Newbie confused about low carb weight gain...

[Matty_T]

Hi y'all,

I'm 31 year old male type 1 diabetic who was soooo fed up of blood sugars ranging from 3.5mmol to 16mmol after meals I decided to try low carbing.

A little more about me...

I was diagnosed at the age of 15 so have had type 1 diabetes for 16 years. At the time of diagnosis I was 7stone and losing weight daily. Within a month of being on Human Mixtard insulin I was 9 stone. Three years later I was 13 and half stone with a BMI of 28 or so (I'm 5' 9"). I decided to shape up around six years ago at the age of 26. I went from 13 stone to a slender 10.5 with a combination of 'less ****' and running after evening meals. I kept this up for around a year and half.

4 years on I am back to 12stone 6. I really should be around 11 for my height and I felt a million times better about myself when I was this weight.

I was fed up of being a slave to blood sugar - so I decided to try low-carbing. This was one week ago (although I had dabbled before). The freedom that I got felt instantaneous. I went shopping with my partner on Tuesday last week and I wasn't worried about "what will I eat for dinner?" "what if my blood sugar drops with all the walking" etc etc. This was because I slashed my usual 16 morning units down to 10 and I ate eggs and bacon for breakfast. I took a slice of 'Nimble' bread with cheese on it (only 8 grams of Carbs) and ate that for lunch. I tested my blood sugars regularly and it was between 4.8 and 5.6 ALL DAY LONG...which is a rarity for me. For tea (or dinner if you're posh) I ate Steak, eggs, and a hand full of home made potato chips (I mean about ten chips).

This has been my norm for the past week i.e. bacon, eggs, 90% pork sausages, steak, cheese, nimble bread (two slices a day max), chicken, fish... I feel more in control of my sugars and I feel like I've lost weight as my 34" Jeans are definitely looser now and I'm not bloated like I use to be.

So I get on the scales this morning telling myself that it doesn't matter what they say because I feel more free. I was 12stone 6 pounds this time last week. One week into low-carbing? 12stone 9 pounds! ***? Why is that happening? One of my favourite things to eat was white bread. At a party on Saturday night there was a plate full of about 50 fresh ham sandwiches (they made more because they knew I was going!). I didn't touch one! I ate some chicken legs instead.

So I feel slimmer but I've put weight on. I've not exercised as such. I've bought a treadmill but the bloody thing packed up straight away and now we're waiting for a new belt to arrive.

Any thoughts? I can't find a single person/thread on here who has gained weight on low carb. I'm thinking maybe I should be looking at low GI instead.

Thanks
Matt

 

[ailz]

I find that one week I put weight on and then the next I take it and extra off. I was having 2 slices of bread a day and put on 2 lbs - the next week - no bread and I took off 3.5 lbs. I also find that coffee stops me from losing.

Plus are you drinking enough water - and eating 20 grams (at least depending on which book you follow) of low gi carbs. Plus watch out for 'hidden' carbs, you probably do already - but on low carb you need to become a really good label reader.

There is a good post by Viv which is a modified Atkins diet - if you read that you can find if you've inadvertently strayed at all.

Anyway, carry on with it. It can take more than a week for the scales to show a difference - but I bet your blood sugar tells you you're doing better though.

Cheers
Ailz

 

[Dillinger]

Hi Matty,

Well done for deciding to make the change - I'm sure with a bit of tinkering things will go very well.

The weight gain is slightly odd; normally one gets quite a lot of water loss and then more gradual weight loss as fat is metabolised on a low carb diet.

So, perhaps you are not yet in a state of dietary ketosis? Go to a chemist and get some ketosticks or get your GP to prescribe some (they are about £5 if you buy them). You would ideally be having low levels of ketones in your urine.

It can take a while for your body to switch over to fat burning though - Atkins suggests less than 30 carbs a day for 2 weeks to get you going. Don't forget alcohol has carbs (beer is not our friend alas) and I certainly wouldn't be eating chips during this initial phase (or actually at all). Have a look at your diet and see if you can drop any more starchy carb to get you below 30 carbs at least for a couple of weeks.

Don't give up just yet; as you are finding it's the way to go to feel normal and drop the constant blood sugar swings.

Best

Dillinger

 

[Una]

Hi,
I just spoke to my dietition about a similar thing.
He asked if i was as frequent on the loo, No i am not in fact constipated. hence the apparent weight gain, v the previous metaforming induced trots.. so slower moving bowel can account for up to 3kg in my case as proved, after the final evacuation.
That may be worth watching, He said even lowering the carbs can have this effect, if previously carb fueled. So up the fiber, up the probiotics and water, cut the coffee! for me.
(He did say up the fruit, whop whop, I think not as that sends my bloods sky high lol, and one of the major things i have just cut out, bringing my averages down by 2 pionts!).
So yours may be a perceived weight gain due to holding onto food longer.

let us know as its been a month since your post.
Una