Dairy & Weight Gain
GrannyMayOz
Posts: 1,051 Member
I feel like a forensic scientist trying to find cause and effect with my macros, calories, exercise etc. I enjoy this, so don't worry about telling me not to 'do my head in' - it doesn't, it fascinates me 
so here goes...
Day/Start Weight in Kgs / Carbs/Fat/Protein/Notes
Thursday/83.1 / 10/110/75/Dairy Free
Friday/82.9 / 13/122/63/Dairy Free
Saturday/83.0 / 6/10/1115/Dairy Free
Sunday/82.7 / 13/97/88/Dairy free
Monday/82.4 / 2/125/88/Around ½ cup grated cheddar cheese in an omelette
Tuesday/82.9 - a fairly large gain.
*Was* it the cheese? No exercise during the whole week, so that's not a factor Around 2,500 to 3,000 steps per day incidental movement.
Needless to say I'm going to go dairy free again and see what happens, does anyone else do this kind of thing? What have your experiences and results been?
so here goes...Day/Start Weight in Kgs / Carbs/Fat/Protein/Notes
Thursday/83.1 / 10/110/75/Dairy Free
Friday/82.9 / 13/122/63/Dairy Free
Saturday/83.0 / 6/10/1115/Dairy Free
Sunday/82.7 / 13/97/88/Dairy free
Monday/82.4 / 2/125/88/Around ½ cup grated cheddar cheese in an omelette
Tuesday/82.9 - a fairly large gain.
*Was* it the cheese? No exercise during the whole week, so that's not a factor Around 2,500 to 3,000 steps per day incidental movement.
Needless to say I'm going to go dairy free again and see what happens, does anyone else do this kind of thing? What have your experiences and results been?
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0.5kg = 1.1lbs (sorry, I need us units). 3500 kcal per lb of fat means you would need to consume an excess of 3850 kcal to gain that much fat.
How many kcals in that cheese, eh?
You didn't gain fat.0 -
I've been working just to get the macros each day. Haven't made it to correlation between the weight loss, or gain, and foods eaten, yet. Now that I feel like I am getting it I am sure that will be next. I like to watch trends too, lol!0
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Sounds like a fun study! My weight does simIilar things with meat.
Nice to see someone else who uses kg :-)0 -
I can lose 2lbs if it's warm outside. Really. I was amazed how much my sweat weighs.
OK, let's assume it was the cheese. We know it's not the calorie content. It can't be the carb content. But it could be the sodium content. That would cause water retention.0 -
I can lose 2lbs if it's warm outside. Really. I was amazed how much my sweat weighs.
OK, let's assume it was the cheese. We know it's not the calorie content. It can't be the carb content. But it could be the sodium content. That would cause water retention.
I was thinking the same thing. @GrannyMayOz I'd be curious to see a break down on say seven days dairy free to see if you have a similar jump.
It's interesting how you've broken it down to look for trends.0 -
Awesome replies everyone, thank you!
@wabmester yes, I wasn't attributing the gain to anything specific (like fat), just wondering what (if anything traceable) caused a gain. Or maybe a post menopausal woman just isn't capable of losing weight consistently without a rebound. Pretty much back up to the start weight for that week, which I'd enjoyed so much
I have found though that 'new lowest weights' are achievable again. I've lost 5.9 kgs / 13 lbs since 23rd January when I began this ride so, despite all the bouncing, I am making steady progress. I wonder if weight loss through heat really is only sweat? 'They' reckon your blood thins out in hot weather, and who knows what else could change metabolically as well. Our temperatures have been fairly warm days and cool nights, in keeping with what's usual around here for Autumn.
@Karlotta I'm glad you understand my fascination and scientifically enquiring mind. I would be in heaven if I could find The Secrets. Or any knowledge really
@Minties, yes, hi to you from Oz *waves*. You're the only Kiwi I'm aware of in the LCDaily group. Meat eh? It's interesting isn't it? And Long Live Kilos
@Stbarber I went 5 days without dairy, which appeared to lead to losses such as I have not yet experienced. Yesterday I had cheese and gained this morning. Today I've had cream so we'll see if there's anything apparently reportable tomorrow. Day 3 will be butter - they're the only dairy I eat. I may need to separate the dairy days more than this for future enquiry, but it's all fun. Trends, cause and effect really fascinate me.0 -
GMO, I know I don't come across as very empathetic, but I'm cheering you on at every step, and I applaud your willingness to analyze and experiment.
That said, daily fluctuations are mostly water weight. Some of it is due to food -- meat is dehydrating, carbs and salts can cause water retention. But most of it is due to other factors. On a daily basis, we lose or gain about 2.5 liters of water. That's 2.5kg per day. Our body is trying to keep that amount balanced, so up 1kg one day, down the next.
The long term is what matters, and you are doing everything right for long-term weight loss. I sometimes go 3 weeks at a time with no loss, and then I get a week of steep drops. It's crazy, but water and muscle can mask the fat loss in terms of what the scale sees.0 -
You've yet to offend or frustrate me @wabmester I recognise a fellow enquirer. I'm just perhaps more eager to attribute Cause A with Outcome B than I should be, and you're keeping the Patience Hat on
I haven't finished with the experimentation and am of course happy for other opinions along the way. There will be more to report and wonder over in the future.0 -
Surely 1/2 a cup of cheese couldn't cause such an effect????0
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I don't know @totaloblivia, I'm throwing my thoughts out there to see if anyone else has similar tales. It was either true that it did, or there was some other circumstance that I haven't yet seen. I'll continue on my (probably hopeless) quest to nail jelly to the wall, but I'm enjoying the journey of trying 0
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I've been reading Cordain's "the Paleo Answer" and he goes through all kinds of enzymes etc in dairy products that can be very detrimental to health and weight loss. I'm considering dairy free at least for a while as an experiment but might have to give up coffee also because I don't know if I can drink it without HWC0
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Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and today I have included dairy (cheese mostly < 4oz/day). My scale weight is unknown for Saturday and Sunday, but it has gone from 70.8 kg (Friday) to 71.9 kg for Monday and Tuesday. I am now out of dairy and don't plan on buying any more. We'll see how long it hangs around. But, a 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) scale gain from dairy isn't atypical for me. Is this a true gain? Not at this point. But, if I continue to eat dairy, I will likely not lose weight and might even start gaining from here.
Why? I don't know. Could be sodium or it could be a number of other things. At this point, it's a fairly consistent result. When I cut dairy out, the weight comes back off and my overall weight trends downwards. When I include dairy, I get a pretty obvious bump on the scale and the weight loss slows, stops, or reverses. I could question the mechanism, but I'm treating this as a simple black box problem. I know when I put "dairy" in, I get "{negative results}" out. So, I'm going to stop putting dairy in and not worry about what's happening in between.0 -
A couple more theories (I love a mystery):
1) If you are mildly lactose intolerant, there could be some swelling in the irritated GI tract. Swelling means water retention.
2) Cheese has a lot of slow-digesting protein, which is probably why it causes constipation in some people. If it slows down digestion, you could simply have more food in your belly (and the extra fluid needed for digestion).0 -
This woe has me becoming more in tune to my body (i thought I was already) and the messages it's been trying to send me for years! I am a once a month loser too. I have learned that is how it will be for me. I don't like it when the scale doesn't move but have accepted it. I do know that my body is going through a major healing process and that includes periods of inflammation as it does. I'm trying not to worry too much since I know what I am doing is helping me in so many other ways than just weight loss!0
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Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all the thinking and input, I'm finding this really interesting.
Coconut milk is my answer to what to have in coffee. As long as you get a palatable brand, it's creamy and zero carb or protein, just good healthy fats. Most brands are nice. There's one brand I truly can't take, and one that's nicer than most so try a couple if you want to try them at all.I've been reading Cordain's "the Paleo Answer" and he goes through all kinds of enzymes etc in dairy products that can be very detrimental to health and weight loss. I'm considering dairy free at least for a while as an experiment but might have to give up coffee also because I don't know if I can drink it without HWC
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