It was two months before my scales showed any loss eating low carb but I lost a lot of fat before the scales dropped even one pound. Even now I can go two months without losing a pound but still I am getting thinner. At 64 I 'assume' my body less all of the sugar/carbs in general is doing something behind the scenes to fix the mess I made of it eating process food and drink for all of those years.

Twibbly wrote: »

Are you doing crazy things like eating gelatin & bone broth?

We're all mad here...

itsjustdawn wrote: »

Twibbly wrote: »

Ways to measure health without a scale: http://whole9life.com/2012/08/new-health-scale/

That being said....

1) Are your clothes starting to fit differently?
2) Are you having more energy?
3) Is your body happier?

#3 is because I saw on your profile that you were in a car wreck that messed things up pretty well. Are you doing crazy things like eating gelatin & bone broth? They can help with joints & nerves.

Are you drinking enough water and eating enough calories & fat?

1) No, but it's only day 4.

2) Never. Even when I used to work out a lot I never had energy. But I am drinking coffee again... I could still pass out at any time I am sure.

3) No... I am in pain 24/7... I don't think changing WHAT I eat is going to fix permanent damage. Losing weight will reduce the pressure on my spine though.

It's only day 4. That's your answer right there. You haven't even gone a week yet, just keep that in mind whenever you're feeling discouraged.

You'd be surprised how what you consume will affect your body. My husband has been looking down the barrel of $10,000+ worth of dental work, including pulling more teeth, a root canal or two, and multiple fillings. I've recently started getting him taking Green Pasture's fermented cod liver and high vitamin butter oil, and as soon as he started taking it, he started getting feeling back in a tooth that the dentist said was dead and my husband said hasn't had feeling in forever. After about a week, he was finding that food wasn't getting stuck as bad in one of the teeth that has a deep cavity. I started taking Hyaluronic Acid for my degenerative disc disease -- a chronic condition that the doctors will only shrug their shoulders at and offer a numbing agent until you destroy your discs to the point that you need surgery to put metal rods or prosthetic discs into your spine -- and within two weeks, I went from being in pain 24/7 to not being in pain pretty much at all.

Don't underestimate the power of nutrients and the body to heal. You just have to give it the right building blocks and some time.

If you're eating a more nutrient dense diet than you have been, and/or if you've removed dietary sources of further damage or inflammation, then your body is currently in the process of healing. You may not see a change on the scale for some time, but that doesn't mean things aren't changing. What you might find, instead, is that your pain starts going away. You might be able to move in ways you haven't been able to for a long time. You might start finding you have more energy than you did a few weeks prior. And so on.

However, it all takes time. The earliest I saw non-scale changes after changing my diet was between 1 and 2 weeks. I realized, all of a sudden, that I no longer had heartburn. A week or so later, I suddenly realized that I no longer needed ibuprofen like I had. A few months later, I realized that my skin was more clear. It was actually about 2 years before I stumbled on the way of eating that actually prompted my body to shed weight, though I wouldn't be surprised if I wouldn't have lost weight immediately if I'd gone directly to that way of eating, because my body needed time to heal the other issues first.

Keep at it, you're doing a great job! I took a quick peek at your diary and it could be the dairy, but you're also eating alot of processed meats. If you look at the ingredients you'll probably notice sugar as an added ingredient. I don't know much about the calorie thing, but if you're not exersicing, 2000 might be too many calories? I'm only 5'1, but my calorie budget is 1300 for days I don't exersice. That's based on the calculator thingy. For myself and my husband, if we eat too many calories, we don't lose, no matter how low our carbs are. Your carbs might even be too low. Try adding some veggies for natural carbs as well as fibre? Tracking is good and can help you tweak things once you get to know what works for you! Good luck!

Dragonwolf wrote: »

itsjustdawn wrote: »

Twibbly wrote: »

Ways to measure health without a scale: http://whole9life.com/2012/08/new-health-scale/

That being said....

1) Are your clothes starting to fit differently?
2) Are you having more energy?
3) Is your body happier?

#3 is because I saw on your profile that you were in a car wreck that messed things up pretty well. Are you doing crazy things like eating gelatin & bone broth? They can help with joints & nerves.

Are you drinking enough water and eating enough calories & fat?

1) No, but it's only day 4.

2) Never. Even when I used to work out a lot I never had energy. But I am drinking coffee again... I could still pass out at any time I am sure.

3) No... I am in pain 24/7... I don't think changing WHAT I eat is going to fix permanent damage. Losing weight will reduce the pressure on my spine though.

It's only day 4. That's your answer right there. You haven't even gone a week yet, just keep that in mind whenever you're feeling discouraged.

You'd be surprised how what you consume will affect your body. My husband has been looking down the barrel of $10,000+ worth of dental work, including pulling more teeth, a root canal or two, and multiple fillings. I've recently started getting him taking Green Pasture's fermented cod liver and high vitamin butter oil, and as soon as he started taking it, he started getting feeling back in a tooth that the dentist said was dead and my husband said hasn't had feeling in forever. After about a week, he was finding that food wasn't getting stuck as bad in one of the teeth that has a deep cavity. I started taking Hyaluronic Acid for my degenerative disc disease -- a chronic condition that the doctors will only shrug their shoulders at and offer a numbing agent until you destroy your discs to the point that you need surgery to put metal rods or prosthetic discs into your spine -- and within two weeks, I went from being in pain 24/7 to not being in pain pretty much at all.

Don't underestimate the power of nutrients and the body to heal. You just have to give it the right building blocks and some time.

If you're eating a more nutrient dense diet than you have been, and/or if you've removed dietary sources of further damage or inflammation, then your body is currently in the process of healing. You may not see a change on the scale for some time, but that doesn't mean things aren't changing. What you might find, instead, is that your pain starts going away. You might be able to move in ways you haven't been able to for a long time. You might start finding you have more energy than you did a few weeks prior. And so on.

However, it all takes time. The earliest I saw non-scale changes after changing my diet was between 1 and 2 weeks. I realized, all of a sudden, that I no longer had heartburn. A week or so later, I suddenly realized that I no longer needed ibuprofen like I had. A few months later, I realized that my skin was more clear. It was actually about 2 years before I stumbled on the way of eating that actually prompted my body to shed weight, though I wouldn't be surprised if I wouldn't have lost weight immediately if I'd gone directly to that way of eating, because my body needed time to heal the other issues first.

I used to get migraines at least 2-3x/month; since doing this way of eating I've had one migraine (in almost 9 weeks)! And that was after a weekend of majorly over exerting myself and a HUGE weather change (like 50 degree temp drop overnight!) all at the same time.
Dragonwolf- I would love to know more about the Hyalauronic Acid. I've had a herniated disc in my neck for probably 5 years, and I have arthritis in my neck too (and I'm only 30!).

rkufeke wrote: »

Dragonwolf- I would love to know more about the Hyalauronic Acid. I've had a herniated disc in my neck for probably 5 years, and I have arthritis in my neck too (and I'm only 30!).

This is the one I use - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S97MOU

Hyaluronic Acid is what makes our joints and eyes squishy and what lubricates a number of the transportation structures in our bodies. The supplement has shown promise for "wear and tear" and trauma-like issues -- things like osteoarthritis, joint damage, and degenerative disc disease.

Most of the testimonials I've seen show noticeable results in about a week, with almost complete pain reduction in 2-4 weeks. My own experience was consistent with these reports, though it likely depends on the extent of the damage (Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth, for example, had little success with it for her own degenerated discs, because they're too far gone, but it helped the dry skin caused by her Hashimoto's). Basically, it can rehydrate any tissue that's there, but it can't rebuild what's not there (though it can aid the healing process).

A word of caution, though -- I did find some things that suggest it may backfire if you have rheumatoid arthritis. So if your arthritis is rheumatoid, you might want to look into that aspect a little deeper, and if you decide to try it and your pain increases, then stop the supplement. (It makes sense, if you think about it -- RA is inflamed joints, and HA adds volume to those joints. Bigger joint + inflammation = more pain. The good news, though, is that LCHF should itself help the inflammation behind the RA, which can allow the HA to work on any wear and tear issues.)

itsjustdawn wrote: »

Hey all. I just started on Monday... I am curious as to when I should start seeing the number move on the scale? I have actually gone up a little since Sunday. My diary is open. I have kept my carbs at 5% or less I believe. I am severely lacking in fiber/veggies this week. I will add more next week for sure.

And yes, I know I shouldn't rely solely on the scale... but seeing that number go down would definitely put me in better spirits.

Hard as it might be, stay away from the scale. I weigh myself about once every ten days, but I probably should wait longer. Seeing the daily bounces can be quite disheartening.
Concentrate instead on how you feel. Think of this WOE for health, not weight loss. People who think LCHF is for weight loss have the mistaken impression that they can quit it once they lose the weight. (Look at all the Atkins dieters who only followed the first part of the diet, but did not want to do the work on the maintenance level. They gained back the weight once they returned to their old eating habits!)

Patience, patience, patience. You did not gain the weight overnight. It will take time to lose it.

*Oh, and it is possible to not eat any veggies on this WOE, so you might not need to worry about adding more. Some folks eat only meat and fat.

Hard as it might be, stay away from the scale.

I agree! Your diet can make wonderful changes in all other aspects of your life, and your mood will be ruined all day because of Mr. Liar McLiarpants.

I just read an article about a woman who gained 20 lbs over six months of zero-carb eating, and then it all dropped off. She says her body was healing from years of abuse before dropping the excess weight. Hang in there and focus on NSVs

I also have an SI joint injury that led to a herniated disk which later led to pinched nerves in my neck. All these things have felt uncharacteristically improved since I started this WOE in February.

I've lost just over 27kg since the 4th of January and my scales do NOT show a loss every day. I lost 1.5kg last week (Sunday to Sunday) but some days I was up 200g, down 400g, no change, up 100g etc. I was 87.6kg for 3 daya in a row and this morning I was 87.85kg. But that is 100% normal and I know not to worry now.

I've had weeks where I gained 800g overnight but a week later that was all gone and I had a decent loss.

The smallest lost I have had in a week from one Sunday to another (official weigh in day for me) was 800g. Still not bad really!

Even with my weight being the same for 3 days and up on the 4th day, I've lost a cm from my waist in that 4 days :-)

One inch equals 2.5 cm ( centimetres). 800 g = 0.8 kg = 1.76 pounds.