrictive, and I got so sick of meat/cheese, that I essentially just stopped eating. I believe I uttered these exact words before dropping the diet: "I would rather starve to death than eat one more bunless burger".

    "Diets" are so much fun. :indifferent:
    Last I looked Atkins wasn't just "meat and cheese".

    Yep. It's lots of different veggies, too. Then you get to add more stuff after 2 weeks. It has several rungs. You can add beans and nuts later. To your meat and cheese and other veggies you are already supposed to be eating.

    http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx

    Which is a list of all you can eat in the first phase. You can click around to find out all the other things in the other Phases.

    Too restrictive for me (been there and dropped that), but I have friends on it and doing great.
    When I look here:
    http://www.atkins.com/Program/Overview.aspx
    Vegetables is the first thing they say to eat.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Seriously...ignore button significantly shortens the thread & argumentative posters are banished to the naughty corner :laugh:
    pfft...pissing contest -___-

    Already done. :bigsmile: Def feeling lighter.

    I know right?
    When I got done, had to add a couple more.
    Poor poor horsie :brokenheart:

    How many more off-topic posts should I expect from you two...

    ...bragging about how you de-cluttered the thread with the ignore feature?

    Because I love hypocrisy.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    what happened here?
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    what happened here?

    Just one of the many "features" I'll miss when MFP changes forum platforms.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    That was strange. I can only see my own reply. Same for you guys?
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I can see my replies and now these wtf replies - Oh MFP, never change :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • rprussell2004
    rprussell2004 Posts: 870 Member
    That's clearly because the thread got on a low carb diet and lost all the extra fat.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    That's clearly because the thread got on a low carb diet and lost all the extra fat.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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