Tried adding Carbs...lost some pounds

[Celerunner]

I have been LC (under 20 grams) for about a month and had only lost a few punds. This is also with serious excersising. So, I decided to add some carbs in to my diet once or twice in the last week. I had some torilla chips with spinach and artichoke dip once and then I had some oatmeal for breakfast.

And, I lost 4 pounds!! So, I think for me at least, it works to take a break from LC 24/7!

Maybe this will work for others who are turtles!
I read in Atkins that sometimes you need to take a break to shock your body when you do go back to LC.

Has anyone else tried this approach?

Have a great day and keep up all you hard work. :thup:

[Lessara]

I lost 7lbs after I had two days of moderate carbs.
So it worked for me.

[Leebugboo]

I have also heard that "a little binge" can jump start the ketosis again. Sometimes I think we get stuck in a rut and need an extra push. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing. I love to read everyones ideas to get some for my myself. :p

[Sh'ra]

Atkins does mention that, as long as we don't go overboard - what you took in was very sensible (not like you ate 3 lbs of chocolate or anything :) ). If I find myself in a big stall, I might try upping my vegi carb intake, or eating a small bowl of rolled oats for breakfast.

[Jonee]

It worked for me too!! After reading these posts, I tried upping my carbs for a day(beef stew for dinner and chex for breakfast the 2nd day)----dropped 5 lbs the 3rd day!! I had been in a stall since induction, and I really believe this is what did it! Thanks for the advice! I have already passed it on to others. Hey, whatever works, right? :D

[doreen T]

I've increased my carbs as well, but in the form of increased vegetable portions, the odd piece of low-carb fruit or occasional controlled portions of starchy high-fiber vegetable such as lentils, kidney beans or squash.

I believe the type of carb makes a difference too ... I notice that nobody here has said they upped their carbs by eating sugar, desserts or white flour things. :)

Doreen

[Jonee]

Doreen,
You are absolutely right about the choices of carbs many have chosen to up occasionally. Maybe that means that we actually DO GET IT!! Until you mentioned it, sweets were not something I even thought of--too much temptation after so much work already invested! I really miss fruits so so much, but am waiting until I am finished induction. I love fruits too much to gamble just yet. I do not have a big window of veggies that I really like, so I just eat lots of the ones I enjoy. I love listening to all your great advice. Thanks.
Jonee

[sunsight13]

I have up'd my carbs to about 40 a day. However, they are high fiber carbs and after subtracting the fiber it is still below 20 grams. This has really helped me both by continued weight lose and by added variety. I still can't eat much cheese, bacon or lunch meat, or heavy cream. I did have a wonderful bowl of oatmeal recently and it was interesting that I used it as a sedative. Haven't been sleeping well so after a few nights I made some homemade oatmeal and slept 8 hours. Now am back to LCing but not sleeping well again. I guess when I have lost the weight I intend to I can add oatmeal as part of on-going WOE.

It is taking a long time to figure out what works and what doesn't for me personally. I am grateful for the threads because they give me clues. Thanks for all your support out there.

Susan

[Jonee]

Susan,

What kind of high-fiber carbs? I need all the creativity I can get. You are right about how long a process it is to find out what foods do or don't work for you individually. I have also cut out most cheese and even eggs for awhile. I used to have 2 tbls. of peanut butter at night for a snack, but it was on the list of things I picked up from other posts that possibly could cause stalls. So, no more peanut butter for me right now. I stopped bacon too. But you know what-eggs and bacon were not even filling me up anyway. So. I eat the same amount of carbs for breakfast by substituting a high fiber dry cereal. I may have to try the oatmeal, but I usually can't eat a whole bowl and I know the flavored ones don't count!! I have to admit that I have never felt better in years. I was always so sluggish and tired all the time, and I know I was a carb addict(anything bready or salty). So, if you think of it, please share some of the foods you have found helpful. Thanks.

Jonee :wave:

[sunsight13]

Jonee,

I try to eat most of my carbs as vegies including broccoli, spinach, fennel, cauliflower and avocados. I limit hard cheese to 1oz a day and cream cheese to 2oz a day. I use the ounce of cheese in a 2 egg omelette with 1/2 avocado or spinach and cooked in butter. For lunch at work I have found that Bumble Bee makes smoked salmon in a tin so I mix that with a little cream cheese. I also eat fennel like you would celery and cut up a fennel bulb to chomp on during mid-afternoon.

I use fitday.com to check the carbs in stuff and how many are fiber. As long as after I subtract the fiber I am still under 20 carbs, this seems to work. I tried cereal and oatmeal (not the packaged kind - those are too full of junk) but it seems that carbs based on starchy stuff just don't work. The only salt I add is a little to my eggs in the morning but I do have lots of spices that I throw into evening stuff or in my crockpot with meat and broth.

This is after a lot of experimenting to see what worked. This is finally something I can live with as opposed to having to work at it all the time.

Good luck. Susan

[Jonee]

Thanks Susan, I am always looking for new ideas. I am getting bored with my routine and will try some of your ideas, although we are both eating about the same. I need to increase my veggie intake a bit, tho. I think I sometimes eat too much protein. I have been so busy at work this week, that my water intake has suffered, and I am feeling it. Gotta find a way around that. Well, thanks for the info and look forward to talking to you again soon.
Jonee

[Pearl]

I just recently cheated for two days and then three days later dropped four pounds. I am soooo happy. It took almost a month to take of seven.

Pearl :wave:

[Jonee]

Pearl, I think we may have stumbled onto something here!! I am still too new to determine when my next stall will be, but I will be waiting with something good!!

[Pearl]

I think I will plan my next stall. My birthday is next week and I so plan on having cake.... I might have a few other things but I will not go overboard. My next stall after that is the day that I find out that I am pregnant. I will be buying a box of twinkies(which I have been craving since the beginning of my diet) and eating them all at work. HAHAHAHAHA! :devil: :lol: :Party:

Pearl :wave:

[fiona]

What a great thread. I've been on a stall for weeks. This thread has just given me some wonderful ideas.

Love yours Pearl - a planned boost of carbs!! I reckon I am due one tomorrow as it is Valentine's Day. :daze:

Doreen, thanks indeed: I have really missed humous - chick peas with lots of herbs and spices and olive oil. I'll try a very small pot.

Take care.

[Pearl]

Thank you. I was going to indulge tomorrow as well because of it being VD but I want to save for my birthday. No luck yet in the pregnancy but I do hope soon because I would like to have twinkies. mmmmmm twinkies :doah:

Pearl :wave:

[sunsight13]

I guess I am planning a stall also, because this morning I had a real bagel, a small piece of German Applecake and three chocolate covered macadamia nuts (staff meeting). And this weekend I am going out for Sushi in Stuttgart. I love sushi and haven't had any since I was back in the States in September. My daughter said she found a good sushi restaurant in Stuttgart and I am all excited about having some while I am down there this weekend. It is like the treat of the century for me. So I will just plan on not losing for a couple of weeks until this stuff wears off. Otherwise, I am being pretty good.

I do notice that after having the carbs this morning, I am craving them this afternoon and it is taking all my will power to resist!

Will go buy something really meaty for dinner and cook it in butter!

Susan

[tonytiger]

I was figuring this a long time ago before I read it here...

We were all consuming lots of carbs before we started LC and as suddenly after 3 days of beginning LC we lost many many pounds until it comes to a halt, maybe then eating some more carbs for a day or two so the body resets itself and after that going back to LC to restart the losing process... I dont know but maybe this could be a way to break through plateaus.

One word of advice keep your carb days to only 1 or 2 for every 2 or 3 week period, or else you will be having them everyday.

So after stalling this week I went kinda loose on the chocolates, cookies and candies this Valentines Day. (heck I could not reject them to avoid offending people). The day after I ate them my ketosis went to zero as stated by my ketostix.

So today saturday I am back into my LC WOE and I hope that by tuesday I start losing again, I am not planning on carbing up any day now, it just was an occasion that lend itself to carbing up.

And if it breaks the plateau, then I found my personal key! hehe! meanwhile I am drinking water like crazy and taking my ripped fuels.

See you later!
Antonio

[Forlil]

This thread is interesting - I've had the same experience and thought it was an anomaly. I would be very strict LC for several weeks with nothing happening then have a hamburger or some pizza and lose weight the next day. I'm glad to hear of others experiencing it too - maybe it is another tool that we can use. :thup:

Forlil

[Jonee]

Hey, what happened to us all this past week? This is the first that we have cheated, and we did it all in one week. I was very good for Valentines Day, and although the 11th was my birthday, the girls at work made me a low-carb cake---they even had to admit that is was pretty tasty. But, by friday, I was either feeling sorry for myself with the whole b'day and V'day sacrifice, that I fell off with homemade pizza(I make the best!) and a piece of my son's b'day cake--all within 12 hours! And I felt it right away--the rest of the day, I went from heartburn to cravings, so I am now drowning myself in water to cleanse all this good poison out of me!!!
Pearl, I will plan my next cheat with a twinkie when you have one, k? Good luck surviving your b'day. I was surprised how well I did.
Susan, don't feel too guilty about the Sushi---especially since you can't get it too often. Just make up for it after!! Hey, it may even be a good stall-buster to add to our list!!
Forlil and Tonytiger, thanks for the posts. It's so great that we can all support each other, especially with similar successes.

Jonee :wave:

[LC Lulu]

I guess I have the opposite reaction.
Every time I add carbs (and usually this is not a planned carb-up, more like an indulgence of sime kind), I GAIN weight. (but it is mostly water)

I wish it was that easy for me.
But those extra carbs are usually sugar or cookies, and I know I'd better stay away from those!
I found a way last summer that finally got the scale moving. I'll post it in another thread.

Lulu