Increased calories and scale is moving again.....
 

Something weird happened the other day, and I thought I would share it with you. Tuesday, I came to work in a bad, bad, bad mood. For no reason either, I was just p***ed at everyone and everything. I'm not sure if that is also linked to what I'm about to say next but it very well could be. About mid-morning, I started craving a cheeseburger and I'm telling you...I've had cravings before and they usually pass, but this one, I could not stop thinking about a cheeseburger all dang day. Then when I got home, my craving turned to pizza. I almost ordered pizza for dinner. I started thinking about why I am all of a sudden craving junky food and why wont the craving go away like they always do? I figured out that I must be lacking fat in my diet because when you crave something like that, its your body telling you that you are deficient in something. I also realized that this is probably why the scale didn't move for a week and a half. I learned while trying Atkins that if you don't eat enough fat, you will not lose weight. So, for a test, I decided to increase my fat for a couple days and see what happens. That night, I had a grilled cheese sandwhich for dinner and then a piece of icecream cake for dessert. Last night I had a low cal sandwich but this time I added in chips with it. When I got home, I had some orange sherbet for dessert. Lo and behold, I stepped on the scale this morning and I was a whole pound lighter than 2 days before. I know this was not all fat loss but I think the extra fat in my diet did something to get the scale moving again. I'm not getting too excited just yet because I keep feeling like this is a fluke and when I weigh again tomorrow, that pound will be back, so I'll just wait and see what happens. Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is having a great day!!!

Wow. 55 people have read this post and not one person wanted to comment??

Well, I wouldn't celebrate yet (there's a chance that it's just water weight. It's hard to tell when you're looking at your day-to-day changes instead of the trends over time), but hey, if it works for you it works!

I'd say it's always a good idea to get a good balance into your diet, as long as you don't go overboard :)

Thank you aeyesolo. I will wait and see what the changes are over the next few days. Also trying hard not to go overboard. Sometimes its hard to say no but I'm doing it so far. Being stuck at the same weight for over a week was getting depressing. I'm just glad something happened. :)

I did atkins and I found if I had a mega carb binge when on a plateau I would gain say 4-5 pounds but then the week after would be exactly the results of phase 1. when I say binge I mean binge would give myself 1 4hr period on a weekend and stuff till my eyes were glazing over then go to sleep, next day get up back on it.

does good to shake things up now and then just not too often.

Hmm. I wonder if, perhaps, your diet has been lacking in healthy (unsaturated) fats; you know, the kinds you find in fish, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, etc. The fats in these foods are essential nutrients for the body, so if you're not getting enough, it might make you crave fat! It's entirely possible that increasing your unsaturated fat intake might curb the cravings a bit. I personally am a big fan of having a small handful of nuts when bad fat cravings strike. It works surprisingly well for me! Also, if your body is nutrient-deprived, you won't lose weight as fast, or so I've heard...

Slimmingsi also makes a good point. Perhaps a serving or two of a healthy grain when you're plateauing on a low-carb diet will kick you into gear. Brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal... That kind of thing.

Regardless, weight loss is a day-to-day journey, and every body is different. If a scoop of ice cream once a week is what you need to keep going the rest of the time, then do what works for you!

A note on post counts: "Read" counts views of people who aren't registered. There are many, many more people who lurk here than post.

Don't get depressed. Weight loss doesn't happen over night. It takes twice as long to lose it than it does to gain it. And slip ups will happen. I am currently at a plateau and very discouraged, but everyday is a new day.

I find when I eat more in general for a day or two that I will often lose a pound. During the week when I'm eating more healthfully, the scale usually stays put. It's weird. But that is why my plan is to relax about it all on the weekends and eat more food.

When you eat a lot less than you should (carbs and fats) your body holds on to your body weight so it won't starve, it's going into "survival mode".

I thought survival mode happened after a long time of eating too few calories. Anyway, I've been a little more lax about counting calories and not worrying so much if i go a little over a time or two. Im finding that my body prefers a little more rather than a little less. The scale has continued to move downward since i relaxed a little. I even took my kids out for Cici's pizza Friday night and I ate plenty. I knew i would see a small gain from that but i actually lost .2 and then today another .2. I weighed in today at 164.2, so Im down a total of 6.2 lbs in just under 3 weeks. I will continue to try to make the best food choices I can 6 days a week and splurge on the other day. It seems to be working fine. Thanks for all the replies!!