I don't know about other people, Lisa. But in my case, I had lost so much muscle mass from high-carbing and getting sick, that I had nowhere to go but up. And also I had never felt the energy increase I got from low-carbing. With high-carbing, I only felt worse as I lost what little "weight" I lost on high-carb. That's why I'm sure I gained muscle mass when I started low-carbing without exercising. In a way I was exercising just moving around.

Think of it this way. I didn't have enough muscle mass to support the weight I was at, so as I fed my body with what I needed to build muscle, I built it without exercising. Of course, when I felt well enough, for the first time since I was in high school, I started to exercise and that has kept the benefits coming.

;-Deb