Absence Of Weight Loss On Low-Carb Should Make You Suspicious

One of my readers shared an unbelievable personal story with me today about an experience she had while livin' la vida low-carb that I thought was important enough to share with you.

In 2004 she lost 45 pounds on the Atkins diet and moved into maintenance phase after she hit her goal with only the occasional moments when she "indulged," or what I would describe as "controlled cheating." Even still, she was a dedicated low-carber avoiding "white" foods and kept her weight off for a year and a half.

However, last year she noticed her weight starting to climb ever so slightly. This weight gain is a natural part of low-carb that almost all of us who have lost weight on low-carb have gone through and certainly isn't a time to panic.

She did what every good low-carb veteran does when the scale goes up: dropped back down to the Induction phase of 20g carbs daily. While she lost a few of the pounds she had gained when she did this, the weight loss just suddenly stopped and plateaued for several months. But then something very peculiar happened -- SHE STARTED GAINING WEIGHT DESPITE STILL BEING ON LOW-CARB!

While she had endured weight loss stalls during her initial weight loss in 2004 and realized that she just needed to persevere on her low-carb plan, this time was baffling because the weight wouldn't stop going up despite cutting her portions, eating only 1200-1600 calories per day along with 40-60g net carbs daily, and getting in her exercise. What in the world was happening to her?!

Before long, nearly all of the weight she had lost was right back on her in almost no time at all. She lamented having an "apple" shape to her body, although she had always previously been a "pear" shape when she was overweight before. However, my reader then noticed something about her abdomen a couple of months ago that she didn't realize -- it had gotten noticably firm and painful when you touched it.

At first, she just thought it was the fat she had gained and described herself as "looking like a beach ball." Despite the obvious weight gain, she remained committed to livin' la vida low-carb regardless being the trooper in this ordeal to the very end. While her stomach remained bloated, har and sore, other parts of her body lost inches, including her buttocks, thighs, face, and arms. This is strange, she thought.

It wasn't until her back pain grew worse and she became short of breath that she decided to go see her doctor about this. Visits to the chiropractor and asthma doctor did nothing to help her problems. However, last week when she went to visit her family physician about her situation, she said she looked like she was "7 months pregnant" and was a little "embarrassed" that she hadn't come to see him prior to this.

When he saw her, the doctor said he wanted to take a CT scan of her belly and wouldn't you know it, they found something. What did they find? How about a 10-inch in diameter mass on her right ovary, very likely a cyst, that will be removed through a surgical procedure in early May. My reader said her doctor believes this is why she gained weight over the past year and because it is so dense and hard, there is likely a lot of fluid built up in the abdomen that needs to be released, too.

You wanna know what's funny? Rather than being concerned about this big mass in her stomach, she said the first thing that came to her mind was "I'm glad it wasn't fat!" She responded to her first thought with the phrase, "How sick is that?" LOL!

The moral of this story, according to my reader, is that livin' la vida low-carb works and "if it isn't working for you and you are sticking to it like glue, then get your butt to a doctor and get checked out," especially you women who need to have annual checkups "down there." My reader had skipped a couple of years and look what happened to her.

Although her doctor supports her low-carb lifestyle, my reader said this experience makes her "feel like a fool for waiting so long to check it out" and says she is "scared about what faces me." Always the optimist, she said she is glad to "finally have affirmation that my 'thin' clothes will fit me once again."

That's a great perspective to have. Please pray for this reader as she goes to the doctor on Friday to find out when her surgery will take place. Perhaps there are others of you who have seen success on low-carb and then suddenly notice weight gain even while sticking with the plan -- DON'T DELAY...GET CHECKED OUT!!! THANK YOU to my brave reader for sharing her story so that others can benefit from her experience.

Gotta a story to share about your low-carb life? Send it to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Feel free to comment on this reader's situation by clicking on the comments link below.