Random weight gain on Low Carb Low Sugar Diet

munger87
munger87 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I've been following a very low carb low sugar diet very consistently for about a week with a 30-35% calorie reduction. I dropped 5lbs, then 3lbs within a week, but today I supposedly gained 4 back. I didn't make a single change to my diet or routine. I have the same water intake and same sodium intake. Any explanations? I knew I would start to lose much slower, but what I do not understand is going 4lbs in the opposite direction. Thank you for the feedback!

Replies

  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Are you tracking your intake? What you eat doesn't matter for weight loss - it's how much. I could easily gain weight on a low carb, low sugar diet. Of course, I eat plenty of those things because I know it isn't necessary to give them up.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    edited May 2015
    By intake, I mean calories. Calories are what matter the most for weight loss.
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
    Are you weighing your food and logging everything accurately?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    hormones.

    Ovulation, Time of the month, etc...
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited May 2015
    Lots of things can cause a temporary bounce on the scale, that's not actual weight gain. Sodium, tom, eating a large meal/drinking lots of liquid before weighing, exercise causing water retention, batteries going bad on scale, weighing after taking a shower etc etc.

    eta: the scale battery is one that really threw me for a loop a while back-I kept getting weird weights that just weren't matching up to where I should be at....come to find out my cat had started sleeping on my scale and he was just heavy enough to turn the scale on-draining the battery and making the scale glitchy lol.
  • Saritarose
    Saritarose Posts: 47 Member
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    hormones.

    Ovulation, Time of the month, etc...

    Yep! Hormones get me every month - usually a spike of 3-5lbs "magically" in a day.
    I just amp up my exercise for a day or two, drink a bunch of water and avoid sodium like the plague until it's back off again.
  • p_cisneros2
    p_cisneros2 Posts: 15 Member
    Don't get disappointed, just continue the diet. I'm on the same diet and I probably weigh myself more than I should, but I see fluctuations like that as well. Then I lose it back with an additional pound. I read somewhere that low carb diets cause constipation. A backed up colon could be another reason. No grains or fruit equals very low fiber. Veggies have fiber, but grains have them too.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Weighing food

    And hormones
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    It doesn't matter what you cut out of your diet, if you are still eating more than you burn you will gain. You need to weigh all your food and log honestly.

    Otherwise, probably just hormones. Give it a week and see what the scales say.

  • munger87
    munger87 Posts: 3 Member
    edited May 2015
    I log everything and either measure or count or weigh everything. I am at a 600-1500 calorie deficit every day when I sync my Fitbit calculations with my calorie intake. I usually end up with even less calories than my 30% reduction calculation in food intake and then an addition few to several hundred calories in exercise. I'm consistently at around 1300-1500 calories per day intake and 2-3000 outgoing. Since this post I haven't budged from my 4lb gain. I appreciate everyone's feedback!

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  • munger87
    munger87 Posts: 3 Member
    edited May 2015
    It's only a 2-300 calorie difference in consumption. I don't eat the same thing every day and some days when I burn more and am more active I need an extra snack, therefore there is a difference in how much I'm taking in.

    Outgoing is a larger difference because I'm a stay at home mom and my days look very different. Sometimes I have slower days than others and some days are much more active than usual. I get all my numbers from my Fitbit which calculates heart rate, miles, steps and calories burned 24/7. It syncs with myfitness pal to give a very comprehensive view on exactly how many calories I consume and burn.

    For instance, yesterday I had 1400 calories in (which is calculated using myfitness pal log) and 3000 calories burned (calculated by my Fitbit). A 1600 calorie difference.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    munger87 wrote: »
    It's only a 2-300 calorie difference in consumption. I don't eat the same thing every day and some days when I burn more and am more active I need an extra snack, therefore there is a difference in how much I'm taking in.

    Outgoing is a larger difference because I'm a stay at home mom and my days look very different. Sometimes I have slower days than others and some days are much more active than usual. I get all my numbers from my Fitbit which calculates heart rate, miles, steps and calories burned 24/7. It syncs with myfitness pal to give a very comprehensive view on exactly how many calories I consume and burn.

    For instance, yesterday I had 1400 calories in (which is calculated using myfitness pal log) and 3000 calories burned (calculated by my Fitbit). A 1600 calorie difference.

    So you've got one of the HRM fitbits .. it is not doing what you think it's doing

    It is measuring your HR .. this does not equate to calories used by your body

    the only time HR gives an appropriate estimation is when you are doing steady-state cardio

    don't get me wrong I rely on my fitbit zip to measure my activity ... I generally get back 350 - 450 calories over and above a sedentary setting when I walk around 5 miles across the day and I eat them back

    but the HR wristbands .. I am extremely suspicious of

    unfortunately THIS is what will be messing with your equations .. you think you know what you're burning but you're not .. your CO part of the CI<CO equation is doolally IMO
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited May 2015
    Out of interest what did you do yesterday that gave you a 3000 TDEE?

    Because even when I do a 90 minute gym session with a personal trainer from hell (measured by Polar FT4 HRM) plus walk my 10,000 steps (measured by fitbit zip) I am not getting much above 2400 (at 5'8 and 160lbs) - my average TDEE is 2200 -2300
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    As for your diet - cutting out carbs plays with water weight in the early stages, eat more carbs and that weight just floods back in

    If low carb is what you can stick to for life and works for you to achieve CICO great .. if it's a fad (like the low sugar bit) then just eat a wide diet and focus on weighing and accurate logging to a defecit

    get both parts of the CI and CO equation right and you'll have a fairly consistent trend over time of weight loss / maintenance
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Out of interest what did you do yesterday that gave you a 3000 TDEE?

    Because even when I do a 90 minute gym session with a personal trainer from hell (measured by Polar FT4 HRM) plus walk my 10,000 steps (measured by fitbit zip) I am not getting much above 2400 (at 5'8 and 160lbs) - my average TDEE is 2200 -2300

    I was going to ask this; I have a fitbit zip, and I do a hell of a lot of walking around (45 minutes to work, 45 minutes back, 40 minutes to my boyfriend, 40 minutes back, then I'm usually walking around for a couple of hours at work), and even with a run or cardio work out it is extremely difficult to hit 3000 burned! Which fitbit product do you use?
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    munger87 wrote: »
    I log everything and either measure or count or weigh everything. I am at a 600-1500 calorie deficit every day when I sync my Fitbit calculations with my calorie intake.

    Read the Sexypants post: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Set your goal for .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE (aka your maintenance calories). If you eat at a reasonable deficit from that, you will lose weight. You can learn more in the Fitbut Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
This discussion has been closed.