Not losing weight, any help?

squishee

Active Member
Messages
38
Hi all,

I started a low-carb diet last summer and did really well - lost around a stone in weight, and got my control pretty good. Then we went to a festival at the end of the summer, then it was my birthday, then christmas... it all fell apart reallly, I pretty much went back to normal eating, rubbish control, and put all the weight back on plus a little bit extra for good measure :oops:

Anyway, new year and all that, so I started from scratch. Back on the low carb diet, yoga once a week, and planning on joining a gym (assuming I can find one that I can afford, and will accept me!). I bought new trainers, so I have to do it! ;)
So, things are going pretty well in terms of blood glucose - I'm averaging around 7 or 8 most times, few spikes and lows but I normally know why and learn from it. But for some reason this time I'm not losing any weight :( First week was great, lost 3 lbs! 2nd week I gained two, and 3rd week I lost 0.5. It's nearly the end of week four and I'm not feeling confident of a loss :( Last time I was consistently losing a pound or two a week.

Just to give you an idea, here is an example of what I eat in a typical day:
Breakfast - 5 or 6 tbsp of lowfat greek yogurt, few fresh blueberries & raspberries, sprinkling of ground almonds on top
Snack - I don't often snack, but if I do it will just be a dozen almonds, or a low-carb cheese muffin (I make them myself)
Lunch - Quiche (cauliflower crust, filling of courgette, pepper, onion, eggs, milk & pesto) with salad leaves, cucumber, tomato & mayo
Dinner - homemade chilli (no kidney beans) with salad or stirfried cabbage
We don't eat dessert, but I am partial to a few spoon dips into the peanut butter jar of an evening ;)

What I'm eating isn't much different to how I was eating before, and the amount of exercise I'm doing isn't any different either, but the weight seems to be resolutely refusing to budge :(

Any ideas/hints/tips gratefully recieved!!!
Thanks :)
 

daisy1

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That sounds like a really good low carb diet to me. I can't think why you aren't losing weight :shock: Maybe it will come off when you start exercising.
 

squishee

Active Member
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38
daisy1 said:
Maybe it will come off when you start exercising.

That's what I'm hoping Daisy, which is partly why I'm going to join the gym.

The only other difference I can think of from last time is that it was summer, and we were going out for an hour or two cycling one or two days a week. But I can't see that making the difference between 1-2lbs per week and absolutely nothing :-/
Maybe it's the weather!! :lol:
 

viviennem

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I should just try to stick to it - you know it worked last time, so it must again. It's very disheartening, though.

I have a similar problem - my weight is not coming off at anything like the rate it did last time I was on this diet, and all I can think is that the insulin resistance must be causing it. I wasn't diabetic last time (I'm Type 2). The only other thing could be menstrual cycle, but you'd have experienced that before, I would have thought. I still get it even though I'm way past menopause. Any change in meds? NSAIDs can stop weight loss.

A bit of warm weather will make things easier - not to mention all the fresh veg and fruit. Can't wait for summer!

Viv
 

daisy1

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Even the cycling would have helped. Mind you I am very good with the advice but I'm not losing either at the moment. :( But that could be because I lost 5 stone and my body doesn't want to let me lose any more. I'd like to lose another stone though.
 

Patch

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You're experiencing what we all have expereinced - you body has adjusted/is adjusting to a lo-carb lifestyle.

No doubt last time you tried lo-carbing, it was the first time you'd tried it. BIG shock to the system, as your bpdy believed that it's primary food source (glucose) was in short supply, so it kicked over to a fat burning metabolism, hence the rapid weight loss.

Lo-carbing is like a drug - the first time is always best! :wink:

This time around, your body isn't so shocked by it, so the weight loss is not so pronounced.

Additional exercise DEFINITELY helps. It'll fire up your metabolism for days after.

It's quite important to know, that if you STOP eating carbs altogether, it takes your body around 2 days to completely deplete it's carbohydrate stores.

This depletion can be slowed down significantly if you continue eating even very small QTY's of carbs (berries, almonds - even tomatoes).

I'd suggest hitting it REALLY hard for a couple of days. Go SUPER lo-carb to get those carbohydrate stores depleted, and kick start the weight loss. make sure your body is fat burning mode before you SLOWLY re-introduce the carbs.

I've had the EXACT same problem at the beginning of the year, where my BG came down significantly, but the weight was hardly falling. I've been hiting it hard for about a week now, and the weight is slowly but surely dropping.

I'd cut out the berries, and give the almonds a rest for a few days. Don't listen to those that would say "you are deficient in x, y, z...". You'll only be eating like that for a few days (depending on how successful it is, beacuse if it's working - why change it?)

It might be worth doing a little extra reading. I'd suggest you google a couple of things:

1) The Induction Phase
2) Fat Fasting (might help kick start the fat loss again).

Also, the chilli might be causing you some problems. I make a mean chilli - but I find it CAN push BG up (only sometimes, though - strange). One reason is that the longer you cook the chilli, the more you break down the sugar in the tomatoes. I use half of the tinned tomatoes that I used to in my chilli, and make it RED HOT (using chilli powder and fresh chillis).

Don't use the packet/powder sauces - they might not have a great deal of sugar in them, but they do have some, and this combined with the broken down sugar from the toms can start to add up. Instead of using a packet sauce, I make up the same amount of sauce using chilli powder, garlic powder, beef stock cube, boiling water and a touch of tomatoe puree. You can experiment with this sauce. Once you're back in fat burning mode, you could even add a couple of squares of 90 - 99% cocoa chocolate to the chilli at the end. (Trust me on this!)

Also - spicy food fires up the metabolism! I fill my chilli with as much veg as I can fit in the pot - mixed peppers, chillis, mushrooms, onions, brocolli (is AWESOME in a chilli!), cauli, string beans, all make an appearance. I don't drain the mince after browning, either.

I love chilli (in case you couldn't tell!) and could write a whole thread on it!

[EDIT: Another helpful hint is "Protein Thrsdays". I've taken this from the Dukan Diet. Dukan states that one day a week, you should eat nothing but protein. I've adapted this, and on at least one day a week, I only eat protein (without trimming the fat). This will surely help with keeping your carbohydrate stores to an absolute minimum, which will aid in weight loss].
 

squishee

Active Member
Messages
38
Thanks for all your replies, Patch that's a very comprehensive answer!! :D

I will try and really cut back hard on the carbs for a week or so, see what that does for me.
I have been eating a lot of tomatoes in things, fresh & tinned, raw & cooked, so I will give them a rest for a while definitely! Also will be easy to lay off the almonds (and peanut butter, I guess?)
Not sure about a "protein day" - I imagine that is quite expensive.

The only trouble I really have is breakfast.
I was having bacon, poached egg & mushrooms for breakfast at first, but have had to stop this as a couple of weeks showed it to be unsustainable cost-wise. Hence the switch to yogurt & berries, which is much cheaper.
Breakfast is where I really struggle - I have tried eating things like meat/veg/salad etc for breakfast, but I find that difficult to eat first thing. Smoked fish just repeats on me all day :roll:
Any other suggestions for cheap, filling, quick breakfast ideas (that won't make me feel sick! :? ) gratefully recieved!!

Am definitely going to talk to the gym people this weekend too :)
 

Patch

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I don't eat breakfast. I know I should, but I just can't face food that son after waking up.
 

squishee

Active Member
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People are so different - I can't leave the house without eating breakfast! :lol:

I can't really eat breakfast at work either - mornings are insanely busy and we're not allowed to eat at our desks for health & safety reasons. (Trust me, in my job you wouldn't want to anyway!)
 

caths

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I have found that low carbing has really helped me to lose the weight. Over the past 10 months since being diagnosed as T2 in April I have shed two stone and brought my levels down from 10.6 to 7.2 still a little work to go on that and I would like to drop another stone but the weight loss is now slowing down. I walk a lot and do pilates once a week.

I have now just downloaded a podcast from the nhs website called couch to 5k which I think is great. As running is not my thing I was slightly apprehensive but it guides you through and it only takes half an hour. In that time in the first week you run for 8 minutes in 60 second bursts with 90 seconds rest inbetween. I have found it very useful and the weight is beginning to fall again. Plus it makes you feel good. I think when you are down to last knockings excercise is what shifts the pounds.

Having a protein day is an excellent idea, going to try than one myself.

Best of luck
 

viviennem

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I have a 2-egg omelette every morning for breakfast. Usually plain, but sometimes with sliced mushrooms, or some chopped onion, or (like this morning) with a bit of grated cheese. I fry everything in butter. They're very quick to cook and eat, and see me through without any problems to as late as 2:00pm on occasion.

Eggs have now come off the 'scary' list; they do contain cholesterol, but it's the sort that's 'good' for you, and the American Diabetic Association and the British Diabetic Association now list them as 'unlimited'. That's the official line. Nor do you get egg-bound - a myth! :lol: (I think dietary cholesterol is a myth too, but that's my personal opinion and I don't want to argue about it with anyone - do your own research and make up your own mind). :D

Viv :)