Freaking out as I have gained 3 lb. since quitting Induction and starting working out!!!!! Need advice and support!

With my last now in kindergarten, this is the time to finally lose the weight gained in 3 pregnancies (and to regain the fitness lost).

Went on Atkins, which I hated, and lost 10 lb. in the 2 week Induction Phase. I felt sick, shaky, greased out. After one week, I felt better, but ate very low cal because the idea of eating more eggs and meat made me feel nauseous.

So, I began exercising two weeks ago and altered my eating patterns to something that appeals and leaves me feeling good:

Power walk 3 x per week, half uphill, for 1 hour
3 strength training sessions per week
3x 1/2 hour stroll with dogs per week

I eat (while drinking vast quantities of water):
breakfast:
whole grain cereal breakfast, either 1/3 c. oatmeal or 1 muffet with plain yogurt, 1/3 c. tinned peaches and oranges, 1 t. flaxseed meal, 1/4 c. 1% milk
tea or coffee, no sugar, 1 T. creamo

snack:
2 oz. cheese
12 almonds

lunch
salad, 1 1/2 c.
1 T. dressing
1 ice cream scoop sized meat or tuna/salmon salad portion

snack:
mandarin orange
12 almonds

dinner:
salad 1 1/2 c.
1 T. dressing
1 serving meat/fish

snack:
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. tinned peaches and oranges


I am thinking of adding one 10 minute first thing in the weekday mornings exercise session (from the 10 Minute Solutions video...which contains five 10 minute sessions) plus a circuit session on Wednesday where I alternate strength training with exercise bike work.

Advice, support anyone?

If you are eating more carbs now, that could be your glycogen stores filling up again. A given amount of glycogen brings with it four times its weight in water. For your lean body mass, I will guess 300 grams glycogen plus 1200 grams water, which makes 1.5 kg, or 3.3# would be the difference between the fuel tank being totally full and totally empty. So it looks like you need not worry; it looks like you are on track.

I would look for more protein in your breakfast and late night snack. At your activity level an lean body mass The Zone would have you eating more protein, the equivalent of 14 oz of meat, glasses of milk, or eggs per day. It will help to slow the rise of glucose in your bloodstream. Both the programs I use, Schwarzbein and the Zone emphasize the importance of eating protein at the same time as eating carbohydrates. Though I am not much of a fan of manufactured foods, one way to increase protein intake is with protein powder. Also the protein will be used to repair and maintain muscle tissue, which by sticking around, will help you to burn calories.

Don't worry too much about leaving the LC regime. If you eat healthy carbs in moderate amounts, as you have been, you should be ok. Living in ways that keep insulin levels low will still bring you some of the benefits of LC.

Westernwil, I've been gaining back weight, too, since beginning a strenuous exercise program. What I've been told is that it's muscle, since muscle weighs more than fat. And indeed, my clothes fit slightly better.

IMHO, the advice that PurpleStix gave you is very good. Your eating plan looks fine to me, with the addition of some protein. Personally I would NOT add in any more exercise--it seems to me that you have ample exercise already. Give it a few more weeks at that level before concluding that you need to make any changes.

One thing I've learned is that exercise works slowly. My trainer says that it took her a year before she saw dramatic results. So my advice would be to stick with it and don't fret if things don't change a lot right away.

Thankyou both for the thoughtful replies. While having babies I have worked very hard to separate my self worth from my shape, but that has been a big challenge lately. My youngest is 5 and I really don't want to look like this, let alone feel so drabby, any longer.

There have been days where I suddenly felt trapped in this ageing, doughy body, a horrible, panicky, claustrophobic feeling. You just end up wanting everything to change, right away, you know?

I have decided that since there is no question of NOT exercising for the rest of my life (and I quite enjoy physical exertion...makes you look good, makes you feel good), I will just keep on with the program, and avoid the scale for a week.

If I have to eat less, I will, although I can't see how to do that, even with adding in more protein, without being very, very hungry. I won't make a decision on that for 2 weeks.

Any advice on going forward greatly appreciated, and thanks for the (much needed) support.

Regards,
Janet

Westernwil,

Finding the right diet for us is quite a challenge. What really helped me was using fitday.com.

It truly changed my life. I don’t have the liver to do the first phase of Atkins but that doesn’t mean I can’t do low carbing! With fitday.com, I found the amount of carbs I was feeling good with. I started with an average of 100g of carbs daily and slowly reduce to 55g of total carbs. I changed the fruit (usually an apple) for a bell pepper, and other small things like that. I still have All-Bran at least once a week.

But what I did to customize my diet is irrelevant to you. What is relevant to you is that, with the information found on fitday.com, and the nice recipes and tips on this forum, you will be able to customize your own, easy to follow diet.

I hope you find a way of doing this that really suits you