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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
It just seems a natural property of "diets," you have good success for a couple months and then you backtrack. At this point, after a year, you shouldn't really be calling it a diet, it is a lifestyle. You should have gotten used to eating this way.
But that doesn't mean it will be a perfect recipe to achieve your desired weight (even if that weight is in fact achievable). I would like to ask you to consider two things.
First, your insulin. You have been on this diet for a year and from what you described as your eating style, you are eating like 50 g/day. I have to ask you whether you think your blood sugars could be better than the 7.2%. Your recently raised basal is not a good sign. Sometimes with low carb diets, a rapid basal insulin can actually be too fast and to compensate, we raise our basal. But that is not necessarily good. I would suggest you spend some time making sure your insulin regime is fine tuned.
Second, you may not be eating enough. If you don't eat enough, your body may slow down your metabolism and that can reall hamper things. I think it would be good to track your calories and confirm what you are eating. Who knows, maybe you will also find you are eating 3000 calories a day. We often distort the reality of what we are eating (I know I do).
And finally, I'd like to suggest a method to kick start your weight loss and help you get your basal testing done. Intermittent Fasting (IF). Start choosing days to skip 1-2 meals. Only do it once or twice a week. I like to skip breakfast and lunch on the weekend, essentially fasting for 24 hours. During that time, it is perfect to do your basal testing. You can rotate the skipped meals to see how your basal does around the clock. If you basal is markedly higher than it should be and your blood sugars are elevated between meals, that is a recipe for weight gain.
i think the calculation is 5lbs for every inch over 5 feet, 5 X 4 = 20, 120 is about your goal weight, maybe a bit less, no? Have you thought about going on a pump...? better control, less insulin, no basal insulin? How are your blood sugars.
i switched from lantus to levemir..have you thought about that? i never gained weight on insulin though. i also went from one shot to two and didn't notice anything...? sorry, not sure what's going on?
you said you think it's your insulin causing weight gain...but, if you think about it, we all need insulin, and if you were on the pump and GAINING more weight..well, you were using LESS insulin, about 25% less then on MDI's, and no basal (which typically is said to be the weight gaining property - levemir/lantus), and none is used in the pump..if you gained weight on the pump, you had to be eating more. some people claim to lose weight on the pump..some gain, easier access to graze and add more food with a push of a button.
I know this is Andrea's thread, but if I might piggyback? BSC, I weighed 175 in October (I'm 5-10). I have gained 15 pounds since then. I had been on 1500 calories a day for 4 years, between 30-50g of carb. I did a 2 day fast, then put myself on 25-35g carb, 900 calories a day from Nov. 15 through New Year's in a concerted effort to lose the gain. Did not lose a pound. Meaningful exercise is not an option, my feet and legs don't work well from a bout with amytrophic neuropathy, but I can sorta stumble around without a cane or walker. I'm not totally sedentary, I do my own house and garden work. My doctor just says dumb stuff like, "Well, you have to expect things like that when you're diabetic, here, take this 1400 calorie, 140 carb a day diet and report back in 3 months." I am not going to do that, it could really screw me up and then I'd have 50 pounds to lose and the doctor would just think I'd cheated. Kaiser won't let me see an endo because my AICs have stayed at 5.3 or below for quite a long time. They say the endos only deal with getting BS down. Started Metformin (1500mg) about 6 months ago because my morning BS was getting into the 100s and that brought it back down after a week or so. I ordered it online then told the doctor about it, so she gave me a prescription. Sometimes I think gaining weight is just punishment for being so OC about my BS. I've been that obese diabetic in a wheelchair, though, and I'm NOT going back there.
OK then andrea, you're BMI is 24.7. Anything at or below 24.9 is in the normal range, so by medical standards you are absolutely not overweight -- congratulations!!! Maybe this would be a good time to just focus on exercise for a while -- perhaps some strength training or a new activity like a Zumba class or yoga class or something -- will help you feel more toned and healthy. You can keep an eye on it over the next few months and see how you feel about your weight then.
The best way to be sure about diet is to weigh and/or measure everything you eat for a few days or a week. Make no assumptions about whether a piece of fish weighs three ounces or five, or whether you're going to eat a full cup of broccoli or two-thirds of a cup. Write down everything and look up the carbohydrates in each food. It's amazing how we can be off by an ounce or two at times, particularly when it comes to food we think we know about! You might discover that instead of eating less than 50 grams of carb, you're eating about 80, for example. You'll know what to cut back and where very quickly.
It's also very helpful to check your measurements. If your waist or hip measurement is getting lower, that's a better indication of how things are going than your weight.
I'm sorry, I misread your post. I don't think going back to on shot would make a difference. But let me ask you. You lost 30 lbs. Almost 20% of your bodymass (That is really an impressive amount by the way). Did your basal levels drop or did you just observe lowered fasting numbers?
You should observe some reduction in basal requirements when you lose weight.
I think you would also do well to step back and reconsider your whole goals. You started this and I suspect it was pretty much focused on your weight. And as JeanV pointed out, you are actually in a normal BMI range. Perhaps it is also time to readjust your goals. Maybe this should be less about the pounds on the scale and more about being lean and reducing body measurements.
