What To Do If You Gain Weight On Low-Carb
If you gain a few pounds on low-carb, don't forget how far you've come!
One of my faithful readers and a fellow low-carb blogger brought up an interesting topic that I have been meaning to write about for the past few weeks. I've been so busy blogging about other topics, but this is such an extremely important topic that warrants a closer look and discussion.
Victoria from the "Stumbling To Bethlehem" blog wrote a post entitled "I'm gaining" as she shares very openly something that everyone who has ever lost weight has to eventually come to terms with -- WEIGHT GAIN!
Yep, the two most dreaded words for anyone who has ever embarked on a diet plan. How you react to putting on a few pounds after losing a significant amount of weight will determine if you are serious about making this a lifelong commitment or if you crumble and fall under the pressure and go back to eating the way you did before.
For Victoria, the weight just came back in a flash. Period! Nothing dramatic, no sudden splurges, nothing that would necessarily CAUSE it to happen. It just happened. But she knows what she needs to do.
"I don't want this 6 [pound weight gain] to turn into 10 to turn into 20 and pretty soon I've gained all 60 [pounds I lost] back. I know the numbers are against me here, but I will overcome!"
Now THAT is someone who cares so much about how far she has come that NOTHING will stand in her way of getting her weight back down. When the weight goes up, then it's time to take action to bring it back down. YOU GO VICTORIA!!!
Believe it or not, my weight has actually been elevated by about 15 pounds for the past month. YIKES! I haven't really changed much from what I've been doing regarding the amount of carbs I've been consuming or the daily exercise I participate in.
Nevertheless, the scale has gone up. Did I panic and concede defeat that this stupid low-carb plan didn't work for me? HA! I think you know the answer to that! Sadly, this is where so many people beat themselves up so much that they gain all their weight back. Whatever you do, DON'T DO THAT TO YOURSELF!
To help me get through this weight gain phase, what I have done is pulled out some old pictures of me when I was 410 pounds like the one at the top of this blog post. Then I looked in the mirror and saw what I look like today at 230-something. What I told myself is that I have come too far to throw in the towel on maintaining my weight. All those months of intense work to get to where I am today as the healthy and thin man that I have become were not in vain and I refuse to allow ANYTHING to stand in the way of my permanent weight loss success. Not even a little weight gain!
Also, I decided to back down on my carbs from the 100g per day I was eating for the past year without any weight gain to 20g daily starting on Monday and for the next two weeks. If I can get back into ketosis, then I KNOW I will lose those extra pounds that came on me without my permission. LOL! How dare they do that?! Hee hee! Plus, I'm hitting an extra 15 minutes on the elliptical machine to burn off just a few more calories than usual. That makes me feel better as well.
What have been the results so far after just three days of doing this? Well, I know I'm in ketosis again because I've got that slight build-up on my tongue that happens to me when ketosis in happening in me. It's just the release of excess ketones and is a VERY good sign that fat-burning mode has been officially turn on again in my body. In addition, I've already seen my weight drop by 5 pounds and I fully expect it to continue to fall until it gets back down below 230 again. I have NO DOUBT this will happen in no time because it has already been done before.
This is an extremely important point to remember: Don't ever doubt that low-carb is going to work to bring your weight down when you do it as prescribed by your particular low-carb plan. For me, it was the Atkins diet and I went back to the Induction phase to be done for a couple of weeks. It may not take the entire two weeks to bring my weight back down to where it needs to be, but it's good to know I'm on a downward trend again. I KNOW my weight will be fine because I've done it before. If 180 pounds can come flying off of me in 2004 like they did, then certainly 10-15 pounds should be a metaphorical piece of cake! :)
Victoria is imploring a similar strategy of cutting down on her carbs, too, and eating lots of small meals with virtually no sugars. Although I don't look at calories, Victoria will be actively finding ways to cut out unnecessary calories to help with her weight loss as well. Her carb count will remain at a strict 60g carbs daily with the possibility of dropping down to 40g as "a last resort" if the weight loss doesn't commence. She's also paying more attention to her workouts which will pay big dividends for her in the weight loss. We are cheering you on to victory, Victoria! YOU CAN DO IT!!!
So what about you? Have you experienced any weight gains while low-carbing that you got freaked out by? If so, share what happened and whether you gave up on your low-carb lifestyle or if it motivated you to get serious and take the pounds off. Perhaps the weight gain is still there and you don't know what to do. IT'S TIME TO GET SERIOUS before this gets out of control. This is an issue that will NEVER go away, so you might as well get used to it. But you know what to do.
When you are livin' la vida low-carb, then NOTHING will stand in the way of your success if you keep the right mindset. Refuse to give in to the pressure that somehow your low-carb plan isn't working. HOGWASH! It's working, but you will be tested from time to time. It should make you feel pretty good that even someone who has lost nearly 200 pounds on low-carb can struggle with the pesky weight gain issue, too. See, you're not alone in this and I want to encourage you that everything is gonna be okay. I promise, it will be fine as long as you stay focused and take control of the situation.
Do what you know you need to do and refuse to give up! That's what you need to do if you start to gain weight on low-carb. I'm gonna say it one more time just in case you missed it -- NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP! Victory is easily within your grasp and you should celebrate when you overcome the challenges that you face. Remember, this is a lifelong commitment, so there's no reason to panic. It's a good reminder that you have dedicated yourself to livin' la vida low-carb wholeheartedly, 100%, no holds barred, never looking back again!
Now, go DO IT and stop making excuses for yourself! You can thank me later! :D
posted by Jimmy Moore at
4/12/2006 08:48:00 PM
6 Comments:
Good on you Jimmy and Victoria!
I guess this is just another issue in the ongoing journey. I'm sure I will face it one day when I have reached goal.
This is part of maintenance isn't it ? I suppose by definition if weight stayed at the pefect number, there would be no 'mainteance' to do.
Well, I have eaten out too much. Atkins-friendly meals aren't so friendly when they are too high in calories and alcohol (which prevents carb burning).
I also had one splurge the day I got my taxes done - I reward myself with comfort food for surviving tax season. I REALLY freak out. I actually took a couple anti-anxiety pills before my appointment and it did help.
So basically - one all day binge and too much eating out (two weeks ago I ate out three time in one week - all very high fat meals that probably had 1000 calories).
So I have an idea where the weight came from. I've been hanging out 2-3 pounds above goal for a while and that was okay, but what I descibed above pushed me over the edge to where I started gaining real weight.
As for workouts, I'm putting an end to Yuriy having me come in early and that will free up every other Sunday morning to work out. As soon as Easter is over. That's very imporatant and I don't want him to miss work. I'm not planning on working out that day anyway - I'll be in church myself that morning.
E-mail CNN! They are soliciting weight loss stories - all it takes is a few paragraphs. Here's the link:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1l3.html?1
And here's what I wrote to them:
I lost 60 pounds with the Atkins diet - lots of low carb vegetables, meat, and dairy (excluding milk). I also worked out and still do. I've only been on the Lifetime Maintenance phase of the diet for a couple months, but I know I can keep this off - I weigh myself often and if the weight starts to come back I just ease back on the calories and carbs until it's gone.
I don't know why so many people think that Atkins is unhealthy and doesn't include vegetables and fruit. I even read that right on this CNN site! CNN should know better! I've never eaten so many vegetables and so much fruit in my life. I will often eat a pound of vegetables in a day. What's unhealthy about that?
My choloesterol has improved, and my blood sugar is stable thoughout the day - no more mid-afternoon slump that leaves me craving Coke and a candy bar! I look great and feel great about my body for the first time in my adult life.
Dr. Atkins saved my life and radically changed my way of eating from one that made me obese to one that will keep me healthy and keep the weight off.
I've been in maintenance for 8 months and holding at my goal. Does my weight ever go up? You betcha it does. I love cruising and there is always a 5-6 pound gain at the end of a weeks cruise. The day I get home I am right back on my low carb eating plan and have the weight back off in 2 weeks. I don't give myself any excuses.
If I see the weight creeping up during a non-vacation time I find it is usually the snacks have gotten larger. Too many nuts, too much cheese, maybe an extra glass of wine. Have to be on guard and nip it in the bud before the 2 pounds becomes 4 - and as Victoria said "they invite all their buddies."
Good luck everyone, with keeping the weight off. Yes, we CAN do it!!
I did good on my cruise last year. I gained 5 pounds, but it was all water retnetion from the excess carbs. I tried to work out every day - although on port days that was often impossible. I needed to work all the extra carbs off, lol! I passed on the potatoes, but gave into more wine than usual and dessert at dinner.
At lunch I stuck with sugar free desserts and only one, and only ate when I was hungry, so there was no real NEED to snack between meals. This helped me walk away from the chocolate bar they had set up one day.
I "picked my poison" and didn't totally fall off my diet. I just found what was most important to me and passed up the things that weren't a big deal.
Two pounds down today and under 147 again, so I'm headed in the right direction!
CONGRATULATIONS, Randy! Your family sounds like George Stella's family losing as much weight as you all have. Way to go!
Would you like to have your family's weight loss success be featured in the sequel to my book "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb." Your family is the perfect example of what I'm looking for in that book.
Send me an e-mail at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you are interested.
THANKS again for sharing your remarkable achievement. You should be very proud!
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