Do carbs matter?
 

Hi - I'm curious. I've been doing CALP for 2 months. I seem to be having trouble getting over a set point that has haunted me for 1 1/2 years. Previously was on Atkins. My question is, even though you don't have to count carbs, do any of you try to stay within a certain level of carbs for a day?

I know that eating 20 like on Atkins is not recommended long term. Do you think you are eating within a certain range 30 to 50 or 50+? I'm just trying to figure out why, even on CALP, I'm hovering at this weight because I always feel it's what I'm eating, I'm doing it all wrong.

I've added exercise at the same time I started CALP, I walk at least 2 miles per day, using Walk off the pounds tapes and get a good jump in heart rate and I end up sweating so that makes me feel like I'm doing something good.

Any help, advice, suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you!

If you've reached a set point, it could take some time for your body to give that set point up. I wouldn't cut either calories or carbs now. That could cause your body to stick at that point longer.

You just need to keep to plan and wait the body out. Nothing is going to cause your body to lose weight right now until it is ready to do so. You may as well just relax and normalize your food relationships while on CAD/CALP while you wait.

Zule's right. Just be patient and work on other areas of eating that are important. Feeling good about it for one thing.

"They" (whoever they are) say that your body frequently takes "breaks" at places where you stalled before. For some reason your body can settle into a weight that you were at for a long time previously, so as Zule says....stay the course and wait.

I've been waiting since November so I know it can be frustrating, but the up side is that we are eating food we love everyday and not walking around frustrated AND deprived. Makes the wait so much easier.

Just hang on.....

Deb

I broke my stall (and have been losing 2.4 lbs per week ever since) by tracking calories and carbs. For calories, I try to keep my eating cals and excercise + BMR cals both as high as possible and maintain a 1000 cal per day deficit. I do watch portion size, but I don't skimp on food. I want to eat enough to support an active life instead of skimping and being fragile.

I also count up my carbs and average about 65 grams of carbs per day, 15% of that fiber. I'm very careful to only have craving reducing vegs outside of RM time, and have really good balance in my RM.

I believe my CALP stall was entirely due to portion size. Eyeballing portions worked fine for the first gazillion lbs, but eventually my weight loss slowed to a crawl and I needed to be a little more "take charge" about portion size and exercise.

When I was stalled, my Dr told me it was a normal slow down and set point, etc. In hindsight, that was just plain wrong. My body had just shrunk enough that I wasn't going to lose more on my old calorie intake and exercise level. I wish I had started tracking my calories sooner instead of buying into the suggestion that stalls were an unavoidable part of large weight loss. I'm not making that mistake again, and expect to be at my goal weight in mid-July.

Lynda