low carb diet has come to a stand still?
Hi everyone. I started my low carb diet a little over a year ago. I cut out, sugar, grains, fruit, starchy veggies, and anything that included some carbohydrate sounding ingredients on the back. my diet mostly consists of eggs, fish, nuts, and veggies, i do have meat from time to time but i have never been very fond of it seeing as i was a vegetarian before i converted to the low carb life.
my weight loss was amazing and first. i was feeling great, both mentally and physically, and my numbers were excellent too. I managed to lose close to 30 pounds, which i have been trying so hard to keep off. lately, within the last month or so, i feel it creeping back on. the only diet change i have come across is that i may be taking in more veggies than before. (spinach, lettuce, kale, cucumbers, and avocado) i am wondering if those are small amounts of carbs with high fiber are throwing off my diet? i would really like to get back on track and feel that success again. i have gain ten pounds back and feel pretty down about it. even increasing my exercise (walking and jogging) has improved my blood sugars, but not my weight.
Has anyone experienced a plateau or setback like this from the diet? if so how did you break through?? wondering if the carbs from the almonds and fresh veggies is the cause. Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ann on -
Andrea, there are plateaus in low-carbing and you could be facing one of those.
How much protein are you eating, on average? How much carbohydrate are you eating at each meal and snack, if you have them? And how much fat are you eating? You don't mention eating things like cheese or cream, for example. If your fat intake is too low, you will be hungrier and the carbohydrate you eat won't digest quite as easily. But if you eat fat along with carb, your BG usually doesn't spike as much. Even more wonderful is that if you eat enough fat, along with low-carbing, it actually helps with weight loss.
When I've hit a plateau, I've found that it's usually my fat intake that's causing it. I find it hard to eat enough fat after so many years of believing that I needed to avoid it, especially saturated fat, as much as possible. I find that I need to make sure to eat a lot of cheese and to float whipped cream on my coffee, sometimes, too. I'm allergic to nuts, so I don't eat coconut oil, but many, many people love it and add it to coffee or just eat it by the spoonful. I can eat peanut butter, and will sometimes have one or two tablespoons of sugar-free for a snack; one tablespoon of PB has 2 grams of carb, 3g of protein and 8 g of fat.
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Permalink Reply by andrea on -
yes i definitely think i am experiencing a plateau. i do eat a lot of fat however, or atleast i think its enough. a typical day for me is..
Breakfast: 1 egg 3 eggwhite omelette with spinach and avocado inside. a cup of coffee with cream (i do not use artificial sweeteners or sugar)
snack: a handful of almonds (i do admit that i go overboard sometimes)
lunch: mixed greens with grilled chicken or deli salad (tuna salad, egg salad) no dressing, just salt and pepper
dinner: some sort of meat or fish along with a huge salad and grilled veggies.
before bed i usually have an cube of cheese or some peanut butter.
am i not eating enough? i dont see how that would be...i feel significantly bigger, very uncomfortable. my weight gain is noticeable in my butt and belly.
i dont know if this makes a difference but...my lantus dose went from a split of 8 in the am / 8 in the pm. to just a full 16 in the pm. is that part of it?
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Permalink Reply by Type1Gal on -
well, probably because you're starving yourself. what is your weight and what do you want it to be? you certainly don't look like you need to lose 30+ pounds..but one can't tell from one (1) photo. Fruits, grains, etc...are all good, great foods, just manage your I:CR better....! That's not a healthy diet, what you're eating.
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Permalink Reply by Ellie on -
It is healthy if it works for you. I recently switched to the same diet and haven't had numbers like this in over 7 years. My dexcom is showing flatlines with the increased fat and true lessening of carbs. Your body derives energy from the protein and fat when the carbs are gone, so shouldn't make any difference in energy level. I'm not sure exactly why your plateuing,but I will say that nuts have a lot more carbs than you think, especially almonds, that you probably aren't covering enough for. Best of luck and good numbers for all!
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Permalink Reply by FHS on -
Is this part of the same weight gain you posted about back at the beginning of January?
If so, I do believe you mentioned that you gained back 10 lbs at that time. Sounds like you've stabilized your weight loss/gain. I'm certainly not the one to have any kind of meaningful input regarding weight loss issues, but if you're BG numbers are good, and you are maintaining good management at your current weight, on your current diet, is the 10 lbs difference that much of a concern?
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Permalink Reply by Cosumne Jan on -
I'm having the same problem Andrea, only I've been doing low carb for 4 years. My blood sugar is great, no problems there, but gaining 15 pounds for no apparent reason is freaking me out. If I'd been sneaking carbs or eating more, it wouldn't bother me so much because I'd just stop doing that. I'm afraid to try eating more fat, for fear it might not work and then I'd gain even more weight. I also have to wonder, if I'm gaining weight does that mean I have too much insulin in my blood all of a sudden? (I'm T2, I only take Metformin.) If so, why? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm going to stay on low carb and keep trying to find a solution, and I'll be interested to see what you come up with. FHS, I don't know how Andrea feels about an extra 10 lbs, but it scares the heck out of me because you never know when it will be the first 10 lbs of 50. I can gain 10 lbs in a week, but then it takes 2 months to get it off if I can even figure out how.
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Permalink Reply by andrea on
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exactly!!! it is extremely scary and depressing. and FRUSTRATING. i feel it is my insulin making me gain weight.
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Permalink Reply by JaninaWalker on -
To Consumne Jan, this would concern me too. I did gain weight in 5 months and found it was due to peanuts in the shell, so I stopped that and have lost half of it already.
If you are only taking metformin, what are the supplements you are taking because you may be stimulating more insulin to be created as you are guessing. What I found out about the nuts was that the extra insulin to cover the carb portion of the nuts also put the fat from the nuts into the fat cells.
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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on -
Without knowing your height, weight or BMI, it's hard to know if your body is correcting because you really need that ten pounds, or if you've gained unneeded body fat. If you're exercising a lot, you might be putting on a bit of muscle, which weighs more per square inch than body fat -- so you could be heavier on the scale but have more lean strength -- which is a good thing. Also, when you're thinner, seasonal fluctuations in weight are more noticeable. I had a cat who used to gain two pounds ever fall and lose them in the spring. He was svelte every summer and a tiny bit chubbers every winter, like clock work. Some people do the same thing: ten extra pounds in winter, gone by summer.
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