Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - A Doctor's Explanation for a Stall

Before I done this way of LCing, I done another LC w/o/e, lost 26# in 4 wks. The name of this diet was The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet, by Irwin Max Stillman,M.D., and Samm Sinclair Baker. They also wrote The Doctor's Quick Inches Off Diet. I was reading today in the inches off diet book and in the back was a Q & A chapter. I came across this & thought that I would share it with all of my fellow LC'ers... it is an exellent answer as to why sometimes there is a stall after big losses, and MAY apply in someone's stall.

Quote:

Q.: I lost an average of 8 lb. a week for a total of 24 lost in 3 weeks,then only lost 2 lb. in the next week. Am I doing something wrong? A.: It sometimes happens on a quick weight loss or fasting diet, that you lose weight quickly for a number of weeks, then find that one week the scale only shows a few pounds loss.Stay on the diet,since you are still losing weight that will show on the scale the following week or two. What is happening is that your fat is being pulled out of the fat depots in your body and being transformed into free fatty acids, which in turn are being burnt up in energy.While this process is going on, some of the fat is being turned into water.Furthermore, a great deal ofthe water that you are drinking may be retained.Eventually the body must release this water. When it does, the loss may be tremendous; one patient dropped 16 pounds suddenly after one of these water retention periods. While your dimensions are changing that week, loss of actual poundage does not show up on the scale. Other bodily processes are going on that hold up loss of weight in pounds for a brief period.Be patient and keep dieting faithfully, and you will be rewarded in a sudden drop in pounds,which will be most heartening. The IMPORTANT point is NOT to become discouraged but to stay on the diet. Don't cheat and you will be more than amply rewarded for your patience