Okay, I really need your help. In the past few weeks, I have been very frustrated with the LC way of life. I have been on Atkins for almost 4 months now and have only lost 8 pounds. Actually, I have only really lost 4 pounds (see signature). All this weight was lost in the first 10 days. That is over 3 months without losing an ounce or an inch.

As if that isn't frustrating enough, I had ONE cheat day and gained 7 pounds!!!! That put me up over my starting weight. It took me weeks to get back down to where I am because of ONE day eating carbs.

And, my hair is falling out by the (literal) handful.

I recently visited a few Weight Watcher message boards and to my surprise, those gals seem to be having as good if not better results than I am seeing on the LC boards. Plus, when they screw up for one day, they gain ONE pound, if any. A cheat day for people on a traditional diet seems to mean a day of no weight loss, not a 7 pound gain.

Plus, I did a few searches and came up with almost no complaints about hair loss.

I am at a point that I really need to be talked into continuing on the WOE. I'm NOT looking for a bunch of "you have to do what is right for you" and "this has to be a WOL" speeches. I know all that. And, I am not looking for a bunch of health benefit stories because I am in perfect health, no heartburn, allergies, etc. I already read many stories on the health benefits of Low-carb.

What I am looking for is an explanation of the problems/points made above (comparing LC to "regular" diets) and some reassurance that this is really the best and fastest way to lose weight.

It seems that this is the only WOE where you can be good for months and have to start all over after ONE cheat day. There are a couple of days a year when I don't want to have to be vigilant about what I eat. But after the results of one day off-plan, I'm totally freaked out!!!

I am not looking for an excuse to abandon LC, I just need some serious reassurance.

Please help!

No one can answer that question for you. It has to be a personal choice. You've observed WW forumsand you've observed various LC forums and have to draw your own conclusions. The WW people will say that their way is the best for a myriad of reasons and the LC people will say the same.

About the weight gain thing after cheating, if I remember correctly 1 gram of carbohydrate holds 3 grams of water. If you're eating carbs - as in WW - it won't make that much of a difference because your already eating carbs.

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Here's a great article on hair loss from the lowcarbluxury.com newsletter:


Hello,

I have been eating low carb for about 3 months. For the last month or so, I have been noticing extreme hair loss. Have you ever heard of hair loss being associated with a low-carb lifestyle? I am really getting quite worried because I can't figure out what's causing this.

Thank you,

Donna

Dear Donna,

What you describe is called "Telogen Effluvium". The good news is, it's normal in about 10-15% of dieters. The better news is, it's temporary.

Telogen effluvium is when a stress (such as dieting/weight change) causes noticeable shedding of hair after the stressful event. The hair loss is always delayed, usually 3–4 months after the "stressful event".

The event can be a physical stress such as an illness (especially with a fever), sudden weight changes (the most common), or a major surgical procedure. Sudden severe emotional stress can also trigger telogen effluvium, including the death of a loved one, a divorce, or a job termination.

It's all about something called "Transition to Resting Phase". In telogen effluvium, the stressful event causes a high proportion of hair follicles to halt their growth phase prematurely, and to begin a transition to the resting phase at the same time. 3–4 months after the stressful event, a high proportion of follicles shed their hairs all at about the same time, as they prepare for a new cycle of growth.

The confusion comes in here –– What triggers the hair loss begins 3–4 months before the loss of the hair actually occurs. Usually, the person losing hair has recovered from the event (or stabilized from the weight change or dietary change), and then they start shedding their hair in clumps! The condition is almost always temporary, and new hairs soon grow back in. Within a few more months the normal random cycle of hair follicle growth and rest resumes.

Usually telogen effluvium results in random hair loss from all over the scalp. Often the effect is not noticeable to others, although seeing the increased quantities of shed hairs is disturbing to their owner. Treatment for telogen effluvium includes waiting for the new hairs to grow in, and styling to give a fuller look in the meantime.

Rest assured this phenomenon is not restricted to low-carbing, and in fact because our diet is high in protein, we often recover more quickly. Make sure your diet is TRULY TOTALLY sugar free. Sugar greatly exacerbates the condition. It also helps to do the following:
Up your protein by 15% each day over whatever levels you've been eating.
Make SURE you are taking in at least 1500 calories per day.
Drink LOTS of water. 64 ounces is a minimum per day.
Take your supplements! At a minimum, you should be taking:
A good multivitamin with NO iron
CoEnzyme Q10 – 75-150 mg per day.
Acetyl L-Carnitine – 1000 mg per day
A good Essential Fatty Acids supplement if you don't
eat some form of salmon, tuna, or olive oil every day.
Hope all of this is of some help, Donna. I know it feels scary, but it's not as abnormal as it may seem. I've seen people go off their diets because of it and then attest that after going off and eating "normally" their hair came back. Of course it would have come back anyway, but because these cycles are delayed, they draw the wrong conclusion. You'll find posts all over the web about how this or that diet caused their hair to fall out so the diet is DANGEROUS. They scare a lot of people with misinformation. I appreciate that you took the time to come to me and ask.

Thanks Karen.

I get what you are saying about them regularly eating carbs so they don't gain when they eat off-plan. But, that makes me think that their weight loss is real and that mine must be all water since it only takes one day for me to gain it all back. I gained back all of my loss in ONE day!!!

I wasn't judging the success of WW so much by what these people were declaring, but more by their impressive signatures. Many women are losing 10-15 pounds in the first month just like many do on LC. The difference is that they don't gain it all back in one day. That is what made me start to wonder.

I have read that hair loss article and understand that hair loss is possible on any diet. It's just that I noticed that there are many posts about hair loss on the LC boards and very few on other weight loss boards.

I'm sorry if this sounds negative. I'm just confused at the moment because I didn't gain weight or loose my hair on my previous unhealthy, all junk food diet and now I gain weight easily and my hair is falling out. Putting in so much time and effort without any kind of payoff, has severely shaken my resolve.

I need someone to tell me that all my observations are wrong and why they are wrong. You know, put my mind at ease. LOL!

Thanks a bunch!

Gal, I hardly think that you consumed enough calories in one day's time to gain back 7 lbs.the very next day! Think about it...that is an enormous amount of calories! I know ya hate the question, but are you getting enough water? You know this is the *pap* diet, (pee away the pounds diet) It sure seems that way sometimes.
I know there are sections in Atkin's book about stalls, and what to do about them, and also at the top of the forum are many tips, and I am sure many in the past posts and threads as well.
I agree with Karen, no one here can make your decisions for you, that is something you must do alone, as well as you are the one who has to eat the foods,drink the water, and adhere to this W/O/E to the best of your ability. There is more than one LC diet, maybe browse about and find one that you might think suits you better than Atkins. I think it is Shark01, who switches back and forth between different LC plans... and I am sure he is not the only one.

Again re: the above quote, starting over entirely is not necessary, check your carb levels,...where are they at? Are you eating enough calories? Perhaps your body thinks it is starving... I HONESTLY don't know the answer... I am not in your shoes.
Browse about the forum,look for those posts who have similiar probs,. and moved on... try what they did... maybe it will work,maybe not... but as far as telling you this is the only way of eating... I cannot do that... but I do know this, at this point in my life, and for literally thousands of others on here... it is the way that we have chosen~ Good luck in your endeavor~ and I wish you the best~

Thank you for responding. I drink about 200 ounces of water a day. I watch my calories because I tend to eat A LOT because I am always hungry. I know that I am not eating too many carbs because I am doing the KISS version of LC. No dairy, fake foods, soda, etc.

I don't understand why I gained 7 pounds either, but it was there the next day and weeks later, I still have not lost all of it.

I have been looking at some weight loss charts from people on various Weight Watchers message boards and I notice that there are almost no stalls or plateaus even though there is rapid weight loss right from the beginning. I thought that we (on LC)had stalls because our body needed to catch up with our quick weight loss. But, the WW charts that I have looked at show steady loss without stalls. Why do you think that is?

Atkins is my first "diet" ever, so I don't know much about how it differs from other diets. I was surprised to find out how successful people seem to be on WW without all the quick weight gain and stalls.

I'm afraid to make the change now because I have a cruise in Novermber. After all the weight I gained from one day off-plan, I can't imagine how much I might gain if I started eating carbs again. It seems like there will need to be a long transitional period between going off LC and finally losing again on another plan. I have eaten nothing but sugar most of my life without gaining a pound, but now I gain a bunch overnight if I eat any of the food that I used to eat. This really confuses me. I could understand not losing any more if I went back to my old WOE, but why would I gain when I didn't gain when I was eating Ding-Dongs all day?

The thing is if I stay on Atkins, I won't even be able to have even one serving of the carb-laden goodies that are sure to be on the cruise because if I do, I will have to carry around 10 extra pounds for the rest of the cruise.

Thoughts and fear of food are suddenly ruling my life. I never really stressed about food before until I realized what happens if I put one wrong thing in my mouth. Now, I think about it constantly.

WOW! I do I sound as stressed out as I am? I want this WOE to work for me so badly. I just don't understand why certain things happen on this WOE and not on others. ARGH!!!

Thanks for listening to me ramble!

You also have to keep in mind that weight loss is different for everybody. My whole family is on Atkins and we are all losing differently with different results. Some faster, some slower.

I have done Weight Watchers (serveral times in my life). Last time I was there it took me a whole year to lose 30 pounds. I had to exercise a lot and I was hungry most of time. I have been doing Atkins for three months and have lost 27 pounds. I exersice when I can and I am never hungry. So for me this was the way to go but that does not mean it's for everyone. Oh, and one more thing about WW. For me it was very hard to stay commited to the meeting every week and it is costly.

I noticed you dont' keep a journal. Maybe if you posted what you at on a daily bases you could get some more advise. You could be eating hidden carbs or other foods that create stalls. Just a thought.

Wish you the best.

Karin

Here's my $.02....

First of all, the weight gain from having a high-carb day was most likely water weight....yes. Why it took weeks to lose it again, I don't know. If you got back on track quickly and reduced your carbs to below 25 or so, you should have shed that weight in about a week....unless at the same time you gained a pound or two from extra calories.

Why you are struggling to lose weight in general is probably because your body likes the weight it is right now and doesn't agree with your head that it should be leaner. The hair loss issue enforces that theory, IMHO. The only way past that is to keep feeding it and MAYBE with time it will let go of the extra pounds you want gone.

I'm not sure what weight loss charts you're looking at on WW, but I guarantee you that stalls and plateaus are very common on any diet...no way are they exclusive to LCing!! Not everyone experiences stalls, but depending on many factors, some do. Same goes true for WW.

If you've been relatively thin for most of your life, and this is the first time you've had to "diet", then perhaps WW would be better for you....apparently you don't have the insulin control issues that many of us here have. There is absolutely no way I could succeed or be happy with WW because of the way my body processes carbs. I do, however, believe that LCing has a higher sustainability factor....in other words, I'll wager that in the long-term that I will KEEP my weight off better than those on WW or any other non-LC plan.

Good luck with your decision. I understand and sympathize with your frustration. I hope we've helped.

Hi Shasta,

I have a slightly different take on this.

At 5'2, you are technically not at all overweight and I can't help feeling that the difficulty you are experiencing losing a few pounds could be that your body is already at the correct weight for you. Amazingly, sometimes our bodies just "know" things like this.

I know that this is not exactly what you want to hear, but I have seen it here quite a few times before.

How about increasing your carbs to a pre-maintenance level? You might just discover that you may still lose a few pounds at this level of carbs. (I'm talking about 50 -60g/day of carbs, with the extra coming from higher carb vegies such as peas)

Whatever you do, please don't try to lose much more weight.

All the best to you, my dear.

Rosebud

And here's my 2 cents. I am also 5 ft. 2 and I would be DELIGHTED to weigh what you weigh !!! My doctor says that I will be at the correct weight at about 130 pounds,

Shasta,

I am not exactly sure what your "cheat" day consisted of. High salt foods? High carbs? Straight sugar or flour stuff?

About once every 3 months or so I take a carb weekend break. I set aside 3 days to eat whatever I want in any amounts. Usually by the third day I am ready to go back to eating salads I will honestly say during these weekends, I have never gained 7 pounds. Maybe I gain a pound or two, or I drop a pound or two. All in all it stays pretty close to the same weight.

It would take you consuming close to 25,000 calories more than you burn, to gain 7 pounds of body fat. So those 7 pounds you are frustrated with are most likely water, because 7 pounds of fat takes a LONG time to accumluate.


For the record: 200 oz of water equates to 12.5 pounds of water.

The things we consume, be it food OR water do not lose their weight value the minute we put them in our mouths. One 8 oz steak we have for dinner will put us up half a pound on the scale right after we eat it. Until we go to the restroom for a "nature" call do we shed the weight from what we eat.

Just "food" for thought.

Thank you all for your replies and even more for your support. You have given me a lot to think about.

I wrote the following post in response to a bunch of questions that I was asked on another message board. I think it will answer most of your questions and let you know my whole story.

First off, I am not eating any hidden carbs because I am only eating pure meats, eggs, veggies (mostly salad), butter and mayo. There a no hidden carbs in my salad dressing. There are only 5 natural ingredients and no sugar.

I am watching calories and trying to eat 500 fewer calories than I burn each day. That usually ends up to be 1400-1500 calories. I am still starving on this amount of calories, but when I tried to raise the calories, I gained weight quickly.

I use fitday to track my carbs and calories. My ratios usually end up around 65% fat, 3-5% carbs and 30% protein. I do have a hard time keeping protein down because I am constantly hungry even though I am in ketosis.

My daily meals consist of salad, tuna with mayo, plain celery or dipped in Ranch, chicken with the skin baked in butter, sausage (contains only pork, water and seasoning), grilled steak, chicken breast and pork loin and about 200 ounces of water a day. That's it!

My cheat day consisted of a couple bowls of the raw cherry chip cake mix (mixed with water) that I LIVED ON up until 4 months ago, most of a regular size bag of Doritos, a snickers bar and 2 doughnuts. That's all I ate all day.

As for supplements, I take L-carnitine, L-glutamine, ALA, CO-Q10, a multi vitamin, a mineral supplement, Omega 3-6-9 oils and various other herbs for my circulation. All of these vitamins are yeast and sugar free.

I don't believe that my 7 pound gain was just water because that was weeks ago and I still have not lost all the weight.

When I was 105 pounds, before the Pill, my body fat was 18%. After one month on the Pill it went up to 22%. When I started LC, it was 26%. After the first 10 days when I lost all of my weight, it went down to 22%. After my ONE cheat day, it is now 25%. So, my weight gain obviously isn't from gaining muscle. (Keep in mind that I am measuring my body fat via a Tanita scale. I know that these scales are not necessarily accurate, but they are good to measure progress. Plus, the number that my scale gives me is pretty close to what I get from the online calculators.)

Also, I have always worked out, so my body isn't suddenly building muscle.

105 is a perfectly healthy weight for me according to my doctor. I would never be considered skinny at that weight. Body type and bone structure matter more than the number on the scale when it comes to the weight charts.

It has been 3 months since I lost a pound or an inch. After 2 months with no weight or inch loss, I tried the Fat Fast and GAINED a couple of pounds. It took me a week to lose that weight. I have also tried the Meat Fast with no results. I'm tempted to try Stillmans, but frankly, there should be more to life than that. How many things can one person cut out of their life???

I changed to this WOE because I wanted to finally lose the 10 pounds I gained while on BC and at the same time I wanted to cure my sweet tooth and learn to eat healthy. I knew that just cutting calories a little wouldn't teach me a thing because it would be just eating a few less Ding-Dongs. The problem is that now I can't eat anywhere near the 5000 calories that I was eating before without gaining. I can't even eat enough to feel full. My metabolism seems to have changed since I started LC.

As far as how I feel, I didn't have health problems or food sensitivities before, so I LC hasn't improved my health in any way that I can tell. I have LESS energy now and a harder time working out, but that is about it. I have not lost any inches. In fact, my thighs are now 1" larger since my cheat day several weeks ago. My jeans are as tight as ever, so I am once again living in my overalls and business suits.

I have been mildly hypothyroid (still in the normal range, but at the higher end) for many years, but the natural thyroid that I take keeps me exactly where I am supposed to be. I never really had symptoms in the first place besides dry skin, insomnia, cold extremeties and constipation. I've actually always had a very high metabolism. My doctor says that Armour thyroid would not keep me from losing weight. It would actually encourage weight loss. I feel like everything about me is the exact opposite of what it should be!!!

I have seen my doctor about all this and according to him I am perfectly healthy. He agrees that I could stand to lose a couple of pounds since my body fat is 25% and I have a lot of obvious fat on my hips and thighs. He said that 105 would be a healthy weight for me. The only thing he doesn't support is this WOE. He thinks it is very unhealthy. We agreed to disagree. He's a great doctor.

He also said that the hairloss is directly related to dieting. I lost 8 pounds (from 118 to 110) in the first 10 days (have since gained most of it back) and he thinks that shocked my body. I have also seen numerous posts about hairloss on other LC message boards. The physical trauma that causes the hair loss happens about 3 months before the actual hairloss. My hair started falling out at 3 months and 1 week.

I think that I may be one of the few people that do better on a higher carb diet, but I am scared to death to eat carbs after what happened from one cheat day. I can't imagine how much I would gain if I went totally off plan.

I hope that I answered all the questions. I really need to get this figured out because it is causing me a lot of stress. I hate having to think about what and how much I eat every minute of the day and then not seeing results. And then, I live in fear that the one screw up will put 7 pounds back on me. I am trying so hard. I'm eating all the right foods, taking all the right supplements, exercising and drinking tons of water.

It's not even the slow weight loss that is my main concern. I know that is common with the last 10-15 pounds. I'm more concerned with how fast it comes back. That doesn't happen on other "diets". Sure, if you go back to your old ways, you will gain the weight back, but NOT IN ONE DAY!!! I planned on making LC a WOL with a couple days off a year for special occasions. Now I know that if I stay on LC, I will never be able to taste any of my favorite foods again. If I do, all my hard work will be gone in one day.

Oh yeah, I weigh on the same digital scale every day. I test it with a 10# hand weight and it is always dead on.

Thanks a lot for your help!


__________________
Shasta
29 year old female
5'2" - 122*/116/105
Atkins since 6-8-02

Trying to lose the 10 pounds I gained in ONE month on the Pill.

*The day I started Atkins, I was up a few pounds from a couple days of heavy salt consumption. I consider my actual "start" weight to be 118 pounds.

Hi Shasta!

I've been following a low carb way of eating for about 1 year 3 months and have lost about 44lbs. I don't worry about how slowly it goes. I am surprised that you are eating 500 less calories than your body needs.

I eat all I want and although I count carbs I certainly don't count calories.

I think you may be eating too little and your body, thinking it's being starved, is hanging on to what fat you've already got.

I'm no expert - but I would try eating more if I were you.

Best of luck,
Robert

I wish I had some good news to offer, but from what I've experienced, and from what I've heard on other BC discussion boards, it's apparent that BC can *permanantly* alter one's metabolism. I can't get down to the weight/shape that I was pre-BC, either. I'm doing everything "right" and it just isn't happening. I decided to stop fretting about it. I can't be 19 again. I'm probably around 25% BF, too, and that's perfectly healthy. I don't care whether or not I could "stand" to lose a few pounds: I have a life, and the effort required to go from "already at a healthy weight" to "wow, size two, perfect" would mean having no life again. I don't want to be that person anymore. YMMV...

since you work out maybe you could check the CKD forum. Their knowledge of what makes the body tick is impressive.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdis...p?forumid=52&s=

especially this one http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=64408

Seems to me that by working out and eating so few calories you might be forcing your body into conservation mode. I read a few times that some people started loosing weight after they switched from doing cardio to doing only weights. Check out the forum, and keep reading. If you are sure you are eating everything correctly maybe the answer lies in something else you are doing or aren't doing.

And the constant hunger seems to be a sign to me that something isn't right.