Low carb not working anymore
cinbol
Posts: 27 Member
Hi everyone
I started a low carb/high fat lifestyle in the fall of 2012 - it worked great for the first year and I lost 40 lbs in that time span. I have kept up with the LC/HF eating habits and I am very careful about my carbs trying to stay on maintenance. I lost my job last spring, but started working as a substitute paraprofessional in our school system working with Special Needs children and really love it, but I am not moving as much as I used to when I worked full time. I have a treadmill and try to get on that at least 4 x per week, and also use my Wii Fit programs to keep me moving. I typically stay between 30-50 carbs per day and I am successful 6 out of 7 days.
We went on a cruise last fall and I gained 5 lbs - no worries - I'll cut back down to 25-40 carbs and loose it.... well, this past winter I wasn't paying close attention and got into a lot of junk around the holidays. I wasn't too worried as I planned to just get back on my regular eating habits and I would loose the 10 lbs that have crept back on.... WRONG
I have been back on low carb cutting back to 30 carbs/day since January and have only lost 4 lbs. I am so frustrated - it just doesn't seem to be working for me anymore and I don't understand why - assuming my body has just gotten so used to the way I was eating, that it no longer "burns" like it was when I first went low carb.
Would love some suggestions! We are heading out on a cruise next week and I am so scared that I am going to put even more weight back on - I know what my trigger foods are, and don't usually have a problem staying away from them - breads/starches/sweets are no longer in my regular diet....
My doc intially suggested the low carb plan to help with my blood sugar - it did help and my numbers came down preventing me from full blown diabetes. Now Doc wants me to try staying at 1200 calories per day and not watching the carbs and I am just starving and struggling to do that...
Anyone else ever get stuck like this after a few years of low carb eating? How did you get back to loosing weight?
thanks!
Cindi
I started a low carb/high fat lifestyle in the fall of 2012 - it worked great for the first year and I lost 40 lbs in that time span. I have kept up with the LC/HF eating habits and I am very careful about my carbs trying to stay on maintenance. I lost my job last spring, but started working as a substitute paraprofessional in our school system working with Special Needs children and really love it, but I am not moving as much as I used to when I worked full time. I have a treadmill and try to get on that at least 4 x per week, and also use my Wii Fit programs to keep me moving. I typically stay between 30-50 carbs per day and I am successful 6 out of 7 days.
We went on a cruise last fall and I gained 5 lbs - no worries - I'll cut back down to 25-40 carbs and loose it.... well, this past winter I wasn't paying close attention and got into a lot of junk around the holidays. I wasn't too worried as I planned to just get back on my regular eating habits and I would loose the 10 lbs that have crept back on.... WRONG
I have been back on low carb cutting back to 30 carbs/day since January and have only lost 4 lbs. I am so frustrated - it just doesn't seem to be working for me anymore and I don't understand why - assuming my body has just gotten so used to the way I was eating, that it no longer "burns" like it was when I first went low carb.
Would love some suggestions! We are heading out on a cruise next week and I am so scared that I am going to put even more weight back on - I know what my trigger foods are, and don't usually have a problem staying away from them - breads/starches/sweets are no longer in my regular diet....
My doc intially suggested the low carb plan to help with my blood sugar - it did help and my numbers came down preventing me from full blown diabetes. Now Doc wants me to try staying at 1200 calories per day and not watching the carbs and I am just starving and struggling to do that...
Anyone else ever get stuck like this after a few years of low carb eating? How did you get back to loosing weight?
thanks!
Cindi
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Replies
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Hi Cindi! I'm no expert, but have you done a full macro eval? A lot of times when people stall their weight loss, it could be that you are taking in too much protein. Too much protein gets processed as glycogen, which stimulates insulin production and, in turn, storage of fat. So you may just need to adjust your macros a bit.
If your macros are fine, I know a lot of people cut back on dairy or nuts. You could also try an egg fast or fat fast to kind of jump start things again. Make sure you do your research though first and be safe. Good luck and stick with it!0 -
Hi Cindi.
There are lots of reasons this could be happening. Are you tracking? If so, what do your protein, fat and carb levels look like each day? Sounds like you have switched to a 1200 cal/day diet - is that still low carb? Do you have any medical conditions or take any medications that could be affecting your weight loss (thyroid is a prime example)? And I have heard that some people do have a harder time the more times they've tried low carb. On the other hand, even though you have only lost 4 lbs. since January that is still about half a pound a week. There's nothing wrong with losing half a pound a week especially if you only have a small amount of weight to lose as it sounds like you do. If you are prediabetic, I think it is especially important to eat low carb. It is best for your health, regardless of weight.0 -
Whoa, 1200 calories a day? Unless you're not very tall, this is probably not enough.
I'm 5'2" -- MFP would set my calories at 1200 to lose a pound a week, but in reality I stall at that level. My body goes into starvation mode. I have to eat a minimum of 1500 calories a day to keep that from happening. Oddly enough, I lose more weight eating 1500-1700 calories a day than I did at 1200-1400 back before/during the time MFP throttled me down to 1200 a day.
I just have to be sure to avoid grains, dairy, legumes, and sugar (which, except for full-fat dairy, wouldn't fit LCHF anyhow). My body reacts badly to those, with inflammation, gain in water weight, and cravings.0 -
Hi! Your story sounds a lot like mine! I was doing low carb and lost 40 right away and then was stuck. I started doing yoga and began running/walking and the weight started coming off again! I found I go through my moments of being stuck then I just get right back on track, staying at 20-30 carbs helps and excercise! Hope it helps! Good luck!0
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Most low-carbers go wrong by replacing carbs with far too much protein. That's why taking low-carb to the "next level" using keto helps a dieter understand why low-carb works (when it does). If you're not tracking your macros then you're shooting blind and just hoping for success without actually understanding why you're successful when you're actually losing weight. Keto is the "right way" to do low-carb. Just my $0.02
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Hi, I don't lose unless I keep my carbs at 20 or less. Maybe you could start at 20 a day and see if it helps or like several others have said- it could be too much protein and not enough fat in your macro ratios. The Fat Fast cookbook is a good one you might want to look at. It is a book about jump starting weight loss again using a high fat, low carb, and calorie fixed diet. The author, Dana Carpender, a long time low carber, needed something more to lose again since her weight loss had stopped short of her goal weight. Hope this helps0
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I am now doing an Egg Fast, as used by Jimmy Moore who lost 27 lbs in 30 days ( I do not plan to eat eggs for a month! as he did) but he was 400 lbs, lost 130 on LC..then gained a bunch back via carbs.
He talked with Dr. M Eades ( Protein Power book) and then he set up a diet of just eggs-fats-cheese.
SOme people argue don't eat so much fat, some say allow HWC, but I plan to stick to it as shown.
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/tag/eggfest
I've dropped 4.1 pounds (of water mostly) in 4 days…and yes I will be sick of eggs by 7 days, but it BROKE a 10 WEEK stall…which can frustrate anyone. 3 of the pounds were actual retained water- I had gained 2-3 lbs of 'weight', but had NOT consumed calories to be actual fat weight) and lost 1 lb of weight.
more links- the Egg DIET is different from this FAST which is ONLY 3 foods. period.
http://www.lchfnation.com/food/egg-cellent-egg/
http://ketogenicwoman.com/egg-diet-weight-loss-fast/
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/why-cant-i-lose-weight-htlw-12/ fungi
THIS WORKS WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY LC FAT ADAPTED…coming off a normal carby diet to do this is not the same.
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Hi Cindy,
I'm a 58 yrs old male and have been on LCHF for about 6 months and have made great improvements in health but haven't really lost much weight. After watching some Butter Bob videos I realised I had a small but important misunderstanding of the process. By eating a diet with about 70% of my calories in fat I was 1) nourishing my body and also 2) eliminating hunger, thereby creating an opportunity to take the final and vital step of 3) eating less frequently. I came to realise that Intermittent Fasting (IF) of a few extra hours, (not days) was the final step to take.
This means missing occasion meals or maybe just delaying meals by a few hours more to give the body time to process food and rest/restore in between meals - because I am not hungry and don't need to eat. It is often more of a social habit to eat 3 meals a day that we grew up with and now I am usually eating 1 or 2 meals a day; sometimes I will eat 3 meals but not automatically 3 meals. Well, it is a slow process but I am now heading in the right direction. I eat when I am hungry and am learning not to eat when I am not hungry.0 -
Hi Cindy,
I'm a 58 yrs old male and have been on LCHF for about 6 months and have made great improvements in health but haven't really lost much weight. After watching some Butter Bob videos I realised I had a small but important misunderstanding of the process. By eating a diet with about 70% of my calories in fat I was 1) nourishing my body and also 2) eliminating hunger, thereby creating an opportunity to take the final and vital step of 3) eating less frequently. I came to realise that Intermittent Fasting (IF) of a few extra hours, (not days) was the final step to take.
This means missing occasion meals or maybe just delaying meals by a few hours more to give the body time to process food and rest/restore in between meals - because I am not hungry and don't need to eat. It is often more of a social habit to eat 3 meals a day that we grew up with and now I am usually eating 1 or 2 meals a day; sometimes I will eat 3 meals but not automatically 3 meals. Well, it is a slow process but I am now heading in the right direction. I eat when I am hungry and am learning not to eat when I am not hungry.
This is TOTALLY what I need to get my head around!! I have mastered the lchf eating, I have no issue eating under 15g of carbs a day and often hit 80% fat, so that I can do, but teaching myself to understand hunger over habit is the hard part. Eating at specific times because thats the conventional 'meal time' doesn't work for us. Learning to understand hunger is part of this journey. Its much harder that giving up sugar/bread etc, IMO0 -
The FINAL step for me now is what I am calling SOCIAL REINTEGRATION - (hey, I just made that term up!) it means that I can be reintegrated back into a society of SAD eaters and Carb loaders and still maintain my weight. That is proving to be quite a challenge for me now.
I find that whenever I engage in social eating I am instantly putting weight back on. Typically up to 1kg per day! Then I spend the next 3 days eating to plan, by myself, to get the weight off again. I am still working out how to do this in a way that allows me to have a happy social life AND keep healthy. It's all part of the learning journey.0
