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Help - have gained weight in last couple of days and don't know why?

I have been following the LCHF diet since the 28th January 2014. I was 16 stone 1lb and went down to 14lstone 13lbs this week. I now weigh 15 stone 4lbs in 2 days. How? I am panicking as I have stuck rigidly to diet. What am I doing wrong? I did introduce exercise at the week end and this week but very gentle. Depressed :(

This happened to me too. I agree with Andy12345 that it will come off again so don't stress about it. I also agree with the post from Mud Island Dweller. We HAVE been conditioned to think that weight is the problem, I weigh every few months now. I used to stick to a diet , lose weight, then put some back on, then I would become depressed and ditch the diet. Looking back, I had probably started toning my muscles which accounted for the weight gain.

Just a thought...are you drinking enough water? Sounds daft when the problem could indeed be water retention, but the first time I tried a LCHF diet I had this problem too....and gave up! The second time I had read about increasing fluid intake and eventually those 6 or so pounds fell off me again, fairly quickly. It was at this point that I put my scales away and decided I would judge how well I was doing by how loose (or not!) my clothes were becoming.
 
What's wrong with scales and a mirror?
Calipers can't tell you if you're losing any internal fat, which is important, but a mirror can tell you if you losing fat under the skin, and putting on muscle mass.
You make a good point about the mirror! The Daily Fail is full of stories such as, "I realised I was overweight when I got stuck in a roller coaster seat" etc, but few such as, "I realised I was overweight when I looked in the mirror" :(

I weigh myself every day. Whether I should or not, I find it motivating.

Scandi - hope you get back on track soon. My money is on some kind of water glitch.
 
Yes, no need to rush out and buy calipers.
Use the scales, check your shape in the mirror, you'll know if you're changing shape or not. Losing the internal fat from around your organs is important.
Clothes fitting like a scarecrow is another good indication for me.:)
 
But, isn't weight loss a bit like blood sugar readings, in that we should be interested in the trend, rather than any isolated number?

I appreciate you are training for some fairly extreme activities, and as such you will have a real and valid interest in muscle gain to help you cope with that. I don't know what your starting point was and what difference in terms of weight or fat percentages you want to achieve, however, many more people on here will be more interested in how they look, how they feel and what's going on with their bloods. And lets face it, it's pretty easy to step on and step off the scales in a few moments.

To use your analogy, I agree with callipers being akin to LCHF, in dietary terms, and I would suggest scales would be more akin to a low GI/portion controlled approach. It's all on a spectrum and one size does not indeed fit all.
 
Mud Island Dweller said:
Sorry to upset you but it wont give a real measure of your fat use the calipers and throw the scales. And it matters not on time of day same place for the scales etc. All it shows is weight and that is immaterial you need to loose fat.
Just get the calipers and sling the scales or as you loose fat and gain muscle you will show yoyo weight that will cause the reaction you have now only worse... that's why people who try and loose weight don't succeed much... they use scales

2douglas99" said:
What's wrong with scales and a mirror?
Calipers can't tell you if you're losing any internal fat, which is important, but a mirror can tell you if you losing fat under the skin, and putting on muscle mass.]/quote]
 
surprise in cmes douglass to tyry and cause an argument just have to love him...not

Now here is a shock douglass again l was intending to be helpful and explaining not trying to cause an unpleasant argument

Talk about double standards!!!
Its fine when you tell us all that scales are useless but we all need callipers but when douglas asks whats wrong with scales and a mirror he is trying to start an argument......

As usual a total lack of moderation allows a bully to continually attack a member who has a different slant on things, how long is this going to be allowed to continue on this forum
 
I have been following the LCHF diet since the 28th January 2014. I was 16 stone 1lb and went down to 14lstone 13lbs this week. I now weigh 15 stone 4lbs in 2 days. How? I am panicking as I have stuck rigidly to diet. What am I doing wrong? I did introduce exercise at the week end and this week but very gentle. Depressed :(

Diets do slow down.
You lose a lot of water as you use stored sugars initially. Then you switch to using fats.
All sorts of odd hiccups happen then, you can store water again, a few pounds go on, your salt levels change, your metabolism shifts, but it'll go down again.
 
Unless you are able to measure visceral and subcutaneous fat using very expensive equipment, then scales and a mirror are ideal.
Even if you get a good reading, step off and drink a glass of water there will be a difference. It works the other way too. Dehydration often causes a difference. You need to be hydrated so a glass of water about 20 minutes prior will give the best result.
Why anyone would want to start an argument over measuring somebody's weight is beyond me.:rolleyes: Sort out differences via conversations and let the thread evolve.
 
Unless you are able to measure visceral and subcutaneous fat using very expensive equipment, then scales and a mirror are ideal.
Even if you get a good reading, step off and drink a glass of water there will be a difference. It works the other way too. Dehydration often causes a difference. You need to be hydrated so a glass of water about 20 minutes prior will give the best result.
Why anyone would want to start an argument over measuring somebody's weight is beyond me.:rolleyes: Sort out differences via conversations and let the thread evolve.

Drink a glass of water!
My routine is to weight every morning, but always go to the loo first. ;)
 
I have been following the LCHF diet since the 28th January 2014. I was 16 stone 1lb and went down to 14lstone 13lbs this week. I now weigh 15 stone 4lbs in 2 days. How? I am panicking as I have stuck rigidly to diet. What am I doing wrong?
Do you check your ketones? As I understand it, if you're producing ketones you're burning fat. If you're not producing ketones, you could try tweaking your diet - and as it's LCHF the easiest way is upping your fat intake. If you're producing ketones, then don't worry: this is probably just a blip, increased muscle mass or water retention as others have said.

I hope things get better very quickly.
Kate
 
what about visceral fat? That is more important than fat under the skin.
 
Do you check your ketones? As I understand it, if you're producing ketones you're burning fat. If you're not producing ketones, you could try tweaking your diet - and as it's LCHF the easiest way is upping your fat intake. If you're producing ketones, then don't worry: this is probably just a blip, increased muscle mass or water retention as others have said.

I hope things get better very quickly.
Kate

Don't you need to use the stored fat in your body? Upping fat will provide more dietary energy, which should slow down the use of body fat.
Maybe cutting more carbs instead?
 
The correlation between calipers using 5 point measurements and results from more expensive methods are very good, certainly nor out enough to spend a fortune in getting tested.

My weight shifts quite a bit during the week, up to 6lb over a few days depending on water intake etc. muscle is 70-80% water and stored muscle glucose. Sodium and potassium balance can affect exactly how much water you can retain at any time as well.




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I have been following the LCHF diet since the 28th January 2014. I was 16 stone 1lb and went down to 14lstone 13lbs this week. I now weigh 15 stone 4lbs in 2 days. How? I am panicking as I have stuck rigidly to diet. What am I doing wrong? I did introduce exercise at the week end and this week but very gentle. Depressed :(

I don't think that is fat, Scandichic, more likely it's a bit of fluid retention. If I have a glass off milk in the evening I wake up next day a bit bloated with a 'moon' face, can be the same with cheese. But in general your weight loss is going well :).
 
Lady steps on scales at station to weigh herself friend says you need to take your coat off so she does and holds it over her arm as she steps onto scales:confused:
CAROL
PS Did you take off your coat :stop:
 
I posted a while back about having an 11lb increase over the course of just a few days. Since I first noticed it, it's happened on a monthly basis and does seem to be connected to my monthly cycle, but isn't right before or during my period... so much just be one of those hormonal things. I don't know the logic, but I know now to bother too much about what the scales say during that time.
Whatever the reason for the gain, drink plenty, keep doing all the right things, and the scale will go in the other direction.

I have some calipers - and whilst they are probably a fab tool for people who don't have a great deal of weight to lose, I didn't find them particularly easy to use and don't get a consistent reading from them in my more flabby areas! Maybe I'm too fat for them, maybe I'm a dunce, or maybe they just aren't for me. I'll revisit when I've lost more weight!
Scales are just easier for a complete overview of what's going on in the body at one given moment. They take seconds to get the result, and don't require five measurements and the ensuing calculations to get to the end information.
 
I posted a while back about having an 11lb increase over the course of just a few days. Since I first noticed it, it's happened on a monthly basis and does seem to be connected to my monthly cycle, but isn't right before or during my period... so much just be one of those hormonal things. I don't know the logic, but I know now to bother too much about what the scales say during that time.
Whatever the reason for the gain, drink plenty, keep doing all the right things, and the scale will go in the other direction.

I have some calipers - and whilst they are probably a fab tool for people who don't have a great deal of weight to lose, I didn't find them particularly easy to use and don't get a consistent reading from them in my more flabby areas! Maybe I'm too fat for them, maybe I'm a dunce, or maybe they just aren't for me. I'll revisit when I've lost more weight!
Scales are just easier for a complete overview of what's going on in the body at one given moment. They take seconds to get the result, and don't require five measurements and the ensuing calculations to get to the end information.
Thanks - I weighed myself today and have gone down by 2lbs again so am in exactly same place as I was a week ago. Am going to try and weigh myself once a week only.
 
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