The FastDay Forum

Last week I weighed in on Thurs as usual - 63.5kg which was a gain so disappointing but it's really hard to lose now. Had a carby day or so over the weekend (but not, I suspect, by a lot of people's standards) - felt like an enormous balloon waiting to pop (urgh) fingers like sausages, puffy ankles, sore boobs (sorry) the day after and since. Got weighed Sunday evening - 66.9 kg. A gain of 3.4 kg in 3 days. Am not writing this to have a moan - it is what it is - I saw my GP this morning for something I thought might be related (pain from a disc prolapse in my neck) but she thought it was a combination of the menopause and the carbs and not to do with the pain. So - why am I putting this in a post? Don't really need sympathy but I do think this has been a DOWNSIDE of low carb eating - there is a 'spectacular' (the GP's words, not mine) amount of water retention in my case when falling off the wagon, which combined with the menopause (ye gods) causes me to think 'sod it' and think 'what's the point?'. The gain has been so much this week that I seriously started to wonder whether I had kidney problems or something (nope). It is quite depressing though - at my lowest I was 62.1 and then to get to 66.9. Gahhhhhh.....

Low carbers beware.

There can be substantial water gains if people eat more carbs than usual - likewise sodium. By any chance, did you take any NSAIDs such as ibuprofen to modify your pain? I was just wondering because NSAIDs can promote sodium and water retention in some people - I know that if I take them, my fingers resemble sausages for a while and it kicks the tinnitus up a couple of notches.

http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/bn ... tory-drugs

What you regain when you eat carbs is glycogen which is stored in liver and muscles. Glycogen binds a lot of water but here's the important thing to understand about it. If you eat a very low carb diet, and then regain glycogen, you will feel bloated. But if you maintain eating more than say, 70 g of carbs a day, and are patient, most of that bloat will go away.

Bloat occurs when you cross the ketogenic boundary. This is the level at which your body burns off its glycogen and then starts burning ketones (at first) and then, in a few weeks, free fatty acids. As soon as you cross the ketogenic boundary going up, you will start to store glycogen again.

Going up and down over that boundary is miserable because you will bloat, then you will pee it all away, for hours, when you drop your carbs again.

The answer for many of us is to keep carbs always a tiny bit over that boundary.

Where the boundary is depends on your body weight and composition to some extent. For me it is at 70 grams a day. For someone who weighs 280 lbs (twice my weight) it might be at 100. So when I am watching carbs I try to keep them closer to 100 g a day. This is low enough, if I spread them through the day, to keep from making my blood sugar go too high, but high enough to avoid that rotten bloat/pee cycle.

I feel your pain. I agree with @peebles. That is my experience too. That bouncing up and down is miserable. I try to stay between 70g and 100g.

Thanks for your responses and I will try to do that in the future - the trouble is is that I find it harder to lose weight now and so when I was eating around 60g daily it was easier - but I think you're right and that I should go a bit higher (but still under 100g).

And I have been eating ibuprofen like sweets because they;re the only thing that takes the edge off - so I'm sure that doesn't help. I am going to stick at it but maybe the effects will be less dramatic if I eat slightly higher carbs and stay there.

Thanks for the advice though!

Interesting thread. I've arrived at 80g carb as good for me daily at my weight/age/gender.

Agree with azure blue interesting discussion thanks, as just back from a free week away no thought of fasting and carb intake much higher so am now dealing with stubborn slight gain. Drat

Thanks everyone. Hum, food for thought. I have low carbed for 9 months and I don't count calories like many on the forum so have no idea of what is a good daily balance for me and if I'm achieving that. I'm the type of person who goes off what 'feels' right. At the moment, things feel right. Over the 9 months I have not changed my intake of carbs, but if I did I guess I'd be experiencing the same? I'm just post menopause. Very interesting and useful thread. Thx

A very useful thread, thanks all.
I have just had a carbolicious weekend of training where they force feed you lovely stuff and OH's birthday, so am feeling the bloat, and have gained 1lb and an inch round the waist. I know it's mad to weigh in on a Monday morning, but it keeps me thinking realistically. Interestingly, we have had a much lower carbexistence since my hub realised that he was feeling ill after eating wheat products, and he was very much a bread whenever possible kinda guy. He is also diabetic, and a cake hound. So, we tend to have potatoes or rice, a little bread and very little cake. This means he has lost loads of weight, but I have not! It's just easier for me not to gain so much now. I don't think I shall do any carb counting at the moment...after years of counting everything, I am trying to relax into 5:2.
However, I feel comforted that my weight gain is related to the weekend carb fest and shall keep things in check this week.

Yes, very interesting thread.

I feel for you, @loversghost, it's very frustrating how our bodies do (and don't!) behave.

I haven't ever counted carbs but it might be useful for me to work out just what I do intake... (if I can make the effort....)

It's a faff but also an eye opener to keep a count, worth the effort for a few days to get a grip on what happens and what works best for you. I use myfitnesspal app, it gives a break down of carbs and sugars as well as calories, I count once or twice a week depending on how my weight/waist are fluctuating. I'm trying to keep carbs <80g and sugars <25g a day.
:0)

There was an interesting article in the Sunday Times Style section yesterday. Sorry I can't post the link as it is behind a paywall. However in summary, it discussed the 'menopot', the tummy that starts to appear when we get to a certain age. Someone had taken an unflattering picture of Kate Moss in her bikini and suggested that she was beginning to fall foul of it (although I'd kill for her tummy).

In summary, here is what it said about beating the menopot. The main thrust was to tackle the blood sugar rollercoaster and reduce cortisol. By implication therefore, fasting does not fit with this, although they did not mention it.

1. Don't forget the waist to hip ratio needs to be less than 0.8. If it is more, take action as visceral fat can be dangerous.
2. Calcium. The more calcium a woman consumes, the less visceral fat she gains.
3. Extra-virgin olive oil can control insulin which can also reduce belly fat.
4. Eat folate-rich foods like asparagus. Folate helps to tackle insulin resistance.
5. Soluble fibre, eg chickpeas and seaweed to regulate blood sugar and help you feel full.
6. Include protein in every meal.
7. Increase intake of omega 3 (oily fish).
8. Selenium rich foods can also help reduce belly fat.
9. Get moving. Anything to counter muscle loss.
10. Get at least 7 hours sleep a night to keep grehlin down and increase leptin.
11. Take supplements to support the adrenals to help reduce cortisol.

[Debs]

Thank you for an interesting thread all. I can certainly attest to the issues of carbs and, in my case, peri-menopause and weight gain. I haven't really noticed any difference whether I eat carbs or not though, I still struggle with keeping my weight down. The issue of cortisol is one I have been trying to tackle, but the tips Karen has given are certainly worth contemplating.

[carieoates]

Bookmarking this little gem. As luckily I'm not there yet! But as a carb sensitivity person I am very interested.

[carorees]

There was an interesting article in the Sunday Times Style section yesterday. Sorry I can't post the link as it is behind a paywall. However in summary, it discussed the 'menopot', the tummy that starts to appear when we get to a certain age. Someone had taken an unflattering picture of Kate Moss in her bikini and suggested that she was beginning to fall foul of it (although I'd kill for her tummy).

In summary, here is what it said about beating the menopot. The main thrust was to tackle the blood sugar rollercoaster and reduce cortisol. By implication therefore, fasting does not fit with this, although they did not mention it.

1. Don't forget the waist to hip ratio needs to be less than 0.8. If it is more, take action as visceral fat can be dangerous.
2. Calcium. The more calcium a woman consumes, the less visceral fat she gains.
3. Extra-virgin olive oil can control insulin which can also reduce belly fat.
4. Eat folate-rich foods like asparagus. Folate helps to tackle insulin resistance.
5. Soluble fibre, eg chickpeas and seaweed to regulate blood sugar and help you feel full.
6. Include protein in every meal.
7. Increase intake of omega 3 (oily fish).
8. Selenium rich foods can also help reduce belly fat.
9. Get moving. Anything to counter muscle loss.
10. Get at least 7 hours sleep a night to keep ghrelin down and increase leptin.
11. Take supplements to support the adrenals to help reduce cortisol.

I would just point out that, regarding calcium intake: there is a link between higher blood calcium levels and lower insulin resistance, but high calcium intake does not necessarily result in high blood levels. You need magnesium and vitamin D to be able to absorb calcium and in fact most people do get enough calcium in their diet but often not enough magnesium or vitamin D so don't forget these are needed as well as the calcium!

And point 10 is not so easy to achieve if you're menopausal, though personally I think that taking a vitamin D supplement in the morning and magnesium in the evening has helped my sleep.