weight fluctuations and ketosis

[alison528]

Hi,

I just started Saturday LCing, and my weight has went up and I am still not in ketosis. I have been eating by the book, drinking water, and exercising. The day before I started I drank about 6 full carb beers. Could this have had an effect. When should I expect to see results?

Thank you
Alison :help:

[SugarFluff]

Hi, Alison. Your weight might go up at first with low carbing, especially if the diet is significantly different than what you were consuming beforehand; you could be retaining water, your body might be holding on to things because it's not used to them, the increased protein you're eating might be rebuilding your muscles.

Drinking beers might have caused this to happen (I don't drink beer so I'm not positive).

If you follow induction perfectly, your body should be through its glucose reserves in about 48 hours and then should begin burning fat for energy. After about two weeks you can expect to have lost about 10% of what you need to lose (about 3 pounds) if you're not particularly metabolically resistant. And, after the first two weeks you're probably looking at about 5% of what you need to lose per month.

Good luck!

[MoNoCarb]

Wait a second. 5% per month? So I have about 60 pounds to lose. Are you saying that after the first two weeks, I should only expect to lose 3 pounds a month? That's not exactly promising. Are you should it isn't 5% a week? Or 5% of your total bodyweight a month? (in my case would be just about 10 pounds a month after the first two weeks).

Please tell me that I can expect, following the diet perfectly, that I can lose more than 3 pounds PER MONTH.

[myprogress]

Please tell me that I can expect, following the diet perfectly, that I can lose more than 3 pounds PER MONTH.

To MonoCarb

I'd say this sort of thing varies from person to person. You shouldn't expect to be losing as much or as little as the next person does... I'd say it's a very personal thing... You'll know how much you're able to lose when you're losing it... you just have to see what works for you...

To answer your question, I'd say I can lose more than 3 lbs per month.... In fact, I've been losing 1-2 lbs per week for the past 5 weeks in my OWL phase. That doesn't mean that you'll lose more than 3lbs per month for sure though... You'll just have to give it a try and find out. ;)

And just my 2 cents. I think it's best to not be in the "diet" mentality... Try not to think that you're doing this only for the weight loss in the short amount of time.... Try to think of it as becoming healthier (and the becoming lighter would come as s byproduct...) There are other meaasures of health other than weight. :)

[MoNoCarb]

Yes, that is very true. And I am concentrating on getting healthy. But to be honest, although I'm significantly overweight, I've always been very active and have no real health concerns at this point. The real reason I have decided to adopt a LC lifestyle now is because my body was simply NOT responding to a lo-cal, lo-fat, wholefoods diet and A LOT of exercise and I really want to lose weight.

After doing a lot of reading, I believe that the problem is insulin resistance connected to the "borderline" PCOS I've been diagnosed with. LC should help break through that insulin resistance. But the truth is, I'm getting married in a little over a year and don't want to be fat for my wedding.

So if LC doesn't effectively deal with the insulin resistance issue and make my body respond the way it is supposed to respond, then it's not helping me at all. I want, and kind of expect, to lose 1-2 pounds per week. More like 2-3 at the beginning and more like 1-2 toward the final 30 pounds.

If that doesn't happen, then any happy feelings about following a healthier lifestyle will feel pretty meaningless and I'll be on a short road to an eating disorder.

The weight loss is the point at the moment.

Please don't feel like that diatribe was specifically directed at you. I've just had a tiny moment of frustration. Thanks very much for your kind words. :)

[missfine]

Hiya
I've just started back on Atkins again after a 6 month 'break'. I also expect to loose the exact amounts of weight you do. Chiefly because that is the rate in which I lost weight the fIrst time I did it. I lost 35 pounds in 3 months then......(had no partner/job/life to distract me then: ). I am concerned to see that many people think that it is harder to do a second time??? However, ultimately this is the only diet I have any faith in . My days of being to able to loose weight on a low calorie diet are long over!!! If I acepet that this diet doesnt work and I give up I am effectivley choosong to be increasingly overweight for the rest of my life. So even if it is much slower weight loss than we were expecting-surely thats better than no loss or worse..an increase!! We have to be positive and hopefully not too patient!!!
Your post spoke to me as someone like myself that is desperate for this to work . Don't be a stranger and share how you get on.
Good luck!!!

[SugarFluff]

Wait a second. 5% per month? So I have about 60 pounds to lose. Are you saying that after the first two weeks, I should only expect to lose 3 pounds a month? That's not exactly promising. Are you should it isn't 5% a week? Or 5% of your total bodyweight a month? (in my case would be just about 10 pounds a month after the first two weeks).

Please tell me that I can expect, following the diet perfectly, that I can lose more than 3 pounds PER MONTH.

Yeah, 5% per month is average (once you're past induction). Some people lose more, some less. Exercise, drink water, don't cheat and you'll have a better chance of being in the "some people lose more" category.

[MoNoCarb]

Thanks Sugarfluff

I just reread that post of mine. Gosh - how impatient I am!

I've lost about 9 pounds in the first week, which is very, very quick (almost scarily so!).

I've recently gone back to my doctor, who referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist, who has officially diagnosed PCOS, put me on metformin (an insulin sensitizing drug) and told me to keep eating low carb.

To be honest - I don't need to lose weight as quickly as all that. If I lost one pound a week, every week, until I get married, I would hit my goal weight. Hopefully, it will continue to come off a bit faster than that. I will be thrilled with 2 pounds a week most weeks.

Thanks for the encouragment missfine. It'll all work out. I'm committed to this WOE now. I'm seeing results (where before - NOTHING) and I feel good.

So there you go. :)

[RosieW1028]

NoNoCarb,
I have PCOS too and I am on glucophage. This is my 3rd day of lowcarbing. I feel really good. I got rid of that bloated feeling. I haven't stepped on the scale yet. I am going to wait until next MOnday.

How are you feeling on the glucophage? Good luck to you. YOU can do this!!