I am on Atkins and using Induction for the fourth week (the first two were a write off due to many errors). I did have a major 'cheat' this weekend. Anyway I'm down to my last 9lbs but I have been feeling very weak and have a constant headache. I know this is not withdrawal as I have been LC'ing since January.

A few times I have gone into what I now know to be hypoglycemic shock. My doctor prescribed a glucometer for me today to start tracking my sugar and indicated that hypoglycemia can be controlled by diet and that I will have to add some carbs.

When I felt like my sugars are i have tried to eat a LC proper snack or meal - but it doesn't seem to help - at least not fast enough. I carry dextrose pills with me and to my dismay I had to use one today at work as nothing was working and I was feeling like I was going to pass out!

Here's my question, I think I should up my carb intake - by moving onto OWL. With 9lbs to lose I'm afraid that I will stall out. As anyone made this transition lately? How did it go? Does anyone have any other experiences with hypoglycemia similar to mine

Nan,

First question - are you only taking in 20 carbs a day??? If so, you need to "up" your carbs, anyway. You are very close to your goal weight (which is almost exactly what mine is), and you weigh only 1/2 lb less than I do. I take in approx. 35 carbs per day (although, as a note of interest, I went onto Fitday today, and am amazed - I haven't been "counting" my carbs, and including what I will have for dinner tonite, I will only have taken in 18 carbs - need to up that some!! Sounds like a treat nite to me!).

I also noticed you said you had been on induction for 4 weeks due to errors - were these cheats or simple errors? If you were taking in 20 carbs per day for most days of Induction, then at your weight and goal you should have moved on. DEFINATELY try taking in a few more carbs daily. go to www.fitday.com to keep up with a "true" count of your carbs.

also - you said you cheated this weekend. Whenever I do a major cheat - sugars, breads, etc. I feel awful for about 3 days - lightheaded, groggy, sluggish, and I promptly get a yeast infection and terrible gas. This is not due to the WOE, because these symptoms come on when I am cheating! Anyone else have these symptoms?????

Anyway, try upping your carbs - that should help!!!!!

Good luck,

Anna

I too would up my carbs, but be sure and use veggies and low carb fruits -- you can have 1/2 an apple and some cheese or natural peanut butter on it -- offset your fruits with protein.

I would also monitor using the glucose machine what your sugars throughout the day.

1st thing in morning; 1 hour after breakfast
right before breakfast; 1 hour after
right before dinner; 1 hour after
and bedtime

Also if you feel just not right check your sugar -- log all this it will help you to see patterns and help you.

I keep a monthly journal of my bloodsugars and take it to the doctor with me along with a journal of how I felt at certain times -- this has helped in seeing what is happening with my body.

I also carry those little packets of peanuts with me for a quick snack -- or you can make you a bag of almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, things like that.

Since you are so close to your goal weight it will come off slowly, don't try to rush it -- also make sure you are eating enough calories -- and drink plenty of fluids.

You might try posting a day of your meals and your blood sugars and that may help someone to see something you are missing. I've really gotten great help here -- very helpful and caring people.

Take care and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Debi

I tried Fitday since I have finished my supper. My carb count came to 6 grams. Why did I think that the salad made up 20grams???? I guess I was misled by pg. 123 in the book. So I will up my carbs starting tomorrow.

Could this lack of carbs slow down my weight loss? I did check my sugar before supper and I was at 3.7. I am assuming that's low. The pharmacist said to check it before meals so that's what I'll do.

I have tracked my carb intake in a handwritten journal. Other than my cheat, I have not been at 20grams the entire four weeks (including my mistakes - which were meats with nitrates, lack of water).

I am deathly afraid to increase my carbs. But I guess I should at least try to bring it up to 20grams. I think fruit may be my first choice. I see the book recommends nuts or sunflower seeds.

I'd appreciate any suggestions!!!

Nan...

at 6 grams of carb, I can understand why you are having problems with hypoglycemia. Yes, definitely get that carb count up to 20 grams. Something else that may help with the hypoglycemia is smaller more frequent meals. Try eating 5 or 6 small meals a day (eat a small meal every 3 hours or so) instead of 3 larger ones; this helps keep your blood sugars more stable. Add more veggies or some strawberries with heavy cream. Good luck!

Nan,

Yes, keeping carb or calorie count can slow/stall your weight loss. Your body goes into starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down. Get your carbs to at LEAST 20 - and I would really recommend more. It is not a good thing to keep them as low as you are. Also, increase in fat intake will increase weight loss. Strange but true!!!!

Try more carbs today, as well as the suggestion of eating more, smaller meals. I snack on LC stuff all day (pork rinds, Slim Jims, macadamia nuts, whatever). Tell us how you're doing!

Good luck,
Anna

Okay, today I tried to raise the carbs. I added one oucne of sunflower seeds, and some strawberried and cream. I am so nervous about the scale tomorrow. According to Fitday my carbs are at 24 with 7g of fibre.

My waking blood sugar was 4.0 and my pre-lunch was 4.4 - so I'm getting better I think!

I'll have to track this very carefully. Do I do the fibre subtraction already or just wait?

Thanks to all for the interest and feedback, especially Anna

According to Atkins, you subtract the fiber from the start of the plan, so today's carb count would be 17 grams....needs to be just a bit higher, but it's a big improvement over 5-10 grams! Sounds like your blood sugars are responding as well. Keep at it!

Sounds like upping that carb intake is working!! Just as a note of interest, Sugar Busters makes a chocolate popsicle-type bar with 11 grams of carbs. When I notice that my carb count for the day is too low, I make sure to eat one after dinner - a great treat, and it helps the carb count. Of course, green leafies, and fruit are a more nutritious option, but everyone deserves a treat every now and then!!

Anna

Here are my numbers from Fitday:

Total: 1822
Fat: 120 1080 61%
Sat: 42 378 21%
Poly: 27 245 14%
Mono: 41 367 21%
Carbs: 25 71 4%
Fiber: 7 0 0%
Protein: 157 628 35%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%


My scale is not moving - my blood sugars fluctuate but today were low before lunch (3.7) which surprised me since I had my fruit and cheese for breakfast .

Anyway, my carbs are up to 18 but I still feel weak and fatigued. So far I have added strawberries and sunflower seeds and maintained by salads with salad dressing. Do you think I'm still low? I'd appreciate any help.

I feel like a I need a more complex carb - maybe a piece of crispbread or something. Any thoughts??? Am I eating too much fat?????

Nan,

You really need to make it a point to have AT LEAST 20 carbs daily. Notice I emphasize AT LEAST! It's so important - your hypoglycemia is your body's way of SCREAMING - give me more carbs!!! And, remember - eating too few carbs (as with calories) will put your body in starvation mode, slow your metabolism, and make your weight come off MUCH slower!

I feel like a I need a more complex carb - maybe a piece of crispbread or something. Any thoughts??? Am I eating too much fat?????

A very strange thing about this WOE is that a higher consumption of fat seems to speed weight loss. Many of us, myself included, have found that to be true through personal experience.

As far as your scale not moving - that could be either a result of your metabolism being slowed by too few carbs, your body retaining water because you ARE losing (fat cells hate to shrink - they will retain water in order to keep their size, but this too will pass-hehe), or, if you're exercising, you could be building muscle, which weighs more than fat, but takes up less space. So, take your measurements - they are a much better indicator of success. Nan, I haven't lost a pound in the last 3-4 weeks - NOT ONE. However, I have gone down in inches, and a clothing size during that time.

Take your measurements, and lest us know if you're seeing inches!! Also, keep us posted as far as carb count/hypoglycemia!


anna

Nan, I echo the others. Eat all your allowable carbs. And eat often. This way of eating actually helps control my hypoglycemia. But I often find a need to snack. My meals are not often eaten just in one sitting, but over a period of 1-2 hours. I often must have something before bed, or I will wake up with a blood sugar of 3.1. 3.7 is pretty low, but probably not dangerous. Still, the symptoms are not fun, and it is your body telling you to raise your sugar. When you start to feel your sugar get low, snack on nuts, cheeses, vegetables. Why not give it a 2 week try at 20g, and see what happens, both with the low blood sugar and with the weight loss. One suggestion for the fear you have on eating the carbs. Why not use the ketostix to check through your day as you're eating them. You may find yourself able to eat 20, 30, maybe even higher; seeing that you're still in ketosis, which means you're burning fat, could ease you're mind, that you're not wronging yourself by eating the carbs.

Jeanette

one more thing...

getting the carbs in foods that don't cause such a quick rise in blood sugar would be a good idea. Frome vegetables, and nuts, and different ways to prepare your meats. The drop after eating the strawberries makes sense, if you think about it like this. you eat the fruit, blood sugar rises, insulin kicks in high gear to lower it, and actually causes it to drop too low. I'm allergic to strawberries, so I don't know what affect they have on my blood sugar. Maybe someone will be able to tell us if they have a high glycemic index, and what fruits cause the slowest rise in blood sugar.

Jeanette

Strawberries are actually fairly low on the glycemic index, but for many people mornings are not a good time to consume higher amounts of carbs. For some reason, our bodies seem to be less sensitive to the insulin that we produce for the first 3 hours after we get up which means that if we have a higher amount of carbs in the morning, our blood sugar rises too high, but then crashes when our bodies become more sensitive to the insulin again (which would give you a low reading right before lunch). Stick with less carbs at breakfast (but keep the protein and fat) and more carbs at lunch and dinner and see what happens. Typically, I have no more than 6 grams of carb for breakfast (often only 3 or 4 grams), but 12 for lunch and 12 for dinner for a total of 30 grams a day. Get your carbs from slower acting sources like high fiber veggies. A crispbread or two would also be a good choice as long as they are low in carbs. Keep tweaking until you find what works best for you!

Since I have added carbs to combat my hypoglycemia my weight has gone up 1.5lbs. However, I have one of those scales that also measures body fat and my body fat as gone down 1%.

Being so scale-dependent I am easily discouraged - but sugar level after eating last night - chicken/cauliflower/broccoli only made it up to 4. I am starting to feel less fatigued, less edgy and that dull headache is slowly going away. But I am worried about the weight gain.

Somehow, I feel it is water gain. Sometimes during my weight loss I have had periods where all of my sudden my body seems to switch on and I lose 2-3lbs overnight just from water release. So perhaps between the added carbs and my body fighting back (as this is the lowest weight I have been in almost 9 years - this is just a blip.

Am I right or am I just rationalizing my way to a five pound gain by the end of the weekend

Also - is there something I can take to flush out some of the water?

I am tracking all before/after meals sugar levels today so I will have a better picture. Thanks for your continued support. Believe me I do count on it