“Help, I’m not losing weight!” I’m hearing this a lot this week with our Feminine Collective Low Carb team. I know it’s frustrating sometimes when you think you’re following all the rules and guidelines while low carbing, and it still isn’t coming off. There’s always a reason, this method works. So you just need to pull out your Sherlock investigations skills and reevaluate what you’re doing to find out why you’re not losing.
One of the first reasons for women when weight loss stalls is your menstrual cycle. During that time of the month, your body will add water weight. It’s a natural thing; it happens, and there’s no fighting it. I always just suggest not weighing in for that week. Continue on your low carb plan as you normally would, eat healthily and wait to weigh a few days after your cycle has ended. Normally, you’ll not only find you’ve lost the water weight, but you’ve also lost a few pounds too.
Stress is also a huge factor that will cause you to not lose weight. If you find that you’re under a lot of stress, more than normal, you may find that your weight loss will stall out while you’re going through it. Just continue to stay with the plan and make healthy choices, don’t let stress make food choices for you. When your stress level returns to normal, you’ll start losing again.
Medicines can also cause you to plateau. If you find that your stalling weight loss has coincided with a new medication, talk with your Doctor. He might be able to help you by changing to a different medication. Or your system might just need a week or so to get used to the new medication and then your weight loss will start again. As always, your health is the most important thing. Never stop taking medication because it is affecting your weight loss, always consult your physician first.
But the biggie, the main reason that most people stop losing while low carbing is a thing known as Carb Creep. What is Carb Creep? Basically, it’s when you get used to the low carb lifestyle and stop calculating your daily carb intake. You stop checking labels as thoroughly as you should, and soon you are unknowingly eating over the 20 carb level and can’t figure out why you’re not losing. You also might have gotten a hold of something that has over two grams of sugar per serving that is keeping you out of ketosis, thus not allowing your body to burn fat and lose weight.
Sometimes you might even check a label, and it states all the right things, but something in it just doesn’t work with your system. Or worse yet, the labeling is incorrect. There are several items that many of us in the low-carb community have noticed a problem with even though the labels read low or no carbs. Then, low and behold, a few months later they have been relabeled with more carbs or sugar. The labels are a great way to guide us on our low carb paths, but unfortunately, they aren’t foolproof.
Don’t worry, we’ve all been there, and there is an easy way to find out if Carb Creep is your problem.
- All you have to do is stop eating all the new foods you’ve been eating since you stopped losing weight. Go back to basics, eating only unprocessed foods such as meats, veggies,, and cheeses. Do that for a few days, charting everything you eat and drink. Remember, coffee has a carb a cup … don’t forget to add that. If it is Carb Creep, you’ll notice the weight will start coming off again quickly. Then each day, add a different item back into your food repertoire. Be sure to be vigilant and weigh in every morning to verify you are still losing. If you stop losing when adding something back in, you’ve found the culprit that was causing your problem. So just be mindful of what you’re eating and track those carbs!
Once you figure out which of the categories is causing your problems, you’ll start losing again. Remember this is a lifestyle and low-carbing is about eating and being healthy. Don’t stress yourself out if you’re not losing. Just reevaluate and move forward. You can do this!
Week 1 – The Rules
Week 2 – Getting Started
Week 3 – Favorite Things
Week 4 – Screwing Up
Week 5 – I Want Candy
Week 6 – Taking Care of You
Week 7 – You Can Do It!
Week 8 – Wine, Beer, Tequila? Definitely!
Week 9 – Carb Creep
Week 10 – Hollywood Eats Low Carb. You Can Too!
Week 11 – Wow! You Did it!
Photo Credit: cinnamon_girl via Compfight cc
