Gained Weight Back....HELP!

[littlbit]

Need some guidance.  I don't know what's going on but have gained back two and 1/2 pounds over a two to thee week period and don't know if I should carb up a little to break this or just ride it out.  About three weeks ago, my neighbor had given me some cantaloupe (slices, the type you might get in a restaurant).  I admit that for a three to four day period, I probably ate a slice each day.  I immediately noticed an increase in weight.  I stopped eating it immediately and returned the rest of the slices to my neighbor.  Her comment was "it's just some fruit" and I explained it was probably higher in sugar than what I can have and I had to wonder if my body is extremely sensitive to sugar of any kind.  I immediately went back to being very strict and watching everything that went in my mouth.  After about three days, the few pounds seemed to have come back off and I was happy.  Now, I am two pounds heavier again and can't figure out what is going on.  Was the other weight a temporary gain and loss and now I'm showing the actual weight gain from the sugar?  It's almost three weeks later.  I'm very disillusioned right now, but I'm trying not to give up.  I have heard of carbing up sometimes to "break" a plateau, but I'm afraid to do that in fear of even gaining more weight again.  Can my body be that sensitive to even a little sugar?  Also, I don't drink milk or usually eat cream cheese except when I make the "fat head" pizza crust which includes cream cheese and mozzarella in the dough.  Again, only something I have once in awhile.  Can that contribute to it??  Any advice, tips, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Weight fluctuation is fairly normal when first starting grain and sugar free eating.  Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.  Fruits have lots of carbohydrates, some more than others.  If you are actualy counting the carbs you are ingesting, you should prefer berries to melons and small amounts of them at first.  Dairy products do contain a fair amount of sugars, so you might want to keep limiting them. 


You have to remember that your entire body is going through changes.  There will be fluctuations in weight, but don't pay much attention to this.  Keep increasing the amounts of vegetables you eat.  The fiber is good to help intestinal motility.  Make sure you are eating the plentiful, in season veggies which are low carb, not the starchy ones.  It was helpful to me to make a list of specific foods I would typically eat and the amount of carbs per serving as a guideline.  I would then count the carbs I was eating, making sure I didn't go over the 50 carbs per day guideline. 


This is easy once you get the "hang" of it.  Stir fry's, crack slaw, bbq veggies and meats/fish/poultry are all excellent for their low carb values and quick preparation.  No one wants to heat up their kitchen much in the summer.

[Bob Niland (Boundless)]

Well, as I linked in another reply today, there are any number of candidate explanations for weight loss stall and/or weight re-gain.

Perhaps the #1 thing to do for dealing with that is to own a blood glucose meter. Run at least one Fasting BG (FBG) to see what your pre-meal state is, then run some Postprandial (PPBG) readings, 30 to 60 minutes after start of meal, to see the effect of what you are eating. Once PPBG is ruled out, then the rest of the list comes into play.

Cantaloupe is only about 8% net carb by weight, so you'd have to be eating quite a bit of it for that to be the leading suspect, but the glucometer would clear that question up pretty quickly.
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Bob Niland [disclosures] [topics]

[littlbit]

Thanks Barb and Bob. Scale has moved some but only by an ounce or two. I had started this program in January and had slipped a little in April but then got back on track. Had recently changed vitamin brands, and while it probably has no relevance, couldn't help wondering if that could cause some kind of reaction.