Trying low carb but losing too much weight

Kamrita · Oct 12, 2016

Hi. I'm new to all this but have seen recommendations for the low carb diet. I started reducing my carb intake a few months ago and find that it has helped my blood sugar readings. My problem is that I wasn't overweight to begin with and have lost almost a stone in that time. I'm 5'6" and am now close to 7stone which is a bit lighter that I would like. I'm beginning to look a bit haggard (!) and don't have much energy. Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can get my weight up a bit without raising my blood sugar levels.

ellagy · Oct 12, 2016

I am wondering if you should add more fat to your diet?

Daibell · Oct 12, 2016

Hi. It's always possible you are Late onset T1 and not T2; mis-diagnosis is common. Losing weight unintentionally when already low is one strong pointer to T1. Do ask your GP for the two tests for LADA i.e. GAD and c-peptide. He may not know what these are or refuse but do challenge the T2 diagnosis. I had to have the two tests done privately as my GP was pretty ignorant about diabetes. What meds are you on? Do ensure anyway that you have an adequate amount of protein and fat.

ChrisSamsDad · Oct 12, 2016

The Dutch have a word that applies here, I think - LuxProbleem - a luxury problem (like having too much money)

You simply need to up your fat intake I think - you don't have to just eat butter out of the packet - there's a wide choice of things you might not think of as fat(ty) - Avocados, Nuts (expecially Macadamia). there's also cheese of course, but you would need to keep a high proportion of your fat intake as Omega 3s, generally from fish, eggs and nuts.

Freema · Oct 12, 2016

welcome here Kamrita

you could try eating lots of nuts mixed kinds and salmon and fresh coconut and some cream too and butter.... but remember the fish oil kinds (yes the omega 3´s)...

Looking4someone2help · Oct 12, 2016

I lost 10lb the first week low carb and they did labs on me with blood and pee and the doctor wasn't concern as long as I was eating enough. I was told to check my numbers a lot cus I went down fast. But now my numbers are good and I added carbs back and I am loosing weight. I also get most my carbs from fruit and veggies and they never raised my numbers much. And it's the food to quickly bring me back down to normal. I eat high fiber and high good fat low bad fat low protein and low carb diet.

Snapsy · Oct 12, 2016

@Kamrita I know what you mean - I need to put some weight on and am finding it hard to achieve while low carbing. I lost half a stone recently owing to illness but before that I'd found my weight the most stable it had ever been - I've been low carbing for 6-9 months now and my BMI had been around 21.

Now it's more like 19.5 and I'm not putting back any of that half stone that I'd quite like back! I know 19.5 is in the 'right' range but I'm a very tall broad-shouldered female and I feel awkward because I feel I look wrong! So I had been planning on going hardcore this week with more pate, cheese, even more avocados and nuts than usual, more butter on everything, in an effort to get some meat back on my bones! Unfortunately I am now rather off my food again thanks to a recurrence of the infection that caused the loss of the half stone in the first place...

My husband has suggesting adding starchy carbs back into my diet until I look less like an ironing board, which I guess would work. It's just that I don't want the spikes in my control. I find low carbing makes my control so, so much easier, you see.

Kamrita · Oct 12, 2016

Thanks everyone for your help. I have been eating avocados and some nuts and cheese but I'll try to increase that a bit and see if I can stop the weight loss.

AndBreathe · Oct 13, 2016

When I did LC initially, I got myself to a slight build, then had a real challenge stopping the weight loss. In the end it was a combination of initially, just eating a bit more, then adding some nuts, then some cheese (or nuts and cheese the other way around - can't recall), but it took a while and I was astonished what I had too add.

In October last year, I had some surgery and ended up losing weight recovering from that, which really did need to go back on (being BMI c19 beforehand, if I recall). I had only lost, literally, a couple of kilos, but it took me about 4 months of concerted effort to get back too my base point - and that was all over the Crimbo period!

On LC, if your body isn't going straight to weight gain when you try to increase your eating a bit, then expect it to take a while, but it can be done.

I never, ever thought I'd find gaining a few pounds to be such a challenge. Good luck with it.

Indy51 · Oct 13, 2016

Dr Bernstein's advice is to increase protein for weight gain. It may impact your BG slightly, but the conversion is much less efficient than carbs to BG. Are you tracking your protein intake?

spendercat · Oct 13, 2016

Who knew there were so many thin type 2s?
Daibell makes a very good point. If your are consuming 2000 calories a day you should not be losing weight, even if you are low carbing. That could be Type 1 developing.
Check your calorie intake, if it's normal take the information to your doctor. Otherwise she may just assume you are under-eating.

AndBreathe · Oct 13, 2016

spendercat said:
Who knew there were so many thin type 2s?
Daibell makes a very good point. If your are consuming 2000 calories a day you should not be losing weight, even if you are low carbing. That could be Type 1 developing.
Check your calorie intake, if it's normal take the information to your doctor. Otherwise she may just assume you are under-eating.

I would suggest calories are not always a means of evaluating "eating enough".

I am 160cm tall, weigh 48kg and my average calorific consumption a day is 2000 - 2500, to maintain weight, so bearing in mind the OP is also eating an LC diet, and taller than I, it's not altogether out of the ordinary, either way - in my view. It's a looooong time since I paid too much attention to calories.

In order to gain weight, after surgery, I was eating in excess of 3000 and it still took a few months to halt the loss and gain the couple of kilos I had lost.

In my personal experience calories as a bit of a smoke screen when LCing.

That said, as @Diabell suggests, the possibility of slow onset T1 or LADA should be borne in mind if upping the protein and fat doesn't do the trick.

Brunneria · Oct 13, 2016

AndBreathe said:
I would suggest calories are not always a means of evaluating "eating enough".

I am 160cm tall, weigh 48kg and my average calorific consumption a day is 2000 - 2500, to maintain weight, so bearing in mind the OP is also eating an LC diet, and taller than I, it's not altogether out of the ordinary, either way - in my view. It's a looooong time since I paid too much attention to calories.

In order to gain weight, after surgery, I was eating in excess of 3000 and it still took a few months to halt the loss and gain the couple of kilos I had lost.

In my personal experience calories as a bit of a smoke screen when LCing.

That said, as @Diabell suggests, the possibility of slow onset T1 or LADA should be borne in mind if upping the protein and fat doesn't do the trick.

Yup, I agree.

Just two small comments - firstly, it is my understanding that uncontrolled weight loss in T1s and LADAs is linked to high blood glucose (when the glucose is peed out by the kidneys), so unless the blood glucose is high enough (at least over 10mmol/l) then that is unlikely to be happening.

And secondly, I think I am very, very jealous @AndBreathe. I completely believe that you struggle to gain on 3000 calories, but to need to eat nearly that much to avoid losing... well... there is no justice in life, is there?

(my experience is that calories don't matter, and I CAN eat plenty of them, provided that I cut my carbs back to extreme levels. But I suspect that you don't need to be anywhere near that extreme. )

Oldvatr · Oct 13, 2016

Brunneria said:
Yup, I agree.

Just two small comments - firstly, it is my understanding that uncontrolled weight loss in T1s and LADAs is linked to high blood glucose (when the glucose is peed out by the kidneys), so unless the blood glucose is high enough (at least over 10mmol/l) then that is unlikely to be happening.

And secondly, I think I am very, very jealous @AndBreathe. I completely believe that you struggle to gain on 3000 calories, but to need to eat nearly that much to avoid losing... well... there is no justice in life, is there?

(my experience is that calories don't matter, and I CAN eat plenty of them, provided that I cut my carbs back to extreme levels. But I suspect that you don't need to be anywhere near that extreme. )

I must be one of the lucky ones. I found myself losing too much weight when I started LCHF but it grew more rapid when I actually switched into keto mode. I found that I could contol my weight by just upping my fat intake, and kept it stable Recently I relaxed the fat intake since too much of my purchases were disapearing overnight down my OH throat _(who is 20 stone and high carbing) and I lost weight again. I have now padlocked the fridge, and have put on weight again,

DeejayR · Oct 13, 2016

Welcome @Kamrita. I'm a bit underweight. I eat a LOT of fat and protein and it took a year for my weight loss to stop. I've also lost muscle but am able to do all the physical work I need or want to do, which is my definition of being fit. If I take up cycling and/or walking more than a few miles again I will have to get differently fit. Horses for courses, I think the saying is.

AndBreathe · Oct 13, 2016

Brunneria said:
Yup, I agree.

Just two small comments - firstly, it is my understanding that uncontrolled weight loss in T1s and LADAs is linked to high blood glucose (when the glucose is peed out by the kidneys), so unless the blood glucose is high enough (at least over 10mmol/l) then that is unlikely to be happening.

And secondly, I think I am very, very jealous @AndBreathe. I completely believe that you struggle to gain on 3000 calories, but to need to eat nearly that much to avoid losing... well... there is no justice in life, is there?

(my experience is that calories don't matter, and I CAN eat plenty of them, provided that I cut my carbs back to extreme levels. But I suspect that you don't need to be anywhere near that extreme. )

Whilst this is going to sound like rubbing salt into the wounds, Brunneria, by the time I had regained my meagre gain, I was sick, sick, sick of cream and cheese. I am sure though that if I ate 2000-2500 calories including the "normal carbs", I would gain weight more quickly, but I'm pretty un-fussed by bread, spuds, pasta these days.

It really is so bizarre what we become accustomed to, in terms of eating pattern.

Oldvatr · Oct 13, 2016

AndBreathe said:
Whilst this is going to sound like rubbing salt into the wounds, Brunneria, by the time I had regained my meagre gain, I was sick, sick, sick of cream and cheese. I am sure though that if I ate 2000-2500 calories including the "normal carbs", I would gain weight more quickly, but I'm pretty un-fussed by bread, spuds, pasta these days.

It really is so bizarre what we become accustomed to, in terms of eating pattern.

The weight that carbs puts on is glycogen, which is packets of 5 glucose molecules, and loads of water. So the weight is actually water that plumps you up like a supermarket chicken. It should not be considered as a long term solution, where the best weight comes in the form of muscle. So carbs is the express way to gain weight, but its not necessarily the healthiest, Some glycogen reserves is good to protect us from hypo's under extreme conditions such as heavy exercise or starvation

Looking at your post again, I see you are lacto tolerant. Many have problems with dairy products, so have to use other fat sources. I find personally that too much cream (I am a virtual cat...) gives me the runs due to excess bile production, so I use avacados, and nuts and (YUK) olives. I also use a bit of coconut oil and lard in cooking. Butter is scrummy and remains on my menu at all times. But as I said above, I can control my meds and diet so I do not need to fatbomb or bulletproof my diet too much. I ride the seesaw.

AndBreathe · Oct 13, 2016

Oldvatr said:
The weight that carbs puts on is glycogen, which is packets of 5 glucose molecules, and loads of water. So the weight is actually water that plumps you up like a supermarket chicken. It should not be considered as a long term solution, where the best weight comes in the form of muscle. So carbs is the express way to gain weight, but its not necessarily the healthiest, Some glycogen reserves is good to protect us from hypo's under extreme conditions such as heavy exercise or starvation

Looking at your post again, I see you are lacto tolerant. Many have problems with dairy products, so have to use other fat sources. I find personally that too much cream (I am a virtual cat...) gives me the runs due to excess bile production, so I use avacados, and nuts and (YUK) olives. I also use a bit of coconut oil and lard in cooking. Butter is scrummy and remains on my menu at all times. But as I said above, I can control my meds and diet so I do not need to fatbomb or bulletproof my diet too much. I ride the seesaw.

Erm,...... thanks for the lecture, but I think if you re-read my post you'll find I didn't suggest lacto-intolerance, I expressed I was very sick of eating cream, not that cream makes me sick.

Pedant? Moi? Oh yes.

Oldvatr · Oct 13, 2016

AndBreathe said:
Erm,...... thanks for the lecture, but I think if you re-read my post you'll find I didn't suggest lacto-intolerance, I expressed I was very sick of eating cream, not that cream makes me sick.

Pedant? Moi? Oh yes.

Actually you misread my post. I was saying that you are able to eat dairy product,but many are not. So I was trying to cover their base as well with some alternatives,

Pedant,? Moi? Aussi! Mais certainement ! Tu le connais, n'est ce pas?

Snapsy · Oct 13, 2016

Hadn't realised the carbs -> glycogen = glucose + water thing, @Oldvatr - thanks for that.

I know my body doesn't seem to keep hold of water - I both drink and pass at least 8 litres per day. So perhaps I'm just the right amount of body, but there's just not much water in me to plump me out!

I must do some proper reading - wondering whether to put "The art and science of low carb living" on my birthday list....

Edited for typo

Trying low carb but losing too much weight

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