Hi everyone. I am a new member. I have been on a low carb diet for 6 month and, for latest 2 months, on a maintenance phase. Recently ( 3 weeks) I started to experience strange things: not gaining weight, but gaining inches. Maybe it is not that strange? Have other people seen this?

You're probably using a "european" tape measure.. hehe. The only think I can possibly think of is you're putting on muslce mass and getting bigger that way. You haven't mentioned anything about working out, so that's only an assumption. I can't see how anyone could add size and not weight if it was FAT related (w/exception of a few lbs in water weight). Most people get larger from lack of exercise as your caloric intake exceeds your daily expenditure.

There's different ways to check weight and fat. 1) scale. 2) tape. 3) clothing fit. 4) skin fold caliper. 5) impedence tool - electronic gadget that tells body fat % by electrical impedence in skin. and lastly 6) water submersion testing - expensive and a pain, but very,very accurate.

Good luck!

Also your body could be changing shape.

After you lose weight it seems the next few months everything moves around and adjusts.

You may have gained in your waist but your hips shrunk or something like that.

Hi everyone. Thank you for replying to my question about gaining inches.
Maybe I am doing something wrong. I read the Atkins book and want to make sure that I understand it. I thought if you are in the maintenance phase you can eat anything; a bagel, a pizza, etc. as long as you keep your carb intake to your norm per day. I eat half a bagel day once a month, or one slice of pizza occasionally. I am not gaining weight, as I told before, but maybe this is making me gaining inches?

Hi Stella,

Since "the gain inches but not pounds" seems to be an unusual phenomenon, is it possible you're pregnant? Also, that TOM (time of the month) tends to create a bit of swelling in the middle. Not trying to be a wiseguy... just considering all possibilities. If it's all over, there's a good chance it could be muscle or weight shifts.

Just a thought.

Thank you for the suggestions, but I am not pregnant and do not do exercise, so it cannot be the muscles. And I always thought when you add muscles you gain weight.
Do you think it is possible that the food I am eating, as mentioned in the prior post, is causing me to gain inches, but not weight?

So specifically when was the last time you measured.

Did all measurements go up or did some remain the same or go down?

This is all guess work without knowing specifics.

Hi. My butt and waist are gaining inches. On the top I lost almost everything and I am not gaining there unfortunately. I am only afraid that it would work the same way as when I was loosing weight; I was losing inches but not weight and then the weight was dropped. Can it work visa versa?

I would take specific measurements at the same time each month (same time of day and same time in your cycle) for a couple of months.

This will check if and where your body is just changing as bodies do when muscle is grown or weight is lost or if it is actually adding inches - which is pretty hard to believe.