Hello from a UK guy who wants to look like Daniel Craig....(!)

[SENIORBEAR]

Hello all!

:wave:

Im a guy in his mid forties from wet, cold England! I've dabbled a year or so ago with Low Carb but now 'get it' & can shop/cook around this. I've got over the 'bread/quick snack' issue by making almond & flax bread-delicious! unfortunately in the UK we don't get much LC stuff in the supermarkets.

I follow my own plan-limiting myself to 20-25gms carbs a day (initially I made the mistake many people do in the UK & subtract fibre-so in fact my 1st few days were 30-35gms carbs/day!). No carbs off-limit but spread through day-so for example 40gm frozen berries after protein/fat rich breakfast, same after dinner etc.

I've lost around 8 UK pounds & would like to get to 11 stone (154lbs).

I had about 5 pound weight loss in ist few days...slight increase then dropped again....now a bit heavier by a pound or 2. I do like the odd vodka (am aware this stalls process & have it neat-no sugary mixer) but my ketostix are allways at least mid range pink. I do have a lot of water too. Any carbs I have are lo-gi complex carbs like broccoli, etc. I've become an expert at carb content (!).

Best of all...I feel GREAT. Used to suffer with mild depression-GONE. Skin much better-less wrinkles (!). Blood pressure down from 150/155 to 138.

feel slimmer & clothes looser. Face thinner...AND just started back at gym (weights & cardio).

A few questions from you experts....!

1) Is it true fat loss continues week 3-5 but doesn't show on scales (I read somewhere the body is getting used to storing water, or something??). I've been static for 2 weeks or so-in fact a pound or 2 higher than my lowest weight (188 pounds). Is this normal? My girlfriend started this a week ago & dropped a kg in 5 days-however she & me are both 2 pounds heavier since last 3 days. We both had curries both days with 1 chapatti bread each (25gms carbs??!) + say 5gms carbs yogurt. My curry was creamy but was sweetened with some pineapple juice-I guess 35-40 gms carbs that day-with 25 or 30gms in one sitting. Is this enough to make you regain some of the water???? Ketostix for me pink all way through.

2)-Excercise. I assume this will help with the weight loss?

3)-Acheived weight loss. How much should I realistically lose per month? Do you think my loss is normal??

4)-Regular 'scales' loss. I know the tape measure is the best way-but when will it REGULARLY show on the scales?

Both myself & partner take supplements, etc. No constipation/carb flu for me-partner suffered for a day or so though!

Any thoughts/feedback would be great!

Chris

[aj_cohn]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your weight loss so far! Before answering your numbered questions, I'd like to ask why you believe it's a mistake to subtract dietary fiber from the carbohydrate listing on a label? You can't digest fiber, so why not subtract it? The Atkins and Protein Power plans both recommend this.

Now, to your questions:

The amount of carbs you've been eating in and with your curries is enough to kill your weight loss and make you retain water. You're also right in that you need to limit the amount of carbs you eat in a sitting. The Protein Power plan that I follow recommends a maximum of 10g of carbs/meal (for the purist version of the plan). I suggest you omit all bread from your diet. You might also enjoy reading Wheat Belly (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheat-Belly-Davis-William-MD/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326303894&sr=8-1) to learn other reasons to avoid this grain.

In addition, ketostix are not a reliable indicator of ketosis. All they detect are ketones spilled into your urine. Your body has other ways to get rid of ketones: skin, breath, feces. Over time, as your body builds up a supply of enzymes to process fats, you might stop spilling ketones into your urine altogether and still be in ketosis. Moreover, you don't even need to be in ketosis proper to lose weight on a ketogenic diet.

As for weight loss not showing on the scale, that's impossible. But, it is possible that the scale might not show any loss for a few weeks after you shed some initial water weight. Read this classic post (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?p=7300643#post7300643) on why the scale can lie.
Exercise is wonderful for the body — keep doing it! But there are no clinical studies that show that exercise helps weight loss:


The Scientist and the Stairmaster (http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/)
Chapter from Why We Get Fat (http://www.scribd.com/doc/64996049/The-Elusive-Benefits-of-Exercise)
Problems with chronic cardio (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=436851)


According to the Atkins book, many people lose 5–10% of the weight they are going to eventually lose during "induction," the 2-week introductory period when your body metabolizes most of its stored glycogen; this is the "water weight" everybody talks about. After that, a normal rate of loss depends on a lot of factors:


age
gender
chronic illnesses, such as hypo- or hyper-thyroidism
whether a person has lost weight before


My own experience was that at age 43, during my first try with low-carbing, I lost a steady 5 lbs/week for 3 months. On my second and third tries, though, I lost 10 lbs in about 3 weeks, then 1-1.5 lbs/week on average, but not steadily. As we Yanks say, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).
See answers to questions above.

Regarding constipation, there are a few strategies to deal with this:

glycerine suppositories
more water
more magnesium

If your need is urgent, then go for the most drastic measure: the suppositories.

A LC WOE requires more water than a high-carb WOE in order to help the kidneys process the extra protein you eat. In the beginning, especially, when your body's shedding a lot of glycogen, extra water is prudent. Drink enough to urinate 3–4 times daily, so that the urine color is like light straw.

Magnesium helps keep things moving in the GI tract. My favorite LC food source for Mg. is spinach. Supplementation might also help, depending on how well you absorb Mg.

During the transition to LC, it's prudent to do a bit more supplementation of all of the electrolyte minerals. I wrote a post (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=405273&page=4) (see p. 4 of this thread) that summarizes what's commonly recommended.

[SENIORBEAR]

Thanks for the post-very interesting!

The fibre thing...in the UK the carbs shown are AFTER fibre removed-I wrongly thought I had to deduct-eating more carbs than i should initially!

Constipation-had NO issue at all...as my 'bread' is made from flax!

Aj_cohn-is it usual in 1st few weeks for weight to stall/fluctuate?

Thanks for your edtailed answer!

Chris

[aj_cohn]

Thanks for the post-very interesting!

The fibre thing...in the UK the carbs shown are AFTER fibre removed-I wrongly thought I had to deduct-eating more carbs than i should initially!

Aj_cohn-is it usual in 1st few weeks for weight to stall/fluctuate?


Thanks for educating me about the UK carbs listing.

Rather than worrying about whether a weight stall or fluctuation is typical, let's talk about your situation. Can you post 3 days worth of meals, so the forum members can troubleshoot your situation? It would be best to post them in the "Newbies Questions" forum. Please include times, and amounts of foods, as best you can estimate.

[SENIORBEAR]

Hi! Will do...will write it all down. If Saturday morning no loss will post. Thanks again for your time!