Comments on: Why is low-carb harder the second time around?

By: Sammie

Sammie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:34:48 +0000

This is EXACTLY what I needed.. and considering I Googled “not losing on Atkins” and this popped out, I got lucky.

Back in the saddle for me…

and THANK YOU.

Glad it helped. Good luck.

By: Ronny S.

Ronny S. — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:05:06 +0000

I’ve read all your posts and books with great interest. As a member of a low carb forum and a somewhat “successful” low carber, I’m trying to give advice to others. Now we have an interesting case at hand that does not fit the descriptions above. A woman about the age of 30 has been on a very strict LCHF diet for four years, after being a vegetarian for 8 years before that (she’s not a vegetarian any more, I might add). The first two years she lost some 40 pounds (appx 1/3 of her overweight), but then the weight loss stopped completely. It is not really her second time around, as she never abandoned the low carb diet, but it appears we have some kind of a “stage 1″, “stage 2″ at hand. She’s just went through a close to 0-carb diet for thre months to no avail. She’s insulin resistant and has tried several changes to here meal compositions this last year, including elimination of any food containing lactose.

In a previous answer you said “When we see patients who we believe are really hewing the line and following the diet to the letter and are not losing as they should be, we start looking deeper”

Could you please elaborate a little on this. What do you look for exactly?

I’m really looking forward to your reply. It would be a great input to our forum.

First, I’ve been burned so many times by people telling me that they rigorously stick to diets without cheating and don’t lose, and then I discover that they aren’t really. So my index of suspicion is really high in cases like the one you mentioned. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen this way some times; I’m just saying it’s not all that common. Especially if the person dieting watches calories while on the low-carb diet.

If I do make the determination that the person in question is really adhering to the diet and keeping calories low enough to create a deficit and still isn’t losing, then I look at a couple of other things. First, of course, is the thyroid situation. I check to see if the patient has had a recent mammography (if a female, of course, and, BTW, it’s typically females who fall into this category, i.e., unable to lose) and/or a recent colonoscopy because both breast and colon cancer can cause women to be resistant to weight loss. Then I might send them to be checked for a pituitary adenoma, a benign tumor of the pituitary that can cause great difficulty in losing weight. But before I do any of these, I have to be sure that the patient is really on the diet and really maintaining a caloric deficit while trying to lose.

By: Ellen Ussery

Ellen Ussery — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:05:50 +0000

I have been cooking and eating low carb for years now with out any specific low carb cookbooks. My meals have gotten gradually much simpler. At long last I can feel that the meal is complete without anything resembling dessert. Or if I must have something, it is a tiny portion of berries or some crispy nuts tossed in butter or coconut oil.

But recently I bought few low carb cookbooks for inspiration because my husband eats what I cook and I thought he might like more variety.

I was surprised to see so many recipes that weren’t even for dessert that contained some kind of sweetener. For example a recipe for pumpkin seeds tossed with soy sauce, ginger and splenda. In my opinion the splenda is totally unnecessary for the recipe to be tasty and satisfying. And I think in the long run it keeps the eater from developing an appreciation of the true flavors of foods, from tasting the natural sweetness. And ultimately, I believe it feeds the craving for more sweets, regardless of whether or not it raises blood sugar.

So I would say to use artificial sweeteners with great restraint. Observe if they are that slippery slope for you as I think they are for me.

We avoid them most of the time. But if we do make something that is sweet, we do use artificial sweeteners, which we believe are much less bad for you than an equivalent amount of non-artificial sweetener.

By: daniel

daniel — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:09:22 +0000

I pretty much agree with everything you said. Especially the dynamic weight loss part. If find that if I go low carb and paleo for some consecutive days in a row all of a sudden the weight starts melting off but one day of cheating and it all comes to a grinding halt. Then you need to get that furnace burning again. I think this is what you mean’t? If so I never really thought about it but you have certainly made me aware of a cool new motivating tool. Next time Im in that zone I will not cheat. I tend to think oh Im doing so well now I can cheat a little bit.

By: Marilyn Carrock

Marilyn Carrock — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:38:45 +0000

here is my question, I am wondering about these so called healthy grains, for example, guinoa, barley, beans and steel cut oats. Can one add these to a weight loss program. I get very confused on these items. I guess by adding these your not on a low carb diet? So say you watch calories, eat meat, veggies, berries and add these only to your diet and lose weight fine. By watching calories and exerising I can lose weight. I would like to add these grains into a 1200 – 1300 calorie a day diet. Is it ok in your opinion?

I wouldn’t add them to my low-carb diet. They aren’t all that low-carb, and they aren’t all that healthful, so why add them?

By: Randy R

Randy R — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:28:13 +0000

I would like to comment on and agree with IP Daly’s post from Jan 16th. I too have been through several cycles of low carb dieting but that also applies to exercise. I have frequently tried the ‘flavor of the month’, switching from one weight lifting program to another with some success but when I dedicated myself to 8 weeks of a particular bodybuilding routine I made amazing gains. I am finding the same thing with diet. I re-read ‘Protein Power’ and have adopted a Paleo version of it and the results have been great. It has dropped my blood glucose, ldls and weight, but that is because I have stuck strictly with ‘the plan’. I am still in Phase I. I didn’t realize how much extra food I was eating until then. The carb charts are super helpful. I was afraid of many carbs but now I will eat most of what is on the chart (Paleo type),just sticking to the proper amount. My only struggle is getting enough protein because I have 200 lbs of lean mass.
I, like IP have found that I personally can’t do ‘cheat’ meals or days, or carb cycling. At least not yet. It kicks in an overeating response which I sometimes don’t recover from.
I’m down to 18% body fat from 21%. I’m aiming for 14% before I switch to Phase II.
The bottom line is: get on a program like Protein Power and just stick with it! Even if you feel like you aren’t losing weight, use the guide in the book: looser pants, etc. I feel great! Lots of energy, I sleep well and it seems to improve my mood!
Thanks Doc

I’m glad to learn that you’re doing so well. Keep after it.

By: Kristine

Kristine — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:45:32 +0000

I am sooo glad I came across this post. It just gave me that kick in the ass to hang in there for the long haul.

By: jenboda

jenboda — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:25:30 +0000

Thought the last comment was interesting. I do think that we may be genetically tuned toward the whole feast/famine deal and that our bodies, like our minds, are geared toward adaptation. We know that we have muscle memory that lasts for several years, why not metabolic memory?

jh
http://www.bodaweightloss.com

By: Trinkwasser

Trinkwasser — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:42:45 +0000

People who are the normal weight metabolically obese respond quite well to low-carb diets. They correct their metabolic problems just as well as the actually obese do. Problem is it�s difficult to get them to diet because they don�t think they need to because they are normal weight.

YES!!!

Another thought, I was disgustingly virtuous through the Holiday Season but have crept my carb intake up since, and simultaneously crept my exertion levels down (strong hibernation response due to the dark as well as the cold) I have actually put on a few pounds, but have now lost most of them again.

I suspect the problem is, I am much more functional, metabolically and otherwise, when I switch from predominantly glucose fuel to ketones. This switch takes a finite time to occur and much less time to revert. If you stay on the edge maybe it becomes significantly harder to repeat the metabolism change.

Some of our migratory birds in the UK and Europe cross the Sahara to winter in Africa. In order to make this journey they double their body weight. Most of these birds are insectivorous but what I only discovered recently is, they fuel the weight gain by eating high carb insects! (Aphids full of plant sap, ie. sugars)

Maybe they are programmed to switch in and out of “diabetic” weight gain/thrifty mode. Maybe mice do this also, which is why diabetic mice are so easy to “cure” in the labs. Maybe we have a similar mode switch which is an order of magnitude harder to switch and comparatively easy to switch back. Continuing research into the links between insulin/resistance and leptin/resistance may elucidate the mechanisms.

Meanwhile I have learned my lesson, now off for a brisk walk downtown to do some hunter gathering, and entirely WITHOUT snacking!

Good luck. Keep me posted.

By: Gina

Gina — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:01:52 +0000

Dear Dr Eades,

Have you been spying on me? I have been jumping on and off and becoming discouraged because I didn’t see any weight-loss when I thought I should. There was a time when almost every item at the grocery store had a low carb twin (boy, am I glad those days were over) and I did think I could have my cake and eat it too…NOT!

Thank you for this post. I’ll print it and pull it out in moments of weakness.

Go for it. I hope it helps.