Very Frustrated--Pounds and Inches

[duncan2002]

I've been on SP for 7 weeks now. At first I was thrilled to lose 6.5 pounds (no inches). However, for the last 4 weeks, I have gained 1/2 pound per week and have now added an inch to my waist and hips. While I feel great, and have noticed a big improvement in my mood swings, I am very frustrated with the added weight and inches. Has anyone else had this happen to them? My typical food intake is as follows:

Breakfast
Sausage and eggs w/green peppers. onions, cheese
Tomato slices
1 slice low carb toast w/butter
1/2 c. strawberries

no snack

Lunch
ham salad on bed of spinach leaves
green pepper slices
tomato slices

no snack

Dinner
hamburger w/lettuce, mayo, & cheese
mushrooms sauted in butter
tossed green salad w/tomatoes and ranch dressing
3/4 c. strawberries w/whipped cream (sweetened w/Splenda)

I also have 8 to 10 cups of water per day

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[lisaf]

Hi Duncan2002 -

Your menu looks very good although you might want to add in those snacks...

You aren't giving quantities so I'm not sure how many calories you are eating...if it is enough or too many.

Also, are you exercising? And what is your past dieting history? Have you lost and regained weight many times over?

Lisa

[duncan2002]

My meat portions are one serving. 1 hamburger, 2 to 3 eggs, 1 sausage patty, 1 chicken breast, etc.

My salad portions are about 1 to 1 1/2 cups greens, 1 tomato, 1/4 cup cheese. Ranch dressing or vinegar & oil

Allowable vegetables are usually about 1 cup.

Fruit is 1/2 to 3/4 cup.

I don't usually add the starchy vegetables, and only have 1 slice low carb toast with breakfast.

I was having 2 snacks a day, usually 1/4 cup almonds and string cheese or celery and 2 T peanut butter, but began omitting them when the pounds and inches started to increase.

I walk/run about 40 minutes a day, 3-4 days per week and am working on increasing that to 60 min a day/ 5-6 days per week.

Thanks for your reply.

Denise

[duncan2002]

Sorry, I forgot you asked about my past dieting.

About 3 years ago, I went on a low fat, low calorie diet and lost 45 pounds. Up until that time, I was lucky enough to not have to watch my weight. Since that time I gradually quit watching the calories and fat and have gained back 25 of those pounds.

[TheBetty]

But for me, artificial sweeteners (AS) are really hard on me, just like sugar! Maybe it's bad for you, too. Many folks are incredibly sensitive to AS.

Also, even tho I do eat bacon and sometimes sausage, they DO tend to stall me a bit and I'm certian it's b/c of the sugar that they are cured with. Also, the excessive (but YUMMY saltiness).

I also avoid as much as possible wheat. Bloatsville for ol' Betty. :lol:

Of course, it took trial and error to figure this stuff out.

I have found for myself (again YMMV) that I do a lot better when I omit added carbs from my breakfast and lunch and just add them to dinner or perhaps a snack, too, sometimes.

For instance, I have a red pepper with breakfast or some lettuce, and for lunch I may have a salad, but I only add in the starchy (sugary) carbs at dinner. I'll have some berries with cream, like you, no AS, or some other piece of fruit, etc.

I have found this system is working for me. I've really limited the starchy carbs, upped the non-starchy like greens, and VIOLA! I'm in the mix and feeling great.

May work for you, may not. We are all different, right? I would suggest eliminating the AS, the wheat (have 1/4 cup--measured dry--whole oatmeal instead perhaps?) one at a time and see what happens for a week or two.

And as Lisa said, past dieting history can determine how your body will act on a healing plan such as SP. Also, you may indeed need more calories from fat and protein sources.

Wishing you all the best! :wave:

[duncan2002]

Thank you both for your replies. I will continue to experiment and see what happens. I really appreciate your help and suggestions.

Denise

[lisaf]

Great reply Betty!

I know it can be really frustrating to see lbs and inches go on...trust me! There are some other things you could take a look at as possible culprits:
- stress
- lack of sleep
- all that stuff Betty mentioned!

One great way to heal your metabolism would be to add weight training to your workouts...not for everyone I know...just a suggestion.

Lisa

[duncan2002]

Thanks again Lisa,
I used to do some serious body building when I was younger. I loved it, but can't seem to find the time for it anymore. It is an effort to set aside my walk/run time, but I will keep trying to work things out.

[rosarugosa]

a site I found helpful & I also checked his book out at the library was:
http://www.jorgecruise.com/
He advocates short every morning stregnth training first thing in the morning and advises plans that can work for very busy people( 8 minutes ). He also has nutrition advice, personally I think TSP is one of the best --in that area.

I started using it when I saw it in Prevention. I do a little more than he talks about now, but it is very informative for begginers.

I have noticed a difference in definition of body parts ( quite a coup for a 50 year old) I think walking or some daily cardio of some sort is important also. Weight training may not show on the scale , but you will *see* a difference, and as lisaf stated metabolically important. I found starting out gradually and with light weights(more reps) important to avoid injury that could cause injuries/aches and pains that could set me back (too sore to continue). That is where the above site/bk. helped me.

I have found that to lose the last of my weight I have to count calories and watch saturated fat to shed the last of my weight and it goes slowly -- but goes.

I see you are not too far from your goal -- I think it is very true that it becomes very hard work to lose the last of that-- or at least more tedious!

[SusanKH]

Just a note - I do Jorge Cruise, too. I'm doing the 8 Minutes In The Morning until I get really good and have been LCing awhile, then I'm moving on to BFL. I agree with rosarugosa that his program is very doable both time wise and physically.

[duncan2002]

Thank you--I will definitely look for the book

[shoelady]

:confused:
I am confused myself with SP. I started about a month ago. Weighed myself today and am 10 pounds heavier. I am going up in size instead of down. I can feel my clothes are tighter. I am extremely frustrated. I feel like going back to my low-fat diet. Any others feling the same way?

Shoelady

[smc]

I also seem to be gaining instead of losing. I feel very bloated and my clothes are too tight. I too feel like going back to my low fat diet but I promised myself I would give this a one month trial. Any advise would be appreciated.

[Lila2002]

Please. Shoelady & smc - post a couple days of your typical menus and we may have some ideas.

[shoelady]

:roll:
Breakfast
Low Carb Bar (says it is 2 grams carbs and 22 grams protein

Snack
2 celery stalks w/ peanut butter

Lunch
Two pieces of swiss cheese and two pieces of turkey on 2 pieces of bread (bread says 13 grams carb each). I also put tomato on it
Slice of Pineapple
String Cheese

Snack
sometimes I eat almonds or sunflower seeds

Dinner
Lots of fish. Also pork and chicken
Green Beans
Cottage Cheese with pineapple
Salad with balsamic dressing

Any input would be helpful as to what I am doing wrong. I get frustrated and crave sugar like ice-cream or I crave chips. No, I am not pregnant! :o

Shoelady

[Lila2002]

Shoelady,

The first thing that stands out is the low-carb bars - there is a lot of controversy over the carb labeling and many people find that they cannot eat the bars and lose weight. In addition, Schwarzbein really discourages artificial foods, and bars are about as artificial as you can get. Try to eat real foods for breakfast - leftover meat & veggies from dinner if you're short on time, or hard-boil some eggs ahead of time.

After that, your lunch is pretty carb-heavy with 2 slices of bread plus the pineapple, and short on veggies - try the turkey & cheese on salad.

Almonds, sunflower seeds & peanut butter can all add up. I have to be extremely careful with them (or I'm eating way too many), but you may not have the same issues. Just be sure you keep the quantities really small.

Last, but not least, you don't have a lot to lose, if I'm reading your numbers right, so it may go slower.

On the cravings, I think if you really concentrate on the good fats, veggies & protein and lose the bars & bread for a few days, they will go away.

Hang in there, and let us know how it goes.

Lila

[smc]

Breakfast

Either fruit (blueberries or cantalope) with cottage cheese and low carb bread with all natural pb or omelet with cheese, asparagus, canadian back.

Snack

2 pieces of cheese or nothing

Lunch

Salad with scoop of chicken salad or leftover dinner from the night before i.e. meatballs over zucchini noodles and salad with blue cheese dressing

Snack: Cheese and pepperoni

Dinner

Meat, salad and veggies or last night I had tacos with only the meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and salsa

Any tips or advice is very welcome as I keep gaining. Do you think I am eating too much cheese? I also drink about 64+ water a day.

[TheBetty]

You're eating too many carbs for your own system, plain and simple.

:wave: Hi there! I'm going to try and add more to this discussion. Nice to meet you smc and shoelady. Lola, your input was great! :)

There's been some good advice here in this forum for this, read through the threads when you get a chance for more info.

LOSE the FAKE food, like anything that contains the word BAR. They are garbage and contain WAY more carbs than their labels let on. There was a thread a while back about this. Perhaps lisaf will recall where that was.

Also, make sure you are not eating ANY sugar. Make sure your peanut butter's ingredient label reads like this: peanuts. That's it, just peanuts, not sugar, no oil, no salt.

Salt will cause you to hold onto water and can--according to many lo-carb "doctors" cause weigth gain and fat storage. I have heard the Dr. Atkins goes into detail about this in his book, but I have not read it.

Cottage cheese MUST be whole fat and I wouldn't recommend eating it often. I, personally, have trouble with cottage cheese and it stalls me. Perhaps this is true for you, too.

Fruit AND cottage cheese AND bread at one meal is not lo-carb. Although you don't have as much weight to lose, it would be easier for you to start with the low end of the carb s[ectrum and add on rather than start at the high end and have to eliminate to see when you lose weight.

Remember, cottage cheese has carbs, even tho it's a protein. I would limit it to once a week or twice, or eliminate it and see what happens.

SP is a healing program, not weight loss-focused. :)

FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT! You must eat mostly fat, healthy fats that is. Fat is the important ingredient, then protein, then the non starchy veggies, and carbs are at the very bottom. Make sure you are getting plenty of fat from sources like olive oil, fish, nuts, butter and cream.

Always eat nuts with another protein. I know SP says we can eat raw cashews alone, but BELIEVE ME, this is not wise. It's important that you have nuts with some leftover chicken, or cheese or nitrate and sugar free cold cuts. Otherwise, the nuts will make you crave and possibly gain. They are carby. :eek:

I suggest that you make some sugar free whole cream ice cream and have a little with your dinner for dessert. You can add some berries for sweetness, but nothing else. You don't need sugar or articifial sweeteners, the berries will sweeten it, just don't add many. You can even make "bars" by pouring plain cream with berries into small size ziploc bags or paper cups and freezing overnight. It's fast if you don't have an ice cream maker. You can whip it first for liter fare.

Bottom line is too many carbs will make you crave and gain. Perhaps trying an Atkins style Induction would benefit you both. I understand there are no starchy carbs allowed for a couple of weeks. Maybe this will jumpstart you, then you can slowly add the starchy carbs and begin an SP style plan for maintenance.

Wishing you well! :wave:

[Marigold]

Hi,

I haven't decided on which low carb diet to use yet. But, through past dieting I've found that taking 400 mg of Magnesium a day really helps with the sugar craving. I don't know about the salt craving. Wish I did! Good luck.

[SusanKH]

I have also heard from many low carbers that too much cheese can cause a gain or a stall - this may be due to the high sodium content in cheese. Just a thought.
Susan

[tigersue]

I find it is very helpful to keep reading the book. particularily the chapters on foods. The cottage cheese is a carb and protien as Betty mentioned as is the nuts. One thing my sister has started to do is roast her own turkey breast to use that for snacks and meals. I'm going to be doing that to. You can freeze left over meat and it can be handy to not buy the deli stuff which can be a danger zone.
I posted a link in the desert section for a custard recipe my sister gave me. It is really good if you substitute real heavy cream for the half and half, and don't use the artifical sweetner. Eat it with fresh berries and it is good.
Tanya

[SusanKH]

Duncan2002 and Shoelady,
Please see the post about weight gain. It might help explain some of what's happening to you.
Susan

[photofreak]

Originally posted by shoelady
:confused:
I am confused myself with SP. I started about a month ago. Weighed myself today and am 10 pounds heavier. I am going up in size instead of down. I can feel my clothes are tighter. I am extremely frustrated. I feel like going back to my low-fat diet. Any others feling the same way?

Shoelady

Hi Shoelady,
I am new to this diet also. i have not gained any weight, but i did hear that until your body adjusts, you might actually gain a bit of weight. this may not be true in your case, but i thought any word of incouragement could help.

photofreak