Even with "goof up" days, shouldn't I be losing weight?
BRobertson23
Posts: 150 Member
So, I have been far from perfect with my LC days. For a time I was diligent, aiming for 20 net carbs, then I started letting my intake go up. I would say I averaged between 40-60 total carbs on most of my days. I also was sticking around 1200 calories, a pretty big dip down from what I was eating when I hadn't gone LC. Well, I was around 186, and since having some...well, several off days with more carbs, this morning I was at 191. I understand there's water weight involved and so I'm going to keep tracking, but I guess my question is, even with all my mess ups, the bulk of my days are low calorie, if not LC, so shouldn't my weight be dropping?
In no way am I trying to justify my carb creep, because beyond the weight loss part of things, I really like how less bloated and swollen I feel and I feel mentally sharper and energetic on LC, so I want to maintain this WOE, but I'm baffled by the scale....should I weigh myself daily for tracking or stick with once a week?
Appreciate the sounding board and potential feedback!
In no way am I trying to justify my carb creep, because beyond the weight loss part of things, I really like how less bloated and swollen I feel and I feel mentally sharper and energetic on LC, so I want to maintain this WOE, but I'm baffled by the scale....should I weigh myself daily for tracking or stick with once a week?
Appreciate the sounding board and potential feedback!
0
Replies
-
Carb creep will do it. Also your calories are on the low side, IMO. I would eat more. My guess if you're going to weigh daily, look at the weekly average instead of daily fluctuations less stressful. Not sure I was helpful, lol0
-
BRobertson23 wrote: »I understand there's water weight involved and so I'm going to keep tracking, but I guess my question is, even with all my mess ups, the bulk of my days are low calorie, if not LC, so shouldn't my weight be dropping?
The change in water retention can mask the weight loss. It can cause +-6lbs in difference some times (my max was 9lbs, but that involved a saline IV drip.)
Try being "good" for a solid week, and pray to the whoosh gods. Female hormones can have the same effect, in which case you'll have to be good for an entire month to take the water out of the equation.
0 -
LiftRunRepeat22 wrote: »Carb creep will do it. Also your calories are on the low side, IMO. I would eat more. My guess if you're going to weigh daily, look at the weekly average instead of daily fluctuations less stressful. Not sure I was helpful, lol
Agree with this. I'm 183.6 lbs and lose nicely on 1800 calories a day. Also, if my carbs creep I gain a ridiculous amount of weight. Just get back down to keto levels (if that's what you're wanting to maintain) and I bet a few pounds are gone within a week
0 -
This was helpful for me. I was starting to get discouraged. I'm just learning to be LC so any info is good info.0
-
I did kinda the same thing when I started and someone showed me I was constantly going in and out of ketosis with what I was doing. So for sure I would stop the bouncing back and forth with high low carbs in short periods. And if your micros or set for ketosis then I would for sure up calories at least by 300 more... I've never eaten that low and I don't Excercise so if you do you need more than 300 extra!! Good luck!!0
-
I weigh myself everyday. it helps me see how my body respond to the food I eat. I notice that when I keep my fat percentage around 75% and eat 15 or less carbs I lose weight. The carb intake is strictly from veggies. My calorie intake can be as high as over 2000, but I seem to lose more weight when it is high calorie but my fat, protein, carb ratios are on target. I do worse when I have carbs that come from sugars or from grains. The last 2 days I have 2 tablespoons of ice cream each night. After the first night the scale did not move. But this morning I gained 1.4 lbs. I know it is water fluctuation and going back to being strict with what I eat, especially in the carb department will get me back to my new low.
I wouldn't worry about the number of calories. Concentrate on the percentage. My targets are 70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carb. I keep the MFP at 1200 calories, but keep my eye on more on the percentages and the amount of grams allowed for 1200 calories. I don't stress if the number of grams go over as long as my percentages look good.
Secondly, keep an eye on what you eat. Your body may respond differently to certain foods than it would on other people. For me, cheese does not help me lose weight. On the LC diet it does not make me gain weight, but it slows down the weight loss for me. So I minimize my cheese intake to a few ounces a week and only if I am really hungry and need a snack.0 -
With the up and down carbs, you're water weight will likely vary quite a lot from one day to the next and could certainly be hiding actual loss. Water weight can hide losses even when carbs are consistent at whatever level you choose.
I wonder if you're stressing your body out with all the up and down and possibly slightly low calories. Don't know if you doing any exercise too. But stress can be a factor and interfere with loss.0 -
BRobertson23 wrote: »I understand there's water weight involved and so I'm going to keep tracking, but I guess my question is, even with all my mess ups, the bulk of my days are low calorie, if not LC, so shouldn't my weight be dropping?
The change in water retention can mask the weight loss. It can cause +-6lbs in difference some times (my max was 9lbs, but that involved a saline IV drip.)
Try being "good" for a solid week, and pray to the whoosh gods. Female hormones can have the same effect, in which case you'll have to be good for an entire month to take the water out of the equation.
^this. if you only weight your self once a week you may not notice it, but my weight loss is affected by where in my cycle i am. it really freaked me out the first month, like why was i not losing but even gaining a tad. i now know i have 2 really good weeks of losing, followed by an ok week, followed by a week not even worth getting on the scale for. i weigh my self more frequently than 1x a week so i could see when things went south easier.0 -
I like daily tracking and using an app that shows my average weight. But, even the average it gives me goes up and down throughout the month. But, it still helps to see your weight loss trend from month to month. Which is what really counts. Trying to gauge success from daily or weekly weigh ins just doesn't work because there's too many factors that affects our weight throughout the month.
I've shared this a lot lately. Hopefully it's not getting old yet...
But you can see the ups and downs on my chart over this 3 month section. I could have easily thought I had gained weight during any one of those "up" points, but, I lost weight month by month. Even with perfect adherence to my plan.
0
