Weight Gain in Early Days

[polly034]

hi everyone, I'm new on here and have been reading your posts with great interest over the past couple of weeks, finally plucked up the courage to post here! Have followed EFGT on and off over the years, between bouts of calorie counting, low fat etc etc culminating in a gastric band operation 5 years ago which has not worked either! The only times in my life I have lost a substantial amount of weight have been on low carb. So, having had my band loosened off (they won't take it out unless I pay an enormous amount of money again) and done copious amounts of reading about low carbing with 60% fat and 20% protein I have decided on this. The biggest change for me is the amount of fat involved which is a bit scary but I'm prepared to give it a go.
I've been following the diet exactly for 10 days now (a record for me) and keeping carbs around 40 and cals only at 1200 to 1500 and have put on a pound, even though I do feel slightly slimmer around my stomach. have had no sweet cravings and to be honest am rarely hungry now which is also a first.
My question is, do I stick with the fat intake in the hope that it will kick in soon - have any of you found that it can often take a while to start losing? It's just that years ago when I did it I found I could lose at around 7lbs a week. I do take thyroxine for virtually non-existent thyroid and am now well into my late 50's.

[CarolynF]

Hi Polly..

Some of us have thyroid problems, too and it makes losing weight very hard..
I would cut my carbs back a bit and avoid grains/sugars/fruit. Just have your carbs
be in the form of LC veggies and see what happens..

I think it is the carb amount compared to the fat amount, but if you enjoy the 40 carbs,
then cut back your fat. Carbs plus fat equals weight gain..

Join us in the Challenge, please...

[LCNana]

...and please try a little patience! Once we're in our 50's and over it's a little harder to lose weight. Stay on plan, eat real whole foods (stay away from 'recipes' and bars, shakes, and all the other carb-crap) and maybe lower your carbs, increase fat just for a week...and don't forget: calories DO count!!! Many here can quote Dr. Atkins who said that eating low-carb is NOT a licence to eat all you want - just eat enough so that you are satisfied and stop. Best of luck - it will happen - just perhaps a bit slower than your previous efforts.

and I must disagree with the poster above who suggested you may want to lower fat because you want to keep your carbs at 40g: if you do that you WILL get hungry. Better for the SHORT TERM is to lower carbs and increase fat. Once you are in maintenance you can add some green carbs back.

[sandylp]

It's the on and off that will hinder you. You can't follow low carb or high fat,low carb and then go low fat. It's either one or the other. Personally, I found high fat, low carb to be the easier woe for me. From the blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.:

Over the first few days to few weeks of low-carb adaptation, your body is laying off the carbohydrate worker enzymes and building new fat worker enzymes. Once the workforce in your body is changed out, you start functioning properly on your new low-carb, higher-fat diet.

If you interrupt this period of adaptation, you won't be able to lose weight successfully. You can get more information by reading Dr. Eades's blog:
The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.