Losing too much weight on LCHF?

nomoredonuts said:

I realise that not everyone is in this position, but I would welcome comments and personal experience. Quick bit of background that isn't covered in my signature: following my initial desirable weight loss which went hand-in-hand with lowering of BG, BP and cholesterol, I started on four months of near immobility in mid-December with a bulging disc. I made no extreme effort to eat less, though I was mindful that I wasn't able to exercise and "burn off" the fat I was eating. (In Feb my Trigs were up, possibly as a result). BUT instead of getting heavier I have continued to lose weight. Friends and family are making concerned comments (I'm now 11st 5, from 12st 11). Should I take it and enjoy my "success" or should I add in an extra meal to get back up to a slightly healthier appearance? Or is there something else going on I don't about - am I starting to burn off muscle?

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Nomoredonuts, telling us you have lost 20lbs doesn't help us understand if that means you have become thin, too thin or slimmer, but family aren't used to it. Not that that really matters though.

When I was diagnosed I wasn't carry horrendous weight, but it did drop off quickly and I have become very slight. At the time, people commented on how slight I had become, but my take on it was that as I was still a healthy, but light weight, they just weren't used to seeing me so slight, and of course, it didn't help that my clothes went through a stage of being ill-fitting. I also think there was some concern that the weight loss could have been because I might be unwell.

All of that has settled now, and folks are used to seeing me as I am now.

I do know that having trimmed up, I had some surgery about 18 months ago and lost a couple of kilo, taking me into the underweight category on the BMI scale. I decided I wanted to regain just that weight. It took me over 2 months to achieve it, as I was determined not to significantly increase my carb intake.

Provided you are not clinically underweight, I think it's up to you what you decide to do, if anything I can understand that you would not want to add any visceral fat, whatever you decide to do.

If the BMI in your signature is up to date then you are only just not over weight.
I grew up being told that I was massively over weight at 10 stone 7 lb and 5ft 5inches tall, so I think that your friends and family are way off the mark.

I don't consider a BMI of 23.4 to be underweight, and nor do the medical authorities. It is closer to overweight than underweight.

If you are so concerned, try upping your calories bit by bit from protein and fats. That's what I did, but I had to return to basics with counting, recording, and measuring for 2 months or thereabouts before I found the right balance. It wasn't easy. My aim was to stabilise where I was (BMI 21) rather than gain any more.

nomoredonuts said:

@AndBreathe your second paragraph could be describing my exact position word for word. As regards family, two of whom are diabetic, there is muted admiration for having lowered my BG, but I regularly have to defend my LCHF method. My concern arises from the fact that I'm still losing weight despite barely being upright in nearly eighteen weeks and consuming my normal fat components. I seem to remember @KevinPotts slimmed down hugely and successfully. You also answered a question I didn't ask - to regain a bit of weight I don't add a few carbs back in. Thanks.
@Resurgam (BTW I always think of 10cc's "I wanna rule the world" when I see your name!) My BMI has come down in the last week to 23.4 which is underweight for me, but as @AndBreathe has said, it is the change that friends and family are noticing that I keep hearing about. I suppose my real concern is if there is any underlying cause not related to LCHF.

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Well, nobody here can tell you if there's any other reason you might still be losing weight. One thing I will say is that after I had my surgery, I had an unfortunate complication (nothing to do with T"; just one of those unfortunate things), and I ended up having to see the Specialist Nurse Practitioner every few days to have my dressing checked , and so on. When I commented I had lost weight, she remarked along the lines of "Well, I'm not at all surprised. Your body has just had a trauma (surgery) and it's concentrating on healing you". Seemed to make sense to me. She did also comment it'd take me a few months to regain the post-op weight loss.

You think you're slight? I metaphorically dance around a BMI of 18.5.

In your shoes, you might feel happier having a chat with your GP about your concerns, but if you actually want to stop losing weight, then up your proteins a bit, then up your fats, if you aren't keen to up the carbs.

Of course, you may find that having trimmed up a bit, your insulin resistance has improved and you will be able to handle additional carbs without any issues. I know I can, but I just choose not to. I was never a massive fan of potatoes and the like, so I won't bother trying to get the hang of them now.

While I agree with everything said above

You may also want to bear muscle loss in mind.
LCHF does not, generally, result in significant muscle loss.
But in your circumstances, where you have become extremely sedentary, for an extended period, then you may well have experienced loss of muscle mass, and muscle tone. But it will be to do with your sedentariness (sp? ) rather than your eating habits.

I really hope you feel better soon.

That is the really significant thing about LCHF - you can lose more weight on a total fast, but on LCHF the weight lost is usually just the fat - being laid up for a long time might be a bit different, but I'm fairly confident that you'd be worse off on any other dietary regime.
The amount of muscle lost by elderly people in hospital was something mentioned in Woman's Hour today - but of course the poor things are on 'healthy' diets.

The solution to avoiding further weight loss AND possible muscle loss? Increase your protein intake.

I have a similar problem with going past my target weight.

A friend of mine recommended I try Sustagen as it has a shed load of protein in it, but it has a load of carbs (11 grams) in it as well so that might need some experiment to find a good balance.

What an excellent and relevant thread. As of this morning I have lost exactly one third of my body weight, after starting in September 2016. Several friends and relatives are now saying I look too thin. However, health wise all the relevant indicators could hardly be any better.

The weight loss can be attributed to LCHF, IF and plenty of exercise. Not sure which has been the most effective. Going forward I will likely limit IF but not exercise and LCHF. Will be interesting to see where this leads. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer with this. Just try it and find out, adjust to suit.